Unborn in the U.S.A.: Inside the War on Abortion is not meant to change your mind. Much like the films Jesus Camp and Hell House, the documentary simply chronicles the lives of antiabortion activists and lets the viewer decide if their tactics are fair and reasonable or completely misleading and insane. “It was just out of curiosity,” co-director William Thompson says. “We went in and wanted to find out what motivates someone to put up a huge poster of an aborted fetus.” The film started out as a class project for Thompson and Stephen Fell while they were students at Rice University, then grew into a feature-length documentary. Unborn in the U.S.A. follows a variety of groups, from those who offer counseling to pregnant mothers, to those who protest outside abortion clinics, to those who blow up clinics, to those who take pictures of and collect pieces of aborted babies. But it’s all done without the directors injecting editorial statements. Critics are split on the film, with some thinking it’s merely pro-life propaganda and others praising it for its unwavering dedication to the cinéma vérité style. Thompson and Fell will be on hand after today’s screening for questions. 8 p.m. Rice Cinema, Rice University, Entrance no. 8 (University Boulevard at Stockton Drive). For information, call 713-348-4853 or visit www.ricecinema.rice.edu. $5 to $6.
Fri., Oct. 19, 8 p.m., 2007