rePROFilm Podcast

Fat activist Allison Graham talks to photographer Shoog McDaniel about what it was like to be on the other side of the lens for the documentary about their life and art practice.

“I want people to see the movie and not be able to see a difference between the beautiful spring water and the beautiful Belly. I want it to be one and the same.” — Shoog McDaniel on the Periodical Podcast

“My work is about highlighting ...

It’s a very compassionate thing to do to see yourself as you are and not hate yourself.” — Allison Graham on building fat community in her hometown

Advocate and community-builder Allison Graham joins guest host Emily Christensen for a conversation about why she likes the word fat, body positivity vs. fat liberation, and how anti-fat bias shows up in the work she does as a therapist and advocate for survivors of sexual viol...

Today on the podcast, and the 2nd anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Asha Dahya speaks with Florencia Varela of Peace Is Loud and Lela Meadow-Conner of rePROFilm, along with several  filmmakers who participated in the recent Collective Lens Impact Training program to talk about why supporting films in reproductive justice is so important.

Peace is Loud is a 501(c)3 non-profit  that harnesses the power of storyt...

On the Periodical Podcast, triple threat Nyala Moon chats about her “Fleabag”- inspired fourth-wall-breaking short film “How to Date While Trans.”

Like a lot of actors, Moon had to create the content she wanted to star in. When she was in school, pre-”Pose,” she jokes that most roles for trans people were “dead hooker #87” on “Law & Order: SVU.” She realized she couldn’t depend on others to create the kind of character...

“I don't personally believe you can extricate environmental issues from reproductive issues because if a mother is drinking polluted water, what is that going to do to her system? What is that going to do to the system of the baby that she's housing? If she lives in an area where he can see noxious fumes being pumped into the air because of a nearby refinery, what is that going to do to her respiratory system? … If she li...

Morgan Jerkins and Zora Schiltz Rouse are young filmmakers working at the thematic intersection of environmental and reproductive justice.

Morgan is a New York Times bestselling author and National Magazine Award-winning journalist. Zora is a producer and director who most recently worked on a Ryan Murphy show for FX.

We'll be back with their full interview on April 3 — think of it as a post-film Q&A.

More than a decade ago, Tyomi Morgan noticed no prominent Black women were talking about sexual health. “Instead of complaining about it, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to enter into this space.” The sexologist and designer of The Cowgirl Workout sits down with Asha Dahya to discuss how our bodies are hardwired for pleasure, the way cultural B.S. interferes with that reality, and how we can reconnect. 

“This is part of our humann...

“Labor + Justice” is such a tonally wild and imaginative film, we were fascinated to hear a behind-the-scenes conversation about of how it came together. For example, director Sarah Joy Byington researched real-life stories of women charged with crimes after experiencing miscarriages or stillbirths. Their stories inspired her dystopian narrative. On this month’s Periodical Podcast, the director speaks with Asha Dahya about making a...

In this moving conversation, Asha Dahya speaks with writer/director Jahmil Eady about how her own birth story inspired the screenplay for “The Bond.” When Eady was born, her mother was incarcerated. She was shackled during labor, a practice that continues in many U.S. states today. During Eady’s teen years, her mother and other activists successfully advocated for anti-shackling legislation in New York state. Both her mother’s stor...

Welcome to this special rePROFilm mini podcast episode, as part of our ‘Films for Thought’ partnership with WISP - a company that specializes in female-focused online reproduction and sexual health treatment. We’ve partnered with WISP to present a repro health movie night on college campuses across the US. At RePROFilm we believe in conversation and filmmaking as a vehicle for sparking change, and I’m so excited to be presenting th...

Welcome to this special rePROFilm mini podcast episode, as part of our ‘Films for Thought’ partnership with WISP - a company that specializes in female-focused online reproduction and sexual health treatment. We’ve partnered with WISP to present a repro health movie night on college campuses across the US. At RePROFilm we believe in conversation and filmmaking as a vehicle for sparking change, and I’m so excited to be presenting th...

I know I’m a badass. I do a lot of good things. But I can’t change the mindset of a racist, 50-year-old white cardiologist. What I can do is teach Black women how to care for themselves and to demand the care they deserve (from their doctors).” — Ricki Fairley 

Ricki Fairley survived an aggressive form of breast cancer. Then she turned her attention to advocating for other Black women, who are 41% more likely to die from the disease...

The “work wives” behind the dark comedy “Always & Forever” join Asha Dahya on the Periodical Podcast to chat about collaboration, going viral, and how humor is a secret weapon in the fight for reproductive justice. 

“It's just a proven concept at this point that comedy disrupts the status quo. A little bit of humor, a little bit of entertainment moves the needle. It works.” — Lara Everly

“Humor sneaks pas...

On this month’s episode of the Periodical Podcast, Asha Dahya speaks with the “Long Line of Ladies” co-directors about “a different kind of filmmaking” driven by listening, collaboration, and representation — the non-performative kind.  

After making the Oscar-winning short “Period. End of Sentence.,” Zehtabchi wanted to tell a stigma-free story about periods. That led her to researching tribal traditions and ultimately partnering w...

The “Who Gets to Parent?” creators join Asha Dahya on the rePROFilm Periodical Podcast to discuss their parenthood story and how they combined storytelling and research to create their documentary series. They also discuss the life-changing power of community building, the blessing of a family ally, and what it’s like to be queer parents who live in Kansas. A truly moving and inspiring conversation — one of our favorites. 

“We start...

The idea for “Simone” came to writer-director Aisha Amin after countless hours on public transit observing parents and other caretakers struggling with young children. For our Vol. 16 Periodical Podcast, Asha Dahya speaks with Amin about how she developed the title character in collaboration with actress Cree McClellan, a single mother herself. 

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Learn more at reprofilm.org or follow us at @reprofilm. The rePROFilm Po...

Periodical Podcast host Asha Dahya chats with “Counterfeit Kunkoo” writer/director Reema Maya Sengupta about how her mother’s struggle to find housing as a single woman inspired her to write a “very angry script.” In a lovely full-circle moment, Reema’s mom served as the producer of the film and helped secure many of the set locations in the Mumbai slum where she grew up. 

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Learn more at reprofilm.org or follow us at ...

Welcome to our March episode of the rePROFilm podcast. It’s Women’s History Month, and it’s also Oscars month, and we are SO excited to speak with two Academy Award-nominated filmmakers in this episode! 

Our theme this month is virginity - the conversations we have about it, the cultural taboos, the societal expectations, the ridiculous gender expectations, and why, when it comes to sexuality and youth, focusing on healthy communica...

REHEARSAL with special guest Courtney Hope Thérond

The “Rehearsal” writer/director talks to Asha Dahya on the Periodical Podcast about how her own on-set experiences inspired her short film. Maybe if she could demonstrate how intimacy scenes can go awry, she thought, others might understand how problems can arise even between people who trust, care for, and respect each other. Tune in to find out how audiences reacted.

Support t...