No One Asked You - A Discussion With Filmmaker Ruth Leitman

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

A must see film at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is No One Asked You, a documentary by Ruth Leitman, which highlights the efforts of Abortion Access Front and Lizz Winstead to support abortion clinic staff across the U.S. We talked to Leitman about the inspiration for the documentary and how everyone can play a part in supporting abortion rights.

Director Leitman and Winstead will both be at the film’s two showings and there’s also a fundraiser party with a silent auction, karaoke and DJ Tricky Miki spinning classic funk and disco. Get your tickets here.   

Q:  What inspired you to contact the Abortion Access Front in 2016, which led to the brilliant documentary No One Asked You?

Ruth LeitmanA:  Thank you for calling the film brilliant. I’m blushing, but your readers can’t see that in print. I think our subjects are brilliant, and even more important is that combination with a deep empathy and kind heart. I had met Lizz at Netroots Nation in 2012 during her Lizz Free or Die book tour while I was there screening my immigration documentary Tony & Janina’s American Wedding.

Then cut to 4 years later when Trump was elected. I was devastated and knew that things around many issues were about to get much worse, but especially abortion access. The next day I was watching MSNBC and of course there was Lizz as I so often saw her having to argue down the generalists who were naysaying that Trump would try to overturn Roe. I had the idea in that moment that this was the way I would maintain my sanity - making a film following Lizz and AAF through their work around abortion access using comedy and outrage to destigmatize abortion and provide support to independent clinics across the U.S. Fortunately for me and our team, Abortion Access Front was planning the Vagical Mystery Tour, a 16 city USO meets Habitat for Humanity tour across the US that summer.

Q:  What do you hope viewers will take away from watching No One Asked You?

A:  Too many folks have sat this one out, thought this would never happen. But it’s been clear for a while our democracy is being dismantled in front of our eyes and in this case that has never been clearer than in the erosion of bodily autonomy. So, what we want folks to take away is that it will take all of us to turn the tide. There’s a crisis that affects all of us and it’s going to take everyone doing whatever they can to commit to changing this erosion. In watching the film, Lizz and AAF show folks what they can do to get involved.

Q:  I think one theme from your documentary that every person can do something is extremely important in the constant fight for abortion access. How do you envision the film being used throughout the country to inspire action?

A:  Thanks, the film shows measurable things large and small that each person can do as they get involved in the abortion access activism fight. It was important to me to show folks watching that they can do something. Folks want to do something especially now, but to many, it just all seems impossible. We want folks to know that they are part of the solution! We are living at a time where we need all hands on deck in activism around this issue. We are also living in a time where the film industry and distribution is more fractured than ever. Companies base decisions on corporate interpretations of algorithms rather that audience enthusiasm. More times than not, they miss the mark. People are really loving and responding to the film. They are ready for it and empowered by it. We know that Americans support abortion. And we know there’s activism fatigue in this country. The film we have made and the approach we are taking in the impact engagement and distribution will be used galvanize folks around the issue of bodily autonomy. We are committed to getting this film out there where it is needed most and following the by any means necessary approach that No One Asked You was created with and in the spirit of the subjects of our film.

Q:  How do you see the role of storytelling, particularly through film, in influencing public opinion and policy regarding reproductive rights?

A:  I love being a documentary filmmaker. I think we have a critical role in the media landscape, that is grossly under resourced. We follow stories for long periods of time often without compensation. These are the stories we cannot leave on the table waiting for a film gatekeeper’s green light. That wasn’t going to happen. Especially since the film industry didn’t even think it was possible that Roe would fall. 

In regard to changing public opinion, I’m not sure that we need to. The vast majority of Americans are pro-choice. But many of them don’t understand that they are needed to help restore access through being outspoken and active. But we also have many folks in this country who are pro-choice without the understanding that to fully be pro-choice, one must also be pro-abortion. When screening this film for many who considered themselves the former, we have come far in changing hearts and minds to say the word abortion, because that’s the word and procedure that allows women and people with a uterus to make their own life decisions. Let’s take away the stigma and call it what it is without apology.

I also think it’s important for folks to see themselves in the people represented in the film in order to engage. We are seeing this happen at each screening of the film, folks who are educated and thought they were up on all the news. But the news failed to report on abortion access for decades and in large part this is why we are where we are in this moment. The media is complicit in where we are now. This is an issue that is vast. It is not a singular story. It is nuanced. There are many abortion stories to tell. Many of the audience members see themselves or someone they know in these stories. But also, abortion stories are unique to each person and each pregnancy. Doc filmmakers have had to step in to tell these stories because the media was not covering them unless they were extreme. 

Q:  Will we see you at the MSPFF? Will you speak?

A:  Lizz and I will be at both screenings for a Q&A - April 20 at 6pm & April 21 at 2pm at The Main Cinema. Lizz is also hosting a big party as a fundraiser for Abortion Access Front after the  April 20 screening. People who buy tickets to either screening can purchase tickets to the party as well. We’ll have some special guests and a special announcement for new ways that folks can help us support the film – our rad and ambitious impact campaign, volunteer opportunities and ways to help Abortion Access Front. We are here to make a difference and we have the film about the people and the new approach to activism that can do just that!

Q:  How may we follow your news as a documentary filmmaker?

A:  Please follow the film at https://www.nooneaskedyoudoc.com/, on Facebook and on Instagram and X @nooneaskedudoc. Follow me at ruthlessfilms.com on social media @ruthlessfilms.