Orgasm Inc.
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Orgasm Inc. (2009) is the first feature documentary by award-winning director Liz Canner. It premiered at the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival.
In the documentary, filmmaker Liz Canner takes a job editing erotic movies for a drug trial for a pharmaceutical company called Vivus. Her employer is developing what they hope will be the first Viagra drug for women that wins FDA approval to treat a new disease: female sexual arousal disorder (FSD). Liz gains permission to film the company's work in general for her own documentary. Initially, she plans to create a movie about science and pleasure but she soon begins to suspect that her employer, along with a cadre of other medical companies, might be trying to take advantage of women (and potentially endanger their health) in pursuit of billion dollar profits.
The film continues from Vivus onto the more general question of whether there is a solid scientific foundation to medical industry claims about what constitutes "healthy" female sexuality and whether drugs and surgery are a suitable first-line approach to obtaining it. The film documents an emerging medical industry intent on convincing as large a market of women as possible that they have medical problems, and that those problems are best solved by expensive and dangerous medical treatments. Orgasm Inc. is presented as a look inside the medical industry and the marketing campaigns that are literally and figuratively reshaping the public's lives concerning health, illness, desire, and orgasm.
Release
Orgasm Inc. premiered at the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in 2009. It has shown in over 40 film festivals all over the world, including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and the Independent Film Festival of Boston. The film has also been broadcasted on national television in Canada, Finland, France, Italy, Brazil, Israel, Spain, Poland, Holland and Japan. The film was picked up by First Run Features who released the movie in cinemas in the U.S. on February 11, 2011.
Critical reception
Since its release in 2009, Orgasm Inc. has received numerous awards, including the Best Feature award at the Vermont International Film Festival, the 2nd Best Feature award at the KOS International Health Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Southeast New England (SENE) Film, Music, and Arts Festival, and the Best Feature Award at the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival.
Hot Docs Film Festival called it an "extraordinary behind-the-scenes access reveals a drug company's fevered race to develop the first FDA-approved Viagra for women — and offers a humorous but sobering look inside the cash-fueled pharmaceutical industry".
Newsweek said "[Orgasm Inc.] is a desperately needed antidote to all the hype generated by pharmaceutical companies pursuing their holy grail: a female Viagra."<ref>{{
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The Times called it "an extraordinary, revelatory documentary about female desire and the pharmaceutical industry".
In addition, articles about the movie and quotes from director Liz Canner have appeared internationally in hundreds of articles and blogs and dozens of TV shows and radio programs such as ABC News, Vogue, Newsweek, the Times of London, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC World Service, Public Radio, the LA Times, the Guardian, Cosmopolitan South Africa, Glamour Brazil, etc. This media attention has helped to raise serious questions about the pharmaceutical industries involvement with creating and marketing diseases. It has also protected millions of women from being misled into believing that they have FSD and they need to be treated with a drug (that could potentially harm them).
Screenings
World Premiere Hot Docs Film Festival, Toronto, Canada May 2, 2009 - May 5, 2009
The 2009 Visionary Award May 10, 2009 The Center for Women and Gender at Dartmouth College
Special Sneak Preview Kopkind/Center for Independent Documentary Grassroots Film Festival August 8, 2009
Merrill's Roxy Cinema 222 College Street, Burlington, VT August 21, 2009 - September 3, 2009
The Savoy Cinema Montpelier, VT September 12, 2009
The Big Picture Theater Waitsfield, VT September 19, 2009 - September 25, 2009
Kopkind Colony Harvest Fundraising Event, Hooker-Dunham Theater 139 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT October 9, 2009
BEST FEATURE AWARD, Vermont International Film Festival Palace 9 Cinema, Burlington, VT. October 23, 2009 - December 1, 2009
Dallas Video Festival Angelika, Screen 1, 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane November 5, 2009 Opening Night Film
Global Visions Film Festival Paramount Theatre, 10233 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, Canada November 7, 2009
Northampton Film Festival Pleasant Street Cinema, Northampton, MA. November 7, 2009
Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival Cornerstone Arts Center, South Theater, Colorado Springs, CO. November 7, 2009
RIDM - Rencontres Internationales Du Documentaire De Montreal Montreal, Canada November 16, 2009 - November 18, 2009 Montreal's International Documentary Festival
IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Amsterdam, Holland November 19, 2009 - November 29, 2009 European Premiere of Orgasm Inc.
Starz Denver Film Festival Denver, Colorado November 21, 2009 - November 22, 2009
ReFrame Peterborough International Film Festival Showplace, Peterborough, Canada January 30, 2010
Green Mountain College Screening and Q&A with Liz Canner Killington, VT February 4, 2010
Montclair State University February 9, 2010
Yellowknife Film Festival, Canada Yellowknife, NT, Canada February 10, 2010
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival February 12, 2010 - February 21, 2010 Historic Wilma Theater in Missoula, Montana
Trinity College screening and Q&A with Liz Canner February 25, 2010
UMass Lowell Screening and Q&A with Liz Canner Lowell, MA March 1, 2010
Institute of American Indian Arts March 5, 2010 Classroom visit
Festival Vrouwenfilms te Assen, Netherlands March 6, 2010 - March 7, 2010
Brown University Screening and Q&A with Liz Canner Smith-Buonanno, 106 Meeting Street, Pembroke Campus Providence, RI March 8, 2010
Keene State College Screening and Q&A with Liz Canner Keene, NH March 10, 2010
Thessaloniki International Docmarket, Greece Athens, Greece March 12, 2010 - March 21, 2010
Women's Film Festival The Latchis Theater, Brattleboro, VT. March 20, 2010 Q&A with Liz Canner
Green Mountain Film Festival Montpelier, VT. March 28, 2010 Q&A with Liz Canner
Wolfsonian Museum Miami, Florida April 1, 2010 Q&A with Liz Canner
Florida International University Q&A with Liz Canner April 1, 2010
Southeast New England Film Festival Providence, RI April 7, 2010 BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Women's International Film Festival San Francisco, California April 8, 2010 Q&A with Liz Canner
International Women's Film Festival in Seoul, Korea April 8, 2010 - April 15, 2010
University of California, Davis screening and Q&A with Liz Canner April 9, 2010
Castelton College screening and Q&A with Liz Canner April 12, 2010
Independent Film Festival of Boston, Q&A with Liz Canner Somerville Theater in Davis Square, Somerville, MA April 25, 2010
International Journalism Festival, Italy April 25, 2010
Wellesley College Science Center Rm 277, Wellesley College April 27, 2010
Athens International Film Video Festival April 28, 2010
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), Q&A with Liz Canner April 29, 2010
The Norwegian Documentary Festival April 29, 2010
Docville Film Festival, Belgium May 1, 2010 - May 8, 2010
Oberlin College screening and Q&A with Liz Canner May 5, 2010
Santa Cruz Film Festival Santa Cruz, CA May 6, 2010 - May 15, 2010
Planete Doc Review Film Festival, Poland Warsaw, Poland May 7, 2010 - May 16, 2010
Vancouver DOXA Documentary Film Festival Pacific Cinematheque Howe Street & Helmcken May 7, 2010 - May 16, 2010
Cannes Independent Film Festival, France May 12, 2010 - May 23, 2010
CounterCorp Film Festival May 22, 2010
The Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street, upper level, NY, NY May 27, 2010 New York City Premiere
The University of Chicago June 1, 2010
White River Indie Film Festival Northern Stage, 12 North Main Street, White River Junction, Vermont June 4, 2010 - June 7, 2010
Femina International Women's Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 7, 2010 - June 13, 2010
University of California San Francisco Medical School June 9, 2010
New Media Film Festival, Los Angeles Downtown Independent Theater, 251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA June 11, 2010 - June 13, 2010
Just Film Coop Birmingham, England July 8, 2010
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management July 24, 2010 Panel discussion with Liz Canner, Bob Kallen, Cynthia Choi
Cape Ann Cinema screening and Q&A with Liz Canner Gloucester, MA August 22, 2010
Squeaky Wheel Media Art Center, Buffalo, NY August 26, 2010
Kos International Health Film Festival, Greece September 1, 2010 - September 6, 2010 2ND BEST FEATURE AWARD
Toronto Independent Film Festival September 18, 2010
Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, Q & A with Liz Canner September 24, 2010 BEST FEATURE AWARD Opening Night Film
University of Toronto Sex Ed and Peer Counseling Centre September 25, 2010 Video Skype Q&A with Director Liz Canner
University of Washington School of Medicine October 1, 2010 Presented by the Health Equity Circle at UW.
The American Medical Women's Association, Albert Einstein College of Medicine October 5, 2010
The Sexual Health Resource Centre Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada October 6, 2010
Cape Ann Film Festival, Q&A with Director Liz Canner Cape Ann Community Cinema, Gloucester, MA October 10, 2010
2010 Women Take Aim Film Series, SUNY Fredonia October 12, 2010 Video Skype Q&A with Director Liz Canner
New Hampshire Film Festival Portsmouth, NH October 14, 2010
Women Make Waves Film Festival, Taipei, Taiwan October 15, 2010
Cinema Politica Camosun College Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) October 15, 2010 Q&A with Alan Cassel and Ray Moynihans
Lehigh University screening and Q&A Liz Canner October 18, 2010
Indiana University screening, Q &A with Liz Canner October 20, 2010
14th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival Prague, Czech Republic October 21, 2010 - October 26, 2010
III Mostra de Ciencia e Cinema (The International Science Film Festival ) Coruña, Galicia, Spain October 25, 2010 - October 30, 2010
Gwangju Cinema, Korea Korea October 25, 2010 - October 31, 2010 Sponsored by the Korea Art Cinema Association
Merrimack College, Q&A with Director Liz Canner North Andover, MA October 26, 2010
Dartmouth College with presentation by Director Liz Canner November 1, 2010 Sponsored by The Real Beauty Initiative and The Sexperts
Cinema Politica TBA November 1, 2010
William and Mary College with Video Skype Q&A with Director Liz Canner November 2, 2010
Daejun Art Cinema, Korea Korea November 2, 2010 - November 5, 2010 Sponsored by the Korea Art Cinema Association
Vermont Law School and Q&A with Director Liz Canner November 3, 2010
Busan Kookdo & Garam Art Center, Korea Korea November 7, 2010 - November 10, 2010 Sponsored by the Korea Art Cinema Association
Colgate University Screening and Q&A with Liz Canner November 9, 2010
13th Aarhus Film Festival, Denmark Aarhus, Denmark November 12, 2010 - November 15, 2010
Planned Parenthood's The Center for Family Life Education Sex Ed Conference November 18, 2010
Columbia University School of Journalism November 19, 2010
