Leona's Sister Gerri

Streaming video - 1995

LEONA'S SISTER GERRI tells the dramatic story of Gerri Santoro, a mother of two and the "real person" in the now famous photo of an anoymous woman on a motel floor, dead from an illegal abortion. Reprinted thousands of times on placards, and in the media, this grisly photo became a pro-choice icon. Should the media have used this image? What circumstances led to Gerri's tragic death? Powerfully addressing issues of reproductive rights and domestic violence, this video is a moving portrait of Gerri Santoro's life and society's response to her death. "We knew the corpse, naked and abject, but we never knew the story, or we didn't until "Leona's Sister Gerri", Jane Gillooly's searingl...y effective study of an infamous photograph and how it came into being. Patiently piecing together the facts behind this wrenching image, Ms Gillooly brings a wide breadth of understanding to the tragedy she uncovers." *New York Times, Janet Maslin* more