Borrowing her title from Anita Hill's own 1998 autobiography, filmmaker Frieda Lee Mock heroically profiles the woman whose 1991 testimony concerning sexual harassment challenged—unsuccessfully—the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. In retrospect, Hill (who is treated like a veritable icon by admirers here) was instrumental in raising the public's consciousness regarding workplace impropriety and sexism. Perhaps the documentary's most eyebrow-raising revelation is that Hill brought many witnesses who could have supported her bombshell allegations that Thomas had made numerous lewd remarks and advances when he and Hill worked together in the U.S. Bureau of Education during the early 1980s—but none were called to testify by the presiding investigator...a certain Joe Biden. No mention is made of Hill's vindication following the publication of David Brock's 1993 right-wing bestseller The Real Anita Hill, a book that was later repudiated by its own author after he switched political sides. One of the more timely interviews here is with New York Times ex-executive editor Jill Abramson (co-author of a book on the Thomas confirmation hearings), whose own ouster from the newspaper earlier this year was tinged with innuendo about office gender inequalities and old-boys networks. DVD extras include a keynote address by Hill, and a performance in honor of Hill coordinated by Eve Ensler. Generally hagiographic but also featuring insightful commentary about a key figure who stirred up water cooler debates across the nation in the early ‘90s, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Anita: Speaking Truth to Power
(2014) 77 min. DVD: $24.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Closed captioned. Volume 29, Issue 5
Anita: Speaking Truth to Power
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