The Vessel: A film about "Women on Waves"
VESSEL, a timely, provocative, and mobilizing film about the work of Women on Waves.
VESSEL begins with a young doctor who lived by the sea, and an unlikely idea. Rebecca Gomperts, horrified by the realities created by anti-abortion law around the world, felt compelled to challenge this. Her method: to provide abortions on a ship in offshore waters.
Her project, Women on Waves, begins as flawed spectacle, a media frenzy, faced with governmental, religious, and military blockades. But with each setback comes a more refined mission, until Rebecca has the revelation that she can use new technologies to bypass law – and train women to give themselves safe abortions using WHO-sanctioned protocols with pills.
We witness the creation of an underground network of emboldened, informed activists, working at the cutting edge of global reproductive rights, who trust women to handle abortion themselves. Vessel is Rebecca’s story: one of a woman who heard and answered a calling, and transformed a wildly improbable idea into a global movement.
Featured in the August 30 New York Times Magazine cover story “The Dawn of the Post Clinic Abortion,” (
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/magazine/the-dawn-of-the-post-clinic-abortion.html) VESSEL chronicles the controversial work of Dr. Gomperts, a pioneering reproductive rights activist who challenged restrictive abortion laws by sailing a mobile abortion clinic to countries where abortion is illegal and provided abortions in international waters. A sister organization, Women on Web, now equips women with the information necessary to induce abortion with pills, using World Health Organization protocols. Gomperts’ courage in the face of legal, cultural, and military opposition provides the backbone to a documentary.
The Austin Chronicle says, “expertly frames the charismatic and indefatigable Gomperts as she…plows fearlessly forward on her mission, ultimately expanding it beyond the sea and onto the Internet, where [she] delivers vital information on reproductive health and support to women around the globe.”
Winner of the South By Southwest Film Festival Audience Award for Documentary Feature and the festival’s Special Jury Recognition for Political Courage, VESSEL has also been honored with the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award and the Peter Wintonick Award for Activist Filmmaking.
Called “a fast-paced, heart-thumping adventure” by Art Threat, and “an intriguing story passionately told” by Variety, VESSEL offers hope for activists, educators, and doctors fighting to put reproductive choice and healthcare back in the hands of women. Film director Diana Whitten says she began work on VESSEL because she was “compelled by the metaphor of a woman having to leave one realm of sovereignty to reclaim her own. I thought it was a rare and interesting example of the offshore being used not for crime or personal gain, but for social justice.”
Seven years in the making, VESSEL has now become an inspiration to activists worldwide. “It was impossible for me to witness these activists working with women and not internalize how desperately alone women and providers feel in settings where abortion is inaccessible,” Whitten told Filmmaker Magazine. “The Women on Waves campaigns make them feel connected, and less scared. One of VESSEL’s goals is to offer that same solidarity.”
VESSEL, has launched an international tour of screenings, intended to provide a forum for further debate, discussion and education about the global challenges facing abortion healthcare. Any group can host a screening!
Nonprofits, student groups, activists and educators can host a local screening. You contribute a modest screening fee (on a sliding scale) and, in return, the film team gives you:
The Vessel DVD
Public Performance Rights
Action and Discussion Materials
Digital Promotional Tools
And hands-on support from the community screenings team!
Fill in a brief request form (
http://vesselthefilm.com/#host) to indicate your interest, or email
vessel@filmsprout.org.
- RegisseurDiana Whitten
- produziert vonDiana Whitten , Mitchell Block
- GenreDocumentary
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Länge90 min
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ThemaAbbruch
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SprachenEnglish