Marcia Jarmel

Marcia Jarmel has been producing and directing documentaries for over 15 years. Her latest documentary, Speaking in Tongues, has been broadcasted across the nation on PBS. The film has reached hundreds of thousands of students, parents, policymakers and advocates in fields ranging from bilingual and heritage language education to immigrant integration, cross-cultural competency, and multicultural healthcare. Along with its comprehensive website and new media platforms, Speaking in Tongues has become a key resource for all involved. She is currently producing Got Balz?, a project about a young boy honoring a Holocaust refugee's story by sending baseball gear to Cuba.

Her best-known work is the ITVS-funded Born in the U.S.A., which aired on the PBS series Independent Lens and has been used to educate hundreds about childbirth options, and to lobby legislators to reform midwifery laws. Eight years after its national broadcast, Born in the U.S.A. continues to engage families, communities and health care professionals.

Marcia’s other films include Collateral Damage, a mother's lament about the human costs of war that screened worldwide in theatres, museums, festivals and schools as part of Underground Zero: Filmmakers Respond to 9/11. Her Return of Sarah’s Daughters examines the allure of Orthodox Judaism to secular young women. The hour-long documentary won a CINE Golden Eagle, National Educational Media Network Gold Apple, and 1st Place in the Jewish Video Competition. Her first film, The F Word: A short video about feminism uses whimsical animation and interviews to foster discussion on this so-called contentious topic. The F Word screened on KQED's Living Room Festival, AFI's VideoFest, and the Judy Chicago film series at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. (2/12)

The F-Word
A film by Marcia Jarmel and Erin Gallagher, 1994, 10 min., Color
THE F-WORD is a provocative look at the power of the word 'feminism' in the US. Why does it mean so many different things to different people? Pithy...