Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

A weekly spotlight on inspiring female directors of color and their latest projects.

Venice Days (Venice Film Festival)

Ava DuVernay – “The Door”

Ava DuVernay is great example of a female filmmaker not afraid to try her at different mediums. Although THE DOOR is a shorter, dialogue-less project created in partnership with Miu Miu fashion line, it still features the beautiful Black cast, dynamic cinematography and hypnotic soundtrack that has a become a key aesthetic in her films. If you haven’t already seen it, please stop what you’re doing and WATCH.

Freelancing and self-respect by Zoe.D

“I quit the production.”

It was the first time I had ever left a film and the sentence/thought/action/idea felt all so alien to me. It was even more alien once I said it aloud, to my friend. It spilled out like marbles clanking out of a glass jar.

I’ve “toughed it out” on a number of rough sets, ultimately feeling the kind of victory a Spartan feels after winning a war. But I had quit this one and it didn’t feel good.

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

Lena Waithe
First thing’s first. If you have not seen the trailer for DEAR WHITE PEOPLE — watch THIS please. Clearly a student of the #stayworking generation of media makers, Lena Waithe’s latest project TWENTIES hit the web on Monday. My guess is that her team’s “pilot presentation” strategy is to bring as many eyes to the 4-part episode now available on Youtube before the show makes its way to a TV near you. Plus Queen Latifah is part of the producing team. I am all in!

2013 Emmy Noms prove Netflix is changing TV

After a quick glance at today’s Emmy nominations, I think we can all admit the line between film and TV is practically nonexistent. Netflix’s “House of Cards” (David Fincher, Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and the show itself ) and “Arrested Development” (Jason Bateman) both got love from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Hmmm, I wonder if having the entire season of a show available at once is going to be the new standard for online TV?

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

Gina Prince-Bythewood
The director of classic “I can watch it anytime” film LOVE AND BASKETBALL received a warm introduction from fellow filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee after joining Twitter last week. Here’s hoping for some behind-the-scenes tweets about her latest love story, BLACKBIRD. I love that more filmmakers are embracing social media. Such a great way to interact with fans (old and new).You can follow her at @GPBmadeit.

More than a diversity hire: WGAW’s Female Asian Comedy Writers Panel notes

(Photo from wga.org)

Have you checked out the Writers Guild of America, West Youtube channel lately? I stumbled upon a great panel called “Bring The Funny: Celebrating Asian Women Writers”. Although I’m all about shouting out Brown Women filmmakers, I can’t say that I’m too familiar with today’s female scribes working on the small screen (aside from Shonda Rhimes and Mindy Kaling). So I grabbed a pen and took a few notes that I wanted to share. I think most of the advice from these successful women could apply to both aspiring TV and film professionals.

Gatekeeper QOTD: Franklin Leonard (The Black List)

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

A weekly spotlight on inspiring female directors of color and their latest projects.  

Tina Gordon Chism and Stephanie Allain

It’s always exciting to see another female director and producer duo on the scene. Writer/director Tina Gordon Chism and producer Stephanie Allain are the dream team behind the comedy “Peeples” starring Kerry Washington and Craig Robinson (now in theaters). Chism is the writer behind “ATL” and “Drumline”; “Peeples” is her directorial debut. In between producing independent films, Allain is also the director of the LA Film Festival. The next collaboration for these ladies will be “Inheritance”, a New Orleans thriller script sold to Sony in April.

Protagonistas: Aubrey Plaza

Aubrey Plaza

Parks and Recreation (2009 – )

This past Sunday Aubrey Plaza pulled a Kanye at the MTV Movie Awards as Will Ferrell was accepting his award. Read the full story here.

Let’s hope this doesn’t become a thing for promoting new stuff. We’re pretty much over it.

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

A weekly spotlight on inspiring female directors of color and their latest projects.  

Susan Youssef

Susan Youssef is another festival award-winning filmmaker that I follow on Twitter. Her tale of forbidden love in Gaza, “Habibi” is touring this month as part of Human Rights Film Festival, screening in Israel (April 13), London (April 19) and across Switzerland. You can purchase the film on DVD as well. Her next feature, “Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf” has received support from the Doha Institute. The story follows an Arab-American girl who must come to terms with her sexuality (originally a short that played at Sundance).

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

A weekly spotlight on inspiring female directors of color and their latest projects.

Frances Bodomo

Witnessing Frances’ journey so far makes me want to climb back in the director’s chair. I was blown away by her short “Boneshaker” at Sundance and during the annual SXSW “Women in Cinema” panel, she spoke with such passion about her clear focus of telling stories about Africans and determination to work with non-actors of African descent. Next stop for the film: Nashville Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, NYU’s First Run Film Festival and NY African Film Festival. Oh and she’s currently Kickstarting for her next short, “Afronauts”. Holler if you got a dollar, folks!

Where Are The Brown Women Filmmakers?

A weekly spotlight on inspiring female directors of color and their latest projects.
 

Haifa al-Mansour
I have been hoping her film “Wadjda” would continue shining on the festival circuit ever since I saw the premiere at Telluride last year. It is a sweet, yet complex story of a young girl named Wadjda who simply wants a bike. Fun fact: al-Mansour’s first fiction feature is also the first feature to be directed by a female Saudi filmmaker and filmed in Saudi Arabia. Definitely a feat to be celebrated, folks. After playing last week at Beirut Film Festival, the film will screen next at Tribeca Film Festival in April.

Protagonistas: Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Though many had already suspected it, she came out publicly at the Golden Globes in her Lifetime Achievement speech.

And hey, props to Jodie for doing it at such an event. It isn’t easy in Hollywood, especially for an actress who has been in the industry for so many years. She could have cut to the chase, sure, but it’s a stepping stone for more industry professionals to come out.

Protagonistas: Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris

The loveable Barney. He sleeps around (200+ women) and is a complete jerk to females, and yet we can’t get enough of him on HIMYM. So really, we love to love him. He proves you can play a straight role regardless of your personal life.

Protagonistas – Protagonist – Person of the day, 5 days a week!

Lore: The Holocaust and Unmanned Drones

The visually stunning Lore, directed by Cate Shortland, follows Lore and her siblings at the end of WWII as they trek across Germany after the Allies arrest their Nazi parents. Along the way Lore learns about the atrocities her parents were involved with. She is forced to reconsider her whole worldview as she learns more and a Jewish boy helps keep her family safe.

As I walked out of the film I asked a friend what they thought. “It was good, but I don’t really know why we need a film about Hitler’s youth…” I nodded in slight agreement. I was so overcome by the beautiful cinematography and evocative emotions the film elicits that I didn’t have the chance to think about the need for a story about these children. After giving it a lot of thought I realized this story is actually incredibly timely and important because something very similar is happening right now. 

Protagonistas: Jennifer Lawrence

Protagonistas – Protagonist – Person of the day, 5 days a week!

JENNIFER LAWRENCE

Actress: Winter’s Bone (2007), Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Ms. J-Law. Who doesn’t love this girl?! Though I didn’t think her performance in Silver Linings Playbook was Oscar-worthy, she’s still a killer actress that won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. She’s good at her job. Really good.

& this gem….

Protagonistas: Melissa Silverstein

Protagonistas – Protagonist – Person of the day, 5 days a week!

MELISSA SILVERSTEIN

Writer: In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing

I had the pleasure of meeting this extraordinary woman a few weeks ago at the Athena Film Festival in Manhattan. She’s super sweet, and she’s passionate about spreading the word on how hard it is for females to break into this male-dominated field, let alone

Protagonistas: Kate del Castillo

Protagonistas – Protagonist – Person of the day, 5 days a week!

KATE DEL CASTILLO

Actress: La Misma Luna (2007), K-11 (2012)

Hollywood, meet Mexico’s veteran telenovela actress. I grew up watching her in countless novelas, e.g., Alguna Vez Tendremos Alas, and am glad to see her transition to the US grow so steadily. Check out the trailer for her next big role–Mousey in K-11.