Joanne Hershfield

Joanne Hershfield taught in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at UNC-Chapel for over twenty years and has been producing social issue documentary films for over thirty years. Recent films distributed nationally and internationally include Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush, the story of Charlotte O’Neal, a former member of the Kansas City Black Panther Party, a poet, musician, artist, and community activist, who has lived for over forty years as an “urban warrior in the African Bush” in the Tanzanian village of Imbaseni; These Are Our Children, a one-hour documentary film reveals how the devastating effects of poverty, HIV/AIDs, and violence on Kenyan children are successfully being reduced through local grassroots interventions; and Men Are Human, Women are Buffalo, a film about violence against women in Thailand. Benevolence, a Journey from Prison to Home follows the journey of five women as they are released from prison and move onto Benevolence Farm in Alamance County, NC. The Gillian Film tells the story of a young woman with developmental disabilities who decides to move out on her own. Joanne's newest film, Gardening for the Planet, documentary about how native plant gardening can make a meaningful and significant difference in combating the devastating effects of climate change.