Arcadia Public Library

This inspiring film follows the lives of eight Midwestern women, six of whom became founders of National Organization for Women (NOW). Set against a backdrop of decades of war, prosperity and reform, their stories beautifully illustrate the continuity and diversity of 20th-century feminism, as the participants describe the labor, civil rights, and political movements of the '40s and '50s that led them to take independent action for women. Using archival...

"Paper Dolls" is a documentary film which explores changing patterns of global immigration and expanding notions of family through the prism of a community of Filipino transvestites who live illegally in Israel. Cast out by their families because of their sexual and gender preferences, these people work 6 days a week as live-in, 24 hour a day care givers (and in many cases as surrogate children) for elderly orthodox Jewish men, in order to earn money...

Meet the "Chinese Joan of Arc,"Qiu Jin (秋瑾) (1875-1907), a radical women’s rights activist who defied tradition to become the leader of a revolutionary army. Qiu Jin boldly challenged traditional gender roles and demanded equal rights and opportunities for women. She was the first woman to lead an armed uprising against the corrupt Qing Dynasty, for which she was arrested and executed. She became the first female martyr for China’s 1911 Revolution...

This film documents a unique development project that bought social work practice to rural women in China. The project was initiated by the Faculty of Social Work of Canada's University of Manitob in collaboration with China’s Women’s University and the Women’s Federation of China. Over a six-year period, they introduced rural social work service models in three Chinese provinces. The priority in each region was similar – the training of trainers...

The film is made in part of a series of in-depth, on-camera, conversations with Poet Laureate Rita Dove—conducted and recorded by Eduardo Montes-Bradley between September 2012, and October 2013. These conversations were later edited using with hundreds of still images and several hours of home movies from the Dove family's collection.. The intimacy of the dialogue accounts for a unique, and very personal insight into the wide range of Dove's artistic...

Carlos Aparicio and Susana Aikin's The Transformation follows one person's journey to reconcile their identity, religion, class, and sexual orientation following harrowing news. In the groundbreaking 1990 documentary The Salt Mines, Sara was one of three female identified sex workers in Manhattan living on the streets. Now, in 1995's The Transformation, Sara discovers that she has discovered she is HIV+, and decides that she is not going to die on...

Set at an ancient nunnery above the majestic Irrawaddy River, A THOUSAND MOTHERS is an unprecedented look at the lives of Buddhist nuns in Sagaing, Myanmar. While the choices available to girls and women in Myanmar are quite limited, this film poetically reveals the opportunities offered to them at the nunnery, and the deep grace and dignity of a life dedicated to service.. Official Selection at the New Orleans Film Festival.

25-year-old Pina Newman tried to suppress her true self but eventually “it just erupted.” When she was young, she received bad psychologist advice that her parents initially trusted. It was a long journey to decide who she is and what she wants and that journey continues today. But one thing she is sure of, she is proud of who she is. “I am who I am and I am enough.”

73-year-old Gayle Roberts With the help of her second wife, Gayle is able to transition from male to female, but when she comes out a work, a comment made by one of her students parents overwhelms her.

54-year-old Sandy Leo Laframboise has led an extremely tough life, beginning prostituting at age 12. This led to drugs and a destructive lifestyle. Once Sandy got clean she could begin healing. Through her first nation culture, she realized she is Two-Spirited, neither male or female. She embraces both genders. She spends her life now helping others full time, paying it forward.