Sundance award winning documentary Miss Representation from filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom takes everything we know and have seen, from Disney, CNN, Fox, Hair commercials, to political campaigns and points out the painful discrepancy between the portrayal of men and women in the media. In a powerful hour and a half documentary, Jennifer Siebel Newsom narrates through a series of clips and images along with several interviews of people in media. Oprah and Rosie O’Donnell begin things with an introduction about the film and the value of its existence. One the first films from the OWN Network, Miss Representation has won several awards and acclaim at Sundance and continues to be used as a tool in classrooms all across the country.

After the introduction, Jennifer Siebel Newsom introduces herself and her reasons for making the film. Newsom is an actress, Stanford MBA graduate, and creator of the production company Girls Club Entertainment. She explains her experience as an actress and how she was told to lie about her age and her MBA. She introduces her young daughter, her inspiration to make the film.

Miss RepresentationSiebel networked with feminist organizations across the country and authors that have written on gender in America. This includes Malika Amala Cyril of the Center for Media Justice, Jehmu Greene of the Women’s Media Center, and Jean Kilbourne of the Wellesley Center for Women.

For the most part, Miss Representation focuses on the representation of women in the culture of the United States. While the same sexism is applied internationally, the beauty of the film is that it sheds light on the strongest aspects of our culture. For some audiences, it will be a relief to find a film that can so graciously and effectively critique the media and for others, it may come as a shock. With the film clips, images and horrifying statistics, the film remains entertaining and captivating.

The film moves between interview style clips of famous, well-respected women and clips and images from different films, advertisements, and the news. There are interviews with Katie Couric, Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Rachel Maddow, and Gloria Steinem. Watching Miss Representation is like being part of a very interesting conversation. It inspires a response whether you hate the idea of feminism or is you see it as pure common sense. It is a provocative documentary, made for all audiences.

The DVD has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and has a decent image and sound quality.