Milk Factory
First prize, Pictures of the Year International, Documentary Daily Life Category
10 minutes, 4K Video, 2021

“Milk Factory” focuses on the Longworth House of Representatives lactation room. Lactation spaces for working mothers say a lot more about being human today than nursing in the strict sense. This bipartisan space was established in 2007 when Nancy Pelosi became speaker. The film is like a time capsule of right before the pandemic, filmed days before the Capitol closed to the public after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency, and a year before the U.S. Capitol insurrection. One of the filming dates coincided with the passage of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA). Despite this advance, the United States remains the only high-income country in the world that does not offer mandated paid family leave, causing many women to return to work soon after giving birth and contributing to the pervasiveness of pumping in the workplace. Focusing on reproductive care work and filmed in the very place where laws are decided regarding parental policies and reproductive rights, this film is especially relevant in light of the pandemic, which has underscored the systemic failings and institutional barriers that largely effect women, especially women of color and working parents.

Watch Milk Factory here