Elevate Difference

Reviews of Documentary Educational Resources

Tehran Has No More Pomegranates

Massoud Bakshim’s Tehran Has No More Pomegranates identifies itself as “a musical, historical, comedy, docu-drama, love story, experimental film.” Attempts to classify the film—as a postmodern visual stew, as a sarcastic video collage-portrait, as a half-tribute-half-roast—don’t quite encapsulate the its nuances.

Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy

The opening shots in Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy, a fifty-minute documentary narrated by Edwidge Danticat, reveal an island paradise: turquoise waters, green hills, beautiful, and colorful flowers. But these scenes don’t last long. Almost immediately, we’re introduced to numerous working-class and poor women, nicknamed poto mitan, Creole for the pillar around which everything revolves.

Love Iranian-American Style

Finding love is never easy. But having to deal with what your family expects, especially when it contradicts the current society that you are a part of, makes it that much harder. Tanaz is an Iranian-American woman, who has pursued an education and is now a filmmaker. However, she is 26 years old and unmarried, which is unacceptable in her family’s eyes.

Into the Field

The focus of Into the Field is the secular lives of the women living in the Romanian monastery, Varatec, rather than their spiritual ones. The everyday life of nuns is skimmed over by filmmaker Alyssa Grossman. Presumably, Varatec is as self-sustaining as possible due to its isolated location, and there are many shots of nuns working in the fields.

At Highest Risk

Watching this film made me realize all the things I take for granted - for instance, the advanced practices we have in maternal medicine. Overall, At Highest Risk is about the conditions, process and risks Andean women endure, especially in the last months of pregnancy until the birth of the baby. A huge part of the film concentrates on certain laws and solutions that have been put into effect by the community and society in order to avoid complications or, worse, death due to giving birth.
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