Arriving on the heels of the leaked draft opinion indicating the Supreme Court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, Shouting Down Midnight, a documentary by Gretchen Stoeltje, tells the story of former Texas senator Wendy Davis, who in 2013 spearheaded a landmark filibuster to block the vote on a draconian anti-abortion bill. The film, which premiered at South By Southwest in 2022 and also screened at the 22nd annual deadCenter Film Festival, isn’t just about Davis, however; it’s also about the myriad women inspired by Davis’s bold move to become activists, advocates, and allies in the fight to preserve the reproductive health of people with uteruses.
Those already familiar with Davis’s filibuster and its outcome may feel disinclined to seek this documentary out, but it is important viewing whether you’re up on your history or not. For those who haven’t yet heard about it, Stoeltje revisits the event with dramatic flair, highlighting all the tension, anger, and joy over the course of those crucial thirteen hours. The film frequently breaks from the filibuster to tell the stories of Sadie Hernandez and Krithika Shamanna, two young women from different areas of Texas who launched their own campaigns to address issues facing their communities – specifically, Hernandez began volunteering and later organizing for Planned Parenthood, while Shamanna started an organization to provide free menstrual products at her high school.
Stoeltje also includes the story of Carole Wall, a woman who sent a letter in opposition to the abortion ban that Davis read during her filibuster. Wall made the difficult choice to abort her pregnancy for medical reasons, despite very much wanting the child, a harrowing but necessary narrative showing that not all people seek abortions for the same reasons.
These additional narratives operate on two levels: they help paint a larger portrait of the filibuster’s impact, and they reinforce the film’s overarching message. At the beginning of the film, there’s a shot of a protestor holding a sign that reads, “I cannot believe I still have to protest this shit.” This sentiment echoes repeatedly throughout Shouting Down Midnight – pervasive befuddlement and exasperation at the consistent attacks on women’s bodily autonomy. But the answer, argues both Davis and Stoeltje, is not to become daunted or apathetic, but to keep on fighting, even when the odds are dismal. It’s an important message, especially for activists now, when the very law of the land that safeguards against bills like the one at the center of this documentary seems poised to disappear. For many, it’s a devastating blow to the cause, but it doesn’t have to be the death knell.
As of this writing, Shouting Down Midnight has no distributor, so here’s hoping that changes soon. Just as Hernandez and Shamanna were inspired by Davis, there are no doubt countless young people out there who will see this film and decide to join the fight.
