Tyra Banks

There’s nothing better than a documentary that opens a door wide to a previously unknown world. In the case of the surprising and delightful Beyond the Gaze,” it also reveals a figure relegated to the margins of history who deserves, and now gets,the spotlight. The film is a fascinating immersion into how the issue evolved and how it was executed each year — from Campbell’s scouting of locations and designing the shoot to her hiring of models including Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs, Tyra Banks, Roshumba Willams and Kathy Ireland, who all appear in interviews.

For anyone who has ever seen the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — even if only as they wait in line at the grocery store, and wondered about it — this film offers a fascinating history. For feminists who have had, like me, their own issues with scantily clad gals posing in front of palm fronds or jumping out of sparkling Caribbean waters, this will offer a deeper perspective on what those images represent. Does it answer whether those images are sexualization or empowerment? No. You’ll have to decide that for yourself.

The documentary does not shy away from the controversial nature of the SI Swimsuit issue, which has been the target of feminists and female athletes alike over the years, but director Campbell puts what Jule Campbell did in the context of the era in which the SI Swimsuit Issue was born. This well-made, warmly personal documentary highlights the way in which Jule used her artistic eye to serve as a female filter to the male gaze of photographers and the magazine’s senior editors, all male. She controlled how the women were photographed, carefully selecting photos that went to the final selection. The issue was required to be sexy but Campbell aimed to keep it tasteful and not lewd.