Film

The House of Science: A Museum of False Facts

1991 · 30m · Documentary

The winner of numerous festival prizes, this early work by Lynne Sachs is a provocative film essay on women's perspectives on their bodies in a "man's world." It touches on everything from the female form's depiction in Renaissance art to the school of 19th century "scientific" thought equating "abnormal" physiognomy with criminality. This adventurous collage also features the filmmaker's own diaristic recollections (notably of being fitted for a diaphragm by a cold, intimidating doctor), poetical staged sequences, other women's audio testimonies, an old classroom instructional reel about menstruation, prose by Gertrude Stein and feminine "ideals" like the undulating young woman performing in fish-tail costumes at Florida's kitschy Weeki-Wachee Springs "Underwater Mermaid Theater." - Dennis Harvey

Sarah Beams

Amelia Dunne

Barbara Frank

Stacey Gilbertson

Tashwanna Harrell

Amelia Large

LaDonna McKinney

Dana Sachs

Lynne Sachs

Leslie Alperin

Gigi DeRoux

Irish Higgens

Susan Meyers

Julie Terwilliger

• Lynne SachsDirector

Release date

January 1, 1991

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

30m

Genres

Documentary