{"id":21335,"date":"2020-11-18T15:33:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T23:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=21335"},"modified":"2023-08-25T11:37:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T18:37:59","slug":"filmmaker-exposes-shocking-pattern-of-illegal-sterilizations-in-womens-prisons","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/filmmaker-exposes-shocking-pattern-of-illegal-sterilizations-in-womens-prisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmaker Exposes Shocking Pattern of Illegal Sterilizations in Women\u2019s Prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erika Cohn<\/strong> has made powerful documentaries for Independent Lens before and is no stranger to telling intimate, surprising stories in tense environments: her Peabody Award-winning film The Judge<\/em><\/a> showed Shari\u2019a law in a new light to Western eyes, through the story of the first-ever female judge in Palestine\u2019s religious courts; and the Utah native filmmaker co-directed the News & Documentary Emmy-winning In Football We Trust<\/em><\/a>, which transported viewers deep inside the tightly-knit and complex Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, one of the chief sources of the modern influx of Pacific Islander football players to the NFL, who struggle to overcome gang violence and near poverty to try to make it professionally.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for her new film Belly of the Beast<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, Cohn tackles arguably her most dynamic and perilous undertaking yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The film, “which depicts the fight to ban non-consensual sterilizations performed on female prisoners in California, is at once a thrilling legal drama and heartbreaking depiction of devastating human rights violations that you can\u2019t imagine happening in the 21st century,” wrote Katie Walsh in the LA Times<\/em>. “Unfortunately, as news recently broke about alleged forced sterilizations performed in ICE detention centers, the film is also all too timely, and a powerful argument for women\u2019s reproductive autonomy.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to Cohn about how that recent ICE story put even more urgency on the one she tells in Belly of the Beast<\/em>, whether she thinks\u2014despite the successes shown her film\u2014that forced sterilizations are still happening in America, and how growing up in Salt Lake City led her to want to make the kinds of films she’s gone on to make.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What led you to want to make <\/b>Belly of the Beast<\/i><\/b>, to tell this story?<\/b><\/p>\n

To expose modern-day eugenics and reproductive injustice, to educate people about mass incarceration \u2013 centering women of color and transgender people in women\u2019s prisons in the conversation.“As a Jewish woman the phrase ‘never again’ was always profoundly in the back of my mind.”<\/pullquote><\/span><\/p>\n

How did you first get involved with the people you’d come to film for this? Where did you first hear of their situations?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

[Lawyer and Justice Now co-founder] Cynthia Chandler and I were first introduced in 2010 through a mutual friend. I was inspired by Justice Now\u2019s \u201clet our families have a future\u201d campaign, which exposed the multiple ways prisons destroy the human right to family, one of the most heinous being the illegal sterilizations primarily targeting women of color, which really screamed eugenics to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a Jewish woman, who grew up in Salt Lake City, the phrase \u201cnever again\u201d was always profoundly in the back of my mind. When I learned about this different kind of genocide happening through imprisonment, through forced sterilization behind bars, I knew that I wanted to get involved. Cynthia invited me into the organization as a volunteer, after which I became a volunteer legal advocate providing direct service needs for over 150 people in California\u2019s women\u2019s prisons. From there I began collaborating with people inside on a project that became Belly of the Beast<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Filmmaker

Filmmaker Erika Cohn<\/p><\/div>\n

I had heard about Kelli Dillon\u2019s powerful activism through Justice Now, though didn\u2019t have an opportunity to meet her until a few years into the process. When we met in 2012, she was working as a community interventionist in Los Angeles doing domestic violence prevention and gang intervention work. At that point in her life, Kelli had shelved the sterilization issue and was focusing on building her career and serving her community, and initially became involved in the film as an advisor behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the <\/span>Center for Investigative Reporting<\/b> articles<\/span> were released, there was a tremendous amount of momentum that led to a series of hearings in the California legislature and, ultimately, a bill was passed. That was the moment that Kelli and I decided that it was time for her to be on camera. As we reveal in the film, her discoveries catalyzed Justice Now to begin investigating the illegal sterilizations in prison. Through that, we meet the other survivors. So, if it hadn’t been for Kelli, none of this would have ever come to light.<\/span><\/p>\n

There must be a lot of challenges in making a film set in large part in prisons and the criminal justice system. What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced?<\/b><\/p>\n

Funding was a tremendous challenge in the beginning of the filmmaking process. Initially, people couldn\u2019t believe that illegal sterilization was still happening, and therefore couldn\u2019t get behind a film that exposed the practice in prison, despite having hundreds of testimonials from those who were directly impacted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This changed after the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) released their series by Corey Johnson. I had no idea at the time how instrumental CIR\u2019s work would become both in the film\u2019s narrative and behind the camera. Though Justice Now had worked on this issue for nearly a decade before Corey Johnson began his investigation, CIR\u2019s findings thrust the sterilization abuse into a national conversation ultimately leading to a series of hearings in the California State Legislature. This provided<\/span> Belly of <\/span><\/i>the<\/span><\/i> Beast<\/span><\/i> with a legitimacy and urgency that many funders needed prior to supporting the film.<\/span><\/p>\n