Join NYWIFT for a screening of the film Zurawski v Texas. The critically acclaimed documentary film that shadows three women facing life-threatening pregnancy complications who were denied abortions under Texas’ unforgiving abortion bans, as they work with a fearless attorney to sue Texas. The film chronicles the dire impact of losing access to life-saving reproductive care.
Followed by a post-screening discussion with Director Maisie Crow.
Date: Friday, January 31, 2025
Time: 6 – 8 PM
Location: 25 Waverly Place, Kriser Screening Room at NYU, Ground Floor
Cost: Free and open to the public, seating is limited
About the Film:
ZURAWSKI V TEXAS (2024, 98 min, Directors: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault)
In the documentary feature film Zurawski v Texas, independent filmmakers Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault show the stark and terrifying reality of what it means to be pregnant in a U.S. state that has banned abortion—and the bravery, grit and determination that it takes to speak out.
Crow and Perrault followed three Texas women who were denied medically necessary abortion care—Amanda Zurawski, Samantha Casiano, and Dr. Austin Dennard—as they brought their stories and battled their case up to the Texas Supreme Court, with the help of the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Senior Staff Attorney Molly Duane.
The film, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August, reveals the dire impact of losing access to health care—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights.
Speakers:
Maisie Crow is a documentary filmmaker and photojournalist based in Texas. Her films have aired on HBO and Showtime. She is a director and producer of Zurawski v Texas.
Her 2021 documentary At the Ready premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and can now be seen on MAX. In 2018, her documentary, Jackson, received a News and Documentary Emmy award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary. The film won 15 film festival awards for best documentary and audience favorite.
In 2022, she was part of This American Life’s reporting team on the Peabody-winning episode The Pink House at the Center of the World. Her short films The Last Clinic and A Life Alone were both nominated for News and Documentary Emmy awards. Her work has also been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, American Society of Magazine Editors, Pictures of the Year International and World Press Photo.
Maisie has taught photojournalism and video storytelling as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
In 2019, Maisie and her husband took the helm of The Big Bend Sentinel and Presidio International newspapers in Far West Texas, building a community gathering space around the publications to help bolster readership and revenue.
Presented by:
CENTER FOR MEDIA, CULTURE AND HISTORY AT NYU
Amanda Zurawski, who developed sepsis and nearly died after being refused an abortion when her water broke at 18 weeks, second from left, and Samantha Casiano, who was forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy to term and give birth to a baby who died four hours after birth, second from right, stand with their attorney, stand with other plaintiffs and their attorneys outside the Travis County Courthouse, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
25 Waverly Place, Kriser Screening Room, Ground Floor, Ground Floor, Kriser Screening Room
programs@nywift.org
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NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
