Yours in Freedom, Bill Baird

Florida Premiere. In an America where more and more women and trans people are losing legal bodily autonomy, the history of Bill Baird’s long fight for women’s right to abortion is as relevant as ever. Called the devil incarnate, pervert, CIA agent, saint, the unsung hero of the birth control battle, the man who successfully challenged the U.S. law banning the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people is the subject of Rebecca Cammisa’s powerful new documentary. Baird, now 91, looks back at his life and mission that began in the early 1960s when he became the clinical director of EMKO Pharmaceuticals, a company that manufactured and sold contraceptive foam. He saw a great deal of suffering in the hospitals he visited and was profoundly changed. Cammisa weaves in the present-day story of Jada Portillo, an Arkansas high school student whose research for presentation on the history of birth control connects her with Baird. An inspiring and deeply felt look at what one person achieves, and who he inspires, in the pursuit of justice.

In Attendance: Rebecca Cammisa, Director