In 2008 Motherbaby Festivals are being held in Bermuda - September 13-14; Traverse City - October 15-17; and Costa Rica - November 22-23. Each Festival is unique, screening different films from the following selections. The purpose of the 2008 festivals is to explore ways to empower women, improve the birthing experience and save lives. The CIA World Factbook for 2008 gives the following world rankings for infant mortality: Bermuda - 60, Costa Rica - 66 and The United States - 43. Bermuda and Costa Rica both outlaw midwives entirely and there are 9 states in the US which outlaw midwives. We believe that friendly health care and midwives should be a valued part of every community.
A Cow Trough???
8 minutes; Category: World Premiere
2008
A cow trough is turned into a sumptuous birthing spa with the creative genius of a mother and her toddler. Set to music and humorously edited by Matt and Frank Ferrel, you will never look at a cow trough in the same way again.
A Year In Provence
8 Minutes; Category: World Premiere
2008
While the Anderson - Tokheim family spent the year in Nice, their third child was born. Spend the year with them via Brooks Anderson’s gorgeous paintings and Shirley’s extraordinary delivery of Barrett. During her labor, Shirley entertained family and friends by playing her favorite Chopin etude on the piano.
Autism Yesterday
26 Minutes; Category: A Pound of Cure
2008
With wisdom, love and excellent help, six families show how they recovered their children from the prison of autism.
Baby-Led Breastfeeding
16 minutes; Category: Baby Milk
2007
Mother Nature is always teaching us how to truly nourish our babies. The baby needs to be calm in order to nurse. And for that, the Mother needs to be calm and present with her baby. In this sweet video, we learn how to help babies follow their instincts. Heart to heart, skin on skin, the new/old technology that leads to successful breastfeeding and sublime satisfaction.
Birth As We Know It
20 Minutes; Category WNL
2006
In only two years, this video became a classic. It has everything: women laboring in ecstasy, dolphins and babies swimming together, gorgeous images, beautiful music and common sense birth shown to be the exotic creature that it is.
Birth Day
11 Minutes; Category WNL
2000
This favorite short birth video - which parents, childbirth educators and midwives love - captures the beauty of a homebirth filmed in the countryside of Xalapa, Mexico. Narrated by mother and midwife, Naoli Vinaver.
Birth Dialogue
52 Minutes; Category: Premiere
2007
Miri and Amit live in the crush of busy Tel Aviv where most women deliver their babies in the hospital. But these two filmmakers decide to make their cozy apartment the birthplace of their first child. This is a thoughtful and sometimes humorous journey with the parents-to-be in the months leading up to and including the birth of their baby. At one point, Miri rapidly reads a long list of things ‘needed’ for the baby - none of which they had. Then she asks, “Where is the love and affection?”…on the list. Amit is seen alternately interviewing people, vacuuming the house and filming the busy street just off their balcony. Hebrew with English subtitles.
Birth Right
8.5 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2008
It’s Alabama and the living is not easy for Midwives. They are outlawed. This video gently explores the whys and wherefores and suggests a path to freedom of choice.
The Birth of Sabine
10 minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2005
One of the messages of birth is that every woman is different, each birth is unique, every baby has her own way of arriving. The Birth of Sabine is a Motherbaby favorite. Narration free, this video shows the expansion of a family from beginning to end in ten short minutes. Drama sets in when the baby’s water breaks but Sabine decides to wait in the womb for a little longer. ‘What’s a Mother to do?’
Children of Tak’alik A’baj
7 Minutes; Category: WNL
2008
No narration, new music and tight editing show a rural Guatemalan couple giving birth to their 9th child at home. No running water and no electricity either. With a black market for babies in Guatemala, it was no easy feat for the filmmaker to find a couple willing to have the birth of their baby videotaped. In the end it was no problem as birth occurs every day around the world in this simple way.
Composite Film
30 Minutes; Category: An Ounce of Prevention
2008
Remember the creative scene in The Business of Being Born where the woman is offered pitocin? Remember the squirm-in-your-seat interviews with Michael Moore in The Drugging of Our Children? Add to this, David Humphry’s research indicates we only have about 4 or 5 more generations before we will not even be able to breed. This helps us begin to see our choices differently.
Evidence Based Childbirth
15 Minutes; Category: World Premiere
2008
Narrative from Robbie Davis-Floyd, four mothers, and lots of clips from gorgeous homebirths delivers the message that home birth is safe, desirable and simple. Davis-Floyd says, “94% of births in the US are attended by obstetricians with only 6% attended by midwives. We need to flip the numbers.”
Finding The Words
10 Minutes; Category: A Pound of Cure
2007
This short version of Finding The Words completely changes the conversation about autism and neurological disorders. The full-length version of Finding the Words tells the story of eight perfect babies, all given a grim diagnosis of autism as toddlers. Their parents fight misinformation, prejudice, and despair to get their children well. The message is: There is hope. Children can be recovered.
Formula for Disaster
30 Minutes; Category: Baby Milk
2007
UNICEF shows us how sophisticated ads, clever promotions, and bribery are killing an estimated 1.5 million babies each year. Filmed in the Philippines, “the milk companies’ formula for profits is a formula for disaster,’ and this film alerts us to the easily remedied causes.
It’s My Body, My Baby, My Birth
27 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2007
San Francisco homebirth midwife, Maria Iorillo, shares stories and interviews of clients from her very multicultural practice.
Knowledge of Birth (working title)
30-40 Minutes: Category: World Premiere
2008
Christina van Duijn wants women to be empowered by their birth experience, become educated in their choices and know all their options for a healthy delivery. In this film, laughter, joy, tears, and children all attend Christina’s four births. This is a true love story in a unique family making its own way in the world.
Laboring Under an Illusion: Portrayal of Childbirth in the Mass Media
60 Minutes; Category: World Premiere
2008
Hot off the press, this video shows how human childbirth is portrayed in American movies, television, and tabloids. Humorist and media specialist Vicki Elson uses 100 video clips to contrast Hollywood birth scenes with films made by natural childbirth advocates. Hilarious, alarming, inspiring.
Luna
7 Minutes; Category: WNL
2008
This luscious birth video is narrative free. It is set to an amazing and beautiful blues rendition of “Silent Night.” In playful hours before the birth, the camera chases Luna’s toddling sister, Sol, through the house and into the bathtub. When Luna arrives, amniotic fluid and bag still intact, we feel refreshed, invigorated, playful and so glad that all of this was ‘captured’ on film.
Miss Margaret
50 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2008
“Where Did the Grannies go? We need them now,” said an Alabama man. This new edit of the documentary about Margaret Charles Smith (1906-2004) includes footage from Wash. DC when she was honored by the Black Congressional Caucus. Mrs. Smith was a favorite Granny Midwife in rural Alabama. She practiced during segregation delivering over 3,500 babies in homes without ever losing a mother. About the women she attended, she said, “They’ll know what they’ve got to do if you know how to talk to them. You give ‘em love and kind words. That beats it all.” The vast wisdom of the grannies is fading and women in Alabama can no longer choose to give birth at home.
Political Midwifery
13 Minutes; Category: An Ounce of Prevention
2007
Please pay attention. What happened in the state of Washington could happen to midwives in any state. Harassment and prosecution is expensive financially and psychologically. This student-made film is a tour de force of the politics of birth.
Pregnant in America
110 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2008
Newly finished, this video explores the highs and lows of giving birth in the United States. Wildly funny in parts and profoundly moving always, there is a lot to learn from Mandy and Steve Buonaugurio’s story.
Orgasmic Birth
87 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2008
At last, the video we’ve all been waiting for. Debra Pascali-bonaro spent five years researching, interviewing and collaborating for this groundbreaking film which visually and verbally presents birth as an ecstatic experience. Oxytocin, birth and digital videography make a great team in this highly informative film. Those interviewed include Ina May Gaskin, Maureen Corry, Elizabeth Davis, Sarah Buckley and Marsden Wagner. Several ecstatic births are presented.
Sendero de Nimbe
15 Minutes; Category: Premiere
2008
Midwife Naoli Vinaver Lope wrote, filmed, directed and edited this work about a Mexican woman contemplating her options for birth. Naoli was able to use the actual footage from the homebirth of her principal actor.
Three Mamas, Six Babies
15 Minutes; Category: Premiere
2007
Midwife Jennifer Gallardo filmed the natural births of three sets of twins. This is rare and interesting footage edited by James Westby with his signature music.
Vaccine Nation
90 Minutes; Category: Science vs. Culture
2008
Where would you turn, what would you do, who would you trust if you were imprisoned for “shaken baby syndrome” when in reality the cause of your baby’s suffering was a prescribed vaccine? This is the high drama. Gary Null has produced another groundbreaking video which could change the way we look at vaccines, public policy and our very expensive health care system.
Who Are The De Bolts?
73 Minutes; Category: Mother Love
1977
John Korty won an Academy Award for documenting this very multi-cultural family. The original title was “Who Are The DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?” But the DeBolts adopted yet another child after the film’s release hence the simplified title. It is now available from itunes and Amazon. This film shows the healing power of hearts aflame with Mother Love. Everyone should see it at least once.
Yoga With Your Baby
48 Minutes; Category: Premiere
2008
Jacki Long is a yoga and meditation teacher with a degree in neuropsychology from Princeton. She weaves world wisdom into a playful yoga program for parents and infants. This calming video is so relaxing that you might as well bring a pillow or mat to the screening.
Please don’t hesitate to
contact us if you have any questions about the 2008 films at the Motherbaby International Film Festival.