The spunk of Judith Helfand

This week's unit was centered around a fantastically courageous woman named Judith Helfand. I had first seen/heard of this woman while attending the Citizen Jane Film Festival. She was both a guest and a panelist. My first impression was "man, this woman is really hard core." I didn't know the half of it. Our class watched the film Blue Vinyl and it was then that I realized just how truly persistent she is. I gained a lot of respect for her this week and enjoyed what she's created so far:)

Our blog this week is not only to talk about Judith Helfand and Blue Vinyl, to also visit other sites that she may be associated with as well. I looked up the eight sites we were given earlier on this blog and decided to comment on each one.

BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM

The thing that really pulled me in when clicking onto the Barber of Birmungham site was the wonderful photographs. The photo seen is an adorable elderly black man fixing his tie. This intrigued me enough to go straight to the trailer.

The worse thing a man can do is nothing." That is a quote from the main character in the trailer. All the walls of his barber shop have pictures of people that have "done something." I realized how this was connected to this weeks unit when the trailer went on with the text "Chicken and Egg Pictures presents." The film seems like an incredibly inspiring story. What's more inspiring to a filmmaker than two woman going out and creating a film?

BLUE VINYL OFFICIAL SITE

Ahhhh, the Blue Vinyl site. I was really curious to see what this site would have. Would it have details of her argument with her parents about vinyl? Options to help defeat the companies that use pvc? What?

It was an interestingly simple site for the mass amount of work that was involved in actually creating the film. I kind of wish there was a trailer because the text was a little overwhelming and I feel if I knew nothing of the movie I would be turned off by the site. If there was a trailer I think more people would be intrigued.

MY HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE

I actually visited all of these sites out of the order that was originally typed up. This site was the last site I visited and I found that parts of the other sites were mixed into this one as well. I saw the picture of the beads that were on Judith's site, the Sam Suds cartoon from the pvc site, and even the logo that is found throughout the working films site.

I flipped through all of the tabs and found a lot of text. Much like the Blue Vinyl site, I wished there pictures or videos to stimulate interest. There was, however, an easily found list that stated the dangers of PVC.

• Cancer
• Endometriosis
• Neurological damage
• Immune system damage
• Respiratory problems
• Liver and kidney failure
• Birth defects

-http://www.myhouseisyourhouse.org/

BLUE VINYL AND WORKING FILMS

Working Films primary goal is to create films that make an impact. I could tell just by looking at the statement on their "about us" page:

"Working Films linking nonfiction film to cutting edge activism.

Working Films leverages the power of storytelling through documentary film to advance struggles for social, economic, and environmental justice, human and civil rights. With offices in the U.S. and London, we offer consultation, strategic planning for alternative distribution, website and social media development, and complete campaign management services to filmmakers to ensure the content of nonfiction media truly meets the intention for change.

Additionally, we support the communication needs of nonprofit organizations and others working for social change, providing media strategy and access to our dynamic portfolio of film-based resources that can extend the reach to, and engagement of, supporters, opinion leaders, decision makers, and other key audiences critical in advancing the issues that matter most. "

-workingfilms.org

This site was completely stuffed full of films and projects associated. Here are a list of topics that are present.

• Economic Justice
• Environmental Justice (Blue Vinyl was listed here)
• Gender and Sexuality
• Global issues
• Health and Ability
• Human Rights
• Race and Ethnicity

This would be such an interesting organization to work for. Not only because it would mean taking part in trying to create change, but also because I could see all the passionate filmmakers that want to make a difference in the world. I have a feeling I could spend all day going through the film titles and watching the trailers.

PVC: THE POISON PLASTIC

The first thing I did when going on the pvcfree site was watch the little cartoon. I thought it was clever. Having been in the film department and learning about the film noir style made me appreciate the quirky little cartoon. The thing that astonished me was that pvc was in so many things? The list that Sam Suds holds up has things like shampoo bottles on it!

When clicking the 'home' tab I found that Toys R' Us uses pvc plastic. AHHH!!! It is interesting that something so dangerous is casually chewed on by our kids without any of us really being aware. The funny thing is that after looking at this site I went all around my boyfriend's apartment and looked on the bottom of every plastic product to see if I would find the disastrous 3. Thankfully, I didn't find any, but I will be a lot more casual when shopping from now on.

Toys r us

looked at all my plastics afterwards for a 3

JUDITH HELFAND'S SITE

I went to www.judithhelfand.com and saw many pictures that I recognized from the film Blue Vinyl. There was the bead necklaces with bits of the vinyl that covered her home. There was a picture of her parents making the necklaces. I don't think that the site had been updated lately because the latest in the news feed was about a mother's day broadcast that took place in 2007. It was at this site that I saw that Judith's dad had died.

I went through all the sections of the site; films, news, workshops&speaking engagements, collaborations, bio, blog, and contact. I found the "films" section the most interesting because it was there that I was able to see the other issues she focused on when making films.

There were five of her films listed. The Uprising of '34(1995(, Everything's Cool(2007), EK Velt: At the end of the World(2004), Blue Vinyl(2002), and A Healthy Baby Girl (1997). Her topics are the dangers of PVC, global warming, cotton mill strike, and her family/personal experience with cancer. I found the idea of A Healthy Baby Girl the most interesting because it is a video diary shot over five years. It would be interesting to go deep into her life to see what events made her the strong woman she is today.

CHICKEN AND EGG

I actually looked at this site first because I've been hearing so much about it lately. I went to the "business of film" panel and Judith was one of the members there. I wish I had been able to see her work and know her background before the panel because I think I would have beeb able to appreciate the panel more as well as ask better questions.

Moving on... I liked the mission statement on the website so I decided to add it to the blog for those of you who forgot or haven't seen it can refresh.

"Chicken & Egg Pictures is a hybrid film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about the craft of storytelling as they are about the social justice, environmental and human rights issues they’re embracing, translating and exploring on film.

We match strategically timed financial support with rigorous, respectful and dynamic mentorship, creative collaboration and community-building to nurture women filmmakers whose diverse voices represent a range of lived experience and realities that have the power to change the world as we know it."

-http://www.chickeneggpics.org/

There was a video on the home page that had some examples of films associated with Chicken and egg. After each clip there were statements to how each film effected society. I wanted to watch all of them! These are the examples of films that were on the homepage.

• Lioness- America's first generation of female combat veterans
• 34x25x36- The perfect body/ideal woman
• Freechild- A detective fights for her right to leave her pension to the woman she loved

After watching the homepage clip I went on to look at the other films associated with Chicken and Egg pictures. The first film to catch my eye (big surprise) was Orgasm inc.

I had heard of this film, but had never seen the trailer. I cozied up in the big black office chair and clicked play. The film sounded fascinating. Orgasm Inc. is about the marketing campaigns that all advertise in assisting women to orgasm.

This was a very fascinating web search. I actually kind of liked it more than the usual packets we get. Not only because we save trees, but because it's fun to branch off and search for the topics I found interesting as well as having the ability to fully see the visual images and watch the trailers.

Until next week!