To mark Women's HIstory Month we've excavated "Women - for America, for the World" (1986). This 30 minute documentary film features 22 prominent American women from all walks of life discussing what motivates their activism seeking the end of the Cold War-era nuclear arms race.
In the film, these leading American women speak out about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and "call for a new vision of security based on affirming life rather than destroying it."
Their message resonates today. The US has plans to spend a trillion dollars [now $1.7 trillion, as of March 8, 2018] on rebuilding its nuclear weapons arsenal over the next 30 years. With the specter of nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear 'modernization', and a new 21st century nuclear arms race looming large, this clear-eyed film is as relevant now as it was in1986. The recent Women's March showed that women's voices are vital if we are to protect and promote policies that benefit us all, from civil liberties and healthcare to the right to a future free of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, among many others.
Learning from the past can be as instructive as it is inspiring. We hope you will enjoy this film produced and directed by Vivienne Verdon-Roe, for which she won an Academy Award for "Best Documentary, Short Subjects" in 1987. In addition to Women - for America, for the World (1986), Vivienne is known for In the Nuclear Shadow: What Can the Children Tell Us? (1984).
The film features the late actress, Joanne Woodward, the late Geraldine A. Ferraro, the first woman to run for Vice President, and former US Congresswoman Pat Shroeder, among many others.
In honor of National Women's History Month, March 2018. No #NewArmsRace.
