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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 30 January 2017

The challenges female filmmakers face post-Sundance

LINDSEY BAHR women at Sundance, it premiered.
AP Film Writer no one’s experience has For someone like Eliza Hit-
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — been exactly the same. tman, the trajectory has
Gender equity in filmmak- For some, getting their been a little different. Her
ing must have looked pret- first, second or third film first feature “It Felt Like
ty good to the women at- made has been nothing Love” debuted at Sun-
tending the Sundance Film but positive. For others, bi- dance in 2013. With each
Festival, which concludes ases have revealed them- new effort, she tries to push
this weekend in Park City, selves in unexpected ways. herself to move up anoth-
Utah. But for many female But all wonder about that er step on the ladder. She
filmmakers, coming back next step and whether the came first with a short, then
down the mountain will same faith will be placed “It Felt Like Love” played
mean a return to an indus- in them as their male coun- in the discovery section.
try where the opportunity terparts. Now, with “Beach Rats,”
divide remains far more Gillian Robespierre made she’s in the official U.S. Dra-
glaring. a splash with her feature matic Competition.
The statistics speak for debut “Obvious Child” in Hittman continues to hold
themselves: At this year’s 2014, which eventually led down a job as a professor
festival, 34 percent of films to a production deal that to allow herself more free-
were directed by women. gave her the freedom to dom, but she’d also like to
In the broader industry in be able to quit her day job move up in budget and
2016, however, women
accounted for only seven “XX” directors, from left, Roxanne Benjamin, Annie Clark and
percent of directors — Jovanka Vuckovic, and animator Sofia Carrillo pose together at
down a full two percent the premiere of the film at the Library Center Theatre during the
2017 Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Park
from 2015. City, Utah.
“I keep wanting to believe Associated Press
that things have gotten
better but according to system, especially in de- of faith given to male di-
rectors.”
partments where you just
this latest report, it’s gotten
worse,” said director Karyn very, very rarely see wom- She resents, too, when stu-
en — in camera and grip
dios respond with “train-
Kusama, who first came
to Sundance in 2000 with and electric especially,” ing programs” for female
directors just out of film
Lister-Jones said. “For me
“Girlfight” and is back as a
part of the anthology hor- it was about creating op- school, which neglects
the “latchkey generation
portunities for women who
ror film “XX.” ‘’It’s definitely
worth reminding people might have less experi- of filmmakers” who have
ence.”
been making it on their
that despite incredibly
more difficult odds than Writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones poses for a portrait to promote Lister-Jones sees herself own for a decade.
as being incredibly fortu-
Writer, actress and director
even their male counter- the film, “Band Aid”, at the Music Lodge during the Sundance
parts have in this business, Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Park City, Utah. nate, but also notices men Michelle Morgan in direct-
getting more and bigger
ing her first feature, “L.A.
women repeatedly and Associated Press
routinely face consistent jobs after the festival than Times,” was most surprised
women. Colin Trevorrow’s
to find a lack of support
gender bias. I don’t want and focus full time on writ- cast. She’s also seen some
to believe that it’s true, but ing and directing. Her new- of her male peers progress ascent from the Sundance from other women.
“The thing that it highlight-
indie “Safety Not Guaran-
if you look at the numbers, est film, “Landline,” was faster, like her “It Felt Like
it is shamefully true.” acquired by Amazon at Love” cinematographer teed” to “Jurassic World” ed for me is not that the
industry needs to embrace
and now “Star Wars: Epi-
In talking to some of the this year’s fest shortly after Sean Porter. People often sode IX” is always cited as women, it’s that women
call her to ask about hiring the primary example. need to embrace other
Porter, who recently shot “You just don’t see wom- women. It seemed like the
“20th Century Women.” en having the same op- people who had the easi-
“It’s funny that people re- portunities or having the est time letting me down
sponded to the sensibility same amount of risk put on were the women and it re-
of that movie enough to them,” Lister-Jones said. ally stuck with me ... My fi-
hire him but nobody would The indie and studio di- nanciers were all men and
in a way circle back to vide might be the essential at one point two-thirds of
me,” said Hittman, who is point. Director and pro- them were women,” Mor-
only happy for Porter’s suc- ducer Roxanne Benjamin gan said. While all are hap-
cess, A few first-time direc- (“XX”) said that she’s al- py to talk about the issues
tors premiering films at the ways felt very supported women face as filmmak-
festival took it upon them- in the indie world, but that ers, most have a compli-
selves to try to help be part when it comes to mak- cated relationship with the
of the change. Actress, ing that “leap” to studio media’s coverage of the
writer, director and pro- films or television, suddenly disparity. Simply, there’s
ducer Zoe Lister-Jones for women start hearing things a lot of chatter and not
her film “Band-Aid” hired like, “if only you had more much change.
an all-female production experience.” “There are more articles
Co-writer/producer Elisabeth Holm, left, poses with director/co- crew.
writer Gillian Robespierre at the premiere of the film “Landline” “It’s like, ‘I’ve only been written about women in
at the Eccles Theater during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on “I felt that they only way to making films for 10 years, film and television than
Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in Park City, Utah. really affect change was no big,’” Benjamin said. there are women in film
Associated Press to completely subvert the “You see more of that leap and television.q