Tag Archives: women’s reproductive rights

‘NO CHOICE’ (DWF LA 2025) Reproductive rights genre bender is a stylish and hellish debut

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Dances-With-Films-logo 2025NO CHOICE 


no choice posterNate Hilgartner brings a stylistically strong debut to Dances With Films LA 2025 in NO CHOICE. Amy struggles to keep her head above water in her small-town life. Working at a convenience store and riding her bike, she longs to make someone more of herself. An unexpected pregnancy is the result of a broken condom on a first date. Being financially responsible for her addict mother and impending college tuition, an abortion, and the lack of access have potentially deadly consequences for Amy.

Hilgartner uses increasingly dark dream sequences to delve into fear and anxiety. The score is pure horror. The lighting elicits a dizzying terror.

The film tackles medical care droughts in America and bible belt fear-mongering. Watching Amy shell out hundreds of dollars in emergency room visits is painful. Hilgartner cleverly uses social media chaos and misinformation. The most disgusting part is the shaming by Amy’s male doctor and her addict mother.

Hannah Deale (shout out to my fellow AMDA Panda) gives Amy her all. You can see the wheels turning as she battles negative energy and thoughts at every turn. You want so badly to rescue her from this cycle of poverty and sadness. Deale braves this complex emotional roller-coaster like a pro.

NO CHOICE is a creative deep dive into the psyche of desperation. It is the manifestation of intrusive thoughts. With women literally being used as human incubators (I’m talking to you, Georgia), and reproductive rights being stripped away by the minute, NO CHOICE is essential art.

Official Selection: Dances With Films 2025.

Follow the conversation on Instagram & X: @NoChoiceMovie

Hashtag: #NoChoiceMovie

Website: www.NoChoiceMovie.com

After its World Premiere in Los Angeles, NO CHOICE will travel to the GASP! Horror Festival for its International Premiere on June 29th, 5:45pm at Cultplex in Manchester, UK.

DWF-HEADER-LA-2025For more Dances With Films coverage, click here!

‘ARREST THE MIDWIFE ‘ (SXSW 2025) A powerful look at another reproductive right being mandated by ignorance.

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ARREST THE MIDWIFE

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Filmmaker Elaine Epstein follows the case of Elizabeth Catlin, a midwife charged with 95 felony counts after the death of one baby. However, Liz is not the first or last midwife to find themselves in court.

The Mennonite community uses midwives as per tradition. Liz is part of a tight group of women that serve these mothers and their families. Suddenly, Yates County begins targeting one midwife after another, putting further stress on the health and safety of women.

The state of NY has increased the requirements of education to maintain accreditation. Liz and her fellow care providers are CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives), each assisting in 100s of births, but according to NY State, that isn’t enough to exist legally.

We don’t get the details of Liz’s specific case until halfway through. When you hear them, your jaw will drop. No one in their right legal mind would ever bring charges against Liz. Going against their tradition of staying within their community, the Mennonite women come to court, write letters, and travel down state in drives to support advancing legislative change. Women supporting other women move the needle.

As a mother who had two births in Manhattan, I envy the homebirth experience 9 years after my first birth. At 35, the term geriatric pregnancy was insulting enough. After numerous ultrasounds and tests, when my son was in crisis during my 16 labor, all that science went out the window, leading to an emergency c-section. Birth trauma is real.

The film is a beautifully structured freight train of activism. Our rights are under attack. This is another example that most of us weren’t even aware of. ARREST THE MIDWIFE is a prime example of how a state’s rights governance hurts its population. Whether it’s midwifery or abortion, this causes care deserts, leading to a high likelihood of deaths. You cannot watch this film and tell me this isn’t a story about body autonomy. ARREST THE MIDWIFE is a fierce feminist film about choice in the face of another oppressive patriarchal and capitalist structure. Let women choose.

Director: Elaine Epstein

Producers: Elaine Epstein & Robin Hessman

Running Time: 82 minutes

 

Caught between the law and the well-being of the Amish and Mennonite families they serve, midwives in upstate New York operate in a healthcare desert—risking jail time simply for providing critical care. As their midwives are arrested, the women from these insular communities break from their traditions to become unexpected activists, fighting for systemic change.

With exceptionally rare and intimate access, director Elaine Epstein crafts a powerful David-and-Goliath story of resilience and resistance. Set against the backdrop of America’s maternal health crisis and the erosion of reproductive rights, ARREST THE MIDWIFE is both a poignant portrait of a community in crisis and an urgent call to protect every woman’s right to choose how she brings the next generation into the world.


 SXSW SCREENINGS:

  • PREMIERE: Sunday, March 9 at 2:15 PM CT – Alamo Lamar 5 and 6
  • Tuesday, March 11 at 2:45 PM CT – Alamo Lamar theaters 2 and 7
  • Thursday, March 13 at 2:45 PM CT – Violet Crown Cinema theaters 2 and 4

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For all things SXSW, click here!

DOC NYC review: ‘TO KID OR NOT TO KID’ is about supporting women.

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Parenting is not for everyone. Some women are adamantly against having children. There is a stigma that’s attached to that choice. TO KID OR NOT TO KID speaks directly to that choice and the backlash it predominantly receives.  How does this choice affect others and more importantly, is it anyone’s else’s right to have an opinion on the matter at all? When I was younger, I thought I’d never have children. It wasn’t until I was 26 and was riding the subway when I saw a baby in a knitted strawberry hat and my body ached. Boom. I knew I was meant to be a mother. But it wasn’t until almost 10 years later that I actually gave birth. I was busy traveling the world, using the best equipment, like the best coolers for the money you can get (much like filmmaker Maxine Trump) The only difference is I already knew I’d regret it.

The film explores not only the decision but the potential for that regret. It also addresses the fears that all women have about losing their identity. As someone who is a SAHM to two kids under three, 15months apart,  there are many days I feel like “I’m just Mom.” I yearn for adult conversation and most definitely experience postpartum anxiety. Thankfully, the film also addresses these emotions. It doesn’t skirt the conversation about getting pregnant and the potential difficulties involved. Motherhood is endless judgment. But so is the opposite. A woman cannot win either way. We don’t judge men in the same way, but I suppose that’s no surprise. Women’s rights are once again under scrutiny. Be it the government, doctors, the economy, the societal pressure to reproduce is unreal when you break it down by dollars and cents. Director Maxine Trump speaks with women from all backgrounds and life choices to see where they’re coming from as she tries to find her own truth about wanting to have kids with her husband. It’s an incredibly thoughtful film that made me feel more normal, frankly. TO KID OR NOT TO KID is wonderfully relevant in a time when women feel like they finally have more of a voice. The world is changing and women’s honesty will make the world a better place. We need to hold one another up not tear each other down. There are too many forces at hand already trying their best to divide us.

WORLD PREMIERE Filmmaker Maxine Trump turns the camera on herself and her close circle of family and friends as she confronts the idea of not having kids. While exploring the cultural pressures and harsh criticism child-free women regularly experience, as well as the personal impact this decision may have on her own relationship, Maxine meets other women reckoning with their choice: Megan, who struggles to get medical permission to undergo elective sterilization, and Victoria, who lives with the backlash of publicly acknowledging that she made a mistake when she had a child.

 

Official Site: https://www.tokidornottokid.com/
On Twitter: MaxineTrump
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tokidornottokid/
Director: Maxine Trump
Producer: Josh Granger
Cinematographer: Maxine Trump
Editor: Maxine Trump
Running Time: 75
Language: English
Country: USA, England, Wales
Year: 2018