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• Somewhere To Go, Someone To Hear: Battered Women Speak

  Chicago, Eleanor Boyer, Videomakers

  Four women, who were victims of physical and emotional abuse, find support in a self-help group. This video, edited from material recorded at one of their weekly meetings, gives insight into the nature of domestic abuse and the problems women face in overcoming that situation. The self-help project was originated by Barbara Stewart, Chicago Department of Human Services Victim/Witness Advocacy Program, and Marcia Alpert, Loop Center YWCA Women’s Services Staff.

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  Festival De Mujeres

  Chicago, Communities, Eleanor Boyer, Latinx, Videomakers

  Taped at the first-ever women’s street fair held in Pilsen, a predominantly Latinx, working-class neighborhood in Chicago. The event was organized by Mujeres Latinas in Accion to showcase Latinx women’s culture and to provide information about social services, health services and recreational opportunities available for women. The video captures the activity and color of the fair and features readings by poets Salima Rivera and Marta Callazo. Comments by organizers, participants and local residents give insight into the role of Latinx women in society at that time. Produced, videotaped, and edited by Eleanor Boyer and Karen Peugh with a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

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  Joann: My Sister The Mail Carrier

  Chicago, Chicago Slices, Eleanor Boyer, Videomakers

  A brief portrait of Joann Elam who delivers the mail in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. She talks about being a woman in a traditionally male job. She comments on responses from job supervisors and how she derives personal benefit from this kind of employment. Produced for the Chicago Video Makers’ Coalition program, SLICES OF CHICAGO, a show for broadcast consisting of small format “alternative” videos on subjects not normally seen on broadcast television.

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  Women Working: Pioneers in Carpentry

  Chicago, Eleanor Boyer

  Jobs in construction carpentry and cabinet making, and the good pay derived them, traditionally have been the domain of men. This video gives a first-hand look at carpentry apprenticeship as experienced by some of the first women to enter these trades in the 1970’s. The camera follows women carpenters at work on job sites including a high-rise under construction, a carpentry shop at a sewer project and in a production cabinet shop. They talk about the training they receive, the working conditions, the kinds of responses they get from male co-workers and the benefits derived from their support-group, Chicago Women Carpenters. Produced by Audrey Denecke for the Women’s Pre-Apprenticeship Project, Midwest Women’s Center, Chicago. Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Film Festival, 1981.

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  La Maestra: Maria Luisa Michel Almonte

  Chicago, Communities, Eleanor Boyer, Latinx, Videomakers

  Maria Almonte immigrated from Mexico to Chicago’s Pilsen–Little Village neighborhood in 1950. An
  artist/teacher, she supported her family from her flower shop business and became a leader in the
  educational and cultural life of the community. She taught traditional arts, crafts, and practical skills

  like dress-making in settlement houses, in community workshops and in her own studio. At the age of
  70 she continued to teach and act on her belief that artistic expression is a powerful tool for
  developing cultural identity and individual self-esteem. The video shows Ms. Almonte in community-
  sponsored workshops teaching neighborhood residents how to make traditional cut-paper ornaments
  and how to design clothing. In the hall of a local church her students model their creations and receive
  recognition. Produced, directed and edited by Eleanor Boyer and Karen Peugh. Partially funded by
  the Illinois Arts Council and the Center for New Television with a Joyce Foundation grant.
  Gold Can Award, Chicago Access Corporation, 1986; Certificate of Merit, Chicago International
  Film Festival, 1984