Judy Irola Movies

Filmmaker Judy Irola chronicles the 1970s film movement known as Cine Manifest in this 2006 documentary. Comprised of San Franciscan Marxists, the film collective ambitiously sought to produce several cutting-edge politically-relevent movies. Irola herself was a member of the group and in the film she reunites with the other original contributors to reflect on their time together. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

James Bolton directs this spare, sensitive depiction of an uncomfortable subject -- man-boy love. Gawky and awkward late twenty-something Eban (Brent Fellows) returns suddenly to his Washington state hometown after a stint as a Seattle soccer coach. He is vague about his reasons for leaving while his parents seem to have adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" policy towards their son. While slacking about town, he happens upon lanky, teenaged skatepunk Charley (Giovanni Andrade) and aggressively pursues a friendship with the lad, under the ruse of swapping guitar and sign language lessons. Forced to live with his ill-tempered, long-divorced father, Charley reveals himself to be a quick learner both at signing and at hand gestures of a different sort, yet he fails to grasp the consequences of his sticky encounters with a man almost twice his age. Later, as the fathers of both parties learn of their sons' entanglement, they also learn that Eban was forced to flee Seattle under threat of prosecution after having an affair with one of his charges. This film was screened at the 2000 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Ten years earlier, George's mother (Genvieve Bujold) ran over his younger brother in the family driveway and killed him. Since then, she's been permanently out to lunch, and he has many responsibilities around the house. He's a teenager now, with the usual insecurities that go along with that, but he also hasn't reconciled the tragedy of his childhood. His difficulties are compounded when his schoolmate Christian (Alan Boyce) shows up on his doorstep asking for him to hide him; it turns out the boy has killed one of their classmates. George (Steven Dorff) is not willing to turn him in without taking some thought about it, and hides him for a while. Meanwhile, he acts as a go-between for Christian and his girlfriend Denise (Anne Heche), whom he develops feelings for. Eventually, the question of what is really real becomes an important one to find answers to. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Janis Cole and Holly Dale directed this documentary about female filmmakers and the struggles they repeatedly encounter in a male-dominated industry. From the very inception of an idea, to convincing producers and studios to back their projects, through actual filming, and on to completion of a film, women filmmakers still face roadblocks all along the way that severely hamper their success. Here interviewers Cole and Dale skillfully survey a widely divergent group of women all involved in the movie industry who relate their own stories to the camera, offering insight into their personal experiences. Their stories are funny, frustrating, and informative in this feature -- a must for anyone interested in the filmmaking process. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Regular movie critics complained that the conflict necessary for good storytelling was missing from this marriage counseling docudrama, but that does not appear to be the filmmaker's primary intent. Instead, in each session with their marriage counselor, a couple of young married medical students explore their deepest interpersonal issues through the medium of childhood experiences, in what appears to be a primer on how to repair and maintain intimacy with another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Working Girls in this New York-based film are laboring away at the World's Oldest Profession. Molly (Louise Smith), a Yale grad whos lives with her lesbian lover, turns tricks to keep food on the table. She approaches each day with fear and loathing, carrying out her responsibilities with crisp, businesslike efficiency. Her coworkers include Gina (Marussia Zach), who hopes to stay a hooker just long enough to finance her own business, and Dawn (Amanda Goodwin), an outspoken college student who harbors dreams of becoming a lawyer. The film covers a single day in the lives of these three ladies, neither judging nor apologizing: a job's a job, the film seems to be saying, whether it's punching a clock or rolling in the sack with an elderly stranger. Director Lizzie Borden's matter-of-fact approach to her material (based on six months' worth of interviewing genuine prostitutes) places Working Girls head and shoulders above the usual lachrymose "ladies of the evening" drama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Lee Grant has put together an incisive and clear documentary on eight women who went out on strike against their employer - a bank in Willmar, Minnesota. The women were not only passed over for managerial positions, they were required to train the all-male managerial staff who would be their supervisors. Using spontaneous interviews with townspeople, as well as interviews with the eight women and local labor leaders, the deep roots of gender prejudice are slowly pulled up for everyone to see. The church supported the men and the bank, the labor unions talked a lot and did nothing, and the townspeople backed off from any involvement. A National Labor Relations Board, in the end, ruled in favor of the bank. As a consequence, the women not only lost their jobs along with their demands for equality, they were not gainfully employed since the strike. The bank did poorly after the strike and was eventually sold, and work conditions for women in banks in the state of Minnesota were subsequently improved. It would seem that many of their sister workers benefitted from the courage of the eight women, but not the women themselves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In 1915 North Dakota, Swedish-born farmer Ray Sorenson (Robert Behling) organizes the populist Nonpartisan League as a response to the bank foreclosures that threaten the livelihoods of himself and his neighbors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide