Synopsis
A feminist perspective on the history and methods of contraception and women’s access to free abortions. It features a fictionalized account of three women and their relationship to abortion; contrasts the history of contraceptives to the cycles of manpower demands in a capitalist society; and speaks about contraceptives as a more or less adequate result of male research but for which women are responsible. Abortion can be a necessity, and if it’s done in an illegal way, it can lead to severe injuries. For these women the first step to liberation is through consciousness.
A word from Tënk
A pioneer of feminist video in Quebec, Hélène Bourgault began her career in the 1970s by collaborating with several artist-run centers such as GIV, Vidéo Femmes and Vidéographe, with whom she made her first film, Partir pour la famille?. This audacious documentary, rarely shown to this day, bears witness to the emergence of feminist struggles for the legalization of abortion and access to free contraception. Beyond its didactic style, necessary to break with a taboo that was still heavy at the time, Partir pour la famille? mixes a variety of genres between fiction, essay and social intervention documentary that the filmmaker seizes with great freedom. Though we are more familiar with Carole Roussopoulos' now famous Y'a qu'à pas baiser! for its live images of a clandestine abortion, Hélène Bourgault's film remains a reference in our feminist cinematography as much for its irreverent character as for its ability to make our voices echo in chorus.
Julia Minne
PhD student and programmer
