The Navigated Space: Female Filmmakers
by Ingrid Stobbe
In taking a moment to address the vastness that is the female film, the topic presented in its thought process a very interesting question: Outside of gender, outside of sex, what is it that brings the films of women all over the world together in their innate being? What a question to pose, but of course that’s why we’re here.
And here, after quite some thought, is my answer:
The commonality between all women’s films is in thoughtful approach rather than genre, rather than interest. For the way the female mind and body react and create are mirrors of the way they experience the world- as they should be. As all films should strive to be. Creative approaches and interests are as varied as the medium allows, often moving outside of preconceived expectations and expanding perceived capabilities. In many senses provided less, Her opportunities are not wasted. Innovations created amidst closed doors, while initially shunned, have become oft imitated moments of genius. A personal thank you to Maya Deren, Barbara Hammer and Su Friedrich for turning my mind inside out while dancing through barriers of genre expectations, created at a party very few were invited to. Women’s films are fruits of a journey that has been forced to carry so much of the weight of other people: The weight of Doubt, of Prejudice and Cowardice. Of Fear.
But to assume women, though often united for the same reason they are underestimated, share only interests pertaining to their sex is to invoke limitation through willed ignorance. They are not bound to it, but rather informed by it. Observant of a shared space in the world, and knocking down walls with each nuanced performance and approach. The relationship formed between the Filmmaker and her viewers is by its very nature unique as She is an observed and measured being. She knows what it is to see and be seen, while simultaneously to not be seen at all.
To navigate space in a world that expects a light footprint means there’s room for observance. And to have the patience to observe before filming, to compare and really see before cutting, and to create paths where there are no roads are creative adaptations that emerge inherently from women. To innovate, to will, to create. These are words connecting the great female makers of our time. And they do all this with the weight of the world punctuating the final credits.
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