New York, 1966: an Australian singer steps off a plane with a small daughter, a suitcase and almost nothing else. I Am Woman, directed by Unjoo Moon, traces how Helen Reddy turned that arrival into a career that gave the women's movement of the 1970s its anthem.
What is I Am Woman about?
Reddy's first weeks in the city are a sharp lesson in how little a talent contest win is worth to the American music business. Money runs out fast, doors stay shut, and she sings in whatever rooms will have her while raising a three-year-old alone. Within months a relationship changes her prospects and, over the following years, she climbs from obscurity to the top of the charts. The picture is less interested in the mechanics of fame than in what Reddy chose to do with it: a song she wrote about her own sense of strength became a rallying cry for women across the country, and she found herself a public face of a movement that was still fighting for basic recognition.
About the cast
Tilda Cobham-Hervey headlines as Helen Reddy, with Danielle Macdonald and Evan Peters in the principal supporting roles. Damien Strouthos, Matthew Cardarople, Dusty Sorg, Toks James and Gus Murray complete the cast.
Context & significance
An Australian and American co-production from 2020, I Am Woman runs just under two hours and sits at the crossing point of several genres: biography, drama, historical period piece and music film. It belongs to the recent wave of singer biopics but stands apart by placing its subject's politics rather than her private excess at the centre. The title is taken from Reddy's best-known recording, and the film treats the song as something that happened to a generation rather than simply to one performer, following its path from a personal statement to a chorus sung at rallies. Reception was mixed to warm, with the lead performance and the recreation of 1970s radio and television culture singled out most often.
Watching I Am Woman on Ktime
I Am Woman streams on K-Time with Persian subtitles, so Farsi-speaking viewers can follow Reddy's story in the original English with on-screen translation. The page you are reading is free; playing the film requires a K-Time account and a logged-in session.