Local filmmaker hopes her "Boobalogues" will create discussion,
raise money to fight breast cancer

Posted: Thursday, Apr 22, 2004 - 03:23:53 pm PDT
By Erik Olson
Herald staff writer

Go ahead, snicker, when you hear the title of Kathy Kiefer's new film. It's okay.
"Boobalogues" is a funny word, and it was born of a funny story told to the Soap Lake filmmaker by a friend. But after you move past the initial giggles, drop your eyebrows and watch the documentary, be ready to think and talk about some serious issues. "I want this to create dialogue," Kiefer said. "I want people to see this film and talk about it, talk about it, talk about it."

"Boobalogues" is a film about breasts: how they are exploited and adored in the media, how they are used to nurse babies, and how they are viewed by both men and women. But on a deeper level, "Boobalogues" is a documentary about identity: It's about how women define themselves in relation to their breasts. "Boobalogues" opens on Mother's Day, May 9 at 3 p.m., at the Masquers Theatre in Soap Lake. Additional viewings will also take place on May 14, 15, 21 and 22, all at 7 p.m. at the Masquers Theatre. Kiefer showed about a 20-minute preview of the one-hour-and-twenty minute film to the Columbia Basin Herald this week. Tickets for "Boobalogues" are $20 and can be purchased by calling the Masquers Theatre at 246-2611. Net profits for the film go to the Moses Lake Cancer Foundation, and it's that deadly disease that acts as a dominant theme in the documentary. Kiefer interviewed 20 women (most of whom live in the Co! lumbia Basin), and some share the story of their battles with breast cancer.

Carolann Swartz, a board member with the Moses Lake Cancer Foundation and breast cancer survivor, is one of those women. Swartz was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 years ago, and she said she hopes the documentary will make people less afraid of the disease. Swartz detected her breast cancer early and went to a doctor, which is a big reason why she survived, and she said in an interview that she hopes other women with similar concerns will do the same. Swartz sat down with Kiefer for about an hour, and she said she was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss her experiences.

"It was really nice to sit and talk to someone who was honestly interested and knew what questions to ask," she said. The Moses Lake Cancer Foundation has been trying to raise money for a cancer center for more than two years, Swartz said. The original goal was to raise money for a linear accelerator, which is a piece of equipment used for cancer treatment. The foundation has raised $150,000 so far with a goal of $1 million, she said.

Kiefer said the documentary has cost about $10,000 to produce. The Masquers donated $5,000 for the project, and Kiefer said she expects to recoup the rest of her costs from ticket sales. DVDs and videos will also be on sale at the door for $20, and the net profits will also go to the Moses Lake Cancer Foundation. A plan is in the works to show the film at the Old Chapel Theatre in Moses Lake for a night with the profits going to that theater, but Kiefer said the details have not been worked out yet.

Kiefer, whose most recent film, "Dirt Roads, Back Alleys and Beachscapes: A Window to Soap Lake's Past," is a chronicle of the town's heyday, is also a renowned photographer and supporter of the arts. Her life quest, she said, is to bring peace to the world, through storytelling and listening, which is the heart of "Boobalogues." "Every woman has a breast story," Kiefer said. "How wonderful (it was) to go out and learn what those stories were."

It was a breast story, in fact, that led to the idea of creating the film in the first place. In 2002, a friend told Kiefer a story about how, as a young girl, she felt for the women she saw in National Geographic magazine whose breasts became swollen from malnourishment. Now, as an adult, the friend said she looks in the mirror and sees "those same saggy breasts I saw in National Geographic," Kiefer said.

"It made me laugh," Kiefer added. "The light went on in my head, and it came to me."
"Boobalogues" was born. Kiefer said she even blurted out the title during that conversation. Kiefer assembled a team of local women from Grant County to serve as associate producers: Emma Lou Bishop, Dorene Bendickson, Kathy Jess, Cindy Ray, Carol Ediger and Patty Jo Austin. The group (whom Kiefer chose because they were "women I respected") met monthly and researched ideas for the direction of the film. Bendickson, who was a mental-health professional for 17 years before retiring, said she is a strong believer in breast feeding, and she was happy to see women in the film echoing her sentiments. The film, she said, presents a well-rounded view of the role of breasts throughout history.

"I like the idea of this program because it looks at many different facets of being a female and how, over the years, the female body has been exploited, and also honored," Bendickson said. The film does contain images of nude female breasts, ranging from a pregnant woman breastfeeding to topless elderly women to artistic photos of women adorned in body paint. The majority of the images, about 80 to 90 percent, according to Kiefer, are photos of breasts in art, while about 10 percent are raw photos. None of the nude photos feature local women. Kiefer was reluctant to give a content rating for the film, saying people from all ages can benefit from the film's message. "Let the rating come from the people who see it," she said. Kiefer said she hopes to market "Boobalogues" beyond the Columbia Basin. Nonprofit, breast-cancer groups from all over the country can use the documentary to raise funds for their cause, she said. She! even has a Web site, www.boobalogues.com, that tells the story behind the documentary. As one of the film's opening lines explains, "Boobalogues" offers women everywhere a way to open up:

"If you can talk about your breasts, you can talk about most anything."

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