Anita: Speaking Truth To Power

May 23 – May 29
Anita: Speaking Truth To Power
Fri 5/23 9:00 w/ Mezzanine Lounge open; Sat 5/24 6:30; Sun 5/25 2:30 & 7:30; Mon 5/26 9:00; Tue 5/27 6:30; Wed 5/28 9:00; Thu 5/29 6:30
Dir: Freida Lee Mock / 2014 / US / 95 min / DCP

‘Sexual Harassment’— for many Americans in 1991, the first time they heard the term was during the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, when Professor Anita Hill, who had worked for Thomas years before, detailed his inappropriate and abusive behavior towards her for an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee who, along with the media, put Hill’s character on trial instead of Thomas’. Freida Lee Mock (Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision) brings this culture-turning moment to vivid life in her newest documentary, Anita: Speaking Truth to Power. The first half of the film focuses on how Hill found herself the reluctant yet principled, poised, and articulate center of attention; on the infuriating attacks she was subjected to during nine hours of Senate testimony; and the immediate aftermath once Thomas was narrowly confirmed to the Court. The second half of the film brings Professor Hill’s story up to date, with a glimpse into her present-day work as a professor at Brandeis University and her involvement with and advocacy for young women working for gender equity in the workplace. The Boston Globe’s Ty Burr says, “If you were alive in 1991, the televised images may still stick in your mind and your craw…. If you weren’t alive then, well, you live in a world Anita Hill helped make possible… and you should probably understand why.”