Shere Hite: Last News

The groundwork was laid for Nicole Newnham’s Oscar-contending documentary The Disappearance of Shere Hite back when the director was just a girl.

Oscar-contending documentary The Disappearance of Shere Hite will be making an appearance in cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland within weeks, courtesy of Dogwoof.

Famed sex researcher Shere Hite’s 1976 best-selling book “The Hite Report” was a pioneering study of women’s sexuality that sold millions and liberated the idea of the female orgasm. But, in what doesn’t seem like much of a surprise considering today’s political climate—and to that end, how little has changed— the book triggered a ferocious backlash, especially from the political right and establishment in America.

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Films and Sapan Studios today announced they have acquired North American rights to The Disappearance of Shere Hite, a feature documentary on the famed sex researcher whose pioneering study of women’s sexuality sold millions but triggered a ferocious backlash.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Toronto’s Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, has added 12 films to its Special Presentations program. The first tranche of titles was announced March 14. The festival runs April 27 to May 7. World premieres include Canadian journalist Michelle Shephard’s “The Man Who Stole Einstein’s Brain,” the uncovering of the story behind the pathologist who stole the genius’ brain in 1955; “The Rise of Wagner,” a chilling exposé on the collusion between Wagner Group mercenaries and the Kremlin, which has resulted in secret killings and countless human rights violations; “We Are Guardians,” the story of the Indigenous guardians of the Brazilian Amazon, struggling to protect their territories from the ravages of extractive industries, deforestation, corrupt politicians and profit hungry global corporations; “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?,” a chronicle of dissident Hong Kong politician and activist Nathan Law’s fight for democracy; and director Barry Avrich’s “Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella,” a portrait of Canada’s first Jewish Supreme Court judge, a passionate advocate for the disabled community and visible minorities.

On September 11, 2020, The New York Times published an obituary for Shere Hite, the renowned sex researcher and author, noting that her work “helped awaken women to their sexual power and advance the Second Wave of feminism.”

EXCLUSIVE: NBC News Studios has enlisted Nicole Newnham, co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp, to helm a feature non-fiction project about the life and work of Shere Hite, whose research on female sexuality drew widespread attention, and controversy, in the 1970s and 80s, ultimately leading to her self-exile to Europe.

Shere Hite was a sex educator and feminist who issued the groundbreaking Hite Reports that explored human sexuality and focused on women’s experiences.Hite began her series of studies on human sexuality after working as a model as a student. Having posed for Playboy and for Olivetti typewriters, Hite became frustrated with the work after seeing the tagline on a typewriter ad she posed for: “The typewriter is so smart she doesn’t have to be.” She joined a protest led by the National Organization of Women (NOW) and began the research she would become known for.