Seeing women directing film

Okay, I graduated from MCAD and sadly some of what I experienced there felt like a direct reflection of the outside production world. Film is a male-dominated industry.
And that is not to say men are making all the choices, there are many women making choices in the industry and in some ways that makes it harder for me to accept.
Still, like with everything, it is about who you know. It is developed in a manner that is supportive of men, and really difficult for women.

Women in the production world are encouraged to be producers not directors or cinematographers. And if they go into these roles they are presented with many challenges; a crew who questions their direction and voice as well as criticism, much like we see with the current election and words regarding Hillary Clinton. Her hair, her clothes, a tear???
Is it that the people making the choices to hire/elect a woman in any role (director, president, board, instructor...) are so accustomed to the male perspective
that they can’t relate to something else? I’m not sure. But I am not willing to accept it.

I know it is difficult but I also know, thankfully, that there are hundreds of women out there doing it.
I think we should spend more time acknowledging and celebrating the work of women who are creating and trudging through. In the process of doing this we create positive role models.

As we all know, media is a very important form of storytelling and has become a way to connect in our culture . How can this connection be an authentic one if it is not represented by both genders as well as all races? It is critical that the number of women directors, presidents, board members, etc. are heard as well as recognized.

I remember reading an article once about Martha Coolidge, president of the Directors Guild of America. She talked about how discouragement starts in film school. She went to NYU’s film school in the 70’s and when she applied she was told she couldn’t be a director because she was a woman. Of course she was accepted and has since directed at least 40 works!

Maybe you are thinking, this was 30 years ago. But we are still seeing/hearing it happen. No, I do not know the protocol or selection process for the 13 directors selected for the class at MCAD. But I also don’t think it matters. We need to see a representation of both genders as well as all races. We each have a different story to share and in different ways. Not all women directors make “women” films and not all men make films about shooting and sex. I am tired of hearing about all the male prodigies, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson... So let’s start celebrating female directors... And in honor of the MCAD class and the time frame or 1980 to present, I will reply to this post with some women directors from 1980 – 1995, many who continue their work today!

Missions:

Pick a director from the list and find a work sample and a bit of information on her to post on the blog for discussion. Share the knowledge.

Compose a letter to MCAD... Maybe Amalia, as a current student, could help with the deeper exploration on this. Think about a piece you might make to explore these issues.

Take action, take action, take action!!
There are a lot of discussions happening but what are actions you can take???

MSNBC.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cops say copycat beating hits 12-year-old
Plot inspired by Florida scheme to videotape, post online beating, cops say
The Associated Press
updated 11:40 a.m. CT, Sat., April. 19, 2008
CLARKSVILLE, Ind. - A group of southern Indiana middle school girls videotaped the beating of a 12-year-old schoolmate and posted it on the Internet in an attack that authorities believe was inspired by a similar one in Florida, police said.

No charges have been filed and police said they have not yet interviewed all the girls, ages 12-14, who are students at Clarksville Middle School. The girls' identities were not released because they are juveniles.

The victim, who was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, was the daughter of a police officer, Police Chief Dwight Ingle said.

Police said the girls lured the victim to a parking lot near a warehouse in the town just north of Louisville, Ky., on April 12 and beat her. The violence was videotaped and later posted on the video-sharing Web site PhotoBucket, Ingle said, but it has since been removed.


The video begins with one girl arguing with the victim and escalates into a fight during which the 12-year-old is repeatedly hit in the head as other girls watch and laugh, police said.

Detective Darrell Rayborn said Thursday that police believe the plot was inspired by a similar scheme in which a group of teenage girls in central Florida posted online the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old victim. Parts of that video have been widely seen on TV and Youtube.

Clarksville school Superintendent Stephen G. Fisher said he did not anticipate disciplinary action against the students because the fight did not occur on school grounds.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24213332/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 MSNBC.com

Last night at dinner, my dad told me about a new class at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) where he teaches and where we often meet for TVbyGIRLS.  The course will be offered in the fall and is entitled "Great American Directors: The 80s to the present." Sounds like a good class, right? But here's what got him angry and which will probably also anger you: Out of the list of 13 directors that will be examined in depth in the course, directors like Quentin Tarantino, Alexander Payne and Clint Eastwood, there is not one woman!  It might be understandable in a course about early filmmaking to only include male directors.  But in a class about film from the 80s to the present, leaving out women directors is just unacceptable.

Okay... I know I'm not blogkeeper or whatever any more but... I am perplexed! My birthday is coming up and becasue we had a coupon for 50% off an item at Michael's for this week, I got to pick out my gift last night. So... I got a really nice easel I can minimize to use on a tabletop or take outside. Along with that, I wanted to get an artist's manikin. So... we went to go get one and guess what. If you want to buy a 12" wooden manikin of a female figure it costs $9.99. If you want to buy a 12" wooden manikin (same wood, same brand) of a male figure, it costs $16.99. What's the deal? Gender discrimination in art supplies??? Does anybody have any idea at all why this might like this? I could understand a maybe a dollar difference - maybe but almost twice the price? I think this sends the message that men are worth more than women. What do you think? Does anybody have any ideas why this might be?

I am trying to embed the video again. Hope this helps.

When I saw this I wondered, what could have caused such brutality? What are your opinions? If people do this just because of a small dispute, what would they do if it was larger? I'm currious about what you think.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24082730#%2324085098

Did you hear about kids being strip searched at school? What do you think? Do you think police should be doing this instead of school officals? Do you think they should have parental permission? What are your thoughts?

ok...the question is:

how do you feel when you disagree but DON"T say anything. honestly. try it once for real and then report back.

Okay.. the baton has been passed to me... So, yea. Based on Maddy's question and the responses to it...do you ALWAYS have to respond when someone is forcefully excerpting their own opinions? IS IT an ethical obligation to respond immediately all the time no matter what? I mean, I responded about why I sometimes don't speak up but it doesn't mean I never speak up. It was just why, when I choose not to respond, I don't. You can't possibly speak up about EVERTHING because you would get totally depressed! Isn't it more effective sometimes to let it go and then later, when the person isn't so passionate, speak up about how you feel?

Anyway... I think speaking up is more than what happens on a one to one basis. It is how we use our talents - whether that is speaking out verbally, writing or, like what we do with TVbyGirls, making videos - to educate other people about other opinions and facts they may not have considered. Also, a lot of times speaking seriously about topics is ineffective because people are conditioned to stop listening when the conversation gets serious. I think sometimes other approaches can be much more effective, like a video or like through using comedy etc. Check out what John Roy does with serious issues that he feels obligated to speak up about. I am interested in what you think.

Copy & paste this into your browser http://johnroylive.com/ click on download clips and watch the one from the Tonight Show - that's my favorite.

This is a general question that kind of relates to Undercover. I have noticed that when someone says a really strong opinion, people who disagree tend to either very strongly oppose it/argue, or they will not voice their full opinion and try to downplay the difference of opinion. I am more interested in the second reaction. Why do you think people can be more soft-spoken and passive even about something they disagree about when faced with someone who has a strongly opposite view? Have you ever been in this position?

To spin off what Kirsten said: it is interesting to see how people react to you wearing a hijab. She got reactions from people she didn't know. I got reactions from people I knew. So since everyone is so jazzed up about facebook, who would feel comfortable putting a picture of yourself wearing your hijab as your profile picture? If you feel comfortable doing it, change your picture and let us know people's reactions. If not, explain why you don't feel comfortable having this as your picture. If you don't have a facebook, feel free to throw in any comment you want about this idea.

Hey Everyone, 

I am going to pull a maddy here and post something out of turn. sorry!!! Just wanted to share an experience i had yesterday.

As i was going home from our undercover shoot yesterday, we stopped for food, and at that point i still had my hijjab on and looked as muslim as a girl with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes can. As we walked into the place there was an almost immediate change in atmosphere.... it was really interesting.... i cant explain it. I sort of experienced what Hannah and Molly did. At first when we sat down I was getting a lot of not-so-respectful looks from mostly white men in more dressy clothing and a little more subtly suspicious looks from the women with them. My parents noticed it to. Then our server came up, all smiles and hellos and all of a sudden all the hostility was gone. Everyone went back to eating and talking and i even got a few smiles from people when leaving. I think its safe to say our conjecture about one person changing their attitude can affect the attitude of the entire establishment.... or whatever it may be.

=] Thoughts? Comments?

I think this is a good thing.

Hello all... This is a really interesting story about societal influences on gender and self image/esteem. It is a really good, and short read... so when you get a chance, read it! :) I think, although fiction, it truthfully portrays the society we live in...

X: A Fabulous Child's Story -- by Lois Gould © 1972

http://trans-man.org/baby_x.html

I know it's not my turn on the blog, but there I just had to write about this. I was listening to MPR this morning, and they were talking about an investigation of Saddam Hussein's government and how it had supported many terrorists. They made some reference to "uniting Muslims for jihad". This made me so sad and angry, because the last thing the Muslin community needs are those kinds of comments that imply that all Muslin people would want to unite and be terrorists together. It reminded me why we are doing undercover: to show that "Muslim" and "terrorist" are not interchangeable words. We know that this isn't true, and that Muslims around the world contribute really valuable, beautiful things to their communities. This is what the world needs to know.

So, alot of the topics we've discussed (on this blog and in person) come back to how we percieve ourselves and how the media alters our self image. I found a book, I think is really great in helping promote a positive self image. Body Drama takes a really interesting approach to making women and girls feel comfortable in our own skin, answering questions about our body and promoting all types of people. It eliminates myths and shows us real women. I think it's worth reading "You’d think a Miss America swimsuit winner would feel completely confident about her body, right? Not always! So I decided to write the book I wish I’d had as a teen and in college—an honest, funny, practical, medically accurate, totally reassuring guide to how women’s bodies actually look, smell, feel, behave, and change. Alongside real-deal photographs of women just like you and me (no airbrushing, no supermodels, no kidding) you’ll find medical pictures of things you need to be able to recognize, true confessions by yours truly, and the encouragement you need to appreciate the uniqueness, strength, and beauty of your body. What are you waiting for?"—Nancy Redd " What do you think about this kind of media?

Hello all! I am thrilled because this is election year. I have been watching the debates, debating others about which candidates rock, and watching political adds. The now infamous Clinton 3am add was particularly interesting to me. I know we have always talked about how people use images to convey strong feelings and emotions -- but here was a perfect example of a politician using this technique! Also, this is no indite on the ability of Clinton to lead the U.S. (almost every politician has done this -- remember Huckabee's Christmas add?) Here's the URL for the Clinton add if you have not seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70emIFxETs
I wondered what you all think about this political tactic...

I'm not sure how many of you have given this topic much thought or experience but I was wondering what you thought about relationships and what we call them.  There're a lot of terms thrown around: boyfriend, friends with benefits, best friends, acquaintances, hook ups....  Remember "We Don't Let Label's Stick?"  I almost think it's sort of like that.  I've given it some thought and I feel that these labels are unnecessary and often harmful.  Every relationship is different and it's foolish to put a person or two people into an invented category where they don't fit.  That's my opinion.  What do you think?

"There is in every serious friendship a trove of confidences.  Secrets is too mean a word, because it is not merely the facts that require proper handling.  It is the way those facts relate to the friend, the emotional context in which they were buried, the moment in which they were told.  We think we will be weakened by giving away each one, but with every trade, we feel stronger, knowing that a burden has passed out of our keeping and into the hands of someone we trust."  ~Ivo Stourton

Let's mix it up.  Here's something fun you can share: favourite movie of the year.  And once someone lists their favourite movie and explains why, you have to pick a new one.  

I'll start.

I'm going to steal this one even though I know everyone else will want it and it may seem cliche.  My favourite film of the year was Juno and it makes me really angry that everyone in the entire world, practically, fell in love with that movie. I kind of wanted it to be my movie.  But here's why I like it.  I felt that it appealed to many audiences.  I saw it with a bunch of my female friends.  Then I took two of my guy friends to see it on different occasions.  Everyone was pleased.  People got different things out of it.  It was superbly-crafted and I gleaned new wonders out of it every time I saw it. (3 times so far!)  So the cinematography and directing was excellent.  The script, of course, was golden and Minnesota-born.  I'm proud.  The music was spot-on even if the songs were a little folky. I got into it.  And of course the acting was perfect.  I really have not a sore thing to say about this film.  The best thing about Juno is that it is humorous but not without a great amount of depth.  To put it simply, Juno was very real.  I laughed for the first 70 minutes of it and cried for the last 20.  You can't get much better than that.

Your turn.

So this may be an overdone topic but I figure I'll see what my favourite girls have to say about it. That means you.  I'm wondering what you think of the frequent objectification and disrespect of women portrayed in popular music, especially rap and hip hop. I am a big fan of hip hop and listen to it frequently. I try to listen to artists like Kanye West and other lesser known artists whose work, I feel, is more respectful toward women (not always, mind you).  Examples of lyrics I noticed just today while riding in the car with a friend.  These are somewhat explicit just so you know:

"You got me so hypnotized / The way your body rolling round and round / that booty keep bumping, boobies just bouncin up and down." ~ "Hypnotized" by Plies

"Imma say that I prefer them no clothes / I'm into that, I love women exposed." ~ "Low" by Flo Rida

"Because she mine, and so fine / Thick as can be ... In her mind she fantasize about gettin wit me" ~"Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown

Thoughts?