Birth Control Promotion on Screen: Collaborations between the Airlie Foundation and Colombian Institutions, 1972-1977

Paula Orozco-Espinel, University of Pittsburgh

This paper focuses on six films on “population issues” and family planning projects produced by Airlie Productions during the 1970s. Five of these six films focus exclusively on Colombia, while one refers to Latin America as a whole. The production of most of these films was supported by Profamilia—arguably the most successful associate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in the world and the most important Colombian family planning organization. One was supported by Universidad del Valle Medical School. These films are part of the over 100 films on population and health issues produced with the generous funding of USAID by the Airlie Foundation between 1971 and 1978. USAID’s investment in the Airlie Foundation was part of a broader trend of U.S. investment in Latin America to curb fertility in the region. Immersed in Cold War concerns, U.S. actors believed that poor, overpopulated countries were more likely to feel unsatisfied with the Capitalist system and thus embrace Communism. In this context, Colombia received an extraordinary influx of funds, partly due to the great deal of local support found in the country to population growth control interests. This led to the demographic profile of Colombia changing abruptly over the 1960s and 1970s. The films under analysis shed light on the diverse perspectives and motivations of Colombian individuals and organizations collaborating with U.S. actors in population-growth control efforts. They evidence that, while some agreed that controlling fertility was a vehicle for economic development, others embraced a broader notion of reproductive health focused on individuals’ well-being. Similarly, these films show the conflicts between those interested in accumulating new birth control users and those wanting to address the broader situation of women. Finally, they illuminate the complex role played by Catholicism and the Church in birth control efforts in a religious country.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 186. Politics of Gender and Reproduction: Dimensions of Speculative Fiction and Population Planning