By Sally Heckel
On a desolate American farm in the early 1900's, a farmer is found murdered in his sleep and his wife is jailed as the prime suspect. The highly anticipated re-release of this feminist film classic, a powerful adaptation of the 1917 Susan Glaspell short story, A JURY OF HER PEERS presents a riveting tale of revenge, justice and women's shared experience. Equally relevant in women's studies courses and for use with organizations battling violence against women, this riveting film probes the notion of women's victimization and justifiable homicide and opens the possibility for the creation of an alternate, feminist justice and judgment.
Two women, a neighbor and the sheriff's wife, find themselves in the accused woman's kitchen while the prosecuting attorney and their husbands search the farm for motive for the crime. As the camera lingers on small details in the kitchen – spilled sugar, a broken chair, crooked stitches in a quilt piece – the motive becomes clear as the suspect's isolated life of physical and emotional abuse is revealed. As each new clue further incriminates the accused, the women must decide whether to reveal the evidence against her and become, in effect, a jury of her peers.
Reviews
~ "Simple, powerful, jolting." - The New York Times
~ "Brilliant and compelling little masterpiece." - David Robinson, The London Times
~ "A gripping short drama that lays open some of the most basic differences between men's and women's lives, and the potential bearing of these differences on legal norms. A genuine classic." - Katharine T. Bartlett, Professor, Duke University School of Law
~ "How wonderful that A Jury of Her Peers is again available…for provoking critical thought about gender and social institutions, as well as for exploring notions of women's voice, feminist perspective, and collective identity. …From introduction to women's studies to feminist research methods, it never fails to get my students thinking in new ways about women, history, and justice." - Andrea Friedman, Hist. & Women's Studies, Washington University
Notes
~ Virginia Film Festival
~ American Film Festival – Blue Ribbon
~ Chris Statuette- Columbus Film Festival
~ Cine Golden Eagle
~ London International Film Festival, England-1980
~ Mannheim International Filmweek- West Germany-1980
~ Melbourne Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Perth Film Festival-Australia
~ Tampere Film Festival- Finland
~ Telluride Film Festival, USA-1981
~ Virginia Film Festival
~ Wellington Film Festival- New Zealand
Awards
~ Academy Award Nomination – Best Dramatic Live-Action Short 1980
~ ATOM Award- Australian Teachers of Media
~ Best Dramatic Film- Santa Fe Winter Film Exposition
~ Judges' Award- Sinking Creek Film Celebration
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