Menopause is a silent epidemic affecting the health and well-being of millions of women. This film confronts this neglected crisis, challenges societal and medical shortcomings and advocates for a revolutionary approach to women's health.
Social & External
The people behind it
From a high school art class to a local radio station, the day-to-day lives of several women coalesce into a poetic documentation of women’s presence and physicality across everyday spaces.
Exploring the subject of menopause in Ireland, seeking to broaden the conversation around a subject often considered taboo and finding out how real women experience this life event which affects half the population.
Davina was 44 and felt like she was losing it - hot flushes, depression, mental fog. Now she tells her menopause story, busting midlife taboos from sex to hormone treatment.
Rosemarie Blank made this film, which focuses on women aged around fifty, in collaboration with the organisation VIDO (Dutch: Vrouwen in de Overgang/Women in the Menopause). An all but invisible group of housewives who have spent their lives putting themselves last to ensure that their husbands and children can reach their full potential.
A documentary about hot flashes, organ descent, bladder weakness, cellulite? Sounds like a horror movie, doesn't it? But what if it's quite the opposite, and instead opens the way to a profound questioning of our identity as women, of what we wish to experience and never experience again? Through the eyes of 12 women, Menopauses explores this time of life through stories told with lucidity and humor, which ultimately raise a broader question: until what age does society really consider us to be women?
Virtually every woman who enters menopause has questions about what’s happening to her body and how to effectively deal with the changes. The broad availability of medicines, remedies and even hormones even conveys the concept that menopause as a curable “deficiency disorder”. This documentary takes a look at the scientific and medical contexts of menopause as well as the latest findings in international research. Are artificial hormones medically necessary or a seductive, supposed fountain of youth? Do they truly assist in alleviating the suffering of women, or are they lifestyle drugs reflecting a zeitgeist in which ageing is no longer acceptable and older people are seen as “flawed”? A visual and provoking science documentary about the hot time of menopause that also takes a look at whether and how the hormones in men likewise go crazy.
A positive look at menopause. While different women confide how they experienced this natural and important passage in their lives, a female character tames her new environment and welcomes new ways of perceiving and projecting her femininity.
You-Turn is a short documentary that follows three menopausal women as they embark on a journey of reconnection and self-acceptance. After the damage that menopause has caused to their body image, this film explores the proces of speaking your truth, recognizing it’s worth, and being proud of it.
When her only daughter goes off to university, an empty nest mother gets stuck taking care of her daughter's heart-broken ex-boyfriend, who she can't stand.
Unabashed comedian Lynne Koplitz offers a woman's take on being crazy, the benefits of childlessness and the three things all men really want.
Jungok, a housewife who suffers from menopausal symptoms after her period stops, sells her unused sanitary pads on an online trading platform. On the day of the trade, she meets a young girl.
CONFESSIONS OF A MENOPAUSAL FEMME FATALE is a fearless stand-up storytelling concert film in which Shakoor uses raw honesty, wit, music, and personal narrative to share her 12-year journey through menopause—a transformative experience that reshaped her identity as a woman, mother, artist, and human being. Framed around a return trip to Hawaii nearly 40 years after she once called it home, the story unfolds when a panic attack triggers deep introspection, forcing Shakoor to confront unresolved struggles, including addiction, postpartum depression, loss, and self-reinvention. Through wit, song, and unflinching truth, Shakoor breaks the silence surrounding menopause in a powerful performance that challenges stigma, invites laughter, and inspires radical self-acceptance.
An unlikely basketball team of unappreciated middle-aged Texas women, all former high school champs, challenge the current high school girls’ state champs to raise money for breast cancer prevention. Sparks fly as the women go to comic extremes to prove themselves on and off the court, become a national media sensation, and gain a new lease on life.
Se-eun is a janitor who is always the first to arrive at the pool where she works. One day, she runs into an old friend who is now a swimming instructor.
Menopause turns a hot flashin' wallflower into a super-hot superhero.
For this work Alÿs purchased a gun in Mexico City then walked through the city streets with the weapon in his hand. After eleven minutes he was arrested by the police. The following day he repeated the action, this time in cooperation with the police. By presenting a record of this dramatic action alongside footage of its reenactment, Alÿs blurs the boundaries between documentation and fiction. Questioning the concept of authenticity, this work demonstrates “how media can distort and dramatize the immediate reality of a moment,” the artist has said. Gallery label from Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception, May 8–August 1, 2011.
Experimental Video Opera.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
Musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother and her beloved dog.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.