Prison Stories: Women on the Inside
Three novels - three dramatic stories in the walls of the women's prison. The first story - a brand new, first went to prison inmates. The second - about a mother whose son has ceased to go to prison for visits. The third - about the experiences of women on the eve of its release.
Donna Deitch
Penelope Spheeris
Dick Beebe
Jule Selbo
Joan Micklin Silver
Marlane Meyer
Martin Jones
Casts & Crew
Moe Bertran
Ken Butler
Rae Dawn Chong
Lolita Davidovich
Annabella Sciorra
Also Directed by Donna Deitch
Donna Deitch directed this documentary about the illness and death of her friend, actress Gwen Welles (Nashville). Diagnosed with an cancerous tumor in 1992, Welles chose not to go for conventional treatments, and the film shows her deterioration. Shot on video with a later transfer to 16mm, this film was shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.
Kim Jameson is a university professor while Kate Jameson - also known as Dominique, Kim’s twin sister - is a troubled model working in Paris. Kate is a drunk, in desperate need of rehabilitation. Kim checks her twin sister into a rehab center, agreeing to fill in for Dominique during her absence, but by doing so takes on more than she bargained for.
An awe-inspiring surreal allegory of man's destruction of himself and his environment, expressed through haunting, superimposed images of overwhelming power and authority.
Hannah Stern, an American-born Jewish adolescent, is uninterested in the culture, faith and customs of her relatives; however, Hannah begins to revaluate her heritage when she has a supernatural experience that transports her back to a Nazi death camp in 1941. There, she meets a young girl named Rivkah, a fellow captive in the camp. As Rivkah and Hannah struggle to survive in the face of daily atrocities, they form an unbreakable bond.
The story of straight-edge literature professor Vivian who travels to Reno to get away from a relationship breakup when she falls in love with an attractive and unconventional girl named Cay.
16mm, color, 3 min. Dir. Donna Deitch.
A documentary about hookers, housewives, and other mothers.
This movie contains three short stories dealing with the theme of homosexuality. In "A Friend of Dorothy", a woman joins the Navy during the 1950's and discovers lesbianism. In "Mr. Roberts", a teacher in a 1970's classroom struggles with his closeted gay status. Finally in "Amos and Andy", a father wrestles with his own emotional acceptance of a present day wedding between his son and another man.
A multigenerational story of the lives of several black women who call an inner-city tenement home.
16mm, color, 4 min. Dir. Donna Deitch.
Also Directed by Penelope Spheeris
The Decline of Western Civilization III is a 1998 documentary film directed by Penelope Spheeris that chronicles the 'gutter punk' lifestyle of homeless teens in Los Angeles.
Danger Theatre is an American half-hour comedy anthology series for television, produced by Universal Studios and originally aired on the American Fox network in 1993. With two exceptions, each half-hour-long show consisted of two comedy segments, each a spoof of a familiar action/anthology format. The style of the comedy was somewhat similar to that of films like Airplane! and TV shows like Police Squad! Robert Vaughn, most familiar to audiences from his role on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., was the host for each episode, introducing to camera each fifteen-minute segment with mock earnestness. The jokes ranged from humorous or preposterous dialogue to visual gags and slapstick designed to poke fun at the serious dramatic formats being lampooned. Danger Theatre only ran for seven episodes before cancellation, but was syndicated beyond the United States, airing in the United Kingdom on the BBC in 1994.
Documentery from 1991 where The 2 Live Crew, Chuck D (Public Enemy), Too Short, Ice-T, Geto Boys, H.W.A. drop real talk on different topics.
A boy enjoys the age-old pleasure of making a wish on a dandelion.
The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.
Roy and Bo leave their small town the weekend after graduation for a short road trip to LA. Soon, they find themselves lashing out and leaving a trial of bodies behind them. The violence escalates throughout.
A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender man who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising.
Ben's fiancée has her heart set on an expensive dream wedding, but her father, Jack, has secretly gambled away all his money. When Ben discovers he has a talent for exotic dancing, Jack pushes him to moonlight as a stripper to finance the wedding.
Penelope Spheeris presents an amazing chronicle of the travelling musical carnival known as OZZfest, the most successful summer concert tour for the last five years. Complete access to incredible material sends this documentary film into the realm of pure entertainment. Unforgettable moments from zealous religious protesters, outrageous fans and the guys (and girls) backstage provide an insightful view into the soul of white, middle-class America. A stunning and sometimes disturbing glimpse of a cultural movement, this film is sure to be a reference for historians for decades to come. This comment on Middle America skates the line between your worst nightmare and the best time you’ve ever had. Features interviews with, and performances by BLACK SABBATH, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SLIPKNOT, PRIMUS, ROB ZOMBIE, GODSMACK and more.
Aaron Roman (Gores) is a teenager with cerebral palsy who dreams of starring in a big-time action movie. When his father (Mantegna) grants Aaron his wish for his 18th birthday, he experiences the reality a bit hard to manage.
Also Directed by Joan Micklin Silver
The story of three women who live in a North Carolina town and defy the traditional roles set forth for them by society.
Isabelle's life revolves around the New York bookshop she works in and the intellectual friends of both sexes she meets there. Her grandmother remains less than impressed and decides to hire a good old-fashioned Jewish matchmaker to help Isabelle's love-life along. Enter pickle-maker Sam who immediately takes to Isabelle. She however is irritated by the whole business, at least to start with.
The staff of the Back Bay Mainline, a Boston underground newspaper that rose to prominence in the 1960s, struggles with the shifting social climate of the '70s amid rumors that the paper is about to be sold to a media giant.
Two young girls with a passion for touching fur coats become locked inside a furrier's shop after hours when two burglars break in.
Young Gilbert lives in an urban apartment building. One day he discovers a duck in the building's elevator. Gilbert decides to keep the duck, but to keep his new friend secret from his mother. But his mother suspects something is up. In the meantime, Gilbert uses his detective skills to find the owner of the duck in his no-pets-allowed apartment building.
A woman with two children believes she has three and her husband and oldest daughter play along with her to keep her balanced (or as close to balanced that a woman with an invisible child can be). However, when the family hires a new nanny, it is all just too much for her and she starts to blab. Written by John Sacksteder
The true story of Romper Room host "Miss Sherri" Finkbine, who, after the devastating effects of thalidomide were discovered in the early 1960s, sparked a firestorm of controversy with her determination to obtain an abortion.
"A family of Polish immigrants has a difficult time adjusting to life in the United States. The story centers on the son, named Janek, who has trouble fitting in at school and with his family."
Steven Keats plays a Russian emigre who prides himself on the way he's molded himself into a real Yankee in the USA, though the world he lives in, New York's Lower East Side in the late 19th century, is almost exclusively populated by other Jewish immigrants. When his wife (Carol Kane) finally arrives in the New World, however, she has a lot of assimilating to do. This causes the tension which drives the movie along, though it maintains a fairly light atmosphere most of the time.
A kid strives to be perfect, and in the end realizes that individuality is more fun.