THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE
Film poster for "The Dilemma of Desire" with Statue of Liberty and clouds.
THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE
Film poster for "The Dilemma of Desire" with Statue of Liberty and clouds.
WHAT IF WOMEN’S PLEASURE WAS AS IMPORTANT AS MEN’S? EXPLORING “CLITERACY” IN THE FIGHT FOR GENDER EQUALITY.

THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE

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"Very funny and intensely informational" - Indiewire
"Empowering, sex positive" - The Hollywood Reporter

Gender • Equality • Women, Gender & Sexuality • LGBTQ • Democracy and Social Movements • Education & Educational Equity 

Date of Completion: 2020 | Run Time: 118​​ | Language: English | Captions: No | Includes: Transcript Director: Maria Finitzo  Producers: Maria Finitzo, Cynthia Kane & Diane Quon

THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE is a provocative new film helping to normalize dialogue about female sexuality. The film follows diverse, intergenerational stories of women who are shattering lies about female sexual desire, bodies and power. Artist Sophia Wallace dismantles sexual “phallusy” with her groundbreaking “cliteracy” project, proving that the clitoris is as fundamental to female orgasm as it is to gender equality. Neuroscientist Dr. Stacey Dutton is committed to studying the biology of the clitoris after encountering its erasure in major anatomy textbooks. Dr. Lisa Diamond applies her 20 years of research to help students understand the implications of sexual well-being for physical and mental health. Industrial designer Ti Chang creates innovative and elegant vibrators to combat a male-dominated industry which trivializes female pleasure. The film also spotlights young women of color as they unlearn harmful mythologies in order to reclaim their sexual and personal empowerment. THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE makes the case that the way women are viewed sexually in the world cannot be separated from the way they are treated. Sexual freedom is central to the promise of human dignity, self-determination, and equality.

Educational Media Reviews Online | Ciara Healy, Librarian for Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University
Highly Recommended 
The Dilemma of Desire would be an excellent film to accompany a campus event like Vagina Monologues, PRIDE, or other body/sex positive programming on campus; or the Biology department, Women's and Gender Studies, or the medical school.”

International Documentary Association
"The film uncovers the myths and lies that women are being told about their own bodies. The documentary sheds light on not only what the female clitoris is, but also why women’s sexual desires are often pushed to the wayside. With the #MeToo movement still in full swing, there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to launch a documentary about gender politics and women’s libidos into the world."

Films for the Feminist Classroom | Lynn Comella
"The film wastes no time showing that there is nothing straightforward or easy about harnessing sexual knowledge in a culture that routinely denies women sexual agency and information. ... [It] centers the experiences of women of color and queer women, showing us what truly intersectional feminist filmmaking can look like."

Film Inquiry | Stephanie Archer
"It is a fascinating exploration in female sexuality and everything it encompasses” 

The Gate | Andrew Parker
“... Dilemma of Desire uses the deeply human and relatable stories of all its other interviewees so empathetically and brilliantly... These narratives are indispensable when it comes to talking about sexual equality in the world today."

Hammer to Nail | Christopher Reed 
"With a captivating cast of talking-head interview subjects, Finitzo creates a comprehensive overview of  the erotic world of women that dispels all preconceptions and false notions...The Dilemma of Desire is a  marvel, fierce in its focus to rewrite the rules of behavior for all to follow"

Hollywood Reporter Leslie Felperin
“...empowering, sex-positive...frank but essentially feel-good work...The eclectic emotional journeys of  other women met here... are told with impeccable empathy."

Indiewire | Kate Erbland 
“...very funny and intensely informational ... — Finitzo’s film takes a thrilling look at female bodies...What the filmmaker and her subjects ultimately find goes beyond just questions of art, science, and representation (like that’s not already enough), offering a full spectrum look at how ignoring anatomy feeds into all corners of existence."

Indiewire Daily Headlines
AFI Docs 2020: 10 of the Most Exciting Films in This Year’s Lineup

Now Toronto | Norm Wilner
Top 10 Must-See Films at Hot Docs 2020 

A Reel of One's Own | Andrea Thompson 
"Director Maria Finitzo may not speak or appear on-screen, but her presence is continual as she guides “The Dilemma of Desire” through the myriad complexities of its own topics, with a respect for her  diverse subjects other filmmakers mostly dream of achieving. They were clearly well-chosen, as they  do a fantastic job of articulating the message of empowerment Finitzo clearly wants to send, as each  finds their own joy and freedom despite the many obstacles in their path to both." 

Rogerebert.com | Brian Tallerico
"It's a movie designed to get people talking."

Screen Zealots | Louisa Moore 
"This is a good looking and well-crafted documentary. Beautiful graphics and animation add to the  story, and scenes of a group of regular women sitting around and chatting in a circle of friends gives it a  homey, authentic feel” 

Toronto Guardian | Sonya Davidson 
"It’s a powerful reminder that true equality will come only when we all arrive at a place of  understanding and acknowledgment that women are sexual beings, entitled to live their lives fully within  the expression of their desire."

Maria Finitzo is a two-time Peabody Award-winning social issue documentary filmmaker whose 30 years as a filmmaker has resulted in a body of work that has won every major broadcast award including most recently the Alfred I duPont Award and has been screened in festivals and theaters around the world. She is the director and producer of THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE. Her films are novelistic in their structure, providing multiple points of connection for an audience. She allows the narrative arc of her character’s story to evolve, colliding with other subjects from the film, creating a complex, nuanced story that serves as a vehicle to deepen our understanding of society through everyday human drama.

A coming of age story that reveals the resilience of adolescent girls (5 GIRLS), a father determined to heal his daughter after a tragic accident (MAPPING STEM CELL RESEARCH: TERRA INCOGNITA) investigates the role of science in a democratic society, a young man, leaving foster care (WITH NO DIRECTION HOME) explores the challenges of trying to find one’s place in the world, a soccer coach committed to teaching his players – Hispanic girls – about winning in life (IN THE GAME), and a young couple, both working minimum wage jobs struggling to make ends meet while building a life for themselves and their children (HARD EARNED) are all films that explore different realms of storytelling by investigating the important social issues of the day.

Finitzo’s films have tackled a variety of subjects from the controversial science of stem cell research and the complex questions surrounding the command and control of nuclear weapons to the psychology of adolescent girls, each film demonstrating a depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise. Finitzo is a 2018 Film Independent Fellow and is also a fiction screenwriter and director. She is currently working on an adaptation of a short story by Nobel Prize winning author Alice Munro. A TASTE OF LIFE will be Finitzo’s 2nd fiction film. She is a longtime associate of the award-winning documentary company, Kartemquin Films, one of the oldest and most respected social issue documentary film companies in the country.

Cynthia Kane co-created Sundance Channel’s DOCday bringing Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet’s The Staircase (2006 Peabody, Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Awards) to US television. At ITVS, she shepherded over 150 international and U.S. co-productions for public media. At Al Jazeera America, she commissioned documentaries and series including Albert Maysles’ final work, In Transit. She exec-produced New Eyes by Hiwot Admasu Getaneh (Venice, TIFF, Rotterdam), worked on Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbül's Letters from Baghdad about the extraordinary life and times of Gertrude Bell, co-produced Kim A Snyder and Maria Cuomo Cole’s Lessons From a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane, a Netflix Original Documentary, exec-produced The Letter by Kenyan filmmakers Maia Lekow and Chris King (IDFA 2019 ), produced Maria Finitzo’s  The Dilemma of Desire  (to premiere at SXSW 2020; Hot Docs and AFIDocs 2020) and co produced Us Kids with Kim A Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole and Lori Cheatle (Sundance Film Festival 2020, Human Rights Award at Full Frame 2020.)

Ti Chang is an industrial designer / entrepreneur passionate about designing products for women. She is the co-founder and VP of Design of CRAVE, a San Francisco-based company specializing in aesthetic pleasure products. Ti leads the design vision for the company’s full line of products which has won international design awards and has led CRAVE to outlets such as the MoMA Design Store, Standard Hotel, Goop, and Saint Laurent.

Ti holds an M.A. in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London and a B.S. in Industrial Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology.