In her landmark speech on November 26, 1974, before an overwhelmingly male Assembly, Simone Veil declared: “Just listen to women.” History has remembered this plea, but historiography has not always followed its guidance. Before the feminist voices of the 1970s and the passage of the 1975 law, there were the women who had abortions, those who performed them, and the intermediaries—nameless, faceless figures whose haunting, anxious, painful, liberating, or traumatic experiences had never been documented on this scale.

To honor the significance of the Veil Law, the INA (French National Audiovisual Institute) has created a landmark archival collection: 65 filmed testimonies gathered by a transdisciplinary and non-partisan committee led by historian Bibia Pavard.

Those fragile yet essential testimonies—unprecedented in both scope and nature—form the foundation of a multi-platform and multi-format project ; Directed by Sonia Gonzalez, the documentary Il suffit d’écouter les femmes (Just Listen to Women) offers a chronological and thematic journey from 1955 to 1975, weaving together archival footage, songs, and fiction to bring these hidden stories to life.

Alongside the documentary, a book and podcast, offer a 360° exploration of abortion’s personal, historical, and societal dimensions. Through these different lenses, the project sheds light on the lived experiences of abortion—moving from individual stories to broader historical and social perspectives—adding nuance and depth to contemporary public debates.

‘In the Veins’ resonates through time, using over a century of archive footage to shine a light onto the face of the mining heritage of Yorkshire and the North East of England.

A story of hardship and hope, division and defiance, perseverance and pride; this is not a history lesson, it’s an emotional journey that digs deep into the heart of a community built on coal. Commissioned by Teesside University and produced by the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, the film is the result of mining for archive ‘black gold’ in amateur and professional films, promotional footage and regional BBC and ITV television programming and news, totalling over 115 source films, then carefully crafting a respectful production that would represent a proud and often forgotten community.

Released in 2024 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the end of the 1984/85 UK year-long coal mining strikes, the 24-minute film has been screened at film festivals, in regional libraries, museums and published on YouTube. Importantly, it has been screened in community centres and village halls in former mining communities across the North of England, many of which are still feeling the effects of the end of the mining industry.

Telling the story of the coal industry, but significantly the human experience, through only archive footage and found voices in the vaults of the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, was a massive undertaking. The 13-strong volunteer ‘community curator’ group who have lived and worked in mining communities, at the coalface, in the community, were central to ensure the film was meaningful and authentic.

“The film shows the importance of coal, how it kept us all warm, how it kept the wheels of industry turning and how communities came together as each pit was sank. It shows the price of coal, the deaths and illnesses caused by mining the black gold. It shows the strength and tenacity of miners and their families who over the years fought for a fair wage, better working conditions, and in 1984 fought the state hoping to keep jobs and community. It tells our story and it tells it well!”

Heather Wood, community curator (active in the ‘Women Against Pit Closures’ movement)