Another feature from Trespass' Women Week. I asked Trespass' fabulous regular film contributers to choose three female filmmakers whose work either excites, inspires or delights them.
Here are my picks-
Andrea Arnold- Director/Screenwriter
I discovered Arnold’s first feature film, Red Road (2006) on a plane flight a few years ago (I have since found out the film is quite a bit more explicit than shown on in-flight entertainment) and I fell in love with her filmmaking, and her recent film, Fish Tank (2009) has only made me a bigger fan. Yes she is tough, probing the less sunny side of the human disposition with her social realism, but I think she also has affection for her characters, and doesn’t simply display their suffering for amusement. She must have an impressive award cabinet too, winning an Oscar in 2005 for her short film Wasp and both her feature films have won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. Her next project is Wuthering Heights, I’m pretty excited to see what she does with Emily Brontë’s much loved novel.
Jan Chapman- Producer
In 1989 Jan Chapman set up her own production company, Jan Chapman Films, and her first feature film was Gillian Armstrong’s The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992). This was the first in a long list of amazing 90s and 00s Australian films that Chapman has worked on; The Piano (1993), Holy Smoke (1999), Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004) and Bright Star (2009). It is not just her back-catalogue of award-winning films which highlights Chapman’s success, her partnerships with prominent female directors like Gillian Armstrong, Jane Campion and Cate Shortland, also marks her career out. Chapman’s standing within the film industry is illustrated by her appointment as Jury President at the up-coming 2010 Sydney Film Festival.
Maryse Alberti- Cinematographer
This French-born cinematographer has been involved in some fantastic films and documentaries. Alberti’s C.V. reads like an independent filmmaker’s dream; Crumb (1994), Happiness (1998), Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005), Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson (2008), The Wrestler (2008). Alberti’s start in the film industry is reported to have been as a stills photographer on X-rated movies before moving to documentaries and boy has she worked on some great ones (docos that is not pornos); including Oscar winning When We Were Kings (1996) and Taxi to the Dark Side (2007).
Full list can be read at Trespass
