The New Day Films archive represents the activities of the feminist film-maker run cooperative founded in 1971, and spans the history of the organization to the present day. Their ground-breaking films about the lives of women were among the earliest of the emerging women's movement. Materials include: files assembled by individual co-founders Liane Brandon, Jim Klein, Julia Reichert, and Amalie Rothschild; correspondence between co-op members; records relating to film production and distribution; steering committee and annual meeting minutes; conference call minutes; policies and other guidelines; reports on activities; fund-raising proposals; film rental receipts; press articles, posters and other publicity; publications about New Day films such as pamphlets, catalogs, and magazines; and photographs of events and members.
Analog elements and digital versions for many of the co-founder's films form an important part of the collection and relate to these seminal feminist film titles: Woo Who? May Wilson (Rothschild, 1969);Sometimes I Wonder Who I Am (Brandon, 1970); Anything You Want to Be (Brandon, 1971); Growing up Female (Klein, Reichert, 1971); Betty Tells Her Story (Brandon, 1972); It Happens to Us (Rothschild, 1972); Nana, Mom, and Me (Rothschild, 1974); and Not So Young Now As Then (Brandon, 1974). Another central piece of the collection are the 255 born-digital film files representing 131 filmmakers who form the New Day cooperative.
Topics explored in the New Day films and other materials range widely, and include but are not limited to: women's studies; multiculturalism and diversity; social and political histories; gender and socialization; media culture; the environment; mental health; parenting and family; and global concerns such as immigration and labor.
The materials in this collection were donated by Liane Brandon and Amalie R. Rothschild, and were acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Original accessions processed and encoded by Megan E. Lewis, September, 2015; updated 2016.
Updated November 2019 by Jacqueline Ayala, Craig Breaden, Paula Jeannet, and Alanna Styer to include digital materials, new additions, and rearranged materials.
Updated December 2021 by Craig Breaden to include motion picture film and digital materials.
Updated June 2022 by Craig Breaden to include digital materials.
Accessions described in this collection guide: 2013-0165, 2014-0017, 2014-0091, 2014-0208, 2016-0043, 2016-0291, 2018-0023, 2018-0132, 2019-0040, 2019-0041, 2019-0070, 2021-0115.
