Description: The arrest of three homebirth midwives serving Amish and Mennonite communities in upstate New York ignites a legislative fight for freedom of choice in birthing rights. Through the lens of this modern-day witch hunt, the film examines the battle between medicine and midwifery and its impact on maternal child health. Set against the backdrop of the United States’ severe maternal mortality crisis and the erosion of women's reproductive rights the filmmakers follow a group of renegade Amish and Mennonite women as they break with tradition, and become unlikely activists fighting for change.
Biography:
Elaine Epstein is an award-winning filmmaker. Her film State of Denial, examining the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, aired on the PBS award-winning series, POV, and was nominated for an Emmy. Elaine founded Underdog Films, a creative studio specializing in documentary, branded content, and social media campaigns. Through Underdog, Elaine has created work for a wide variety of clients including Amazon, Facebook, Snapchat, and AT&T. After years of honing her craft on short-from content, Elaine marked her return to documentaries in 2018 when she filmed the award-winning documentary, Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS.
Robin Hessman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker/creative producer. She recently produced Simple As Water, which was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for the Emmy, Peabody, IDA, and PGA Awards. Her films, including the critically acclaimed My Perestroika, have been NY Times Critics Picks, released theatrically, and broadcast in over 30 countries. Robin has been a Sundance Institute Fellow, a MacDowell Colony Fellow, a PBS Producers Academy Fellow, and a Filmmaker-in-Residence at WGBH Boston.
