Clara Riascos

Following recent endeavours that have unearthed women’s cinema and reclaimed its contribution to film history, this video essay revisits the filmography of the Colombian feminist film collective Cine Mujer (1978–1999). Narrated by three of its members—Eulalia Carrizosa, Patricia Restrepo, and Clara Riascos—through semi-structured interviews that intersect the personal, professional and political, this short film also reuses Cine Mujer’s archive. Its purpose is, one the one hand, to contribute to restoring its legacy and, on the other hand, to reframe and resignify its images within women’s ongoing battle for equality.

In Bogotá there are several areas that do not have any support from the State and their people must struggle to provide for themselves. In these communities there is no infrastructure, no development programs in public services, and total neglect in the area of social security. The problem derives from a process of accelerated urbanization that has overwhelmed any planning attempt. No one is more aware of this reality than the people who suffer from it; so, they decided to organize themselves and with imagination, with daring, and above all with decision, diverse groups face and solve their problems themselves. Education, health, and recreation are some of the sectors where the inhabitants of Bogotá work and seek ways to progress.

This documentary analyzes the problem of domestic work in three instances: That of the housewife who performs all the indispensable work without which no one can live and whose utility is to reproduce the power to work, to study or simply the survival of society as a whole. The second instance, that of the domestic worker, the one who goes into someone else's house, almost always comes from the countryside and receives a salary for her work. This woman also suffers from the hostility of her job, isolation and loneliness, and in many cases, discrimination. And the third, the domestic worker by the day, on whom the hardest work falls and who is totally unprotected especially in old age. In all three modalities work has no social recognition. Women are classified as economically inactive, alongside the disabled and beggars. But the most important reflection of this video is that domestic work is a job that is not shared by both sexes; this has been traditionally assigned to women.

Working conditions often carry health risks. In order to fulfill all her obligations, Manuela needs a watch with more than 24 hours. Women facing a double workday see their occupational health problems double. The program shows how to deal with the pressure to prevent health problems that often affect working women.

AND WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER DO? is a humorous film which cleverly uses the technique of speeded-up action to expose basic inequalities built into the traditional family structure, which lay the bulk of responsibility and pressure on women.