COURSE BLOG for GWSS 3307: Feminist Film/Media Studies (Fall 2007)

Peggy Hayes graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1986. She had an internship on the set of the television series “In the Heat of the Night” (1988). She founded the Night of the Black Independents which an organization which showcases films written and directed by persons of African decent.

Nandi (1998) was the only work of Hayes that I could find. In this film, Nandi is the name of a (fictional) women’s magazine that caters to African-American women. A freelance journalist, Frankie Reynolds, uses Nandi to expose harmful information about a major pharmaceutical company. This spreads the controversy of the company throughout the community.

I was not able to view this film nor find any other information related to it.

I found this work through the Sisters in Cinema link.

It was easy to find Hayes from the links provided by the blog, but I was unsatisfied when I could not find further information about Peggy Hayes and her movie, Nandi.

Posted by Mary Ellen McCormick at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. I decided to find out more about Ayoka Chenzira. She was born in Philadelphia in the 1950’s. She was reared by her mother who owned a beauty parlor in the building where they lived in north Philadelphia. While attending a private boarding school during her high school years, she discovered the world of art, film, and foreign languages. She went on to earn her M.A. degree in education and her B.F.A. degree in film production. Chenzira is a productive film artist whose works include: features, performance art, documentaries, experimental production, and animation. She is, in fact, considered the first African American female animator. She has also received many awards for her outstanding contributions to the field of Black independent cinema.
2. Some of her works include:
1. Hair Piece – An animated satire on the question of self-image for African American women living in society where beautiful hair is considered hair that blows in the wind.
2. Secret Sounds Screaming – Uses a variety of voices to look at the sexual abuse of young people.
3. Syvilla – A portrait of Syvilla Fort focusing on the beauty of her choreography.
4. Alma’s Rainbow – Is about a single mother and her coming-of-age daughter.
3. I was unable to view any of her work. However, I did find a website that she belongs to. It is called Ayoka Chenzira’s Red Carnelian Films, which is a collection of award winning films by African-American, Caribbean, and African writers and directors. This company was actually founded in 1993 by Ayoka Chenzira, who recognized the need for low budget, entertaining and thought provoking films that feature black people as the interpreters of their own stories.
4. I found some of her works at the Red Carnelian Film’s website: http://www.ayoka.com/. I also found others at the Women Make Movies website as well: http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm113.shtml
5. It was not too difficult finding information about Ayoka, she is a very accomplished woman. I also found a clip about her Red Carnelian Films.
http://www.ayoka.com/content/flash/demotest.htm

Posted by Rachel Kyllander at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Nnegest Likke is a African American filmmaker who is a native of San Francisco. She came from humble beginnings, eventually being an inventive film maker. She is half Ethiopian, and says it was tough being half African when she was younger.
After graduating from Oakland's Skyline High School and Georgia's historically black college Clark Atlanta University, Likké moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue her love of screenwriting. To make money, she taught English and drama to high school students for a few years. Then she and a friend began a dating-advice show on public-access TV, which led to a job as a writer and producer for the reality TV show "Blind Date."
I have actually seen Likke’s movie “Phat Girlz” starring Mo’nique. The movie explores the struggles plus size women go through in living up to the standards of America. I did see the film in the movies and it can now be found on DVD. I think the film is good for building confidence for women who do not necessarily fit the typical “skinny” image that we see everywhere. It wasn’t that difficult finding information on Nnegest probably because her film showed in theaters around the country.

Posted by Thadis Coley III at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Neema Barnette was born December 14, 1949 and raised in Harlem. She attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts and NYU. She has dircted many episodes of television shows such as The Cosby Show, A Different World, 7th Heaven, and Gilmore Girls. She has directed eight television films and two feature films. Her 2002 film "Civil Brand" won best film at the American Black Film Festival. It also won the audience award and special jury prize at Urbanworld Film Festival. Civil Brand is a film based on a story by Preston A. Whitmore II. It is about a womens' prison that is corrupt. The women protest and eventually take over the prison. The film was made with a budget of only $500,00.

Neema Barnette was the first African American woman to get a three picture deal with Sony. She is also the first African American female sitcom director. She has her own production company called Harlem Lite Productions.

Finding information on this director was a little tricky. I started with Tressie Souders, the first African American female director in the United States and I couldn't even find a picture of her, let alone a biography/filmography. I decide, in the interest of time, to change my director. I chose Neema Barnette off of the "Sisters in Cinema" website. This assignment has made me realize how neglected women are inte the world of film.

Posted by Tara Weinberg at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Fashion Resistance to Militarism
USA, 2006, 10 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Lesbian, Local Filmmakers / Subjects
Language: English
DIRECTOR: Kimberly Alvarenga
I searched on Google for “women of color, film director” and this link http://www.qwocmap.org/festival2007/sched_dir.html was one of the first to come up.

I chose Alvarenga because her movie “Fashion Resistance to Militarism” (described as “A fresh and provocative look at the military's influence on fashion and popular culture. Kimberly Alvarenga was raised in the San Francisco and directs the Economic Justice and Human Rights Program at the Women of Color Resource Center in Oakland.”) might speak to something that bothers me- the increasing acceptance of camouflage and military uniform-styled clothing marketed toward children. I think this “trend” is only serving to desensitize us to violence and war. (ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now)

Kimberly Alvarenga is difficult to find biographical info on. I searched on www.imdb.com and found nothing. The best biography I could cobble together from various websites is that Kimberly Alvarenga is living and working in the Bay area and is an advocate for the rights of women, esp. women of color. I also can’t seem to find a compete list of her films; this was the most inclusive bio I could find:

Kimberly Alvarenga -Women of Color Resource Center
Country/Countries: United States

About Kimberly Alvarenga -Women of Color Resource Center
Kimberly Alvarenga is the Director of the Economic Justice and Human Rights Program at the Women of Color Resource Center. Kimberly has over 10 years of experience working directly with and on behalf of low-income women and other underrepresented communities in their struggle for economic security. She is a member of Women’s Leadership Circles, commissioner on the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Commission and part of the San Francisco Women’s Building Program Committee.

Kimberly’s first short film Espejo premiered in 2005 at the San Francisco Queer Women of Color Film Festival and was also featured at Frameline 29 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival and the 2005 Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

From: http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Profile.aspx?id=5528&lang=1&storyid=1266

Posted by Sienna Moore at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://faithfilmworks.com/art/sub_art/bio_christine_photo.jpg

Christine Swanson was born on July 1, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan. She attended the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where she received her MFA. At her school she was a Willard T.C. Johnson Fellow, which is the “most prestigious fellowship given to the student who has achieved high standards in his or her work” (IMDB.com) Along with graduating from Tisch, she graduated with a degree in Film Theory and Japenese from the University of Notre Dame. She has developed, written and directed various movie projects. She is married to Michael Swanson, and CNN featured the pair as the raising duo to watch in the film industry. (Biography from IMDB.com)

Some work she has done includes.. (IMDB.com)
1. All About Us (2007)
2. Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
3. All About You (2001)
4. Two Seasons (1997)

She has received two awards and one nomination for her work.
1. Two Seasons (1997) Won Short Film Award at the Acapulco Black Film Festival.
2. All About You (2001) Won Best Film at the American Black Film Festival and Nominated for Golden Starfish Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival

I found Christine Swanson’s name on the “Sisters in Cinema” website. I had actually heard of her before, but was not familiar with her work. There was actually attainable information on her, compared to other women of color filmmakers which I could not even find a bibliography.

Posted by Amanda Amundson at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The director I chose to research is Maria Novaro. She was born in Mexico City in the 1950’s. She is said to be the most successful Mexican female director. She studied sociology at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She studied film production at University Center of Film Studies in Mexico. She is very well known, especially in Europe, for her use of colors in her films. Maria Novaro is considered a pioneer because of her success in a male-dominated career. As of now, she is currently writing a novel about Chicana women.

Traducción simultánea (2006)
Morena, La (2006/I)
Sin dejar huella (2000)
Enredando sombras (1998)
Jardín del Edén, El (1994)
Otoñal (1993)
Danzón (1991)
Lola (1989)
Azul celeste (1988)
Historias de ciudad (1988)
Isla rodeada de agua, Una (1986)
Pervertida (1985)
Querida Carmen (1983)
7 A.M. (1982)
Conmigo la pasaras muy bien (1982)

I have never seen any of Maria Novaro’s work. The short clip that I saw from Sin dejar huella shows that the story is about two women who find friendship. They are both trying to escape from something or someone in their past.

I found Maria Novaro by searching through the links that Rachel so kindly posted as guidance. I typed Novaro’s name in google and clicked on the internet database website (IMDB). This is where I read a short bio about her and a list of her works.

It was not difficult for me to find Novaro because of the helpful links. I looked at the index of female directors and randomly chose one.

Posted by Kristen Kramer at 02:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kathleen (Conwell) Collins Prettyman was born 3/18/42 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She died 9/18/88 from cancer. She attended Skidmore College and did graduate work in Paris. Her accomplishments, among many, the first black American woman to make and release a feature film along with first prize at the Sinking Creek Film Festival for one of her first films. She also participated in play writes. She made films more for her race then her gender and is quoted saying,

To separate oneself from the black man is to allow America the final triumph of division.

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Posted by Lindsey Peck at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Lourdes Portillo is a Mexican-born filmmakers focusing primary in Latino identity in her work. She has an extensive career in both TV work and on the silver screen. She began her career when she was just 21-years-old when a Hollywood friend asked for help on a documentary. Her work on the documentary The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985 for Best Documentary. Her 1993 film, Columbus on Trial was shown at both the London and Sundance Film festivals. Portillo has collaborated at length with several other noted female cinematographers, and continues to work on films that deal with identity struggle, Mexican identity, and satirical comedy.

2.
Over, Under, Sideways, Down—first camera assistant to Stephen Lighthill on Cine Manifest's feature.
After the Earthquake/Despues del Terremoto—1978 narrative film about a Nicaraguan refugee living in San Francisco.
The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo—1985 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary.
La Ofrenda :The Days of the Dead—1989 film funded by PBS after the success of The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. Received widespread critical acclaim and was Portillo’s most serious attempt at challenging the notion that documentaries must always be associated with injustice.
Columbus on Trial—1993 film ironically showing Columbus’s “discovery” of America. This film was shown at both the London and Sundance Film festivals.
In The Devil Never Sleeps—delves into the Mexican psyche and works on the onscreen representation of Latinos and Chicanos.
Currently, Portillo is working on both “a low budget comedy set in the underworld of cockfighting,” and a film about a modern day Don Quixote whose gets lost in her life and art in her quest for the perfect film.

3. I could not find her works online, but I have read the story of The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, and it is extremely moving. I would love to see some of her work as she seems to have a unique balance as an artist of female, Latino and artistically identified films with a quirky satirical and political twist.
Here is the link to her homepage:
http://www.lourdesportillo.com/lp.html

4. I found her in a simple Google search of Latina and women “of color” filmmakers. I looked through a few pages to find a noted artist like Portillo with films that showed both innovation and artistic range.

5. It was very easy for me to find female filmmakers “of color.” There are several sites and pages dedicated to honoring these women, their work and their contribution to feminism, minority identification and the craft of cinematography.

Posted by J Kriegs at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Posted by Greta Fay at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kinuyo Tanaka is a Japanese actor and director who’s career began in the 1920’s. I was finding conflicting dates on her birth but it was either in 1909 or 1910. She is a revered actor with over 100 acting credits according to IMDB.com. Tanaka was a major luminary in Japan. She married and divorced director Hiroshi Shimizu in 1929, and won many awards for her acting abilities. She directed her first of six films titled “Love Letters” in 1953. “Her directing career was the first of any significance for a Japanese woman, and it displayed the same intelligence, taste, and intensity of her acting”, claims one of her biography sites (www.stanford.edu). In 1977 Kinuyo Tanaka died of a brain tumor.

Her directing credits are as follows:

• Onna bakari no yoru 1961
... Girl of Dark
• Ruten no ouhi 1960
... The Wandering Princess
• Oginsama 1960
... Love Under the Crucifix
• Chibusa yo eien nare 1955
... The Eternal Breasts
• Tsuki wa noborinu 1955
... The Moon Has Risen
• Koibumi 1953
... Love Letter
Now here is where my disappointment comes in. I’ve read all these wonderful things about Kinuyo and have see some of her acting on youtube.com, but I cannot find any clips of the movies she has directed. Netflix has even failed me. Netflix! They also only had movies to rent that she acted in. So while it wasn’t difficult to find writing on her life and career, I am having a hard time finding examples of her directing.

Posted by Ashley Day at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Aurora Guerreo has always had a strong interest in her family's culture and history. She received her bachelors degree in psychology and Chicano studies, and then went on to receive her MFA in film making. Guerreo strives to bring an intelligent and realistic view of her cultural roots to the rest of America. She wants to fill the void that exists in the proper representation of her culture. In 2006 she was voted #13 in Film Maker Magazine's list of 25 faces of independent film.
2. Her most notable works include: Pura Lengua (2005)- debued at the Sundance Film Festival, Viernes Girl- which won the 2005 HBO/New York Latino International Film Festival short film competition, and Mosquita y Mari - for which she wrote a feature length script, and for it won the Sundance Ford Fellowship and Paul Robeson Development Grant in 2005, and was also selected for the Tribeca All Access Program.
3. I was unable to find a link to any of her work, but here is a link to the previously mentioned article from Film Maker Magazine: http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/summer2006/features/25_faces11-15.php

4. I personally found Guerrero by going to google.com and typing in "women 'of color' film makers." I then clicked on a link that was titled "Women of Color Film Festival." I found her name on the site and went back to google.com and typed her name in and found many articles about her. Her work shows in film festivals all around America, but as of yet has not shown in many major theaters.
5. It was not too difficult for me to find Aurora Guerrero. Especially because she is, according to Film Maker Magazine, one to look for in the near future.

Posted by Brigitte Bartholdi at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hala Khalil is a writer/director born in Egypt in 1967. She was an engineering student at one point, but switched paths and instead became a student at the Film Academy in Cairo, where she got a degree in film directing in 1992. Since then, she has made many short films and documentaries, along with two feature films in the past three years. Most, if not all, of her work has earned her recognition and awards at film festivals and she is proving to be one of the more acclaimed new directors from Egypt.

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Posted by Magyar at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bridgett M. Davis is a woman of many talents. She is currently an associate English professor at New York’s Baruch College. Her area of teaching pertains to creative writing and literature. She dabbled in film, both directing and penning the screenplay for the award winning and critically acclaimed film Naked Acts in 1996. Prior to her teaching and film, she was a news journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer as well for the Chicago Tribune, New York Newsday, Columbia Journalism Review, Wall Street Journal and the Detroit Free Press. She is also an established author, with her recent book Shifting Through Neutral, which Booklist Magazine calls, “A riveting family drama filled with sharply drawn individuals who love and fail each other with stunning intensity.” She has also written In The Tradition, a compilation of pieces from young African-American writers.

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Ngozi Onwurah was born in Nigeria in 1966. Her familiy fled Nigeria becuase of the civil war when Onwurah was nine years old. They settled in Britain where she studied film at St. Martin's School of Arts and the National Film and Television School. She makes films in a variety of formats. Short films, documentaries, and feature length narratives. Onwurah's first short length film (an under graduate senior project) COFFEE COLOURED CHILDREN won first prize in the BBC Showreel competion, jumpstarting her career. She has won four other awards.

Onwurah has over a dozen directorial credits. A few of her works include: Shoot the Messenger (2006), Mama Africa (2002, also the only one of her films available on Netflix), Welcome II the Terror Dome (1995), The Body Beautiful (1991), Coffee Coloured Children (1988).

Reading about her work, especially The Body Beatiful and Shoot the Messenger, definetly made me want to see it. The ideas she addresses in her films, anti-imperialism, the construction of race, and the many cultural constructions of the body are all very interesting to me. However, her films seem to be very difficult to obtain in this country. I gather in the UK she is better known, but here only one of her films is readily available over the internet. Others are available on Women Make Movie's website– which is where I started my inquiry into Onwurah. Unfortunately, her work rarely shows outside of film festivals. I couldn't find a personal webpage but her IMDB page is: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0648937/

Posted by Eben Kowler at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. While searching through the women film directors’ link, I ran across Nora Ephron, so I decided to randomly pick her. Nora was born in New York City on May 19, 1941. Nora was educated at Wellesley College, Massachusetts with a degree in journalism. She started out in journalism and eventually moved into screenwriting. She is an acclaimed essayist, novelist, and has written screenplays for several popular films. Nora is the daughter of stage and screen-writing team Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron.

2. Nora made her directorial debut with the comedy This is My Life in 1992, which was a story about a single mom who struggles to establish herself as a stand up comedian. Most of her films feature strong female characters. Her follow-up to her debut, she co-wrote Sleepless in Seattle (1993). More of her work includes:
• When Harry Met Sally (Nora earned an Oscar nomination for her original screenplay)
• Bewitched
• You’ve Got Mail
• Michael
• My Blue Heaven
• Mixed Nuts
3. I have seen a lot of her work. I absolutely love Sleepless in Seattle; you’ve Got Mail, Michael, and When Harry Met Sally. I had no idea that she was part of these movies.
4. I found this information on The Internet Movie Database website and also in the Nora Ephron Biography page online.
5. It was not difficult to find information about Nora; she is a very well known female in the business.

Posted by Rachel Kyllander at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1 - name, short bio, background info on filmmaker (and image if you can find it)
Kim So Young, 37, Korean woman, who married Korean producer and worked with him to make her movie. The day after So Yong Kim’s directorial debut, In Between Days, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival,

2 - names, short summary of any of their work
In Between Days, 2006)…Filmed almost entirely in Korean with non-professional actors, Days’ entrancing vérité tracks young Aimie (Jiseon Kim) and her budding, unrequited love for her best friend Tran (Taegu Andy Kang). Amy’s struggles adapting to foreign culture partially reflect those of the filmmaker, who moved to America from her native Pusan, Korea, when she was 12.

In Between Days is a love story, so hopefully it can reach out to other people who are not Koreans and not immigrants but [who] relate to growing up

3 - any reflections on their work (if you are able to view), and post link to the work and/or homepage
She said it was first time writing a scenario and she focused to write about Aimie’s whole life. But But she realized that it will get to complex to picture all of Aimie’s life and she had to cut and edit her story again. I though that this is what helped this movie great, because it became easy and simple. I think deduce complex to make it simple is good. That’s why I liked the movie.

4 - where you've found them (and/or where their work shows)
I found So Young’s information through Filmmaker magazine's "Top 25" to watch article. However I knew about her before and I started to search on Korean web site, because it is easier for me to find info there. Not like America, I think that Korean people are more aware of Korean woman filmmaker and their work. Even people don’t realize whose work it was, they are more interested to watch woman filmmaker’s production as they seem they are open mind to them.
5 - how easy/difficult it was for you to find these women (the where are the women ?)
It was not difficult to find her work and about her because there were so many articles about her (in Korean). Maybe it is my mistake that there are more woman filmmakers who haven’t had spotlight and assume that everything seems okay to me. I don’t know. But I know Koreans are hybrid movie watcher and they are aware of responding woman filmmaker’s voice.

Posted by Stella at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Biography
Maureen Blackwood, a Jamaican descendent, was born in 1960 in the United Kingdom. At the time, the United Kingdom was racially and class divided, which caused a great inspiration for Blackwood's film making. She was able to take something so sad and sick, as this dividing, and turn it into an amazing artform, that is Maureen Blackwood. She attended the University of Westminster and received a degree in media studies. After this, in 1983, Blackwood and many others formed Sankofa, a film makers and producers company that promotes the black film makers in every way. Blackwood sees Sankofa as a tool for Blacks in the United Kingdom to use in order to have their voice heard, since they have such an amazing and completely different story to tell then the white community.

Work:
* The Passion of Remembrance, Sankofa Film and Video Collective (A great representation of the complexity and diversity that make up the black woman.)
* Representation and Blacks in British Cinema; Channel Four Television (Documentry of.)
* Perfect Image? Sankofa Film and Video Collective, 1988 (Challenges society's sterotype of black women and of women as a whole.)
* Home Away From Home, Channel Four Television, 1994 (The story of a black woman and her triumphs and trials as an immigrant worker.)

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Posted by Meredith Martyr at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kinuyo Tanaka was the first female director of Japan. Prior to directing, she starred in many of the films of such famous directors as Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. She was featured in one-hundred and thirty-one films, ranging from years 1924 to 1976. Her first film was a film entitled Kuibumi, releaesed in the year 1953. She went on to direct five more features in the next six years, including Tsuki wa Noburinu (1955), Chibusa yo eien nare (1955) Oginsama (1960) Ruten no Ouhi (1960) and Onna Bakari no Yoru (1961), which was her final film that she directed. She died in the year 1977.
I had a very easy time finding out about Kinuyo Tanaka. On the wikipedia page for women directors, under the subcategory of women of color, she was listed as a director from Japan. I was able to obtain a more complete list of the films that she has directed by going into imdb.com. While I had no problems in finding out who she was, there is very little information about her available beyond this basic overview. The information that is about her tends to focus more so on her role as an actress within the male directed films that she starred in than the films that she directed. Similarily, while it is is quite easy to find many of the films that she has starred in from a place such as netflix, none of the films that she has directed have any video distribution in the US, which makes them very difficult to obtain. Even from import sites such as HKDvd.com or Nippon-export.com, they do not have any of the films that she directed available. I have also been unable to find any reviews or even plot synopsis of any of the films that she has directed. This does not necessarily mean that she has been forgotten about as a director, as a great deal of information never really makes it from Japan to the western world. Still, it is unfortunate that none of the films she directed and that very little information about these films is available in this country, as I'm sure it was a difficult task, even for an established movie star, for a woman to succesfuly direct films in 1950s Japan.

Posted by Robin Youngman at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"This is an important step for Latina women, so we don't have to rely on the whole glamour actress thing. My film cost $500,000, and with the small budget and level of control, I didn't have to let anyone tell me how to portray my own culture."
-Maria Escobedo

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Posted by Nicole Berg at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all, just wanted to reserve a director like a few others...I'll be posting more after I research Maria Novaro!

Posted by Kristen Kramer at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Gina Prince-Bythewood (38) is an African American woman film and television director and writer. She studied at the UCLA Film school, where she received the Gene Reynold's scholarship for directing and the Ray Stark Memorial scholarship for outstanding undergraduate. Upon graduating from UCLA in 1991, she was immediately hired as a writer on the TV series "A Different World." She continued to write and direct for a number of TV series, before making the transition to film direction with award winning films such as "Love and Basketball." She currently works and lives in Southern California with her husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, who is also a film writer and director and their two sons, Cassius and Toussaint.

2. Her most well recognized films include "Disappearing Acts" (2000) A love story about an African American couple in Brooklyn New York and "Love and Basketball"(2000) which was produced by Spike Lee and debuted at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. For "Love and Basketball" she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature and a Humanities prize.

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Posted by Rose Coleman at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Just claiming my lady film maker.

more in a few hours.....

Continue reading "Catrina Chaos" »

Posted by Alissa McCourt at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Shonda Rhimes is an African-American woman who grew up in University Park, Illinois. Rhimes attended a private Catholic school growing up in Chicago. She went on to graduate from Dartmouth College with a BA in English literature. As a student she was active as a director in the Black Underground Theatre and Arts Association, which is a student group at Dartmouth for the performing arts. Shonda also graduated from the University of Southern California – School of Cinema-Television with a MFA. She was awarded the Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship, which is a prestigious award for writing at USC. Shonda Rhimes is a writer, director and producer.

Shonda is well known for her highly successful writing in the series Grey’s Anatomy. Before Grey’s Anatomy, she directed the film Blossom and Veils in 1998, which stars Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps. She has also written for Crossroads (starring Britney Spears), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and Private Practice, the new Grey’s Anatomy spin off series.

I have seen Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Crossroads, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Shonda’s work portrays strong, smart women, or women who become stronger over the course of the films. This is why I enjoy watching Grey’s Anatomy. They are strong women from every walk of life. It shows that women do not need to have a man to support them. They can achieve anything in life with knowledge. Personally, my favorite character in Grey’s Anatomy is Izzie Stevens, a blonde doctor, who came from absolutely nothing and put herself through medical school. Shonda defies the blonde stereotype with this character, and with many other characters.

I knew of Shonda from watching Grey’s Anatomy. However, I did not originally think of doing her because she is the writer. After many other attempts of trying to find information on other women filmmakers, I decided to search Shonda’s work and see if she had directed before. It was very easy to find information on Shonda Rhimes because of her recent success with Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. There is much more information posted about Shonda on websites like IMDB and TV.com than other women filmmakers, which is why I decided to switch to Shonda.

Tv.com
IMDB.com

Posted by Tapex002 at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Demane Davis
1. She is the one on the right in the picture. She was born in Roxbury and I was unable to find her age anywhere. She started copywriting first and then started to direcct comercials just to pay the bills and learn more about the medium. She later became a screenwriter and a director.
2. She made her first film "Black, White & Red All Over" in 1997 in which she directed and wrote with Harry McCoy. This film went to the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for awards but unfortanatly did not win anything. She then co-wrote and co-directed "Lift" with Khari Streeter in 2001. Which is about a female car booster with a troubled family and also deals with the issues of shoplifting. This was also shown at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the NHK Award. It was also shown at the Uraban World Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
3. I was unfortanatly unable to find any of her work in clips.
4. I found the most information about her on the link to Sisters of Cinema and another website www.newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/01january/lift.htm
I posted the link to this site above if anyone would like to read it. It is an interview with Demain about her film "Lift."
As of where to view her work the only place that I found that it was available was to buy it online. Other than that it has just been shown at different film festivals.
5. I found it extreamly difficult to find her anywhere. It took me almost an hour to find any info that seemed crediable. I am still a little unsure on the information I did find. It was also hard to find a great deal of information on her movies. I was unable to find a clip of either one and was only able to find a way to buy it through a site on google and on the Sisters Of Cinema website. I would think that anyone who won awards at the Sundance Film Festival would be a whole lot easier to track down. The whole process I would say took me about two hours just to get all the information right. She is deffinetly tough to learn about.

Posted by sketch at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Troy Yvette Beyer was born on November 7, 1964 to an African American Muslim mother and a white Jewish father in New York, New York. Beyer began her acting career with a role on the children's program Sesame Street at the age of four years old. She later attended City University of New York's School of the Arts studying acting and psychobiology. She then landed a bit part in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club in 1984. She would then move to Los Angeles, where she became a regular on the ABC Prime-time soap opera Dynasty in 1986. Beyer went on to earn ShoWest's Newcomer of the year Award for leading role in the feature Roof Tops in 1989. Beyer is known as an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She also has a very large supportive family that is made up of two paternal half brothers Jerry and Ryan Beyer and four Maternal half brothers Gregory, Mahmoud, Muhammad, and Jibreel and three Maternal half sisters April, Bahiyyah, and Imani. Beyer is married to Mark Burg and is currently still producing films today.

2. Troy Yvette Beyer has acted in features such as Weekend at Bernie's II (1993), Eddie (1996), The Gingerbread Man (1998) and John Q (2002). In 1997 She put her skills to use, making her screenwriting debut with B*A*P*S, which starred Halle Berry. In the next year she directed her next screenplay, Let's Talk About Sex .(1998). She also made a trailer and took it to the Sundance Film Festival where she would hand it out to executives. The film was quickly picked up by a prominent distributor. She next wrote and directed Love Dont Cost A Thing (2003). It's important to keep in mind that Beyer was romatically linked to musician Prince in the 1990's and appeared in the video for his song "Sexy MF".
Here's a link for Let's Talk About Sex Trailer The Film is about what women really want in a relationship.

3. I have personally watched Weekend at Bernie's II, which is very funny. I enjoyed the movie and I would watch it again. I have also seen Eddie, which starred Whoopi Goldberg. This film is also a comedy and I would watch is again. She plays key roles with Goldberg, which helps her gain fame. I have not seen Gingerbread Man, therefore no personal take on it. My favorite screenplay that Beyer is director of and acts in is Let's Talk About Sex. The film is very telling about what women really want in relationships and pushes the limits. The film is very modern and realistic. I like how she took real interviews and made them part of the production. Like I mentioned earlier she took Let's Talk About Sex to the Sundance Film Festival where she quickly gained recongization.

4. I found Troy Yvetter Beyer on the Filmmaker's list on the Sister In Cinema website that is listed on the right hand side of this page. She was listed with many others who have made themselves known through their work. Beyer work shows in many, many places. She has been to many film festivales, and her films are in local public places like Blockbuster, Hollywood video etc. You can view clips/trailers on any major hollywood film site. She is a very well known name for the works she has acted in and produced.

5. I found it very easy to find these women and especially Troy Beyer. She is very talented and known for the works she puts out. She pushes the boundries about women's sexuality in her pieces and talks about romance a lot. She uses sexuality to sell and it really works in her films. Sundance has her in their timeline for recongization for Love Don't Cost A Thing, and Let's Talk About Sex.

Biography information found on Wikipedia.com
Film information on SundanceFilmFestival.com

Posted by Jessica Haddrill at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Short Biography:
Euzhan Palcy was born in Martinique, France in 1957. She moved to Paris in 1975, and in 1983, won the Silver Lion award for her first film, Sugar Cane Alley. She is noted for being the first Black woman to direct a mainstream Hollywood film: A Dry White Season. She is best known for her films focusing on social change and cultural issues

2. Filmography:
1975 La messagère (The Messenger) (for TV)
*Her first piece, written at age 17 for French television.

1982 L'atelier du diable (The Devil's Workshop) (for TV)
*A comedy short

1983 Rue cases nègres (Sugar Cane Alley, Black Shack Ally)
*Her feature debut, shot for less than $1,000,000. It documents the love and sacrifice of a poor black family living on a sugar cane plantation in Martinique in the 1930's, as seen through the eyes of a gifted young boy.

1989 A Dry White Season
*Adapted from the novel by South African writer, Andre Brink, this film concentrates on the social movements of South Africa and the Soweto riots. On this film, she became the first black female director produced by a major Hollywood studio.

1992 Siméon
*Set in the Caribbean and Paris, this is musical fairy tale between the dead and the living in which the ghostly spirit of a revered musician, poet and ladies man is held captive by a young girl until he performs a good deed.

1994 Aimé Céaire: un voix pour l'histoire (Aimé Céaire: A Voice for History)
* A three part portrait of Aimé Césaire, famed Martinique poet, playwright and philosopher.

1998 Ruby Bridges (for TV)
*The true story of Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl who, in 1960 at age 6, helped to integrate the all-white schools of New Orleans.

2001 The Killing Yard
*A drama is based on the true events surrounding the 1971 Attica prison uprising which had an indelible impact on the American prison system and jury selection process.

Continue reading "Euzhan Palcy" »

Posted by R.S. at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continue reading "Patricia Cardosa" »

Posted by Emily Dolentz at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Julie Dash was born and grew up in New York City. She was the first African American woman to have a full-length general theatrical release in the United States with "Daughters of the Dust," which debuted in January of 1992. The 25th Annual Network Black Film Festival honored Julie for this film as being one of the most important cinematic achievemements in Black Cenema in the 20th century. In December 2004, the Library of Congress placed "Daughters of the Dust" in the National Film Registry, which joined 400 other American films preserved as National Treaures. Julie also directed "The Rosa Parks Story," which won the Family Television award when aired on the CBS television network. For this movie she also was nominated for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement award at the 55th Annual Directors Guild Awards, which made her the first Afican American woman to be nominated in the the Primetime Movies Made for Television category.Other films that she has directed include 'Love Song,' an MTV original feature; 'Brother's of the Borderland,' which plays at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum in the environmental theater in Ohio; 'Incognito' (1999); and 'Working Models of Success' (1973), her first film.

By just watching the trailer posted above you know "Daughters of the Dust" is a religous movie that takes place on an island. I believe it has to do with African American culture and the struggles they go through while trying to stay in close contact with the Lord.

I found an article on Julie Dash by using the google search engine. I typed in Asian woman filmmaker, but happened to find Julie who is African American. It was very easy finding Julie, and there were many other women filmmakers I had found that I could have chosen for this assignment.

geechee.tv/julieinfo/bio2.html

Posted by Cassie Setter at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Poet, artist, and cultural philosopher Maya Angelou (1928 - ) was born in St. Louis, Missouri as "Marguerite Johnson". She began her prolific career playing the role of "Ruby" in the 1954 European Tour of "Porgy and Bess". Since that time, she has performed both as a stage and film actress, working on such high-profile projects as Brecht's "Mother Courage" (Mother Courage), "Roots" (Nyo Boto - her performance was nominated for the 1977 Emmy for Best Supporting Actress), and "Medea's Family Reunion" (Aunt May). However, she is best known for her poetry, autobiographies, and racial activism. Today, she holds Honorary Degrees from over 30 American universities and was the proud recipient of the 2000 Presidential Medal of Arts - not to mention hundreds (literally) of other awards and recognitions.

Continue reading "Maya Angelou" »

Posted by Christopher Kehoe at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Sanaa Hamri is a young Moroccan-American filmmaker who moved to the United States when she was 17 to attend Sarah Lawrence College. Right after college she began to make a name for herself when she began directing music videos for stars like: Mariah Carey, Prince, and Destiny's Child. Recently her first feature film debut "Something New" was released.

2. Like I said Sanaa Hamri has directed music videos like Mariah Carey's "Around the World" and Prince Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas. She has also directed Television episodes for "Greys Anatomy", "ER", "Desperate Housewives", and "Men in Trees". She was nominated twice for "Something New": Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie - Comedy or Drama and Best director. She is now working on the upcoming "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2".

3. I watched her trailer of "Something New" and it did look like more of a hollywood film, but it had meaning. It looked at the relationship of a hard-working black woman who falls in love with a white man and her family won't allow it. It takes on a different view of racism in a classy way. I want to go rent the real thing now!

4. Well as a huge fan of Mariah Carey, "Greys Anatomy", and "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" you'd think I would know of Sanaa Hamri right? Actually I came upon her on accident. I never knew anything about the directors of the music videos, TV shows, or movies I watched, until now. Hopefully after this class I will be much more engaged into what goes on behind the scenes of what I am watching though.

5. It wasn't difficult, because you gave us those handy links on the side of the blog. But I would say without those I would have been completly lost, because I hardly know any famous movie makers whether they are women or men or of a different ethnicity.

Continue reading "Sanaa Hamri" »

Posted by Marial Weidner at 04:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My hope is to see the lives of queer women of color reflected on the silver screen. I want to see films that tell the stories of lesbians of color from center stage, instead of having our experiences relegated to the sidelines, or worse yet, completely non-existent.”-Madeleine Lim in an Interview for Curve Magazine

Madeleine Lim is the founder of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project based in San Francisco. Lim, a Singaporean resident until she was 23, has been making films for 20 years. Her films, and the goal of her organization, QWOCMAP, are to document the lives of queer women of color as well as fundamental social and political issues. Her work has been shown in museums, universities, international festivals and exhibited on PBS.

Lim has won several prestigious awards in the film community, including: the Bronze Apple Award from the National Educational media Network, the Award for Excellence from the San Jose Film and Video Commission, she was the California Arts Council’s Artist –in-Residence from 2000-03, she was awarded the Certificate of Honor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2004, and her training program through the QWOCMAP was awarded the Best Video Program in 2003.

Lim has completed several short films and documentaries. Her most well known work, a documentary which was awarded the Bronze Apple Award, “ Sambal Belecan in San Francisco” shares the life of three Asian lesbians making their way in the United States. She has also documented the history of San Francisco’s Chinatown-“A Vision of Smart Growth”, the experience of homeless youth-“Youth Organizing: Power Through Art”, and is working on projects that explore the lives of Afghan youth living in California, as well as the stories of immigrant Chinese mothers and daughters.

I have not been able to find any of her films online, though my search was on the pathetic side. But here is the QWOCMAP website: http://www.qwocmap.org/
I came across Lim on the link to the side of the blog webpage, Queer Women of Color Film Fest. As the founder of the festival I became instantly interested in her work. It was not too difficult to find information about her. She has made important work in California, and her work with PBS has brought her voice into the homes of many Americans.

Posted by Katherine Holton at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Lorraine Norrgard is an Native American documentary film maker who spent most of her childhood growing up in Chicago. She received her MA in educational communications at the University of Hawaii. Norrgard spent time working for the United Nations, creating educational films for foreign countries. Most of her films are for education of, not only non-Native Americans, but to teach the traditions to young Native Americans. She works with Turtle Island Productions, who aim to create corporate broadcasts as well as dramatic, documentary and educational videos about Native American issues and stories. Turtle Island productions does a lot of work right here in Minnesota, and most of their work in the Midwest specifically dealing witht he Ojibwe tribes
2. Lorraine is most well known for her direction in the film "Looks Into the Night," which was, " is an award winning Native American dramatic short film focusing on American Indian womens' contemporary issues. Based on a true story, it powerfully portrays the profound story of Laura, a medical student in Los Angeles, of Chumash Tribal Decent, who, as a child was "adopted out" and separated from her family after her parents died in a tragic car accident. Disturbing dreams and visions propel Laura on a journey of self-discovery." When it made it's debut in 1996 at the Annual American Indian Film Festival it won best dramatic short film. It was viewed at a number of other film festivals in which it was nominated from a number of awards. Lorraine also directed, "A Gift to One, A Gift to Many: James Jackson Sr., Ojibwe Medicine Man" (a documentary), "Enduring Ways of the Lac du Flambeau People" (an informative film), "A Healthy Way of Life," "Follow Your Dreams" as well as "Ojibwe Oral Tradition."
3. I was unable to actually view any of her work. I found links to websites that either I had to be a member to view it, or they had not trailer of any kind. Even youtube.com didn't recognize her name or any of her films. I was only able to view a short documentary that was located on the Turtle Island Productions website, which was more about Native Americans in Minnesota; which was a very slight overview of what it is that TIP does.
4. I learned about Lorraine Norrgard by googling some version of women film directors/women in film type keyword. She was listed on the Sixth Annual Women of Color Film and Video Festival listed in what films will be shown at the festival.
5. It was difficult to find the names of women of color film makers, as well as find out anything about them. It took some searching to find lists of names of any directors, and once I'd find one, there would be almost no information about her. At best I'd find a list of films she would have made, but hardly any background (bio) information. There's not much detailed information about these women, especially if the films they are producing are not very mainstream or are covering a topic that is "interesting" to most people. I don't know if it's just that there isn't enough interest, so no one wants to dedicate websites solely to them, but there's almost no information out there. It seems that independent films tend to fall more under the radar whether they're women, women of color, or any other non-mainstream producer.

References:
"About TIP." Turtle Island Productions. 2003. 6 Oct. 2007 .

"Looks Into the Night." Turtle Island Productions. 6 Oct. 2007 .

"Lorraine Noggard." Native Networks. Apr. 2005. Smithsonian National Museum of American Indians. 6 Oct. 2007 .

Posted by RowGophers at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kasi Lemmons was born Karen Lemmons in Boston on February 24th, 1959. She is a director, but has also worked as an actor, screenwriter, editor, director of photography, dancer, and sound editor. The films Lemmons has directed include Eight Pieces for Josette, The Passion, Talk to Me (starring Don Cheadle) , Eve's Bayou, and Caveman's Valentine. Caveman's Valentine was a mystery thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson about a homeless man who helps solve one man's mysterious death. It was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and was Lemmons' second film as director. Lemmons also received the Independent Spirit Award First Feature award and National Board of Review Award for Best Debut Perfomance by a Director, both for Eve's Bayou. The only film I have seen that Lemmons has been apart of was Silence of the Lambs, in which she played Ardelia Mapp.

There actually was a lot of information on Kasi Lemmons online. I found her under the Sisters in Cinema filmmakers list, then googled her and found a lot of information. Other than the five films she has directed, Lemmons has been apart of many more films and on television, and she was included in many mainstream media websites including wikipedia and imdb, but also some smaller, more specific sites as well. Finding information on her life and career was not difficult.

The interesting part of this assignment for me was more my first attempt. I looked up filmmaker Coquie Hughes before switching to Kasi Lemmons. I saw on Sisters in Cinema that Coquie Hughes had been apart of several films, and I didnt anticipate a challenge in searching for her. But I was wrong. A google search yielded barely any results, and her imdb page was basically her name. It was disappointing, and definitely illustrated the lack of women "of color" representation in mainstream media.

Posted by Katherine Schmieg at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kasi Lemmons was born Karen Lemmons in Boston on February 24th, 1959. She is a director, but has also worked as an actor, screenwriter, editor, director of photography, dancer, and sound editor. The films Lemmons has directed include Eight Pieces for Josette, The Passion, Talk to Me (starring Don Cheadle) , Eve's Bayou, and Caveman's Valentine. Caveman's Valentine was a mystery thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson about a homeless man who helps solve one man's mysterious death. It was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and was Lemmons' second film as director. Lemmons also received the Independent Spirit Award First Feature award and National Board of Review Award for Best Debut Perfomance by a Director, both for Eve's Bayou. The only film I have seen that Lemmons has been apart of was Silence of the Lambs, in which she played Ardelia Mapp.

There actually was a lot of information on Kasi Lemmons online. I found her under the Sisters in Cinema filmmakers list, then googled her and found a lot of information. Other than the five films she has directed, Lemmons has been apart of many more films and on television, and she was included in many mainstream media websites including wikipedia and imdb, but also some smaller, more specific sites as well. Finding information on her life and career was not difficult.

The interesting part of this assignment for me was more my first attempt. I looked up filmmaker Coquie Hughes before switching to Kasi Lemmons. I saw on Sisters in Cinema that Coquie Hughes had been apart of several films, and I didnt anticipate a challenge in searching for her. But I was wrong. A google search yielded barely any results, and her imdb page was basically her name. It was disappointing, and definitely illustrated the lack of women "of color" representation in mainstream media.

Posted by Katherine Schmieg at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Sonali Gulati is a filmmaker was born in New Delhi, India. She received her B.A. in Critical Social Thought from Mount Holyoke College in 1996 and then went on to get her M.F.A. in Film & Media Arts from Temple University in 2004.her films are normally short experimental films. The films she creates emphasize diversity for the underrepresented and silent voiced. Besides for filmmaking Gulati also is a Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Photography & Film.
2. Around a half dozen films have been produced by Gulati. Many of them have not been well recognized besides for Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night, which explores the business process outsourcing America. Gulati uses animation, live action, and archival footage to express the complexities of globalization, capitalism, and identity.
3. I have not seen any of Gulati’s films. I tried to look for any of her films on the internet and could not find any able to view it. To view reflections on her work I found the websites: http://www.sonalifilm.com/nalini.html, or http://www.sonalifilm.com/nalini.html.
4. Gulati’s films have been screened at almost 200 film festivals worldwide. Many of the festivals have been in the U.S. However, her films have also been screened at the Interrnational Documentary Film Festival in New Zealand, Asian American Film Festival in China, at the University of Hong Kong, and many others.
5. I found Sonali Gulati by searching “female film directors” which took me to Wikipedia with a list of film directors with their country of origin. The process of finding a women “of color” filmmaker was not extremely difficult, but it was harder than to find any female filmmaker.

Posted by Ashley Pritchard at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Lourdes Portillo is a Chicana film maker who was born in Mexico, but identifies as Chicana. She started her career in film as a first camera assistant, but really made her own debut with the narrative "After the Earthquake/ Despues del terremoto". She creates films and documentaries that are concerned with the subjectivitiy of Latinas.
2. Some of Lourdes' 'important' films are "After the Earthquake/Despues del terremoto", "The Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo", "La Ofrenda, the day of the Dead", "Seniorita Extraviada" and "Colombus on Trial".
3.
4. Her work is SAID to be shown in academic settings and film festivals across the U.S., however, I hadn't heard of Lourdes Portillo until taking a Chicana feminist class, and in my experience, she is not as well known amongst the public as the reference article suggests.
5. Finding Lourdes Portillo on the internet was easy, because I knew her name, and she is a prominent Chicana film maker with many award winning films.

Main article used to complete this blog located at: http://www.sfai.edu/People/Person.aspx?id=571&navID=6§ionID=2&typeID=1

Lourdes Portillo's Photograph

Another great website is: http://www.lourdesportillo.com/index.html

Posted by Sparky4 at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Josefina Torres Benedetti)
Born October 9, 1951 – Caracas, Venezuela
Torres studied design, photography and journalism in Venezuela and earned her bachelors degree in cinematography at the Institute de Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques in Paris. After graduating, she worked as a film editor, camera operator, and script supervisor and also made short films and documentaries. Her debut feature “Oriana” (which she directed, wrote, and produced) won the Cannes Festival Camera d’Or and international acclaim. In 2001, she directed the romantic comedy “Woman on Top” starring Penelope Cruz, which was nominated for Best Director at the 2001 Alma Awards.

Examples of Her Work
Woman on Top (2000) - Executive Producer, Director
Isabella is a great cook, making her husband's restaurant in Bahia, Brazil, a success. To control her motion sickness, she must do the driving and be on top during sex, which drives her macho husband, Toninho, to infidelities.
Celestial Clockwork (1993) - Screenwriter, Director, Producer
Ana bolts from her wedding altar and flies from Venezuela to Paris (in her wedding gown) to realize her dream of becoming a great opera star.
Luna Llena (1991) - Producer
Love blossoms among two unruly patients of a mental hospital.
Oriana (1985) - Screenwriter, Director
A young girl is sent to a South American hacienda, where she learns about the life of her reclusive aunt, Oriana.
(Thanks to IMDB)

Reflections on her work
I have unfortunately not viewed any of Fina's films, but here are links to a review of Woman On Top by Roger Ebert and a New York Times review on the same film. Also, a brief clip from YouTube:

Where is her work?
Her first film, Oriana in 1985, appears to have only been shown at the Toronto Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and in France. Meanwhile, Woman On Top was distributed in 2000 by Fox Searchlight Pictures in an extensive list of countries and has been presented at numerous festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Munich Film Festival, Aichi International Women's Film Festival, Bergen International Film Festival, and Tokyo International Kanebo Women's Film Festival.

Finding a W.O.C. Filmmaker
I came across Fina Torres by randomly searching for "venezuelan woman director film" and she was the number one result. I continued to dig for more information on her work and history. It was difficult to find biographical information about Torres and the information that I did find was not very extensive. I would have liked to know more about her influences, process, and motivations behind her creations.

Posted by Luna Lovegood at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gina Prince-Bythewood is on the left -- the woman on the right is Sanaa Lathan, the star of Love & Basketball
(very) Short Bio / Summary of Work
Gina Prince-Bythewood is a writer, director, and producer from the United States. She graduated from UCLA film school and began working in television. She was a writer for A Different World before she started directing. She also worked on the show Felicity as a writer and as a consulting producer.

Gina Prince-Bythewood made a short film called Reflections, which premiered on BET in February 2007. She has made several other short films and is slated to direct a film version of The Secret Life of Bees. You can see a list of her credits at her imdb page.

Love & Basketball

While Gina Prince-Bythewood has been nominated for Emmys for her work on television, her best known work is probably the feature film Love & Basketball, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000.

Continue reading "Gina Prince-Bythewood" »

Posted by Heather Larson at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Continue reading "JOAN CHEN" »

Posted by Padao Vang at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cheryl Dunye was born in Liberia and recieved her MFA from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Jersey. In her many of her films, she portrays her pride in being an African American lesbian and also the oppression she has experienced. She wrote, directed, and starred in her first film, The Watermelon Woman, which was the first African American lesbian feature film. Currently, she teaches at Temple University in the Department of Film and Media Arts.

Continue reading "Cheryl Dunye" »

Posted by Jessica Vaughan at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. It was very hard to find information about Xiao Jiang, but I was able to find that she was born in 1972 in China and attended the Beijing Film Academy.

2. Xiao Jiang was a scriptwriter for director Wang Shouxian's Summer (2002) and Electric Shadows (2004) was Xiao Jiang's debut feature. It was produced by First Run Features, an independent film company, in collaboration with the Asia Society.

3. I saw Electric Shadows a few months ago, and I was so moved by the story that I immediately had to buy it on DVD. It is about the history of Chinese cinema, women's roles in China, and also a love story. Here is First Run Features page about Electric Shadows.

4. Electric Shadows was screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Deauville Asian Film Festival, and China's Changchun Film Festival.

5. It was very easy for me to find Xiao Jiang. I found Electric Shadows in the Foreign section of my now-closed local video store.

Posted by crowjane at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1.Tahmineh Milani is a well accomplished Iranian film director, screenwriter, and producer. Many people claim her to be the best Iranian filmmaker there is. She was born in 1960 in Tabriz, Iran. She brought up some controversy with her film The Hidden Half. In August of 2001, she was imprisoned for supposedly "supporting those waging war against God" and "misusing the arts in support of counterrevolutionary and armed opposition of groups." Despite being imprisoned, she still continues to make films in what she believes in.

2. The following are some of the films she has directed:
Children of Divorce 1989
The Legend of a Sigh 1991
What else is New? 1992
Kakado 1996
Two Women 1999
The Hidden Half 2001
The Fifth Reaction 2003
The Unwanted Woman 2005
Atash bas 2006

In her 2001 film that she was imprisoned for (The Hidden Half), she depicted the events of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and was charged with counterrevolutionaries. The film is about a woman's memories of working with leftist rebels in her college days during the revolution. Luckily, Khatani's reformist government defended her, and she got out of jail in two weeks. The reformist government also approved the film before it was made.

3. " I have seen Two Women, The Hidden Half, and The Legend of a Sigh. I suggest viewing all of her films. The films themselves offer unique windows to world we typically assign unrelenting stereotypes.

As I said, I had seen some her films before and have kept an interest in her and Iranian film in general. I think she is a fantastic director and a wonderful example of women of color directing film that portrays their realities." -Chelsea Burris

Also, find out what PBS thinks about Milani at http://www.pbs.org/adventuredivas/iran/divas/milani.html
And the New York Times: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE4DD103CF932A35757C0A9669C8B63

4. Milani's work is known internationally. It can be found at different film festivals around the world. She has won different awards at different places in the world:

Grand Prix for Best Film, Geneva Film Festival, 2003
Audience Award, 14th Annual Festival of Films from Iran, Chicago, 2003
Cairo International Film Festival, 2003
Festival of Films from Iran, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 2003

5. It was fairly easy to find basic information on Tahmineh Milani. I had not heard of her before I did this project. After I began to research her, she sounds like a very astonishing woman with a lot to say. Apparently, when she became imprisoned, it was not so easy to find information about the situation.

"…As a person who thinks about the health of my society, I try to make films that will create a movement so there will be discussions and debates. I'm even willing to pay the price, really, even if they swear at me, make me look really bad, as long as the issues are talked about and the opponents and proponents exchange their opinions…" Tahmineh Milani

Posted by Whitney Hanssen at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)