Culture / TV

Ruth Bader Ginsburg immortalised – a new documentary on the justice’s life, work and legacy is coming

Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary

Last year, the world felt the loss of one of America's most prolific freedom fighters, the honourable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now, four months since her passing, her legacy – one that defied social, political and gendered conventions – continues to live on. The life, work and accomplishments of Justice Ginsburg will be remembered in a new documentary, RUTH: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words; set to arrive in virtual theatres February 12 and on demand March 9.

The documentary will recount the Supreme Court Justice's career and personal achievements through a collection of archival footage, rare interviews and intimate accounts. RUTH: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words will also incorporate reenactments of the late justice's constitutional cases with never-before-seen commentary from former colleagues.

Drawing attention to her struggle of finding work despite graduating first in her class at Columbia Law School, the documentary explores Ruth Bader Ginsburg's fight for survival, despite facing "the hostility of the profoundly male universe of government and law."

"In those days, I had three strikes against me: One is I was Jewish; another, I was a woman; and then, the one that I think really did me in, was I had a four-year-old daughter," the women's rights pioneer says in one vintage clip in the trailer.

Watch the full trailer below.

At the helm of the film is Oscar-winning director, Freida Lee Mock, who is familiar with immortalising the work of trailblazing women on screen. Mock was awarded by the Academy for her 1994 documentary, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, which recounts the life of the American artist who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"The film dramatises a confluence of factors — personal, psychological, social and political that impacted the course of her work and life," the movie's official press statement reads.

"The film is designed as an immersive experience through the direct words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a professor, advocate, Judge and Justice; the use of evocative animation and intimate illustrations to visualise complex constitutional cases."

Mock's documentary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not the first of its kind. In 2018, a documentary titled RBG, was released and by directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West; earning the film an Oscar nomination. That same year, a biopic starring Felicity Jones as Ginsburg carving out her career as a lawyer and a young mother in On the Basis of Sex, also premiered on our screens.

More details on where you can watch the documentary come February 12, to come.

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