Growing Up Female
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release: USA | 1971 | DCP | 52 min.
Director: Julia Reichert, Jim Klein
Controversial and exhilarating upon its original release, Growing Up Female is the very first feature length film of the modern women's movement. Reichert and Klein’s documentary offers a personal look into the lives of six women, ages 4 to 35, and the forces that shape them – teachers, counselors, advertisements, music, and the institution of marriage. It was widely used by consciousness-raising groups to generate interest and help explain feminism to a skeptical society. This screening offers us a chance to see how much has changed as well as how much remains the same. This landmark movie was selected to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2011.
Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film: Emmy Award-winner and three-time Academy Award-nominee Julia Reichert has produced one of the most distinguished bodies of work in American independent documentaries. To celebrate the Ohio-based filmmaker, the Cinematheque is proud
to participate as a venue for this touring retrospective, organized by the Wexner Center in Columbus, that spans Reicher’s career from the landmark feminist conscious-raiser Growing Up Female (1971) to her most recent films including 9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019). Julia Reichert will appear in person on Saturday, November 16, to present her Oscar-nominated feature, Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Special Thanks to the Wexner Center’s Dave Filipi.