My Great Great Great Uncle Built Churches

Bob Childress was the founder and builder of the famous "Rock Churches" of southwest Virginia, all established between 1919 and 1954. In 2022, Buford Jessup and his family set out to visit all seven of his great uncle's churches.

Tzahala

Nineteen-year-old Tzalah is faced with an unwanted pregnancy, which prompts her to re-examine her co-dependent relationship with her mother, Bella.

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Appalachian Journey

Appalachian Journey is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series (1991). It offers songs, dances, stories, and religious rituals of the Southern Appalachians. Preachers, singers, fiddlers, banjo pickers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life there. Performers include Tommy Jarrell, Janette Carter, Ray and Stanley Hicks, Frank Proffitt Jr., Sheila Kay Adams, Nimrod Workman and Phyllis Boyens, Raymond Fairchild, and others, with a bonus of a few African-Americans from the North Carolina Piedmont.

Deciding Vote

50 years ago, assemblyman George Michaels cast a single vote on New York's abortion bill that changed the course of American history but destroyed his political career in the process.

Verde-Esperanza: Aborto Legal na América Latina

Das Experiment 770: Gebären auf Befehl

Procreation is the social duty of all fertile women, was the political thinking during the 1960s and 1970s in Romania. In 1966, Ceaucescu issued Decree 770, in which he forbade abortion for all women unless they were over forty or were already taking care of four children. All forms of contraception were totally banned. The New Romanian Man was born. By 1969, the country had a million babies more than the previous average. Romanian society was rapidly changing. By using very interesting archival footage and excerpts from old fiction films and by interviewing famous personalities from that time – gynecologists or mothers who were part of the new society - the director revives this period of tremendous oppression of personal freedom. Many deaths were caused by the mere fact that women, including wives of secret Romanian agents, famous TV presenters, and actresses, had to undergo illegal abortions. Many women were jailed for having them.

Stranger with a Camera

In 1967 Canadian filmmaker Hugh O'Connor came with a crew to eastern Kentucky to make a film showing people from all walks of life in the United States. They finished the day by filming coal miners and their families in rental houses. As the filmmakers were leaving, Hobart Ison, the owner of the property, drove up and fired three shots, killing Hugh O'Connor. Elizabeth Barrett, from Kentucky herself, explores why this happened by trying to understand the people and culture of eastern Kentucky.

You Gave Me A Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard

You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four year old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound.

Que sea ley

In Argentina, a woman dies every week as the result of illegal abortions. In 2018, for the seventh time, a motion supporting legal, secure and free abortion was presented to the national congress of Argentina. The project provoked a fierce debate, revealing a society divided more than ever between the pro-life and freedom to choose positions. Through an assemblage of passionate testimonies, Let It Be Law documents the determination of women fighting bravely to secure the right to physical self-determination, and bears witness to their massive mobilization in the streets of Buenos Aires.

Me Time

In this documentary, 6 protagonists tell their personal experiences of abortion and sterilization, from unplanned pregnancy to a happy mother and vice versa from the wanted child to regretting motherhood.

Las Juanas

This film shows the work done by the "socorristas" feminist network. Through informative talks and stories about the actions of emotional containment these women have with others who need support, it seeks to eliminate the stigmas on abortions while also bringing out the reality of the clandestine abortion.

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Sprout Wings and Fly

Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.

7 Reasons

Evangelist hack Ray Comfort addresses seven questions, reasoning with college students and people on the street about whether such objections are justified. Seeing those who are ardently pro-choice change their minds in moments is both compelling and convincing. What reasons would you give for/against abortion?

Trouble Behind

During World War I, African-Americans worked on the railroad near Corbin, Kentucky. When whites returned from the war, there was conflict. Whites sought their former jobs and positions in the community. In 1919, a race riot occurred. Whites put the African-Americans on railroad cars and ran them out of town. In Trouble Behind, members of the Corbin community speak out on the issue. The filmmakers also interview former members of the Corbin, which at the time of filming had only one black family. Some Corbin residents express confusion as to why African-Americans don't move back. Others openly use racial epithets. Some young adults seem troubled by the racism, past and present. Others don't.

The Children Must Learn

Documentary profiling an Appalachian farming family struggling to scrape out a living. Link­ing education and economic development, The Children Must Learn suggests that better schooling, especially in agricultural techniques, would bring improvement.

Jane: An Abortion Service

This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane", the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, Jane: An Abortion Service showcases the importance of preserving women's knowledge in the face of revisionist history. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Harry Caudill: A Man of Courage

One of the most important Kentuckians of the 20th century, Harry Caudill brought the story of Appalachia to national attention when his book “Night Comes to the Cumberlands” was released in 1963. The nonfiction account of Eastern Kentucky’s coal region, part history and part polemic, eloquently recounted the exploitation of Appalachia’s land and its people by business and government interests, and made Caudill a national spokesperson for his homeland. Harry Caudill spent his life advocating for Eastern Kentucky, with the aim of helping the powerless as well as securing the region’s unmatched natural resources for future generations. His work led to lasting government reforms for Appalachia, and his legacy remains a touchstone for activists today.

Histoires d'A

French documentary campaigning for the liberalization of abortion and contraception, directed by Charles Belmont and Marielle Issartel in 1973.