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Democracy on Trial: The Morgentaler Affair & I Had an Abortion
Two films that look at abortion in Canada and women's experience with abortion, respectively.
Concordia University (Montreal)
Monday September 22, 2008
Screening begins 19h30
Venue: Room H-110, 1455 de maisonneuve
Paul Cowen / Canada / 1984 / 58 min & Gillian Aldrich / USA / 2005 / 55 min
For this double-bill screening, the event's co-sponsor, 2110 Center for Gender Advocacy, will be speaking about the upcoming campaign to block the Harper government's "back door legislation" that could once again lead to the criminalization of abortion in Canada. To provide context to the issues, we are screening a classic NFB documentary followed by a more contemporary film from Women Make Movies that is a series of ten five-minute interviews with women who have had abortions in the USA.
SYNOPSIS - DEMOCRACY ON TRIAL: THE MORGENTALER AFFAIR
A concise and captivating review of the legal battle waged by Dr. Henry Morgentaler in Québec and federal courts between 1970 and 1976. Through a combination of newsreel footage, interviews, and dramatic re-enactments (in which Dr. Morgentaler and his lawyer play themselves), this docudrama unravels the complexities of the case that began as a challenge to Canada's abortion law and turned into a precedent-setting civil rights case. The film also offers insight into the physician's motivation for defying the law and reveals how our judicial system responded to this emotionally charged challenge of the controversial abortion law.
SYNOPSIS - I HAD AN ABORTION
Underneath the din of politicians posturing about "life" and "choice" and beyond the shouted slogans about murder and rights, there are real stories of real women who have had abortions. Each year in the US, 1.3 million abortions occur, but the topic is still so stigmatized it’s never discussed in polite company. Powerful, poignant, and fiercely honest, I HAD AN ABORTION tackles this taboo, featuring 10 women – including famed feminist Gloria Steinem – who candidly describe experiences spanning seven decades, from the years before Roe v. Wade to the present day. Filmmakers Jennifer Baumgardner (author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future) and Gillian Aldrich insightfully document how changing societal pressures have affected women’s choices and experiences.
Cutting across age, race, class and religion, the film unfolds personal narratives with intimate interviews, archival footage, family photos and home movies. Arranged chronologically, the stories begin with Florence Rice, now 86, telling without regret about her abortion in the 1930s. Other women speaking out include Marion Banzhaf, who, inspired by both the Miss America protests and the Stonewall rebellion, fundraised on her campus to pay for her abortion, and Robin Ringleka-Kottke, who found herself pregnant as an 18-year-old pro-life Catholic. With heartfelt stories that are never sentimentalized, I HAD AN ABORTION personalizes what has become a vicious and abstract debate.
CREDITS - DEMOCRACY ON TRIAL: THE MORGENTALER AFFAIR
Director
Paul Cowan
Editing
Paul Cowan
Producer
Adam Symansky
Jefferson Lewis
Paul Cowan
Executive producer
Robert Verrall
Andy Thomson
Script
Jefferson Lewis
Cinematography
Paul Cowan
Mike Mahoney
Sound
Jacques Drouin
Sound editing
Bernard Bordeleau
Sound mixing
Jean-Pierre Joutel
Adrian Croll
Narrator
William Hunt
Music
Alex Pauk
Alexina Louie
Cast
Gabriel Gascon
Henry Morgentaler
Mike Morgentaler
Michael Rudder
Lisa Schwartz
Claude-Armand Sheppard
Jacques Thisdale
Gwen Tolbart
CREDITS - I HAD AN ABORTION
A film by Gillian Aldrich and Jennifer Baumgardner
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