After Tiller

2013
7.4| 1h25m| PG-13| en
Details

Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, only four doctors in the United States continue to perform third-trimester abortions. These physicians, all colleagues of Dr. Tiller, sacrifice their safety and personal lives in the name of their fierce, unwavering conviction to help women.

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Oscilloscope

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Reviews

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Stuart Provan A one star review to give on something you don't agree on. "Children with disabilities should be given the chance and the support at life, let them have a voice " yes but lets not give a voice to adults who get incurable diseases and are made to suffer cause they sometimes have a voice THEY wish to die? Always remember Tiller who was a good person and did help a lot of people but he's DEAD now am sure his family are OK with it now. Still one star for a church murder in cold bold. Westeire?Wow some people not once you mention a nut job killed a guy with religion backing up his story again.
eurograd Abortion is probably the most controversial issue in so-called 'cultural wars' of modern Western countries. Slogans, monikers, personal attacks, dirty political moves national an local, and - sadly - sometimes violence, are present and real.This documentary follows a group of doctors and other medical staff working at a handful of US clinics that perform very controversial late- term abortions on third trimester, using the murder of Dr. George Tiller in 2009 as a convergence point to which the film will go back several times to assert viewers of the process of victimization of these professionals working at those clinics.I recognize people have very different opinions on abortion, and that such opinions can be highly divisive. Personally, I abhor any justification for premeditated violence like arson, vandalism, drive-by shooting let alone murder as a way to get your views imposed on others.In this context, "After Tiller" tries to showcase the environment of fear, stress and even social isolation that the professionals performing these controversial, albeit legal, procedures face. It is easy to see the effects that dehumanizing people one disagree with have on creating a corrosive environment that doesn't spare them, their relatives or friends. The documentary does a good job on showing the dark side of the 'mob mentality' that commands the tiny, but dangerous, faction of anti- abortion activists who rationalize their own use of violence. The film does is in a non-sensationalist manner, avoiding the low- hanging approaches of exploring the emotions of people affected by these incidents. It leaves to the viewer to draw his/her own conclusions about the impact of mob-style activism and its effects on a free society.However, this strive for an unbiased perspective gets tossed out when the filmmakers delve into the rationalization process that the medical staff performing these abortions go through, and that is the major flaw of the documentary. As one professional recognizes at some point, abortions done well past 28 or 29 weeks are in effect euthanasia-and- stillborn deliveries. The documentary is very deceptive in that it downplays crucial differences between early-stage abortions when, as someone said in the film, the fetus is "mostly a mess of tissue". The idea of euthanasia of viable fetuses that could well survive as pre- term babies outside the womb is a very controversial one, especially when, as it is the case in all cases of patients followed on the documentary, the life of the mother is not at risk in any way. The directors made it look like there are no major difference between claims that 'Plan B is murder' and euthanizing a viable a 27-week fetus because the mother cannot cope with the idea of giving a live baby to adoption while also not wanting to raise another kid.By falling into this trap, the documentary takes an equally extreme assumption to the ones it rightfully show as such on the other spectrum of the abortion discussion. One might well watch the documentary thinking that any opposition to abortion before actual labor starts is the same, and that no other issues or mishandling happens in the process (like lack of proper counsel for early pregnancy of teen mothers). From the documentary implied perspective, there is no possible position other than fully supporting the work or late-term abortion workers, or being an extremist against all rights of women regarding their reproductive health. I was not even expecting some more confrontational content on the issue of late-term abortions, but at the very least some additional perspectives on whether other measures within the health care system could be used to prevent women from having to undergo such procedures in first place. Balancing it all, I'll give this documentary a score of 5: flawed in part, very interesting in other segments.
overand First and foremost: Don't confuse a review of this film with a review of the practices involved. (I've seen at least one negative review of this film that was clearly by someone who had not seen the film, but wished only to voice an opinion about the general subject matter).See this film. Pro-choice, pro-life, undecided? Doesn't matter. See this film. It will only help you to better the subject.This film is the best documentary I've seen. I don't mean just because the content is amazing, of course, but the quality of the portrayal is also almost shockingly good. A number of the filming techniques did an *extremely* effective job of letting us see insides the minds and hearts of both doctors *and* patients.In a topic as emotionally charged as what this film covers, it's easy to get caught up in the subject as "abstract." This film helps us to see the real impact and effects these people - and practices - have. It's not always pretty, and it can be very difficult to watch, but I feel significantly more connected to the whole subject now.Yes, the film leans in some ways toward "pro-choice," but it in fact makes some very clear points about just how difficult that choice is. I won't spoil it, but the most intense moment of the film for me happened right there. And the film doesn't vilify the pro-life people - they're ever-present, as in real life, but they are portrayed honestly as well. It's clear they are as passionate as the doctors.This is just, overall, a very brutally honest film.I had the good fortune to see this in a small theater, and one of the directors did a video-chat with the theater as a Q & A. That was a nice touch, but my 10/10 review was cinched the moment the film ended.
mpkurtz2009 I wanted to give this movie a 9 but I couldn't think of anything wrong with it, so I have to default to a 10. Saw it last night at Full Frame Film Festival. Nicely done, technically adept, holds your interest, and tells powerful stories about the four remaining doctors who perform late-term abortions in the US, following the murder of Dr. Tiller. You will hear and see interviews with patients, many of whom had planned pregnancies but found out on a late ultrasound that the baby had a defect incompatible with life or leading to a severely reduced quality of life (vegetative states, constant pain, and the like). You will hear interviews with young women who were raped and initially in denial of the pregnancy, then came to the painful decision to abort in the late second trimester. Should be required viewing for every legislative body across the country. Also for anti-abortion protesters, but that will never happen. Deserves showing on TV, hope it gets a PBS contract. I predict these young filmmakers have a brilliant future ahead of them.