SXSW Film Review: Shouting Down Midnight

In 2013, Wendy Davis garnered national attention for conducting a daylong filibuster of a Texas law positioned to significantly reduce access to abortion care across the state.

Filibustering in Texas requires adhering to stringent rules, including those that prohibit a lawmaker from using the bathroom, drinking water, sitting down, leaning on their desk, or straying even slightly from the topic of debate while the act is in process.

In Shouting Down Midnight, a documentary about Davis' painstaking performance and the actions it inspired, Davis explains that a filibuster in Texas differs from those of the U.S. Senate, which prevent a bill from coming up for discussion. She says, “In Texas, a filibuster allows us an opportunity for an extended debate, to raise awareness, and to help people understand that a law is being debated that may very well have a detrimental impact on their lives.”

Shouting Down Midnight uses Davis’ story as a guiding framework, but the documentary allots significant screentime to advocacy initiatives led by other Texas women who were galvanized by Davis’ stand. The film emphasizes the voices of women of color, trans and nonbinary individuals, undocumented communities, and Texans with limited access to health care or insurance, though Black women’s experiences in particular could have received more attention.

In addition to Davis, the documentary specifically featured a gregarious young leader and Planned Parenthood volunteer, Sadie Hernandez, who hails from Brownsville. Hernandez organized a campaign, #StandWithSadie, in which she stood outside of Greg Abbott’s mansion for 17 days to demand a veto of a law that cut funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings. Davis participated in Hernandez’s protest, which sparked increased awareness of the issue. Hernandez speaks about the experience, “I was happy that #StandWithSadie made ripple effects here in Texas. I would love to see more women-of-color-led events on that level in the future, and I hope that I can do that and also do it with other femme, trans, and other people that aren’t equally represented.”

As only the 13th woman elected to the Texas Senate, Davis clearly shares Hernandez’s sentiment, an ideal that she pairs with meaningful action through her nonprofit, Deeds Not Words. According to the organization’s mission statement, Deeds Not Words promotes “an intersectional community that stands for women’s social and economic opportunity, access to reproductive health, freedom from sexual assault, and equal representation” and helps people enact tangible policy-making strategies that reflect these missions.

Thoughtful, heartfelt, and informative, Shouting Down Midnight not only highlights Wendy Davis’ laborious effort to protect women’s rights, but also celebrates the fortitude of an engaged Texan constituency. Teary-eyed, Davis talks about the moment the clock struck midnight, effectively completing her 13-hour filibuster, “The people rose and cheered and screamed and used their voices. And they were democracy. They were democracy in action … and of course, they – not me – moved that filibuster past the midnight deadline.”

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Shouting Down Midnight

Documentary Spotlight, World Premiere
Thursday, March 17, 6pm, AFS Cinema
Online: March 13, 9am-March 15, 9am