This is me, pretending not to be nervous. The premiere screening of Midwife happened last week in the Twin Cities. I was so nervous and anxious leading up to it, that I didn't really have a chance to sit back and just enjoy it.
But it went very, very well. I couldn't have asked for anything better, really. The entire theater was almost sold out (almost 400 people). Twelve wonderful businesses and organizations sponsored the movie. It was in an amazing theater. And everybody seemed to really love it.
Here are some of the comments that were posted the following day:
"It was amazing. I laughed, I cried, I was scared, I felt hope, I got angry, I got motivated."
"Last night we saw the premiere of a documentary called Midwife which follows a new midwife as she begins her practice and touches on a wide variety of issues around home birth midwifery today. Please watch the trailer, like the Facebook page, attend or host a screening in your area, and share this information widely. It's seriously an awesome movie and will no doubt touch lives."
"It was so wonderful I can't even stand it!"
"Definitely a must see for anyone that cares at all about birth or will be birthing or near birth or was birthed.... just see it, it's fantastic."
But it went very, very well. I couldn't have asked for anything better, really. The entire theater was almost sold out (almost 400 people). Twelve wonderful businesses and organizations sponsored the movie. It was in an amazing theater. And everybody seemed to really love it.
Here are some of the comments that were posted the following day:
"It was amazing. I laughed, I cried, I was scared, I felt hope, I got angry, I got motivated."
"Last night we saw the premiere of a documentary called Midwife which follows a new midwife as she begins her practice and touches on a wide variety of issues around home birth midwifery today. Please watch the trailer, like the Facebook page, attend or host a screening in your area, and share this information widely. It's seriously an awesome movie and will no doubt touch lives."
"It was so wonderful I can't even stand it!"
"Definitely a must see for anyone that cares at all about birth or will be birthing or near birth or was birthed.... just see it, it's fantastic."
Here is the full theater, and one of the ads from the sponsors that appeared on the screen beforehand. 
After the film, we had a Q&A session with several people who appeared in the film (Sarah Biermeier, CPM; Melanie Moore, CPM; Jeannie Bazille, CPM; Dan and Holly Fix, home birth family; Elizabeth Dahl, president of Minnesota Families for Midwifery).
"I attended the premiere screening of the movie Midwife last night. It was amazing. There were laughs and frustrations and tears and cheers. What a privilege to see into the world of home birth midwifery from another perspective. How wonderful to witness a variety of families giving birth and hear their thoughts surrounding birth. We are so lucky in Minnesota to have such great options for giving birth. Families everywhere deserve to have options of where to give birth and who they want to attend their birth. Thank you, for making this movie. Thank you, Allison Kuznia, for bringing the discussion of planned home birth and midwives serving families that choose to give birth at home into the limelight."
"Midwife is an AMAZING movie and so needed. Allison Kuznia has mad documentary-making skills and this movie needs to go global. Wondering if you should set up a screening in your community- DO IT. Worth it."
"Your city needs to host a screening of Midwife asap. I saw it last night in a packed theater in Minneapolis and the buzz was off the charts!"
"Allison, that was a fan-freaking-tastic documentary!!! Your messages were clearly and powerfully made, the stories moved me to tears many times and I laughed way more than I expected to. This film is a valuable gem and I look forward to recommending it to every pregnant woman I meet from now on! Thank you for the amazing experience of watching it in a theater packed with people who really understood the topic. That was the icing on the cake. Thank you for making Midwife!"
"Midwife is an AMAZING movie and so needed. Allison Kuznia has mad documentary-making skills and this movie needs to go global. Wondering if you should set up a screening in your community- DO IT. Worth it."
"Your city needs to host a screening of Midwife asap. I saw it last night in a packed theater in Minneapolis and the buzz was off the charts!"
"Allison, that was a fan-freaking-tastic documentary!!! Your messages were clearly and powerfully made, the stories moved me to tears many times and I laughed way more than I expected to. This film is a valuable gem and I look forward to recommending it to every pregnant woman I meet from now on! Thank you for the amazing experience of watching it in a theater packed with people who really understood the topic. That was the icing on the cake. Thank you for making Midwife!"
And here I am with two lovely midwives featured in the film, Sarah Biermeier and Melanie Moore.
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the premiere. Thanks to all of the sponsors. Thanks to my friends who helped take tickets and hand out welcome bags and sell DVDs (Rebecca, Dan, Kristine, Sally, Tiffany). Thanks to my photographer friends Megan Crown and Brooke Walsh for taking pictures. Thanks to everyone who posted about the movie. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone for helping make the premiere a success!
