The Joys and Pains of Self-Distribution

Ruth Leitman on her reproductive rights comedy “No One Asked You”

Sarah Silverman and Lizz Winstead in No One Asked You

Ruth Leitman is a seasoned documentary director-turned-activist whose films have a proven track record for having a tangible social impact. Her latest film, No One Asked You follows comedian and The Daily Show co-creator, Lizz Winstead as she takes a national tour of abortion clinics across America in the wake of the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The film opens in New York on October 18 at DCTV and will be available for sale starting October 25 on the new online platform Jolt.Film.

In this interview, Ruth and I discuss how she took distribution into her own hands following her NY premiere, taking the film on the road across the country, partnering with organisations including Abortion Access Front and Women for Harris and galvanizing likeminded activists.

Despite the film creating a real movement, the filmmakers themselves are yet to see a financial return on their creative, emotional and temporal investment. We talk about the joys and sacrifices of controlling distribution on your own documentary in the following conversation. Follow the film on instagram @nooneaskedudoc.

Watch the trailer:

Hear our full conversation:

Below is an edited version of our talk:

Bella Racklin: Can we start by talking about why you wanted to make this film?

Ruth Leitman: This is a film I had to make. It was election night, 2016, and I knew things were about to get a lot worse. Lizz Winstead would be on TV whenever anything catastrophic happened. And I realized that the way to talk about abortion access was through the lens of comedy. Her organization was about to go on a tour across the battleground states in the South and the Midwest. It was a vehicle because these were the people who were sounding the alarm to the deaf ears of people in America at the time.

Bella: Obviously there's been quite a few documentaries about abortion rights from various angles. What were you trying to do that was different?

Ruth: There're so many great abortion-centered documentary films. I really wanted  a call to action that brought joy and levity to the issue. One of the reasons why it was so important to us to do a theatrical run is that the film really plays in the room. At DOC NYC, you could really feel the start of that. People were dancing around at the end. And shouting the word “abortion.” Because language matters. Using the word. For too long it was a pro-choice America. Now we need to be a pro-abortion America.