2008 Woodie Awards
GSA steps up in celebrating a landmark event
Meredith Clinton
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News
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The documentary tells the story of four individuals whose mothers died following illegal abortions in the years before Roe v. Wade, including Clara Bell Duvall who died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929. The film has won several awards and is widely used in medical and law schools as well as women's studies programs nationwide.
Attie and Goldwater are the producers and directors of Motherless, and are the 2005 recipients of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Since 1990, Attie and Goldwater have collaborated on award-winning documentaries for national and international broadcast. Major documentary collaborations by the two include: Rosita, 2005; Maggie Growls, 2003; I Witness: Shot Down in Pensacola, 1998; and Landowska: Uncommon Visionary, 1997. Motherless is the winner of the Cine Golden Eagle award, a Silver Apple award from the National Educational Film and Video Festival, Honorable Mention at the American Film and Video Festival, and was a finalist at the International Health and Medical Film Festival.
At Tues. night's event Attie said that the inspiration for the documentary stems from hearing the story of Linn Harwell, one of the women in the film, whose mother, Clara Bell Duvall, died in 1929. Attie wanted to do something to spread the word about other people who had stories like Harwell's. The documentary is an excellent example of how an issue like abortion affects people from all walks of life.
While the GSA does not think of itself specifically as a pro-choice group, it felt the need to acknowledge this event due to the lack of a pro-choice group at the College. "Roe v. Wade is extremely important to the queer community, and the Muhlenberg GSA is proud to host this important 35 anniversary event. Reproductive choice is about the privacy for women to make their own decisions about their bodies, not much different than the fight for queer equality. This anniversary is both for the pro-choice community and the queer community. It is one fight," said Adrian Shanker '09, Co-president of the GSA.