From WMM: Celebrate Black History Month with Black Women's Stories

Celebrate Black History Month by uplifting Black Women's Stories

CELEBRATE BLACK WOMEN'S STORIES In honor of Black History Month, Women Make Movies presents a collection of films that uplift Black women's voices. Discover stories that explore the many intersections of race, nationality, gender, and technology with WMM new releases: STATELESS, BLACK FEMINIST and CODED BIAS. Learn about the ongoing fight for reproductive justice in BELLY OF THE BEAST, which was recently shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Original Song! NEW RELEASES STATELESS Directed by Michèle Stephenson Produced by Jennifer Holness, Lea Marin and Michèle Stephenson   Told through the grassroots campaign of attorney Rosa Iris, STATELESS reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic "Stateless shows how easily systemic racism and political power can erode a society like a virus..." - That Shelf Purchase: DVD or Digital Site License | Book a Virtual Screening  BLACK FEMINIST A film by Zanah Thirus Frustrated by the lack of intersectionality in the women's movement and the misogyny plaguing the Black liberation movement, filmmaker Zanah Thirus set out to shine a light on the complexities and power of Black feminism. Featuring interviews with a wide range of scholars, writers, business owners, veterans and comedians including former Ebony Editor-in-Chief Kyra Kyles, professor Carrie Morris, and author Tami Winfrey Harris, the film lays bare the everyday lived experiences of Black Women everywhere. Purchase: DVD or Digital Site License | Book a Virtual Screening  BELLY OF THE BEAST Directed by Erika Cohn Produced by Angela Tucker   BELLY OF THE BEAST exposes a pattern of illegal sterilizations, modern-day eugenics and reproductive injustice in California prisons through the intimate accounts of currently and formerly incarcerated women. "At once a thrilling legal drama and heartbreaking depiction of devastating human rights violations..." - LA Times Purchase: DVD or Digital Site License | Book a Virtual Screening  CODED BIAS A film by Shalini Kantayya   When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that most facial-recognition software misidentifies women and darker-skinned faces, she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms. "The most cleareyed of several recent documentaries about the perils of Big Tech...CODED BIAS tackles its sprawling subject by zeroing in empathetically on the human costs." - NY Times Purchase: DVD or Digital Site License | Book a Virtual Screening  You may be interested in other films in our Black Women's Stories collection! Race and Identity in America Black Lesbian Poets and Feminist Thinkers Women in the Global Fight Against AIDS Poverty, Race and HIV in the Rural South The First Black Woman to Run for President Gentrification in a Black Middle-Class Community Mothers of Murdered Black and Latin Youth The Life and Work of the Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer The Life of Actress, Poet and Activist: Beah Richards Legendary Black Lesbian Feminist Poet Audre Lorde Black Lesbian Artist and Activist Women of the Civil Rights Movement LEARN MORE AND BROWSE THE COLLECTION

From Parity Productions: a couple of changes

Parity Productions' new mission statement and artists database name

Parity Productions is in the midst of some changes. If you've been on our website lately, you may have noticed one or two of them. There are more on the way, but here's what we can share for now. One—We have a new mission statement: Parity Productions promotes parity by empowering women, trans, and gender-expansive artists in theatre. In fulfilling our mission, we: Commission and develop original plays Produce and promote the work of playwrights, directors, and designers Provide opportunities for underrepresented voices to work in theatre This new mission statement gets to the heart of what we do simply and clearly, and reflects our gender language shift—from the term trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) to gender-expansive. Which leads us to... Two—Our artists database has a new name: The Women and TGNC Artists Database is now The Parity Database. Same party, new nametag. The Parity Database is a free online resource we provide to the NYC theatre industry to create visibility for women, trans, and gender-expansive artists and provide easy access to them for artistic leaders who seek to create more equitable hiring practices for creative teams, with a goal of New York City productions meeting our 50% gender parity hiring standard. And because we intend to lead by example, we hire artists to all our own creative team positions through Database profiles. We're also actively adding Parity Database profiles during the COVID-19 theatrical shutdown, as a way Parity can support the New York artists who continue to create and make the performing arts accessible through even the most challenging periods, and to best champion these artists when live theatre returns. Artists interested in having a free profile in the database can complete this form at theparitydatabase.org. If you have any questions or feedback about these changes, please feel free to email us at info@parityproductions.org. Best, The Parity Productions Team