I returned to New Mexico jazzed. I opened a press release from the Film Office announcing the winners and honorable mentions for this year's annual NM Filmmaker Showcase event they have sponsored since 2005. As I ran my eye down the list I saw there were five judges for this event. They were all women. Mmmmmmm. That seems odd. Why would all the judges be one gender? I read the list of winners and honorable mentions to see whom I might know, and send them a congratulations. There were 12 films picked which included going on tour around the state, and to be broadcast on community cable around the state too. What a great collaboration. Twelve films. One woman and eleven men listed as the filmmakers out of the twelve films chosen . Another Mmmmmmmm.
I mused on this, and based on my good feeling of seeing a strong number of women filmmakers participating at HotDocs (the way any of us feel when we see familiar types like ourselves well represented) I emailed those who'd sent me the press release. My tone to them was curious, wondering if they'd noticed what I had noticed. Women are under-represented in film showcases for starters. Why? Do women not submit? Do women not have good ideas? Are women's films inferior? Do women not have access to the training and resources, or not know how to access them? Does the system favor one group over another in some way we each may be blind about? If any of these answers are yes, then we need to look at why, and deal with it in an effective, productive way. Hey we're creatives, we can do that!
We have lots of women in supportive, organizational and administrative roles in our film community; running film festivals, offices, and non-profits to serve filmmakers. We do not have many women writing, directing and producing films, compared to our numbers or possibilities.
This isn't the only time women are under-represented and no noise is heard. But on the heels of a good experience at the HotDocs festival where I saw a film community that took both women and men seriously and expected them to be a part of everything, I felt weird. I hadn't realized how numb I had become to this odd blind spot. And this seems a blind spot many of us share, both men and women. And if you don't know you have a blind spot, how can anything be done to alter it? If another group were absent or under-represented, there usually is noise. Lots of it. How come women, and others who are in the field aren't noticing. Or are they and we aren't hearing about it?Maybe we assume women have access and choose not to use it? Is that true ladies? Maybe. I don't know, which is why I bring it up. Some festival organizers choose scripts and films anonymously. Cover up the name and choose according to some neutral criteria. Or is it neutral? Does the criteria favor men in some way we are blind? Or does it mean women don't submit as many scripts or films as men (a 12:01 ratio? Really?) Or women submit an inferior script or film to men's? Maybe both, or something else entirely?
As an indie filmmaker, I choose to work on documentary content. I prefer working with a small crew, and the intimacy of interviewing real people as the story emerges with time. I've worked on narrative films, yet so many aspects of it don't appeal to my personality. And maybe the studio culture of film is more evident in the narrative world, and that culture hasn't been as welcoming or accessible for women to have an above-the-line role.
Now I will make a point to notice how many women and men I see at film related events and workshops ( there seems more balance of women and men in the documentary field), be aware of who is talking about and making films, who is asking for support and who is getting support. We need to see more women taking stage with our fellow filmmakers. And we each need to be aware when our industry is under- representing any of its membership.
