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| Abbreviation | WMM |
|---|---|
| Formation | September 1969 |
| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Location |
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Founders | Ariel Dougherty Sheila Page |
Executive Director | Debra Zimmerman |
| Website | wmm |
Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist media arts organization based inNew York City. Founded byAriel Dougherty and Sheila Paige withDolores Bargowski, WMM was first a feminist production collective that emerged from city-wide Women's Liberation meetings in September 1969. They produced four films by 1973. Dougherty and Paige incorporated the organization in March 1972 as a community based workshop to teach film to everyday women. A distribution service was also begun as an earned income program. In the mid-1970s a membership was created that screened and distributed members' work.[1][2] In the early 1980s focus shifted to concentrate on distribution of independent films by and about women.[3] WMM also provides production assistance to women filmmakers.
The organization distributes more than 500 films created by over 400 women filmmakers from nearly 30 countries. These films address such subjects asreproductive rights,AIDS,body image,economic development,racism,immigration,medical ethics, andglobal feminism. The collection includes films by key feminist filmmakers includingTrinh T. Minh-ha,Julie Dash,Pratibha Parmar,Jane Campion, andKim Longinotto.[citation needed]
Films distributed by WMM have appeared at film festivals worldwide,[4] including theSundance Film Festival,Cannes Film Festival, theInternational Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).,[5] and theAthena Film Festival[6] Its films have received media awards such as the Special Jury Prize at Sundance (The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo andRough Aunties),[7] theAcademy Award (Love & Diane), theEmmy (Quick Brown Fox: An Alzheimer's Story), and thePeabody (Sisters in Law).[5] In 2011, WMM received an award from theAthena Film Festival for their outstanding work distributing films by and about women.[6]
WMM films have aired on cable networks and public television stations around the world,[8] includingHBO/Cinemax,PBS,Sundance Channel, andRede Globo. Among the broadcast titles:Kim Longinotto'sHold Me Tight, Let Me Go and Gemma Cubero and Celeste Carrasco'sElla Es El Matador. The organization has worked closely with thePublic Broadcasting System,Hunter College, theMuseum of Modern Art, and many other NYC-based media arts organizations.
In 1983,Debra Zimmerman became the executive director of WMM.[9]
TheAcademy Film Archive houses the Women Make Movies Collection, which includes prints, videotape masters, and original film elements of dozens of features, documentaries, shorts, and informational films made by and about women.[10]
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