Women's History Is The History Of Revolutions

Signs from “A Day Without A Woman” honoring International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month in 2017. [AFP/Mandel Ngan]

For your Women’s History Month viewing pleasure, here are five films about fighting dictators, bosses and white supremacists for liberation.

¡Las Sandinistas! (2018)

[Kino Lorber]

In ¡Las Sandinistas!, the women of Nicaragua’s communist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) are front and center as they topple U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza during the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979. The documentary features present-day interviews with six of the women, detailing their sacrifices and independence as they battled for a better and more gender-equal world. Their memories, spliced with footage and photographs from their time in the FSLN, illustrate their pivotal roles in bringing about a revolution, and the extent to which their sacrifice and efforts have been erased by Nicaraguan president and Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega.

Disclosure (2020)

[Netflix]

Through interviews with transgender actors, executive producer Laverne Cox explores the history of transgender people in film, and the ways that trans actors, particularly trans women, have navigated an industry that has historically discriminated against them. Through exploring film history, the Netflix documentary reminds us that though trans people have recently become more visible they’ve always been present in cinema. And Cox makes the case that transgender representation is just the beginning of liberation, not the finish line.

Mountains That Take Wing: Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama (2009)

[Women Make Movies]

Spanning 13 years, this remarkable documentary features conversations between scholars and activists Angela Davis and Yuri Kochiyama, covering Jim Crow, Japanese American internment, civil rights, and prison reform. (Though the film isn’t available for viewing online, Women Make Movies has made the DVD available for home purchase.)

Triangle: Remembering the Fire (2011)

Trailer

[HBO]

Though the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 is taught in schools as part of American history, the lives of the 146 women who died are rarely discussed. Through interviews with descendants of victims and survivors, this short documentary reveals the stories of these young immigrant women and teenagers, and explores how the tragedy transformed the labor movement. (Though the documentary is on HBO, it’s also available for free on Vimeo.)

North Country (2005)

[Take Part, Participant Media]

A Minnesota coal miner leads her female coworkers to file a class-action suit after relentless harassment and abuse. The film is based upon the real-life story of Lois Jenson and her female coworkers at Minnesota's Eveleth Mines. Male coworkers at the mine taunted, physically harassed and attacked their women peers. Jenson went on to file the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit to be tried in federal court in the U.S. During the trial, lawyers for the mine asked the women about their sexual histories and other personal details, carrying the abuse from the mine to the courtroom.

Bonus: Read Sarah Leonard on Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary about New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign.