Where are the Women at the Oscars?

The absence of the Slumdog Millionaire's female co-director, Loveleen Tandan, at Sunday night’s Oscars, and the awards season in general, has created waves in the female filmmaking community. The controversy surrounding Loveleen Tandan is not just a question of her status as co-director but alludes to the wider context of the Academy’s apparent sexism.

In the last 30 years only 2 women have been nominated for the Best Director award. You would think that with such information that there was a short supply of films being made by women filmmakers, but my inbox suggests otherwise. Instead, it seems that filmmaking exists within an “old boys’ club” and women lack access to the support and exposure this network provides men. “Unfortunately, females are grossly underrepresented in these prestigious films,” said Stacy Smith, a professor of communication at U..S.C. and who was a principal researcher in a recent study released on the trends of the Academy “The gender-imbalance findings are a microcosm of a much bigger representational phenomenon in American film and television.”

How many men did you see up at the podium as opposed to the number of women? Did you notice how during the technical job descriptions, presenters would refer to everyone from cinematographer to editors as the work that “he” does? Did you notice that in three of the main films nominated that 26 of the main roles went to men and one to a woman? Meryl Streep made this remark to ABC news in reference to ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Milk’ and ‘Frost/Nixon’. The most absurd part about Meryl’s observation is the resignation that “you know, we accept it. It’s not unusual.”

A little backstory research on Loveleen Tandan reveals that she may not have been snubbed by the Academy or Danny Boyle’s team after all and that her title is more to reflect the work she did beyond her official role in the film as Casting Director. Tandan herself reveals to The Times that the whole story has been “whipped up out of proportion. It wasn’t a proper controversy because it was Danny’s film. It was always meant to be Danny’s film.”

Whether or not Loveleen Tandan warranted a nod by the Academy, her absence exposes a gap between male and female directors. This is why Chicken & Egg Pictures matches strategically timed financial support with rigorous, respectful and dynamic mentorship, creative collaboration and community-building to nurture women filmmakers whose diverse voices represent a range of lived experience and realities that have the power to change the world as we know it. As Streep exclaims, “We’re still not telling everybody’s story in our country and that’s where we are.” In providing and leveraging funding, building a community of strong and creative filmmakers and creating networking opportunities, it is our hope that this trend will soon change. To further this cause and promote the talents of women filmmakers, Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to be presenting an award to a woman filmmaker at SxSW this year.

Posted by Natalie Difford

Outreach Panel at Making Media Matter conference

One of our Eggspert advisors, Scott Kirsner, has posted a fantastic panel that took place at the Making Media Matter conference on his Cinematical blog. Definitely have a listen to if you are wondering about outreach for your film, and all filmmakers at all stages should be thinking about this!

Listen here:
http://www.scottkirsner.com/OutReachMYMM.mp3

Panelists were:

- Andrew Mer of SnagFilms
- Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar, filmmakers of 'Made in LA'
- Scott Kirsner, editor of CinemaTech (that would be me)
- Maia L. Ermita, Director of Festival and Outreach at Arts Engine

And moderating was Wendy Levy, Director of Creative Programming at the Bay Area Video Coalition.

Posted by Natalie

IFP call for entries

IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs - Call for Doc & Narrative Rough Cut Features; A National Program Connecting Mentors and Projects Before They Are Submitted to Festivals

Documentary Lab Submission Deadline: February 20 - just extended! apply now!
Narrative Lab Submission Deadline: April 17

Led by experienced producers, the Labs assist filmmakers in tackling the creative challenges of completing their modestly-budgeted, independently produced films - getting a leg-up before industry exposure. The five-day mentorship program in NYC challenges filmmakers to realize the full potential of their footage and stories with ongoing dynamic feedback and advice on technical & creative issues and distribution methods. The Labs are for first-time, narrative & documentary feature directors in the late stages of post-production. For more information & application: http://labs.ifp.org

Our City Dreams playing at Film Forum

OUR CITY DREAMS, Chiara Clemente’s Loving Portrait of 5 NYC Women Artists

“Exquisitely crafted… Combining formats and textures with a hypnotic, shape-shifting score, pic itself simply ranks as a work of art.”
– Ronnie Scheib, Variety

“An engaging and life-affirming celebration of the artists’ lives”
– The Art Newspaper, Art Basel Daily Edition

The New York theatrical premiere of OUR CITY DREAMS is at the Film Forum until February 17th, a new documentary by Chiara Clemente. It’s an affecting love letter to the city which strings together the self-told narratives of five women artists (ages 30 – 80), each of whom has a passion for art-making inseparable from her devotion to New York. Swoon, the youngest, exhibits cut-outs directly on city walls and subways, and exudes idealism and energy while carrying a two by four the way some women would carry a briefcase. Cairo-born Ghada Amer mixes media -- embroidering with painting -- to confront sexual taboos that cross cultural boundaries. After experiencing the New York Dolls in San Francisco, Kiki Smith realized she needed New York’s energy to create her wildly influential paintings and sculptures; Marina Abramovic, originally of Belgrade, is a performance art pioneer who often uses her own body as a canvas. And Nancy Spero returned from Paris with artist-husband Leon Golub in 1964, to meld art and activism during the Vietnam War and become, in her own words, “a woman warrior.”


OUR CITY DREAMS will have a 2-week engagement, February 4-17, at Film Forum, West Houston Street (W. of 6th Avenue), with screenings daily at 1:15, 3:15, 6, 8, and 10.

Visit www.ourcitydreams.com