MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

This urgent documentary reveals the devastation inflicted on pregnant Texans, effectively barred from emergency obstetric care, due to the state’s draconian post-Roe abortion ban. Women push back, giving their suffering purpose by engaging in an epic legal battle with the state. With a maternal instinct to protect others, the three phenomenal women profiled in this indelible film share harrowing stories of loss and survival. The plaintiffs unite as they heal and move forward in their unique mothering journeys, while their attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights challenges the Texas Supreme Court to clarify medical exemptions that allow patients and their doctors to make informed choices based on medicine, not fear of retaliation. A blend of vérité scenes and courtroom footage underline the high stakes involved, especially for poor women. The movement for reproductive justice for all is gaining momentum, and these lawsuits are just the beginning.

This fond, furry portrait dubs cats “the quiet royalty of the living room.” But they’ve got a gripe: The ongoing practice of surgical declawing, a contentious issue this documentary examines.

Rhetoric around “childless cat ladies” be danged, Americans love their kitties—there are by some estimates nearly 100 million of them here. Yet, while most people would certainly consider themselves pro-animal welfare, there remains one practice routine amongst US pet owners that’s considered “barbaric” almost everywhere else. That would be declawing, the surgery that’s promoted as healthy for cats (not to mention your furniture) but is really an “amputation” that can leave them crippled, in pain, and more likely to bite. It’s also a lucrative procedure for the veterinary industry, which has lobbied against laws banning it. Todd Bieber’s documentary follows comedienne Amy Hoggart from reality TV spoof Almost Royal and Full Frontal With Samantha Bee on the investigative trail. She probes both sides of a divisive issue, while also glimpsing myriad other points of interest—from domestication history to today’s celebrity cats—within the feline universe.

Expected in person guest.