Saturday, April 20, 2024 7:30 PM 9:00 PM AgX Film Collective 144 Moody Street, Building 18, 2nd Floor Waltham, MA, 02453 United States (map)
In the Abortion Clinic Film Collective series, we hear from medical directors and staff, mothers and daughters, criminal defense attorneys and advocates, about how their personal and professional lives have been affected post-Dobbs. Each portal provides a window into the broad and life-threatening ramifications of that Supreme Court decision and its devastating legacy for the health and well-being of our country.
Doors open at 7pm. Program begins at 7:30pm.
Screening will be followed by a discussion led by participating filmmaker and AgX member Raymond Rea.
Program Details (approximately 50 min total runtime):
A Mile and a Half, Ray Rea, 5.5 min
The border between North Dakota and Minnesota is physically only a narrow river but legislatively a canyon. In the sister city straddling that border a move of a mile and a half saved lives.
Contractions, Lynne Sachs, 12 min
In a place where a woman can no longer make decisions about her own body, we listen to an OB-GYN who can no longer perform abortions and a “Jane” who drives patients across state lines while a group of activists perform outside a women’s health clinic.
As Long as We Can, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, 10.5 min
As the Arizona state supreme court hears arguments on whether to reinstate an abortion ban that originated in 1864, we glimpse into the day-to-day activities of this for-now still functioning clinic, one of just two left in the state that provides surgical abortions.
Retracing Our Steps, Kelly Gallagher, 8.5 min
A woman reflects back on her time spent assisting abortion seekers when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land.
The Longest Walk, Đoan Hoàng Curtis, 9 min
A filmmaker returns to Kentucky in the wake of its total abortion ban, to revisit the clinic – now closed – where she terminated a pregnancy that resulted from her assault at age 13. She reaches out to the male classmate who witnessed the aftermath of her assault decades earlier.
We Are About to Commit a Felony, Sasha Waters, 4 min
Arson at a Planned Parenthood and the closing of a community clinic endanger the lives of women in Knoxville, TN. A teaching doctor reflects on what the post-Dobbs world means for her patients and her students, who are the next generation of reproductive care workers.
PLEASE NOTE: Masks are strongly encouraged at this event to help protect the most vulnerable among our community. If you are hoping to attend but feel that you need a specific accommodation of any sort, please do not hesitate to reach out to hi[at]agxfilm.org.
The 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival will take place March 26–31, 2024 (online March 26–April 7). Each program is different. Films are not rated. All programs are intended for mature audiences except for Saturday’s Almost All Ages (6+) program. Some films have imagery of a stroboscopic nature.
EDUCATION PARTNER U-M Department of Afroamerican and African Studies
COMMUNITY PARTNERS U-M Black Film Society African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County
DONOR Jackie & John Farah
Contractions Lynne Sachs Brooklyn, NY | 2024 | DCP
WORLD PREMIERE (online unavailable)
In 2022, the US Supreme Court ended a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion in the United States. In a place where a woman can no longer make decisions about her own body, a group of activist performers “speak” with the full force of their collective presence.
Festival Poster
State Theater
Michigan Theater with Barbara Hammer Tribute
Map of Filmmakers
Michigan Theater Lobby
Festival Director Leslie Raymond
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Archival festival ephemera at Domnick’s Restaurant, Ann Arbor
Jerry Fialka, attends the Ann Arbor Film Festival every year
Kornelia Boczkowska and Scott Stark
Leslie Raymond, Barbara Twist, and Lynne meeting to discuss the Barbara Hammer Experimental Film Award
With cinema as a focal point, Ragtag Film Society exists to captivate and engage communities in immersive arts experiences that explore assumptions and elicit shared joy, wonder, and introspection.
Embedded within this program are an array of storytelling approaches and diverse techniques, each offering a distinct lens through which to explore the themes of identity, community, and human connection. As this program unfolds, the films interweave these themes into a rich tapestry of narratives, inviting us to delve into the intricacies of the human experience. From the movements of experimental choreography to the vibrant art strokes that animate the frame, and the immersive worlds of fictional reenactments, these films showcase a spectrum of creative expressions, each contributing to the multifaceted exploration of our shared humanity. (Eynar Pineda, Artistic Co-Director)
Amma ki Katha | Dir. Nehal Vyas; 2023; India, USA; 21 min A creative and incisive look at how history is written and rewritten as a filmmaker unpacks the myth-making of her homeland, India.
L’Esquisse | Dir. Tomas Cali; 2023; France; 9 min Animated strokes blend with live-action, when an immigrant artist encounters a new muse who helps them make meaning in a new country.
Four Holes | Dir. Daniela Muñoz Barroso; 2023; Cuba, France; 20 min Filmmaker and subject find common ground in this humorous portrait of Pepe, the mastermind behind a DIY golf course on the outskirts of Madrid.
Two Sun | Dir. Blair Barnes; 2024; USA; 5 min A mood piece with its own rhythm, this evocative film explores the relationship to the self and our ever-evolving understanding of identity.
Contractions | Dir. Lynne Sachs; 2024; USA; 12 min Intimate confessions, paired with experimental choreography outside a woman’s clinic in Memphis, offer a glimpse into post Roe v. Wade America. (Plays in Shorts: Impossible Solution)
Producers Emily Berisso and Laura Goodman and Editor Anthony Svatek with Lynne Sachs at the Premiere of Contractions at True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri.
Lynne telling a Campfire Story at True / False Film Festival.
In the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade, “Contractions” takes us to Memphis, Tennessee where we contemplate the discontinuation of abortion services at a women’s health clinic. We listen to an obstetrician and a reproductive rights activist who movingly lay out these vital issues. We watch 14 women and their male allies who witness and perform with their backs to the camera. In a state where a woman can no longer make decisions about her own body, they can only “speak” with the full force of their collective presence.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion in the United States. Twenty-one states now ban abortion outright or earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v. Wade, which governed reproductive rights for half a century. The woman’s health care facility in this film no longer offers abortions.
Intimate confessions, paired with experimental choreography outside a woman’s clinic in Memphis, offer a glimpse into post Roe v. Wade America.
“A couple of years after the annulment of the ruling known as Roe v. Wade, which, since 1973, guaranteed the right to abortion in the United States, weeds are growing on the walls of an empty clinic in Memphis, Tennessee. In this abandoned setting, a group of women, some holding hands with their companions, seem to recreate a kind of off-screen abortion: the entrance and exit of the clinic. We do not see their faces, but the sound guides us: in the voices of two women we hear the testimonies of those who once exercised a right, now lost. “ – Karina Solórzano, Documenta Madrid
“The cast’s gestures enact trauma, nerves, and capriciousness in doing something once legally acceptable that is now the opposite. They carry a history where their reproduction rights are currently in paralysis.” – Dispatches from True/False, The Brooklyn Rail, Edward Frumkin
Sachs records the participants in her film Contractions as they vocalize their reactions to the reduction of women’s bodily autonomy in the US.
Artist Statement
Maybe everyone has this feeling in some way. When something terrible happens in the world, we ask ourselves “What can I do?” More often than not, I feel hopeless and powerless and go on with my life. But sometimes, the despair so haunts me that I realize that I must respond in some way. I need my artistic practice to articulate how I am feeling, not so much as an act of persuasion but rather a witnessing. In the summer of 2023, I went back to my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee when abortion clinics across the country were closing their doors after the 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion nationwide. I worked with 14 activists – mostly women but also a few male allies – to perform with their backs to the camera in a unified expression of anger and sadness. We had also had the same number of volunteer marshals there with us — inside cars and in nearby buildings — to look out for us during the entire film production. These days, gathering together with kindred spirits to make a movie about abortion rights puts everyone involved in a vulnerable position. It was a relief to have a form of security there to support us. I interviewed two women for the film’s soundtrack: Dr. Kimberly Looney, an obstetrician gynecologist who had years of experience performing abortions prior to the changes in the local laws and a leader in the African-American family planning movement; and, an anonymous driver who is part of an underground reproductive justice community that takes pregnant women who want abortions across state lines.
Together, they bear witness to a troubled time in which women are losing their ability to control what happens to their own bodies. In addition, I recorded with our performers. Each participant sang, hummed, or simply verbally articulated their anguish over the situation they watch each and every day in the state of Tennessee and elsewhere around the country. Mixed in unison, their voices form an aural chorus, that can be heard in the film. Making Contractions has already given me the chance to spend time with others in the reproductive justice movement. Through the film, I have engaged with spokespeople in the medical field, underground activists with a commitment to acts of nonviolent civil-disobedience, and quiet powerfully committed volunteers. The experience of making this film has changed me. I am only beginning to discover how the film and our collective efforts will be experienced by audiences. I will smile if these moments of witnessing – whether in the theater or the living room — bring about introspection and recalibration.
Credits
Director Lynne Sachs
Voices Dr. Kimberly Looney Jane
Performers SaBrenna Boggan Chase Colling Shana J. Crispin Kimberly Hooper-Taylor Coe Lapossy A. Lloyd Audrey May Vanessa Mejia Natalie Richmond Krista Scott Neal Trotter J. Wright Nubia Yasin
Co-producers Emily Berisso Laura Goodman Lynne Sachs
Cinematographer Sean Hanley
Editor Anthony Svatek with assistance from Tiff Rekem
Studio recording Doug Easley
Sound mix Kevin T. Allen
Festivals and Selected Screenings:
True/False Film Fest, United States (2024) Cosmic Rays Film Festival, United States (2024) Ann Arbor Film Festival, United States (2024) Onion City Experimental Film Festival, United States (2024) Prismatic Ground Film Festival, United States (2024) Moviate Underground Film Festival, United States (2024) Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University, United States (2024) DocumentaMadrid International Film Festival, Spain (2024) VIENNA SHORTS International Shorts Film Festival, Austria (2024) PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art | “Sentient Disobedients” Program, Canada (2024) DC/DOX Film Festival, United States (2024) Olhar de Cinema Festival Internacional de Curitiba, Brazil (2024) Other Cinema, San Francisco (2024) AGX Boston Film Collective, Films from the Abortion Clinic Film Collective, Boston (2024) Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taipei, Taiwan (2024) Mimesis Documentary Festival, Boulder, Colorado (2024) Camden International Film Festival, (2024) Chicago Underground Film Festival, (2024) Dialogues Documentary Festival, Milwaukee, WS (2024)
MAR. 16 2024: HUGHES + GRUFFAT + SACHS/WATERS/GUEVARA-FLANAGAN +
Utterly inspiring are the creative responses by US women artists–both individually and collectively– to last year’s deplorable dismantling of Roe Vs. Wade. Now, the opening half of our annual SisPix show is proud enough to boast a diverse selection of resonant pieces from contemporary female makers on a variety of women’s issues, tho we’re equally honored to dedicate the evening’s latter half to the initial group screening of the Abortion Clinic Film Collective‘s righteous howls of rage! So, in the first 40 mins. of (mostly) new work we’ll be treated to Salise Hughes‘ Big Daddy Learns a Lesson, Sabine Gruffat‘s Move or Being Moved, Christina Ibarra‘s Dirty Laundry, Kate Novack‘s Hysterical Girl, and more! Then our second block sets out to amplify the angry voices and visions of of a newly developing network of fierce feminists producing protest pieces to rally our will to resist the retrograde forces raiding our hard-won rights. Among that cadre is Lynne Sachs, Sasha Freyer Waters, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Ray Rea, Doan Hoang Curtis…and more coming in! $10-100 fund-raiser for the Ntl. Network of Abortion Funds non-profit. Celebrate Women’s History Month!
The COSMIC RAYS FILM FESTIVAL is an annual celebration of short films that expand our idea of what film is and what it can be.
The Festival presents several programs of short films made by filmmakers from North Carolina and around the world that are formally inventive; speak with a personal voice; and are inspired by the possibilities of film as art.
PROGRAM 4: WE’LL GO DOWN IN THE ABYSS IN SILENCE
Rituals to ward off the demons or lead us through the abyss. Incantations in the face of dropped frames and radioactivity. If the choice is between love or religion, what are you waiting for?
Ashes of Rose Sasha Waters, 2023 RT: 11:30 minutes
Her Backyard / My Front Window Billy Palumbo, 2023 RT: 3:36 minutes
Hey Sweet Pea Alee Peoples, 2023 RT: 4:08 minutes
Three Mystics Ioanna Filippopoulou, 2023 RT: 8:34 minutes
We’ll Go Down The Abyss in Silence Vincent Guilbert, 2023 RT: 11:00 minutes
Evocation Richard Ashrowan, 2023 RT: 3:22 minutes
Otherhood Deborah Stratman, 2023 RT: 3:00minutes
Poem For Three Voices Lan Anh Chu, 2023 RT: 02:44 minutes
