Director: Diana Whitten | USA | Documentary | 2014 | 88 mins
Film source: Filmmaker
Sponsor: Main Street Landing to Honor Vermont Access for Reproductive Freedom
Filmmaker in attendance, post screening Q&A
“The ship has always been a symbol of freedom, but as a male domain. This ship is 100% captained by women”, says director Dianna Whitten, about the vessel led by Dutch Dr. Rebecca Gomperts – founder of Women on Waves, an organization dedicated to ending unsafe abortion in countries that deny women this right . A high seas adventure, exploiting maritime legal loopholes, their ship floats in treachorous international waters 12 miles off the coast of countries where their services are desperately needed – Morocco, Spain, Ecuador, Ireland, Poland and Tanzania – to offer a safe abortion pill. Whitten used her own camera as well as footage filmed by others on board. Vessel is inspiring both as a dramatic activist film and as a portrait of activist women worldwide. “One of my favorite moments in the film is when a reporter asks Rebecca if she has had an abortion, and she responds, “[These activists] are doing this with their hearts, and not because they had an abortion. Are you going to ask someone that works for Amnesty International if they have been tortured?””