The Body Stories

Subjects of Desire

2021 · ★ 6

Subjects of Desire is a thought provoking film that examines the cultural shift in beauty standards towards embracing (or appropriating) Black aesthetics and features, deconstructing what we understand about race and the power behind beauty.

Jesy Nelson: "Odd One Out"

2019 · ★ 8.3

Little Mix star Jesy Nelson goes on a journey of rehabilitation as she opens up about abuse she has suffered at the hands of cyberbullies and its effects on her mental health.

My Personal Funhouse Mirror

2023

A look at past diary entries reveals a teenage girl's struggles with body image and depression

Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image

2017 · ★ 7

A documentary about body image and the industry leaders challenging society's unrealistic and dangerous standards of beauty.

Naked on the Inside

2008 · ★ 2

Six extra-ordinary people from around the world reveal their bodies and share their secrets in a unique experiment in search of their inner selves.

Alesha: Look But Don't Touch

2008

Documentary in which singer Alesha Dixon, concerned about the increasing pressure on women to conform to an ideal body type, investigates the practice of airbrushing and retouching that has become a staple of magazine photos. Keen to discover whether these images simply celebrate the female form or whether they make harmful, unrealistic demands on women and society, her journey sees her sitting in on 18-year-old Ellie's boob job, hearing fashion mag insider Liz Jones and celeb mate Cheryl Cole complain about the beauty industry and appearing on a front cover with her own body beautiful untouched.

The Butch Factor

2009 · ★ 4.6

What does mean to be gay and be a man? There's no straight answer for sure. From the Castro culture of the 1970s to today’s Bears and gym rats, this fascinating investigation of gay men and sexuality blows the lid off old stereotypes and showcases a battalion of interviewees including muscle men, rodeo riders, rugby players and cops. The men speak candidly on topics from homophobia to metrosexuality to embracing effeminacy as they reveal what it means to be a gay man in America today.

FLOAT!

2023 · ★ 7

With depth, intimacy, and humor, FLOAT! captures filmmaker Azza Cohen's magnetic grandma’s life-affirming journey learning to swim at 82, inspiring audiences to defy societal expectations of aging and to boldly look forward at every stage.

Body Image

1992

A short, 'intimate' documentary that attempts to investigate the inner sensualities that make all our bodies beautiful. It investigates our physicality as human beings, how we use our bodies and how conscious we are of the potentials of the flesh.

Gap-Toothed Women

1987 · ★ 7.1

A charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth, ranging from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper look at issues like self-esteem and societal attitudes toward standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted with over one hundred women, including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Swole

2017

In Swole I continue to document my commitment to an intensive and transformative gym and diet regimen, as well as the communities that form around such activities, sustaining themselves through texting and sharing videos and photos on social media. I learn the vocabulary of my new community.

Made Over in America

In the age of surgically enhanced beauty and reality television, how do we perceive body image? MADE OVER IN AMERICA combines the style of reality television with experimental film to weave together the voices of producers and consumers, surgeons and their patients, clinical psychologists, media theorists, and youth who are coming of age in a culture where bodies seem to be customizable. Together they form a picture of how the desire for a better self operates within consumer culture and how this desire is fed by media, the makeover industry and culture at large.