Here are some relevant pics to watch out for. There are many films at Hot Docs in which women step out of their usual roles, but this one is especially effective. When a group of women in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn decides to start an all-woman emergency unit, they encounter resistance from within and without. Sometimes problematic ringleader Rachel Freier is riveting and so is her cause. Defy the law and you can be imprisoned, even killed.
Sarah Menzies contrasts their painful daily existence with the exhilaration of independently pedalling through the hills. Watch sex workers be treated with uncommon respect in a justice system initiative that allows them to avoid prosecution and criminal records by participating in a counselling program.
Stephanie Wang-Breal follows the judge, social workers and clients interacting in unique relationships. Women chefs try to sustain their craft β and their authority β while changing the hierarchical culture in their kitchens. Maya Gallus tracks chefs with diverse interests and approaches, creating a fascinating journey through food land and revealing the joys and the challenges of their passionate pursuits.
Many of those explorers could have been women long before Sally Ride soared into space in the 80s. Three decades earlier, scores of female pilots were tested and proved as able if not moreso than their male counterparts. Mercury 13 probes why these gifted aviators have been consigned to obscurity. This portrait of Nadia Murad probes her pursuit of justice for her Yazidi people, victims of genocide in Iraq.
The outspoken advocate has to deal with her own trauma β including repeated sexual assaults β under the relentless scrutiny of the media and her enemies. Speaking out has never been so challenging. As MeToo deniers grumble about all those abusers who never got a fair trial, here comes the perfect pic to illustrate how the system fails rape victims.
