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NYWIFT and Women Make Movies present An Evening with Mothers In Film
Latching On: The Politics of Breastfeeding in America
A film by Katja Esson, 2010, 36 minutes
After filmmaker Katja Esson’s sister gave birth in Germany, she was able to breastfeed her baby anywhere, at any time. When Essen returned home to New York, she found that the breastfeeding her sister enjoyed was largely unseen, so she set out to learn why.
Her frequently funny documentary Latching On highlights the intersecting economic, social and cultural forces that helped replace mother’s milk with formula produced by a billion dollar industry. The film draws on lively first-hand accounts from mothers of diverse ethnicities and economic backgrounds, as well as candid observations by pediatricians, healthcare providers and lactation specialists, to reveal the rewards for women who buck the trend.
Katja Esson has directed a variety of award-winning documentaries, short films and commercials. Born and raised in Germany, she brings a European sensibility to the distinctively American subjects she chooses. Her documentary short Ferry Tales, which turns the unlikely setting of the Staten Island Ferry Powder Room into a celebration of sisterhood, received an Academy Award nomination in 2004 and premiered on HBO. In 2004, Esson founded her own production company, Penelope Pictures. She is frequently commissioned for documentaries on American subjects for European audiences.
My Toxic Baby
A film by Min Sook Lee
Canada, 2009, 46 minutes, Color, DVD
Order No. WW10992
This eye-opening, often amusing documentary by the director of Tiger Spirit, records the filmmaker’s quest for safe, sane and affordable ways to raise her child and lead a normal life in a world embedded with toxic threats. As a new mother, Min Sook Lee discovered that baby bottles leach a chemical byproduct linked to impaired health and serious diseases, so she set off on a journey that exposes the hidden dangers lurking in infant bath soaps, diaper rash creams, teething toys and many everyday products.
My Toxic Baby throws a spotlight on the non-hazardous options that are available for our chemically saturated homes, as well as the chemical contaminants we carry within our own bodies.
Min Sook Lee is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose body of work includes Hogtown: The Politics of Policing, El Contrato and Tiger Spirit, a reunification road-trip through the two Koreas. Her short docu-poems, Borderless and Sedition, have played at international festivals. Lee was also presented with the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award for El Contrato’s impact on the rights of migrant workers. My Toxic Baby premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.
NYWIFT's Women's Film Exhibition Series is supported, in part, with grants from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Aug 2, 2010 
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