In lieu of writing a 30 pg. legal paper for my Feminist Jurisprudence class, I am making a documentary film.
No, I do not know how to make a documentary film. But, I am learning. And, I now am now amazed and floored by every documentary I have ever seen, because I understand what an extreme amount of work went into the projects.
For my project I am making a mini-documentary where I interview four women I know about reproductive issues and how they have affected their lives. I am interviewing:
- Donna: My mother who gave up a baby for adoption at age 15 in 1972.
- Anne: My sister who was surrendered to another family and later found my mother after receiving her original birth certificate when she turned 18. She is now a single mother.
- Ashley: My best friend who is currently single and pregnant and has decided against abortion. She is torn between keeping the baby and surrendering her baby.
- Briana: Another dear friend who is a direct entry (home birth) midwife by profession and is Ashley’s midwife.
The purpose of the film is to record women’s stories from their own mouths, and to help illustrate themes and to go about “exploring common experiences and patterns that emerge from shared telling of life events,” this way, “[w]hat were experienced as personal hurts individually suffered reveal themselves as a collective experience of oppression.” Leslie Bender, A Lawyer’s Primer on Feminist Theory and Tort. 1988.
I hope I can adequately edit the film to do justice to these amazing narratives.
This clip is a bit of the unedited (unprocessed sound, without music etc.) footage. Even in its unadulterated form, it is beautiful.
If any blogsters out there are interested in helping with the project & have access to an HD capable camera in Utah, we are in desperate need of more b roll footage of Ashley & Briana for the film. So, let me know if you know of anyone who would be up to the challenge! Who wouldn’t want to follow these amazing women around with a camera?!??