FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / KARTEMQUIN FILMS
Contact: Tim Horsburgh: tim@kartemquin.com 773-472-4366 @Kartemquin
The Gender Gap is Back
Women’s Voices: The Gender Gap (1984) - with 2012 update from Cartoonist
Nicole Hollander covering everything from Medicaid to “magical secretions” - to
screen at the Film Society of Lincoln Center October 25th and be released
digitally on SnagFilms on October 23rd.
Link for advance reviewing: https://vimeo.com/50781711 Password: wvgg+update
NYWIFT's Women's Film Preservation Fund Screening and Panel Discussion
Women's Voices: The Gender Gap Movie (1984)
Date/Time: Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012
6:30 - 8:30 PM - followed by a reception
Pricing:
$13.00
Purchase tickets: http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/womensvoices-the-gender-gap
Location:
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
144 W. 65th Street
New York City
(Film Society of Lincoln Center)
NYWIFT information: http://www.nywift.org/article.aspx?ID=4135
SnagFilms link: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_gender_gap
Kartemquin link: http://kartemquin.com/films/women-s-voices-the-gender-gap
Ahead of the 2012 Presidential election, Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) is
revisiting its 1984 film Women’s Voices: The Gender Gap with a screening at the Film Society
of Lincoln Center on October 25th, and a new digital release via SnagFilms on October 23rd.
The screening of the 16minute short, directed by Jenny Rohrer, is sponsored by New York
Women in Film and Television - whose Women’s Film Preservation Fund made the film’s
preservation possible - and includes a discussion with the filmmakers and a panel of women’s
rights and voter participation activists.
The new version of the film with an update by cartoonist Nicole Hollander will also be released
online with Snag Films on October 23rd as part of their “Snag the Vote” initiative. The update
relates the political situation for women in 1984 to that which they confront today.
Produced in 1984 when the contest between incumbent president Ronald Reagan and
Democratic challenger Walter Mondale betrayed a difference in the voting patterns of men
and women, The Gender Gap reveals the women behind the numbers. Featuring interviews
with a diverse group of women, the film focuses on the different priorities compelling them to
vote – concerns over social programs, healthcare, fair compensation, and military
intervention. Interwoven with these women’s testimony are the pointed observations and
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / KARTEMQUIN FILMS
Contact: Tim Horsburgh: tim@kartemquin.com 773-472-4366 @Kartemquin
acerbic wit of Sylvia, the creation of cartoonist Nicole Hollander. With humor and insight,
Women’s Voices: The Gender Gap offers a portrait of women under the Reagan
administration. The film, which criticizes Reagan’s “trickle-down” economic policy and drastic
cuts to the safety net, screened at both the Democratic National Convention and the
National Convention for the Organization of Women.
The film was a product of the venerable Chicago filmmaking collective, Kartemquin Films,
the now 46-year-old institution whose mission is to make social issue documentaries that
inspire change in society. Women’s Voices is the result of a collective filmmaking process at
a time when women were underrepresented in film production.
Today, the film is as relevant as ever. In 1984, Reagan won the election despite a 6%
gender gap; today, according to recent polls, women favor Obama by 8%. The same issues
which energized women in ’84 are of renewed importance this year, as the two candidates
offer a stark choice when it comes to healthcare, reproductive rights, equal pay, and funding
for social programs. The Republican National Convention’s Human Life Amendment, which
attracted so much attention this year after Senator Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments,
was first introduced in 1984. The wage gap has declined by only 13.3 % in the last 28 years
to 23%, yet, despite its persistence, 51% of men in the senate voted against the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay act.
Yet, while much has been made of the gender gap, women’s voices are all too rarely heard.
Women made up only 12 percent of those quoted on the topic of abortion across major
media outlets this election cycle, and less than 20 percent of election coverage in major print
dailies has been written by women. CNN’s Cindy Crawley will be the first woman to
moderate a presidential debate in 20 years- and this only after a petition by three teenage
girls garnered 180,000 signatures. Like her predecessor Carol Simpson, she will not be
directing questions to the candidates, herself, but rather soliciting them from the audience.
The rerelease of The Gender Gap offers an opportunity to not only explore the issues which
unite women, but rally them to make their mark at the ballot box this November.
Cartoonist Nicole Hollander, whose sharp satire informed the original film, was struck by the
parallels between this year’s election and that of ’84: “Looking at my old cartoons, it’s really
shocking how little things have changed. Switch a couple names, and I might have made
them yesterday.” Her update, which appears at the end of the film, takes viewers back to the
present day - covering everything from Medicaid to “magical secretions”.
The NYWFIT screening will be accompanied by a discussion with the following
panelists:
Jenny Rohrer worked with Kartemquin on a number of films, including Women’s Voices:
The Gender Gap and The Chicago Maternity Center Story. In 1991, she founded her own
production company, Rohrer Film & Video, with which she has produced award-winning,
nationally broadcast documentary films for public television, not-for-profits and advocacy
organizations.
Nancy Meyer has a 30-year history of involvement in the social justice philanthropy
community with a special focus on women and girls. Meyer is a Trustee of the Irving Harris
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / KARTEMQUIN FILMS
Contact: Tim Horsburgh: tim@kartemquin.com 773-472-4366 @Kartemquin
Foundation, participates in the Democracy Funding Circle of the Ms. Foundation for Women,
and supports a number of women's groups, including the Astraea Foundation, the National
Council for Research on Women, and the Women's Funding Network.
Nicole Hollander created the nationally-syndicated weekly Sylvia comic strip which ran for
three decades, winning over legions of loyal readers. In 2012 she retired the strip, focusing
on her blog Bad Girls’ Chat. She has published a number of books, most recently The
Sylvia Chronicles.
Page S. Gardner is the founder and president of the Women’s Voices, Women Vote Action
Fund and the Voter Participation Center (VPC)- an organization which works to increase
unmarried women’s participation in the political process. She’s worked on a number of local
and national political campaigns and written extensively as a political commentator.
Amy Richards co-founded the Third Wave Foundation, a national organization for young
feminist activists. She is the co-author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the
Future (written with Jennifer Baumgardner) and the voice behind Ask Amy, the advice
column on feminist.com.
Faye M. Anderson is project manager for the Cost of Freedom Project
(app.costoffreedom.info), a citizen-led initiative developing location-based apps to provide
voters with information on how to obtain a voter ID. In 2009, she founded Tracking Change
to promote data-driven models of civic engagement, transparency and accountability. She
has written about politics and voter turnout for a number of media outlets.
Lillian Jiménez (moderator) has worked as a media arts center manager, independent
producer, media activist, exhibitor, funder and educator. She founded and directed “Seeing
Through AIDS “ a pioneering media literacy project that trained thousands of health care
workers in NYC. She is currently working on a new documentary about the Puerto Rican
Left in New York City.
About Kartemquin
In 1966, Kartemquin Films began making documentaries that examine and critique society
through the stories of real people. Their documentaries, such as The Interrupters, Hoop
Dreams and The New Americans, are among the most acclaimed of all time, leaving a
lasting impact on millions of viewers.
Kartemquin Films is a home for independent media makers who seek to create social
change through film. With a noted tradition of nurturing emerging talent and acting as a
leading voice for independent media, Kartemquin is building on over 45 years of being
Chicago's documentary powerhouse. Kartemquin is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization.
http://www.kartemquin.com / @Kartemquin / Facebook / Tumblr
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / KARTEMQUIN FILMS
Contact: Tim Horsburgh: tim@kartemquin.com 773-472-4366 @Kartemquin
About New York Women in Film & Television
NYWIFT supports women calling the shots in film, television and digital media. NYWIFT
energizes the careers of women in entertainment by illuminating their achievements,
providing training and professional development activities, and advocating for
equity. NYWIFT is part of a network of 40 women in film chapters worldwide, representing
more than 10,000 members. NYWIFT produces over 50 innovative programs and special
events annually, including the Muse Awards for Vision and Achievement, which recognizes
women in front of and behind the camera, and Designing Women, which recognizes
costume designers, makeup artists and hair stylists in the industry.
NYWIFT is a nonprofit, 501(c) 3 public charity
About SnagFilms
SnagFilms features free, sponsor-supported, on demand viewing of more than 3,300 awardwinning, fiction and non-fiction titles from some of the greatest names in film. SnagFilms’
curated collection is viewed on its own site and a digital network of more than 110,000
affiliated sites and webpages worldwide, including partners such as Comcast's Xfinity, Hulu,
the Starbucks Digital Network, IMDb, hundreds of non-profits, special interest sites and
blogs — and via its applications for tablets, including Apple’s iPad (AirPlay-enabled),
Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Blackberry Playbook and other Android-based tablets; Android
smartphones; OTT platforms Roku, Boxee and Western Digital; connected TVs and blu-ray
players from Sony, Panasonic, LG and Vizio, and soon to launch on connected TVs and bluray players from Samsung. SnagFilms’ titles have been featured on more than 3.5 billion
pageviews across its network.
SnagFilms also offers selected titles via pay video on demand with Comcast, iN Demand
(including Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House Networks), Verizon's FiOS and
DIRECTV, as well as on iTunes, Hulu Plus, Amazon, VUDU, Xbox Live, Google Play,
YouTube Movies, and will soon be launching on DISH Network and Samsung Media Hub.
SnagFilms was named one of the fastest growing technology companies in Washington, DC
area. Gizmodo has named SnagFilms as a “Best iPad App,” OVGuide has twice named
SnagFilms a Top Site, and MovieMaker Magazine named SnagFilms to its annual list of “50
Best Websites for Moviemakers.” The SnagFilms family also includes Indiewire, for more
than 15 years the web’s top source of news, reviews and information about independent film
– and winner of the 2012 Webby Award as the top film and movie site.