A moment with ... Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda, documentary filmmakers
Seattle Post Intelligencer, June 1, 2004
Local filmmakers Francine Strickwerda, 36, and Laurel Spellman Smith, 34, cover a range of controversies surrounding breasts in "Busting Out." Featured in the Seattle International Film Festival...(more)

BUSTING OUT: Breast obsession in America
KUOW, Seattle's NPR affiliate, May 28, 2004
There are few body parts imbued with more meaning and taboo than the breast -- mothers have fought for right to breastfeed their children in public, while in the meantime Victoria's Secret has made millions of dollars coming up with new ways...(more)

Reviews

Busting Out
CITY PAGES, MINNEAPOLIS
You don't have to visit Hooters to understand how prevalent and controversial women's breasts are in our culture: Just watch a beer commercial, peruse a magazine rack, or read your spam. Janet Jackson's breast alone is blamed for tarnishing the "family" halftime show at this year's Super Bowl, inciting a frenzy of regulations, fines, and self-serving apologies from Justin Timberlake. Of course, most of us know there's more to breasts than sex, suds, and sin. This film from Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda delves into the American obsession with breasts through a mix of cheeky humor, historical detail, and striking intimacy. Strickwerda, who lost her mother to breast cancer, discusses the tragedy and its influence on her own transformation from girl to woman. Self-consciousness, fear (Strickwerda half-jokingly refers to her "boobs of doom"), and eventual acceptance mark the filmmaker's journey. Along the way we encounter a wide array of fascinating and moving stories from breast cancer survivors, breast-feeding advocates, burlesque dancers, doctors, a girl going to buy her first bra, and, yes, a few guys, some a bit more enlightened than others. (There's also footage--not for the squeamish--of a woman undergoing breast enhancement surgery.) Busting Out will strike a poignant and personal chord with women because many of Strickwerda's experiences, and those described throughout the film, are universal. And yet the work is also successful because it resonates with men as well. Ultimately the doc is a celebration of womanhood from a distinctly 21st-century perspective. (Caroline Palmer)(more)

Seattle International Film Festival by the Numbers
International Documentary Magazine, November, 2004
"...Just as SIFF showcased an impressive international slate of documentaries, the festival also keeps its sights trained in its own backyard. Seattle-based filmmakers Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda premiered their film Busting Out as part of Refracting Reality. The film takes a personal premise (Strickwerdaís mother died of breast cancer when the filmmaker was seven) as a taking off point to explore the mythology, semiotics and mystiqué the gestalt of the female breast in America. In a wide-ranging journey that takes us from hospitals to topless bars, the film takes a light-hearted look at this nationwide obsession. In a country where a flash of breast on television can incur a crackdown of puritanical proportions, Busting Out may be the proper antidote."
-Thomas White, Editor

More movies ahead at SIFF
Seattle Post Intelligencer, June 1, 2004
BUSTING OUT (U.S.): Breasts are a loaded subject in this culture. Size, exposure, disease and function all figure into the two objects attached to every woman's chest. Local producers Francine Strickwerda and Laurel Spellman Smith have produced an informative, entertaining and, at times, touching look...(more)

Ursic takes in the SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Gio Channel.com, June 1, 2004
Busting out is enlightening, informative, humorous and moving. Everyone who owns a pair should see it...(more)

SIFF 2004
Seattle Times, June 2, 2004
Local filmmakers Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda will host the world premiere of their documentary, "Busting Out." Narrated by Strickwerda, who as a child lost her mother to breast cancer, the film is entertaining and thoughtful...(more)