62 Days

A film by Rebecca Haimowitz

US | 2017 | 29 minutes | Color | DVD | Order No. 171220

62 DAYS is an urgent examination of a growing trend of laws that seek to control a pregnant woman's body.

SYNOPSIS

62 DAYS is an urgent examination of a growing trend of laws that seek to control a pregnant woman's body. It tells the story of a brain-dead pregnant woman whose family was forced to keep her on life support against their will. Marlise Muñoz was 33 years old and 14 weeks pregnant with her second child when she suffered a pulmonary embolism and was pronounced brain-dead in a hospital in Texas. Marlise had been clear about her end-of-life wishes: she did not want to be on mechanical support under any circumstances. But Marlise was kept alive because of a little-known law that states "a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment... from a pregnant patient." The film reveals that this is not an anomaly: there are currently 32 states (and counting) with similar or identical pregnancy exclusion policies.

62 DAYS follows the Muñoz family as they journey from private loss, to unwanted media attention, and finally towards activism as they fight to change this law. This timely short film powerfully addresses critical issues surrounding bodily integrity and women's health and needs to be seen by anyone studying or engaged in activism around reproductive rights.

PRESS

"62 Days is a deeply moving and important film that sheds light on these relatively unknown laws and the devastating consequences they have for women like Marlise and their families."

Abigail Disney Fork Films

"This short documentary, composed primarily of intimate interviews with the family a year after their long ordeal, exposes the legal webs that restrict end of life decisions for pregnant women."

Shilyh Warren, Associate Professor University of Texas at Dallas

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Chicago Feminist Film Festival, Audience Award, Best Documentary
  • WorldFest Houston, Award Winner
  • St. Louis International Film Festival
  • Newport Beach Film Festival
  • Tallgrass Film Festival
  • Sidewalk Film Festival
  • Meet the Press Film Festival with AFI
  • Rocky Mountain Women’s Festival
  • United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF)

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Rebecca Haimowitz

Rebecca Haimowitz is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has screened across the world. She has received support from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Fledgling Fund, Fork Films, the New York State Council on the Arts, The Harnisch Foundation, the Boone Family Foundation and more. She Directed and Produced 62 DAYS, a documentary about a brain-dead pregnant woman who was forced to remain on life support against her wishes. That film premiered at the inaugural Meet The Press Film Festival with AFI and aired on PBS/World Channel’s Reel South. She is also the Co-Director/Producer of the award-winning feature film MADE IN INDIA, about outsourcing surrogate mothers to India. The film premiered at the Hot Docs International Film Festival in Toronto, won Best Documentary at several film festivals, and aired on PBS in 2012. Rebecca’s work has been featured on PBS Newshour, ABC News, Bitch Magazine,ThinkProgress and more. Rebecca received her MFA in Filmmaking from Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts, where she also worked as a screenwriting Instructor. She is currently an Assistant Arts Professor at NYU. She is committed to creating powerful films that reveal the human side behind timely issues. (08/18)

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