Grrls make movies: the emergence of women-led filmmaking initiatives for teenage girls

Afterimage, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Kathleen Sweeney

Melissa Maehara participated in Reel Grrls' inaugural program at Seattle's 911 Media Arts Center in 2001 because she "dug the idea [of] creating media whose intention was to serve as a force for social change, especially within [her] own peer group." Maehara was struck by the all-female composition of the Reel Grrls staff. "Only after I had a better grasp about how under-represented women were in media-related fields did I come to realize how amazing it was to have all my mentors be women actively and passionately working and creating in the field." After her stint at Reel Grrls, Maehara graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in sociology and has spent the past two years as a "wanderlust hobo" traveling the world while teaching English. Along the way, she has created an extensive online digital library of inspired photojournalism portraits. She has begun postproduction on a video art piece inspired by Japanese mass transit and is planning to apply to graduate photography programs in Tokyo.

ALTERNATIVE SCREENS

Girls' filmmaking initiatives begin with an examination of the visual diet (media literacy); provide girls with digital tools for self-expression (creative activism); then reward them for their productivity (exhibitions, awards, scholarships). Critiquing, naming, and analyzing popular culture is the first step, making films and videos is the second. Finally, establishing girls' networks of distribution is the third. Most importantly, teenage girls who graduate from film programs are acknowledged more for what they create, say, and do than for how they look or who they date.

While the focus of this discussion has been Hollywood statistics and the girl "filminista" revolution as response, we must not forget that documentary films like the Academy-awarding winning Born into Brothels (2004) was written, directed, shot, and produced by Zara Briski. (6) Groundbreaking video installations by Ann Hamilton, Shirin Neshat, Eve Sussman and Fiona Tan have been exhibited at major museums in the past few years, while experimental applications of new media at technology labs and universities have many pioneering women at the helm. There are many alternative screens beyond Hollywood. However, success in filmmaking, like any other business, is determined by the marketplace. In order for women filmmakers to make an imprint beyond a single first feature, they must deliver at the box office. If gender balance is ever to occur at the movies, we must support female creators by seeing their films at release and renting them on video. We can start by checking out the reels produced by girls filmmaking initiatives to fan the buzz.

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KATHLEEN SWEENEY is an award-winning mediamaker and writer. Her book Maiden USA: An Icon Comes of Age will be released in Fall 2006. Her Web site is www.video-text.com.

NOTES

1. Martha M. Lauzen, PhD, "The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2003," School of Communication, San Diego State University.