Judy Versus Capitalism

Feminist, activist and journalist Judy Rebick has been a major representative of progressive Canada since the 1970s. She campaigned vigorously for the right to abortion and in the early 1990s headed the biggest women's organisation in Canada. She reveals how periods of struggle were interspersed with bouts of serious depression, the cause of which can be traced back to childhood traumas.

In this essayistic portrait of her made by experimental filmmaker, friend and kindred spirit Mike Hoolboom, an eclectic visual collage accompanies Rebick’s voice as she reflects on political and personal themes from her life. Arranged in six parts, each opening with a moment from her public life, the film reveals facets of her experience through impressionistic Super-8 footage. The resulting fragmentary chronicle of half a century of political struggle against conservatism and neoliberalism is also the story of a strong woman who, in revealing her personal history, performs her most revolutionary deed to date.