Arrest the Midwife

Synopsis

The arrest of three homebirth midwives serving Amish and Mennonite communities in upstate New York ignites a legislative fight for freedom of choice in birthing rights. Through the lens of this modern-day witch hunt the film examines the battle between medicine and midwifery and its impact on maternal child health.

Elaine Epstein, Director/Producer

Elaine Epstein is an award-winning filmmaker born and raised in Durban, South Africa and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Elaine’s film State of Denial, examining the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003 and aired on the PBS award-winning series, POV. State of Denial was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Current Issue-Long Form and won the Special Jury Award at the Hot Docs Festival. In 2008 Elaine founded Underdog Films, a creative studio specializing in documentary, branded content, and social media campaigns. Through Underdog, Elaine has created work for a wide variety of clients including Amazon, Facebook, Snapchat, AT&T, and many more. After years of honing her craft on short-from content, Elaine marked her return to documentaries in 2018 when she filmed the award-winning documentary film Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS. Arrest the Midwife is Elaine’s second feature documentary film.