Women You Should Know - Julie Dash by E. Amato

Women You Should Know:
Julie Dash
by E. Amato

When I was in college, I worked part-time for a woman who ran her own business. I’m not sure why, maybe she was cleaning out her book shelves, but one day, she handed me almost every book by Zora Neale Hurston. I read them all. When I cracked open Their Eyes Were Watching God, I knew I was inside something sacred, something that blended longing and fulfillment with painful precision, and something that told truths never before exposed. I didn’t know why I had never heard of it – why people weren’t shouting about it like they did Gatsby or Hemingway.

Despite the fact that I was in film school and planning to make a life in cinema, no movie had ever made feel anything like that.

Until I saw Daughters of the Dust.

Julie Dash’s out of the gate fiercely independent feature held me in its palm for 112 minutes. It is a womanist story; it is a story of peoples invisible, worlds unexplored, and humans defining the meaning of home. It is filled with indelible images and presences rather than performances. Its lines still reverberate in my head; its characters voices come to visit and stay. A film like that should have propelled Dash to the forefront of American cinema.

Instead, the next time I heard about her, she was directing and writing an episode of Showtime’s “Women: Stories of Passion,” an attempt by the cable network to both cash in on women telling women’s stories and sell some soft erotica to a late-night market. Still, it employed more than a few women directors, writers and producers during its run. Since then, Dash has had an intermittent filmography that outwardly falls short of her vision, talent, and experience.

"Everything I’ve made, pretty much, being a female filmmaker, my male teachers would say, “Why in the world are you wasting your time on that?” Illusions, Diary of an African Nun… everything was like, “Oh for god’s sakes.” That continues. When I was doing my segment of Subway Stories, I remember a lot of male crew members gritting their teeth when I had the flowers blowing across the subway track. They were looking at their watches like, you know, it’s time to go. That was the ‘90s. It continues. It’s something that female filmmakers, who were working and investigating the culture of women, faced and what we continue to face. There are different cultural set points, traditions, and all of these things that may not even interest the male counterparts and might even annoy them, because they may seem frivolous. Even with Daughters of the Dust, when we won the Best Cinematography award at Sundance in 1991, I would have people look me in the face at times and say, “Let’s not even talk about it. I don’t even know what the hell it’s about.” At that time, Matty Rich’s Straight Out of Brooklyn was at Sundance, and it won the Special Jury Prize. It was given a standing ovation. Young, urban, male films were the thing in the ‘90s."

(Julie Dash, Flavorwire Interview, October 2015)

Recently, watching Beyoncé’s Formation video, I was struck by the imagery so clearly influenced by Dash’s work. It feels shameful that Dash and her creative team fashioned images so powerful they are referenced over two decades later, yet she has never been given the space to tell the visual, visceral, emotional stories she holds.

As we look closely at inclusion and at the underrepresentation of women and PoC in the entertainment industries, it is important not only to consider what – and who – we are missing, but also the lifetimes of stories we have already lost. Dash has remained a working artist, and has a new documentary, TravelNotes of a Geechee Girl, in the works. But I would have given a lot to have her skill, craft, and point of view as part of the cultural dialogue over the last 25 years. I would have liked to have her speaking to me all this time. I certainly would have traded a few of the same guys with guns movies for a few more of her human stories. To have a voice like that so marginalized out of the main, to be missing the ten or so feature films she should have been supported in making feels like a grave crime to me. 

".. it’s important to do the film that you want to do — and then let people come to it. They may not get it now, but they will get it by and by. I’m not saying pop films aren’t fun, but every film is not a pop film. Every film isn’t taken from the headlines. Some films are made because they need to be made. They’re works of passion. That’s what Daughters of the Dust was." (Julie Dash, Flavorwire Interview, October 2015)

“…unapologetic feminist, dulcet-toned poet, activist, film-maker, editor of Zestyverse” (LossLit) E. Amato  is a published poet, award-winning screenwriter, and established performer. She has three poetry collections by Zesty Pubs: Swimming Through Amber, 5, & Will Travel, and is a content writer for The Body Is Not an Apology. She also has a special relationship with Marmite.

Editor's Note:  This is my favorite month of the year! I love this series, and am excited to have the inaugural post this year. You can find additional posts in the Women You Should Know series in the blog archives  from March 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.  If you are interested in being a guest blogger on the Zestyverse, let us know!

Quote of the Week - Soloway

"Guys are holding on so tightly to male protaganism because it perpetuates male privilege. From their subject seats they can POINT—”She’s old, SHE’S hot, she’s not, she’s old, she’s fat, she’s someone I want to bone, she’s past her prime, that person’s black, queer, fat.” (I’m not pointing to you guys.) That pointer is a powerful thing. That white cis male gaze is like a lifeguard chair, it’s a watchtower—”I’m way up here naming things.” And they are NOT GIVING UP THOSE LOOKOUT SPOTS EASILY. In fact, they won’t even cop to the fact that they have that privilege." 

~Jill Soloway

I love this quote and this whole address from Jill Soloway. Sadly, though, I cannot report good results from bringing my pussy to work on set. I think we still have a long way to go on that.

Quote of the Week - Gyllenhaal

"I've noticed a lot of people talking about the wealth of roles for powerful women in television lately. And when I look around the room at the women who are here and I think about the performances that I've watched this year what I see actually are women who are sometimes powerful and sometimes not, sometimes sexy, sometimes not, sometimes honorable, sometimes not, and what I think is new is the wealth of roles for actual women in television and in film. That's what I think is revolutionary and evolutionary and it's what's turning me on." 

~ Maggie Gyllenhaal, Golden Globes

The Honourable Woman was one of the best things I've ever seen - anyone saying she didn't deserve this probably hasn't watched it. It is a taut thriller along the lines of the original State of Play, but with in the context of the Middle East conflict. It is daring television.

Thanks to Mother Jones for this quote - I watched the Globes via Twitter - much better and less time consuming.

Go write some zesty roles for women today!

7 Things I Learned from the Sony Hack

Bay Bridge - old and new

by E. Amato

It's not like this is my first rodeo, but the entertaining leaks from the Sony hack have thrown some things in relief for me. The attitude shown in the exchanges between Pascal and Rudin are not new and not isolated to the upper reaches of the industry. Belligerence, rudeness, and selective ignorance have been a general tone for decades from top to bottom. There are tiny dictators at every level, and there's always someone ready to throw someone else under the bus. (There are good folks, too, lots of them, but, you know, they don't get much press.)

Still, there's something interesting in both the leaks and the response to them that has made me see the world anew.

Here are the things that rose to the top:

1. No matter the level of bile Pascal and Rudin are slinging, both are placing content out in front. As audience, we often feel that the studios have lost sight of the importance of the script and the need for quality projects. Both of these players are defending the script and the process from what they perceive to be threats to the quality of the project. This is good to know. Bad movies can happen to anyone, but at least there are still people fighting for good ones. Contentiousness can be a huge barrier to creativity, but there's not enough in the emails to know how they handle the production process. Track records say Rudin knows how to let creatives create - he's made a ton of great movies. Whether we agree with their process or not, they are placing projects first, to their credit.
2. I don't care about The Interview and I don't think getting global, talking terrorism, and citing censorship work here. Look - The Interview seems as though it was something that should have been nipped in the bud. (Pun intended.) It seems like a racially insensitive romp at the wrong time in the culture. It was ill-considered on the part of the studio. Sony pulling it at the point they did was bowing to market pressures more than capitulating to terrorists. No one would show the damn movie. Weekend box office tanks if people won't step inside theatres. When was the last movie worth going out to in the winter, let alone potentially dying for?
3. It's still 1984 in Hollywood. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? These are the people Amy Pascal reached out to in the wake of being labeled racist for her emails about Obama? Why not call Spike Lee like it was 1994? Or Oprah, like it was 2004? While it shouldn't be surprising that an executive who trends zeitgeists for a living is horrifyingly isolated from the zeitgeists trending - WAIT, what does she do? It's her job to know who is important in the world, who is part of the dialogue and who the leaders are culturally, politically, and socially. This misstep shows why we should stop expecting relevance, response, or immediacy from the Hollywood structure - they clearly have no idea what's going on outside their buildings, their fundraisers, and their premieres.
4. We have no sense of humour, aka proprotion. Perhaps I knew this, but the self-importance of so many throughout this episode is instructive. It seems in the US we can take nothing with a grain of salt. A little humility would have worked wonders here. There are real threats resultant from this hack, but sensationalism and blame are keeping our eyes off the prize. We seem to answer every "scandal" with an ego parade, instead of looking at the core problem. And yes, it's far too late to be hiring real-life Olivia Pope to help you out of this mess.
5. It is and isn't white male patriarchy that keeps women out of Hollywood. For decades many women, myself included, have felt ourselves under the thumb of an old, white, male Hollywood. We've written about lack of equality, lack of parity, lack of opportunity - with ever-increasing statistics to back us up. I've come to a new realization. They don't keep us out. They can't keep us out. We keep us out. Why? Because the majority of women who want to make movies, create television, or shepherd films do not want to behave like old, white men. We want to behave like ourselves. We are not willing to trade fucks with Scott Rudin, we are not willing to succumb to an attitude of dismissive privilege, we envision films and shows that make the world a better place - more interesting, more diverse, less black and white. Not every woman in Hollywood behaves like Pascal, but for a long time, that was how you got powerful. But if you use that method to get power, you get stuck being that person and creating that kind of product. We want different.
6. It's time to build a new industry. Just like they built the new Bay Bridge - side by side - we build our own industry in our image of collaboration, cooperation, creativity and play. I swear making movies used to be fun. Once we've got ours built, the other one collapses under the pressure of its own weight.
7. It's all related: Sony hack, Cosby, Ferguson, black lives matter, I can't breathe, feminism, fracking, privilege, racism, occupy - there's a thread running through every hashtag and it is this: it is 2015 and we have left 20th century thinking and modes of action behind. Those who haven't are being shifted over to the wrong side of history in this moment. We have changed how we think, how we participate, how we build, how we vision. There is such a strong sense of momentum right now; the click inside that says it's time to stop struggling, step over the unhelpful and start building. This century got off to an icky start - one that was misused by many and misconstrued by more, but that's over. We are fifteen years in and we have seen our shared future, prepared for it and are ready to start pouring the foundations. There is no room for the kinds of behaviours we have been calling out in our new community. The last six years have shown us the debilitating effects of antiquated choicemaking on populations. There is a world in need of fixing, and we know how to do it, have the tools to do it, the ingenuity to do it, the desire to do it, and the will. We are already here. All these events, together, separately, show the corruption of hoarded power and the imaginary obstacles they place in the way of progress so they can maintain dominance. It is validation for the path the rest of us have already chosen - to share, to be kind, to model gratitude. It is a call to move away from the culture of fear to one of love - not just for what we do, but for how we do it, who we do it with, and who we do it for.

Maybe this last-minute funky release of The Interview is significant in some way, but it doesn't seem so to me. Maybe it's all been a huge P.R. stunt with North Korea laughing heartily and accepting the blame for the chaos, cause - wouldn't you? 

Zestyverse Editor/Publisher E. Amato has woven a creative life that moves fluidly between words, stages, film, and practical activism. She was a member of the 2011 Los Angeles Slam Team and has competed at Poetry Slam Nationals and WOWps. In 2010, Zesty Pubs released her first collection, Swimming Through Amber, her Kindle book 5 in 2012, and her second poetry collection, Will Travel, in 2013. In 2007 and 2008 Down Home traveled to the Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, garnering 5-star reviews consecutive years – a rare honour. She recently produced Homeless in Homeland, Saria Idana’s solo piece, which received 4 stars at the Brighton Fringe 2013. 

Women You Should Know - Dorothy Arzner by Melissa Hacker

Women You Should Know:
Dorothy Arzner 

January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979

by Melissa Hacker

I dropped out of college, moved to Seattle, and was waiting tables, dishwashing, and working in childcare. The University of Washington ran a fantastic film series, complete with detailed printed handouts, and I began to get an education in film. One rainy, dark winter it was all Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Douglas Sirk. Films featuring extravagant madmen and trapped women.

Soon after, I went back to school and was in a film production class using obsolete cameras donated by the local TV news station, and the professor, who was also obsolete, showed the class a cartoon of a woman holding a camera while jumping up on a chair, cowering. There was a mouse on the floor in front of the chair. I no longer remember the context – what technical or aesthetic lesson he was ostensibly teaching at the time, but I do remember his point; that women do not belong behind the camera. 

It was perhaps in this context that I found Dorothy Arzner. 

She was a very welcome discovery.

Dorothy Arzner was a woman director in the heart of the Hollywood studio system. After starting out as a stenographer, she quickly became a scriptwriter, editor (she edited the Rudolph Valentino vehicle, Blood and Sand), and then directed 16 feature films. 

She launched the careers of Katherine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, and other actresses. She directed Clara Bow's first talkie, in 1929, and is credited with developing the first boom mike when, to allow Clara Bow greater freedom of movement on set, she had technicians attach a microphone to a fishing pole.

I just watched Dance, Girl, Dance again. Made in 1940, it passes the Bechdel test:

1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

Judy (Maureen O'Hara) and Bubbles (Lucille Ball) are in a dance troupe that falls on hard times. Judy wants to be a ballerina, but when Bubbles becomes a burlesque queen – Tiger Lilly -- and offers her a job at $25/week, Judy dances as a “stooge” or joke, a ballet between the bump and grind. 

After a powerful moment when Judy turns on the audience (the burlesque and the film audience), challenging the male gaze, they do have one big brawl, onstage, between the curtains, but all ends well. 

Bubbles gives her rich, new husband (married when he was drunk) back to his ex-wife: "Just call it Tiger Lilly throws playboy back to mate…for $50,000," she instructs the paparazzi. Judy joins the ballet company of her dreams. She was on her way to an interview there early in the film, which did not happen because Madame, the troupe’s elderly manager, a former Russian ballerina, too excited by the prospect of helping Judy to pay attention, met a tragic end while crossing the street. 

Ah, melodrama!

Finding Arzner opened the door to a world of inspiration. She was among a handful of women directors in early movie history including Alice Guy-Blaché, Germaine Dulac, Lois Weber, and Thea von Harbou. You can learn more at the Women Film Pioneers Project and an Arzner bio pic is finally in the works!

Melissa Hacker is a filmmaker born and raised in New York City. Her first film, My Knees Were Jumping; Remembering The Kindertransports was short-listed for Academy Award nomination and screened in film festivals , universities, and broadcast worldwide. Venus, an experimental video, was included in the group exhibition “Objects of Devotion and Desire: Medieval Relic to Contemporary Art” at The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, and received special accolades in The New York Times' review of the show. Venus also screened at the Josephinum Medical History Museum in Vienna. Honors received for Ex Libris, her current work-in-progress, include a Fulbright Artist-in-Residence award, production grants from the New York State Council for the Arts and the Austrian National Fund, and residencies at Yaddo, VCCA, Playa, and Saltonstall. Melissa has an MFA from Hunter College, and works as a wandering adjunct professor and film editor.

Editor's Note:  Check out all the posts in this series, starting with Siofra McSherry's on Olivia Robertson! You can find additional posts in the Women You Should Know series in the blog archives  from March 2012 and March 2013.  If you are interested in being a guest blogger on the Zestyverse, let us know!

Quote of the Week - Dench

"It's the rudest word in my dictionary, 'retire,'" she says forcefully. "And 'old' is another one. I don't allow that in my house. And being called 'vintage.' I don't want any of those old words. I like 'enthusiastic' and I like the word 'cut' because that means you've finished the shot." She adds, "I heard a woman being interviewed on the radio the other day who was 105, and I expected this very frail voice, but this wonderful voice came out and she said to this reporter who was interviewing her, 'I'll tell you one thing,' she said, 'Don't stop anything. I never stop anything I'm doing because otherwise I'll never get started again.' And I thought, 'That'll do.'"

~Judi Dench

I picked this quote out for this week before Cate Blanchett's mention of Judi Dench's work ethic at the Oscars. I picked it because I don't think creative people ever retire - they may shift focus, but creativity is a daily practise to be encouraged.

Indiewire thinks it's been a good awards season for women.  Maybe it has. Thanks to Cate Blanchett for calling attention to the "women's movie" myth. Thanks to Lupita Nyongo for bringing so much enthusiasm back to the craft. To Jennifer Lawrence for her incredibly honest and completely open-hearted enthusiasm for the announcement of Lupita Nyongo as winner of an award they were both up for - watch the clip if you didn't see it the first time.

We are supposed to be having fun, I think sometimes, we forget that.

And it is easy to forget, when sets become stressful and dangerous places.  Thank you Sarah Jones for reminding us to have boundaries, be safe and to love what we do enthusiastically without putting ourselves in harm's way. Your smile is forever and we will make changes.

The Other 50% - Good news!

"...there is no denying the anecdotal evidence that a major generational transition is under way."

This article in The Hollywood Reporter details the recent surge in female showrunners, and that a continuation is inevitable.  I'm always wary of that sentiment - there have been downturns before - but it's comforting that Cynthia Littleton and AJ Marechal are willing to report it as such in the Women's Impact Report.

The Other 50% - More Numbers on Women Writers

Courtesy of  the Women and Hollywood blog.

And no, the numbers are not encouraging.

The Other 50% - Zero Presence in Cannes

As a reaction to the fact that NO FILMS AT THE 2012 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL WERE DIRECTED BY WOMEN, a group of women, headed by Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood have created a petition.

I would love to ask you to read and consider what the petition puts forth, and sign if you agree.

I'm not much of a signer myself, and I'm certainly not interested in filling quotas, but I have signed it.

There is a deep need to uncover the ingrained misogyny in the industry, and I think this begins to address that without asking for unreasonable actions.  Mainstream entertainment's often subliminal anti-female messaging influences society at large.  Changing what we create and who creates it, has the ability to change our world.

The Other 50% - New Developments

The latest figures on percentages of women working in features are out.  Women make up 5% of the directors of the top 250 box office grossing films of 2011 - up 2% from 2012, but down 4% from 1998 numbers.

And Sundance announces a new partnership with Women in Film to track the progress of women directors.   The headline on that one is a bit misleading.

Is Bridesmaids the reason for the sudden interest?  Or is this just (another) watershed moment?

The 50% - Another Update

So...I wish this were surprising in any way.  However, it is a great example of how production gets away with behaviour that would be prosecutable in the corporate world.

From Women in Holllywood - cross post written by Neely Swanson.

The 50% - Unexpected Follow Up

Well, had I realized, I could have held yesterday's post for today's news!

Here's The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment 2011:  The Top 100.  This is not a sexy list per se - this list is tracking the money, power, initiative and results, and is therefore executive-heavy.  So there are women in Hollywood, after all - just wearing suits and behind closed doors.