Austin Film Organizations Panel

Ladies and Gents, the school semester is almost over but we still have a great Women In Cinema Panel lined up!  Mark your calendars for our final Women in Cinema Panel: AUSTIN FILM ORGANIZATIONS.  We have some awesome ladies talking with us so don't be late. Come learn about what's happening in your community and how to get involved!

PANELISTS

Kristen Bell has served as the Director of Programs for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas since fall 2011. Prior to this role, she was the General Manager of one of the largest and most profitable Alamo Drafthouse location, the South Lamar location from 2006-2011. Here she oversaw the stores day-to-day operations in addition to all major events that took place at any Austin Alamo venues.  In addition to her role at the Alamo Drafthouse, Kristen also serves as the Festival Director of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, since 2008. Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the United States and was recognized as “one of the 10 festivals we love” by Variety president Charlie Koones.

Rebecca Feferman joined the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival to head up their Media Relations in Fall 2008.  In her role, she cultivates key relationships with major film studios, talent and media, and serves as a Programmer for both festival and conference content.  Additionally, she strategizes timing of all announcements and facilitates targeted placement, generates national and local press opportunities for the festival and its filmmakers, and produces Red Carpet premieres during the event.  She also leads the corporate Marketing Team for all three events (Music, Film & Interactive), and serves as a Contributing Editor for SXSWORLD Magazine. Before her work at SXSW, she spent four years as a publicist representing actors at ID Public Relations in Los Angeles, where she shepherded the long-term publicity goals for her clients.  In addition to tailoring and implementing project-based campaigns by working directly with top-tier media, Feferman handled crisis management and devised specialized positioning to secure major award nominations and wins for her clients.  Prior to joining ID, Rebecca worked in the National Publicity department of Warner Bros. Pictures.  A graduate from the University of Michigan, Feferman is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Laura Kincaid is the Directory & Marketing Coordinator at the Texas Film Commission, a division of the Governor's Office that supports the media industries of Texas. She manages the Texas Production Directory, a free online resource for Texas-based crew and vendors, and markets the state at trade shows, film festivals and events across the country. Laura is a native Austinite, graduated from UT in 2006 with a Bachelor’s in Radio-Television-Film, and serves on the Advisory Board of the ATX Television Festival. She loves movies and trashy TV, is a spontaneous world traveler and has co-edited numerous short films (and one very long documentary in French, Arabic and Portuguese, none of which she speaks). On rainy days, she dreams her life is a musical.

Sarah Ann Mockbee began her tenure with AFS in 2008 and became deputy director in 2011. Before joining the team, she worked in the development department at KUT and in the communications department at WNYC, the premiere NPR affiliate in New York City. She has served on the board of the Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects and been a grant reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts. She is a producer of CITIZEN ARCHITECT, a documentary about her father, Samuel Mockbee, and the architectural design/build program Rural Studio that he created in Alabama.


PANEL DETAILS
Wednesday, April 17
7pm - 9pm
CMA 3.120, UT Campus (Corner of Dean Keaton & Whitis)
Free admission and open to the public
Facebook Event

Women @ SXSW Panel Recap

We have to give a huge thank you to all the phenomenally talented and fascinating filmmakers who took the time out from their busy South by Southwest schedules to honor us with their vibrant presence at our SXSW panel. With a slew of award-winning films under their belts and three of their SXSW films premiering at Sundance, it was an awe-inspiring group who were remarkably forthcoming, funny and brilliant. In addition to our six scheduled female panelists, we also were graced by surprise guests and honorary “woMeN” in cinema: Jeremy Hersh, director of the short Natives and Ruben Amar, co-director and writer of Swim Little Fish Swim.  

The lucky audience members were treated to what felt like an intimate, convivial gathering - akin to the “salons” of early 20^th century France – with the panelists more genuinely interested in each other than in selling themselves.  Despite the thousands of film related conversations I’m sure they had during their SXSW stints, it seemed like our panel was a unique opportunity for them to commune with fellow filmmakers in a calm and casual atmosphere – without the pressure to self-promote and power-network.

Kat Candler - Women in Cinema’s godmother and director of a SXSW/Sundance short film for the 2^nd year in a row - moderated the panel with her usual charm, creating an inclusive conversation that went in depth into a handful of pertinent topics such as inspiration, process and navigating the complicated relationships that films are dependent on.  Each director made unique and insightful contributions on every topic.  Here we have included one insight from each.

Celia Rowlson-Hall was a serious dancer before delving into directing, and her films - including her TWO films in SXSW this year - often feature herself as she employs her dance and choreography skills.  Celia is a strong advocate for honesty as the foundation of filmmaking: “the work that I make is just me trying to figure things out,” she confided.

 Lauren Wolkstein revealed that she also manifests honesty in her work and is given to explore the unexpected circumstances that life throws at you.  She was staying with her producer in the south of France in order to write a different script, when she had a strange experience being the only American at a French party which inspired her film Social Butterfly. 

And Julia Pott too recounted thriving on the self-expressive aspect of filmmaking – even when adapting someone else’s material.  The narration of her animated film The Event was a poem by Tom Chivers, and Julia was surprised and slightly anxious when he gave her complete freedom to interpret the poem as she wished – but she ultimately found the experience to be exhilarating. By entrusting her with the text of his poem, Chiver was clearly a key contributor to Julia’s film. Other panelists, however, described working with crucial contributors who were not so unquestionably amenable.

Jillian Schlessinger was the only panelist with a documentary in the festival: Maidentrip, a feature documentary about Laura Dekker, a 14-year-old girl who sails around the world by herself.  Jillian conveyed the emotional delicacy involved in securing the participation of her adolescent subject who was at first reticent about being the subject of a documentary.  Now she and Laura are fast friends and collaborated closely throughout the filmmaking process.

Frances Bodomo had a narrative filmmaking version of Jillian’s experience while making her narrative short Boneshaker.  She still hadn’t found an appropriate actor to fill the African immigrant father role, until already on location in Louisiana when she came across a local man in a coffee shop who she had to coax to be one of her principal actors as his first ever acting experience.  Frances also recounted her flipside experience: the kismet of discovering Quvenzhané Wallis, the astounding starlet of Beasts of the Southern Wild, through her NYU connections to the crew of that film.

And Lola Bessis provided an unusual perspective on the process of working with actors – since she not only directed but acted in the feature she co-directed with Ruben Amar, Swim Little Fish Swim.  Lola opened up about facing certain backlash from the other actors who at times resented that as an actress she was exempt from the critiques she would give them as director.  But she clearly overcame this and ultimately Lola evinced the passionate perseverance that radiated from all of the panelists: she has at least 3 other feature scripts she is working on.  “We want to explore as many worlds as we can,” she said.

2013 Women In Cinema SXSW Panel

With SXSW less than two weeks away, we know you're in a frenzy planning your schedule....and we're here to add another must-see event!  We had such a stellar time last year at our SX panel, we couldn't resist doing another one this year.  This year's SXSW Panel features five ladies who are kicking ass and taking names at film festivals this year and we can't wait to here them talk!

PANELISTS

Lola Bessis, Director/Screenwriter
Swim Little Fish Swim, Narrative Feature
SXSW Screening Times: March 11 @ 11:00am, March 12 @ 1:45pm, March 13 @ 9:00pm
Lola Bessis, 23, is a French screenwriter, director, producer and actress. After attending some of the most prestigious film schools – UCL (London), The New School and NYU (New York) – and working on several documentaries and TV shows, Lola co-wrote a multi-awarded short film, "Checkpoint", which was selected at more than 100 renowned festivals around the world. She has also directed several fiction and experimental short films. At only 21, Lola co-directed, produced, wrote and starred in her first feature film, "Swim Little Fish Swim", which will premiere at SXSW ‘13. In 2012, along with Ruben Amar, she founded her production company, Les Films de la Fusée. She’s currently developing two new feature scripts and a TV series. She lives between Paris and New York. 

Frances Bodomo, Director/Screenwriter
Boneshaker, Narrative Short
SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 11:15am, March 11 @ 2pm, March 13 @ 4:30pm
Frances Bodomo is a Ghanaian filmmaker based in New York City. She grew up in Ghana, Norway, California, and Hong Kong before moving to New York to study filmmaking. "Boneshaker" is her first film.

Lauren Wolkstein, Director/Screenwriter
Social Butterfly, Narrative Short
SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 1:45pm, March 11 @ 4:30pm, March 13 @ 1:45pm
Lauren Wolkstein received her MFA in directing from Columbia University. She was named one of the top emerging filmmakers by The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Her film, "Cigarette Candy", won Best Narrative Short at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Her last short film, "The Strange Ones", co-directed with Chris Radcliff, screened at SXSW in 2011.

Celia Rowlson-Hall, Director/Screenwriter
The Audition, Narrative Short
SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 11:15am, March 11 @ 2pm, March 13 @ 4:30pm
Si Nos Dejan, Narrative Short
SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 1:45pm, March 11 @ 4:30pm, March 13 @ 1:45pm
Celia Rowlson-Hall is a filmmaker, choreographer and Bessie Award winning performer.

Jillian Schlesinger, Director
Maidentrip, Documentary Feature
SXSW Screening Times: March 10 @ 1:45pm, March 12 @ 11:00am, March 13 @ 2:00pm, March 14 @ 1:30pm
Jillian Schlesinger is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker making her directorial debut with "Maidentrip" (World Premiere SXSW 2013). She has worked in various capacities on documentaries, including writing, story development, and archival research. She has also written, directed, and edited numerous on-air promotions for television networks, including AMC, Sundance Channel, and BBC America. Her work on Sundance Channel's Dysfunctional Family Thanksgiving earned a 2010 Promax BDA Award in the "Something for Nothing" category. Jillian grew up in Santa Cruz, CA and graduated from Brown University, where she studied dramatic writing and linguistic anthropology.

Julia Pott, Director, Animator

The Event, Animated Short

SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 11:00am, March 12 @ 4:15pm, March 13 @ 9:30pm
Julia Pott is a British animator and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. Following a BA in Animation and Illustration at Kingston University in 2007, Julia completed an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art in 2011, where she completed ‘Howard’ and her award winning film ‘Belly’ which was officially selected for the Sundance Film Festival 2012 and over 60 other festivals worldwide. She has been named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine, one of the Indie Film Breakouts of 2012 by Indiewire and is an an ADC Young Gun. Her clients include Bat for Lashes, Channel Four, Etsy, Hermes, J.Crew, MTV, and Toyota. She is represented globally by Hornet Inc.

Panel Moderator:
Kat Candler, Director/Screenwriter
Black Metal, Narrative Short
SXSW Screening Times: March 9 @ 11:15am, March 11 @ 2pm, March 13 @ 4:30pm
Kat Candler's award winning films have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, San Francisco International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival and on PBS. She’s in development on two features, "Nikki is a Punk Rocker" and "Hellion". Candler is a film Lecturer at the University of Texas.

PANEL DETAILS
Wednesday, March 13
7:30 - 9:30 pm
CMB Studio 4D, UT Campus (Corner of Dean Keaton & Guadalupe)
Free admission and open to the public
Facebook Event

SXSW 2013 Female Directors & Screenwriters

It's crazy to think about, but SXSW is less than two weeks away!  As the whole world prepares to descend on the city we call home, we know it may be difficult to keep up with all the SX news.  So, if you haven't compiled your list of must-see films at the festival, we're here to help.  Below is a list of all the films playing at the festival that have either a female director or screenwriter credit (or sometimes both!).  Check it out and tweet us (@womenincinema) which films you're most excited to see this year!  


Narrative Features
Improvement Club (Dayna Hanson)
Swim Little Fish Swim (Lola Bessis)

Documentary Features
Los Wild Ones (Elise Saloman)
Touba (E. Chai Vasarhelyi)

Narrative Spotlight
Grow Up, Tony Phillips (Emily Hagins)
Gus (Jessie McCormack)
Loves Her Gun (Lauren Modery)
Some Girl(s) (Daisy Von Scherler Mayer)
Zero Charisma (Katie Graham)

Documentary Spotlight
The Network (Eva Orner)
Spark: A Burning Man Story (Jessie Deeter)
TINY: A Story About Living Small (Merete Mueller)
Xmas Without China (Alicia Dwyer)

Visions
Elena (Petra Costa)
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (Sophie Huber)
Maidentrip (Jillian Schlesinger)
Our Nixon (Penny Lane)
Yellow (Heather Wahlquist)

24 Beats per Second
Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker (Lily Keber)
The Great Hip Hop Hoax (Jeanie Finlay)
Good Vibrations (Lisa Barros D'sa)
The Punk Singer (Sini Anderson)
This Ain’t No Mouse Music! (Maureen Gosling)

SXGlobal
And Who Taught You To Drive? (Andrea Thiele)
Diario a Tres Voces / Three Voices (Otilia Portillo Padua)
The Fifth Season (Jessica Woodworth)

Headliners
The East (Brit Marling)

Festival Favorites
At Any Price (Hallie Elizabeth Newton)
A Teacher (Hannah Fidell)
Before Midnight (Julie Delpy)
The Crash Reel (Lucy Walker)

Special Events
Burning Love (Erica Oyama)
Mabon “Teenie” Hodges- A Portrait of a Memphis Soul Original (Susanna Vapnek)

Narrative Shorts
The Audition (Celia Rowlson-Hall)
Black Metal (Kat Candler)
Boneshaker (Frances Bodomo)
Ellen Is Leaving (Michelle Savill)
#PostModem (Jillian Mayer)
SEQUIN RAZE (Sarah Gertrude Shapiro)
Si Nos Dejan (Celia Rowlson-Hall)
SKIN (Jordana Spiro)
Social Butterfly (Lauren Wolkstein)
Weighting (Brie Larson)
When We Lived in Miami (Amy Seimetz)

Documentary Shorts
Endless Day (Anna Frances Ewert)
Flutter (Dara Bratt)
The Roper (Anna Sandilands)
The Village (Liliana Sulzbach)

Animated Shorts
The Event (Julia Pott)
Oh Willy… (Emma De Swaef)
Old Man (Leah Shore)

Texas High School Shorts
Again (Jade Basinski & Pearl Basinski)
The Benefactress (Alina Vega)
CaNnibal (Sophia Haid)
Don’t Be Afraid Ashley (Makena Buchanan) 
Drop (Zenzele Ojore)
GBFF (Atheena Frizzell)
The Magic Lasso (Amy Harvie)
Outbreak (Maddison Lopez)
Zipper (Rachel Davis)

View the entire SXSW Film Festival lineup here.

A Night of Member Screenings

Women In Cinema is shaking things up this month.  Instead of having our usual (awesome) panel, we will be hosting A Night of Member Screenings.  We're very excited for our lineup and you should be, too!  A Night of Member Screenings will showcase the WIC Fall 2012 Film Festival Scholarship winning films, a fine cut of the WIC summer production, and more short films created by WIC members.  This is a great opportunity to see what your fellow classmates have been up to and to meet other members.

PANEL DETAILS
Wednesday, February 27
Starts at 7:30 pm
CMA 3.120, Free Admission
Facebook Event