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AMÁ is the untold story of the involuntary sterilization of Native American women by the Indian Health Service well into the 1970s.
"Thank you for taking back our history and telling it from our narrative. This film is so important because these stories need to be heard — this is the untold history of Native America. Indigenous people hold an intimate knowledge that our women are sacred — we carry life, and the very act of pregnancy is an assertion of sovereignty and resilience. AMÁ seeks to reaffirm our history so that we can continue to center our women. CSVANW hopes this film begins a critical conversation about breaking cycles of violence that have affected our women for far too long."
Angel Charley, Interim Executive Director, Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women
"Heart-wrenching...Encourage[s] women to step forward."
Kaleem Aftab, Cineuropa
"Essential watching...Coercion is still happening and there is very little accountability."
Clementine de Pressigny, i-D Magazine
"A passionate insight into an enormous injustice...The bravery in sharing their stories is undeniable. These women won't be quiet any longer."
Culture Fly
"Meet some amazing women who are still fighting oppression...[AMÁ] will go a long way in opening up this conversation and enforcing solidarity between women."
Holly Mosley, Female First
"Full marks...for bringing this shocking story to the fore, exposing an injustice inflicted on women like Jean who are still waiting for an apology from the federal government."
Leslie Felperin, The Guardian
"While AMÁ is undeniably beautiful, in the way it's shot and told, and hauntingly actual, it is not just the power of the film as a work of art that makes it so perfect. It's how perfectly it fits into the age of Me Too movement and the newfound feminism of the Millennials."
E. Nina Rothe, Journalist
"The beginning of every hierarchy is controlling reproduction, and racism in this country has often restricted brown and black women through sterilization, while refusing sterilization to white women unless they had several children and their husbands' written permission. AMÁ proves that democracy begins with our bodies. All who care about democracy should see it."
Gloria Steinem
"Shocking. A moving, must-see documentary about how a generation of Native American women suffered from coerced sterilization via the United States Government — an almost completely hidden tragedy still within living memory. This is the latest testimony as to how Native American women have been targeted with systematic erasure and silencing. Do not miss this well told and desperately important film."
Naomi Wolf, Journalist, Activist, Author, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women and Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalization of Love
"AMÁ should be watched by all who want to understand the impacts of genocide and colonization within the United States. Well into the 1970's the federal government used tactics of persecution, extermination and denial in efforts to eradicate future generations of Native people. This film sheds light on the truth and illustrates the power of Native women in demonstrating resiliency and resistance."
Nicole Lim, Executive Director, The California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
"I would like to pay respect to the elders, both present and past, who have had the courage to tell their stories — we need more documentaries like this. We offer classes in American Indian Health and Wellness, and without fail, my students state that they had no idea of these atrocities, and the fact that they are still happening in the United States is beyond their belief. The US must apologize for the horrendous actions of their medical staff, and admit to the vast amount of indigenous knowledge that has been lost due to their lack of funding for health services."
Dr. Linda Bane Frizzell, Eastern Cherokee/Lakota, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
"This important film will no doubt become a staple in activist and scholarly communities as we strive for a more just world. AMÁ reminds us that reproductive justice is not just about the right to end a pregnancy; at its core, reproductive justice is also about the right to be pregnant, give birth, and raise healthy children."
Sarah Deer, Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, The University of Kansas, Author, The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America
"Powerful, heartbreaking, and enraging...The voices, testimonies and ideas of three native American women and activists accompany the viewer in a journey that is a tale of injustices suffered and never repaid, but also - and most importantly - a tale of resilience and resistance, of struggle and solidarity. I will screen Lorna Tucker's beautiful documentary in my classrooms and discuss it with my students: it is a powerful introduction to the imbrication of gender, ethnicity, race, and class."
Cinzia Arruzza, Associate Professor of Philosophy, The New School, co-author, Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto
"Traveling on a journey to connect the dots as to why Native women have been systematically sterilized without their informed consent, AMÁ weaves through historical acts of oppression focusing on a Native woman's lived experience. It is impossible to watch the film and not be moved by the barriers and challenges endured in the past four or five decades by Native women to continue as mothers and culture bearers of their communities. This film is an important resource to understand the current advocacy on behalf of the rights of Native women."
Angelique EagleWoman, Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate, Visiting Professor of Law, Hamline University
"AMÁ provides support for Indigenous women's demands that the U.S. answer for its genocidal practices to exterminate Indigenous peoples and to examine its human rights record."
Jennifer Nez Denetdale (Dine'), Professor of American Studies, University of New Mexico
"AMÁ skillfully fills in an important (and enraging) part of reproductive history in the United States. The film has the added feature of showing seldom-seen footage of matters ranging from Native American boarding schools to leading figures in the population control movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s."
Carole Joffe, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California - San Francisco, Co-editor, Reproduction and Society: Interdisciplinary Readings