CITIZEN JANE FILM FESTIVAL, Columbia, MO: October 19-21, 2012

CJFF October 19-21, 2012

2012-02-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

CJFF 2011 Film "Atomic Mom" to show on Documentary Channel in March

2012-02-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

This March, Documentary Channel (DOC) honors female filmmakers with "Her Take", a special programming line-up featuring powerful films from female directors premiering every Saturday night in primetime. Atomic Mom, director M.T. Silvia's unique exploration of two women, both mothers, and their very different experiences of the atom bomb will show March 24th at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

http://www.atomicmom.org/

Women made up 5% of directors in 2011...down 2%

2012-02-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Every January we hold our breath and wait for the big news. I'm not talking about the Academy Awards, though that's interesting too, but what Martha M. Lauzen has to say about the state of women in film. Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, releases her annual report every January and once again the news ain't good.

The study shows that "women accounted for just 5 percent of directors last year," Lauzen said. "At one point back in 1998, we were up to 9 percent, and so 5 percent -- that's almost half of the percentage, and that .. is really troubling."

38% of the top 250 films employed either no women or only one as director, executive producer, producer, writer, cinematographer or editor.

The percentage of women directors has declined since 1998 while the percentages of women writers and producers have increased slightly. The percentage of women executive producers, editors and cinematographers have remained the same.

Lauzen's study analyzed 2,636 people working on the 250 top-grossing films of 2011.
It found:
94 percent of the top films of 2011 were directed by men.
Women made up 14 percent of writers in the top films.
77 percent of the major films of 2011 had no female writers.
Women made up 25 percent of all producers on the top 250 films of 2011.
Women made up 20 percent of editors in the biggest films of 2011, but 76 percent of those films had no female editors.
There were fewer female cinematographers than directors on the top films of 2011: only 4 percent of cinematographers were women.
Women were most likely to work in documentaries, dramas and comedies and least likely to work in horror, action and animated films.

Why does it matter?

Because movies are one of the most powerful ways that we can convey ideas and our culture and if 51% of the population is not being represented in this conversation, we have a problem.

What can we do?

Go see movies made by women, especially the first weekend they are out.
Support women's film programs, like the excellent one at Stephens College, one of the oldest women's college's in the nation, where they are helping to grow the next generation of women filmmakers.
Volunteer, sponsor and attend the Citizen Jane Film Festival this coming October!

Ava Duvernay Wins Best Director at Sundance

2012-02-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Met an amazing director at Sundance named Ava Duvernay. She made a film called Middle of Nowhere that everyone told me to be sure to see.

Roger Ebert said "it is one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one". It is. And a lot more than that.

"Middle of Nowhere is a story about a woman named Ruby who has lost her husband to incarceration," DuVernay told Jason Scoggins of the ItsOntTHeGrid.com. "It touches on the prison wives' tale, but really the story of a woman who's living in a relationship that's imbalanced."

Some of the things I loved about the film. DuVernay is not afraid to let the camera stay with her actors and give them the chance to really react to what is happening. She has the courage to saturate her audience with the sense of waiting that the main character struggles with. You are transformed by the journey she takes you on. And the music is perfect.

DuVernay won the Best Director prize at Sundance for her film. Middle of Nowhere is her second feature and she is the first black woman to win the prize.

I hope you get the chance to see this remarkable film.

Congratulations Julia Reichert! Growing Up Female chosen for National Film Registry

2012-02-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

In 2010, Citizen Jane began what is quickly becoming a standing room only tradition when Julia Reichert showed a selection of films from the first wave feminist movement and generously shared the historical context within which they were made. This tradition kicked off with the showing of Julia's film, Growing Up Female.
Those of you who had the chance to see this film know how special it is and now so does everyone else as it was chosen this year to be included in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry (alongside the likes of films like Citizen Kane and The Jazz Singer).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, the Librarian of Congress each December names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant."

“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture,” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said. “Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”

"This year’s batch spans the period from 1912 to 1994 and brings the number of films in the registry to 575. Annual selections to the registry are finalized by the Librarian after reviewing hundreds of titles nominated by the public (this year 2,228 films were nominated) and conferring with Library film curators and the members of the National Film Preservation Board. For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for generations."

Growing Up Female (1971)
Among the first films to emerge from the women’s liberation movement, Growing Up Female is a documentary portrait of America on the brink of profound change in its attitudes toward women. Filmed in spring 1970 by Ohio college students Julia Reichert and Jim Klein, Female focuses on six girls and women ages 4 to 34 and the home, school, work and advertising environments that have impacted their identities. Through open-ended interviews and lyrical documentation of their surroundings, the film strived, in Reichert’s words, to “give women a new lens through which to see their own lives.” Widely distributed to libraries, universities, churches and youth groups, the film launched a cooperative of female filmmakers that bypassed traditional distribution mechanisms to get its message communicated.

http://ysnews.com/news/2012/02/feminist-film-gets-national-honor

CJFF 2012 Dates Announced!

2012-02-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

Citizen Jane Film Festival returns to downtown Columbia, Missouri, October 19-21, 2012. We have already begun sifting through submissions and talking about the theme of this years festival and getting really excited about the fest to come!

Post from CJFF2011 blogger Maria

2011-10-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

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CITIZEN JANE 2011-10-02

The first thing I noticed in Columbia, Missouri, is that there is a substantially smaller amount of obese people at sight there compared with Kansas City, where I live. “How could this be?”, I wondered, while waiting in line at the Ragtag Cinema coffee shop for the buttery bakeries that everyone seemed to enjoy without getting the subsequent set of chubby hips? Solving this mystery, I reasoned, could create a major breakthrough in weight management: “The Columbia Diet”; “A Pastry Thin You”; “Lean Through Cupcakes.” But my line of thinking got interrupted, though, when I had to hurry to the projection room for my first Citizen Jane movie experience. So me and my muffin rushed in there while my hips, unaware to the mysteries of those pesky thin Columbians, prepared to gain all the volume they could possibly muster.

A look around told me I was in no conventional projection room: the front row was garnished with comfortable couches while people enjoyed actual delicious food and not only popcorn or hot dogs -even a glass of wine, without the discriminating VIP fees many conventional theatres subject their patrons to.

And then the magic of Citizen Jane began. We were exposed to films that empowered us with their message, their talent, and their example. Pieces that whispered in our ears in subtle, creative, sharp and combative ways life-changing ideas like how to love and accept ourselves, the joys of careful and thoughtful work and science and how to look and pursue our happiness and our place in life. There were movies about resilience, social justice and the transcending quality of the human spirit. There were also humorous shorts instilled with an inner core of strength and the desire to change things for the better. But the magic of Citizen Jane is that all these messages, all these small pieces of art, like beads of a jewel, work as one, not only through the contents of the work but by bringing our attention to the fact that they were all created by women. In addition, Citizen Jane integrates projections with Q&A sessions with the filmmakers, arm wrestling competitions by women, aerials, circus and other live activities to offer a smooth transition from the silver screen to real life. It also cooperates with local cafes, universities, businesses and artists to offer the audience the opportunity to be proactive, to start inducing the change our planet is so much need. For example, one of the films, "Farmageddon", that focused on small livestock farms, was projected at the Stevens College Equestrian facility while the audience sat in bails of staw surrounded by horses. Local farmers and related business owners composed the post-movie panel. Some had even brought their products making them available for sale to moviegoers.

And the audience? How did they react to the Festival? Lynn Nichols, a friendly Columbia resident, said she enjoyed the easier pace compared to other Film Festivals that happen in town throughout the year. Mary Lehmann was another Columbian who loves movies and the quality of the work she saw. Incidentally, Ms. Lehmann is the only permanent resident at the soon to be demolished Regency Hotel; her distress about the issue was visible. Another patron, Gary Kelly of Arizona, who works at the nuclear facility of Fulton, MO, was attracted to one of the movies, "Apache 8", because it was shot in his home state. Bob Jacob of Kansas City’s first experience with the Festival brought him surprise with the high quality of the work and appreciated that movies were grouped in clusters by subject matters. So did Rick Agran, who had recently moved to Columbia from New Hampshire.

The day was almost gone, but Citizen Jane had yet something else under her sleeve: a Saturday night open public party at the popular Pub "The Bridge". Things started rather easy at about ten thirty; by midnight the place was packed. Anyone with good lungs could scream over the loud music while attempting to communicate with the various directors and producers in this cool –if not quiet- atmosphere. I did manage to yell loud enough to talk to Canadian director Penelope Buitenhuis who came from Vancouver to present her short movie "A Wake". I had not gotten a chance to watch it but judging by her easygoing and humorous personality, I am sure it was very good. Indeed, the level of the work presented at the Festival could not have allowed anything or poor quality.

The morning after, the Festival had organized a breakfast at "Uprise Bakery", the Ragtag Cinema Coffee Shop, offering everyone again the opportunity to relate to filmmakers, now savoring a delicious brunch menu. I had spent only one day out of the three that make Citizen Jane up, and even though I felt I had missed a lot, it was intense enough to satisfy me.

Considering that women are such a minority in the film industry, Citizen Jane‘s efforts offer a crucial platform to remind us of the many talents and strength that women worldwide hold. It is also proof that anything great can happen anywhere if we put our efforts into it.

Just as the town of Columbia constantly reminds us.

Miss Representation

2011-10-18T07:46:00.001-07:00

Citizen Jane 2011 is coming to town!

2011-09-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Festival Line Up Announced!

2011-09-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

The festival is exactly two weeks away from today and we have secured our films, booked our filmmakers flights, artists from around the community have designed the circus, our program will soon be back from the printer and lo and behold we are almost ready to host a film festival!

Get your passes and tickets while they're hot at citizenjanefilm.org or at The Blue Note Box Office.

Looking for Volunteers for CJFF 2011!

2011-06-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

We have begun selecting the films, the art team is busy creating the design and this year's sponsors are stepping up to make this year's vision a reality. If you would like to be a part of helping to create CJFF 2011 go to www.citizenjanefilm.org and sign up! We would love to have you.
-Festival Organizers

CJFF Film April 7th, Ragtag

2011-03-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Citizen Jane Lecture Series Film,
Two Spirits
Q&A with director Lydia Nibley

When: April 7th, Ragtag Cinema
4pm: Free screening for students and staff (MU and Stephens)
6pm: Screening open to the public, $5 general admission

Sponsored by: Citizen Jane Film Festival, Chancellor's Diversity Initiative, the MU
Multicultural Center, the Department of English, and the MU Film Studies
Program.

Fred Martinez was one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered at 16. The documentary film Two Spirits explores the life and death of a boy who was also a girl, and the essentially spiritual nature of gender. Two Spirits interweaves the tragic story of a mother¹s loss of her son with a revealing look at a time when the world wasn¹t simply divided into male and female and many Native American cultures held places of honor for people of integrated genders.

2011-03-11T20:29:00.000-08:00

2011-03-10T13:59:00.001-08:00

2011-03-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Global Journalist's International Women's Day

2011-03-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

This week marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, and on March 10 Global Journalist invites you to join in a discussion about women in journalism for a live taping of its regular broadcast. The guests, who are journalists from Eritrea, China, Colombia, Iran and the U.S., will discuss the role of female journalists in newsrooms around the world. The community will be invited to participate in the conversation, ask the guests questions and share their own thoughts and experiences.

The event is FREE and open to the public. A reception will follow the live taping.

WHEN: March 10, 2011 6 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Fred W. Smith Forum, Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia

You can reserve your spot here: http://gjwomensday.eventbrite.com/ <https://ch1prd0104.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=f2fda2742efe44919aa83e3871bc590e&URL=http%3a%2f%2fgjwomensday.eventbrite.com%2f>

View the 1-minute promotional video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5AOxinG4yc <https://ch1prd0104.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=f2fda2742efe44919aa83e3871bc590e&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dc5AOxinG4yc>

Folks Behind the Films: Tamra Davis

2010-12-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

Name - Tamra Davis
Age - 47
Hometown - Los Angeles

Current Location - Malibu and Manhattan

Favorite Color - Blue
Favorite Food - Lula's Sweet Apothecary vegan ice cream

When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up? - An actress

Your first project:

My first film is called "monk's honor" I made it in super 8. I was intrigued by a group of skateboarders that by day looked like cute surfer boys and by night went to clubs and looked like punk rockers. I made this in 1979 and has early black flag footage. It made me realize that when you put a camera in front of your face you feel fearless.

Your favorite project:

Guncrazy because it was my first film. I waited my whole life for that opportunity and worked so hard to make a film that would be a good film and get attention.

Your most recent project:

Single Ladies. It is a tv movie that I shot in Atlanta with queen latifah as my producer. My husband calls it "sex in da city". It got picked up as a pilot so now i am working on doing a bunch of the episodes.

What is your creative process like?

I just have to be inspired and love the project. You put so much into it the reason you do it has to go way beyond a job.

I totally immerse myself in the subject and fill my head with inspiring images. When it was music videos i became the artists biggest fan now with tv and film I just make sure I love the project and people I am working with.

What do you feel was the biggest turning point in your life as a filmmaker?

The fact that i always feel im just about to have that turning point.

How do you feel you have changed since you started?

I find comfort sometimes knowing that the voice that I had in my head when I was a young girl is still the same voice I hear now. That's still the same. Everything around me has changed. It keeps changing. I don't know what I will be doing next year, sometimes it's next month. I still feel as idealistic as I ever was. Always hoping that the big break is going to happen and finally I think I will have made it.

What advice would you give to young women going in to this field?

Have a goal. I set my mind to the fact that I wanted to make a movie before I had a baby. Then I tried as hard as I could to make that happen. I willed it to happen. If you want to be a director, you are the only one who can make that happen. In the last film I did, Jean-Michel Basquiat The Radiant Child, I came to the fact that I could do it all myself. All I needed was a story, a camera, a computer and a determined director. I did have a producer that basically just called or emailed me all the time. I would just put my camera in my backpack and go off and shoot. It's nice to have a crew of 50 to make a film but it's also nice to realize you can do it yourself.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Have the best time ever.

Please see these other links for Tamra's work:

www.tamradaviscookingshow.com

www.fiveforkids.org

TINY CIRCUS!

2010-12-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

One of the favorite things about the Fest for many of us is the return of The Tiny Circus, with their amazing animations, their one of a kind animation workshop, their delightful enthusiasm and their crazy, lovely dancing. Last weekend we got a tiny fix of all things circus when Carlos Ferguson and Maggie Yocius returned to Columbia for a quick visit. We are already hatching plans for the return of the circus to CJFF2011. Here are some pictures from last CJFF to tide you over until next year!

Women in Film Update

2010-12-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is the last post for the "Women in Film Update". I wanted to leave with a discussion. The Cinematic Woman episode from MYfemtv was posted to the CAT website. (http://columbiaaccess.tv/schedule) As I have said in other posts about this episode the discussion by the guests is phenomenal. Citizen Jane maybe done for this year, but the discussion it evokes should keep going. Check out this episode and keep the discussion of women in the industry alive year round. Happy movie watching!

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Final Thoughts

2010-11-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone! This is my last post for "Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane." I thought I'd wrap up by thanking the festival coordinators who took the time to lend me their knowledge and thoughts about CJFF 2010, and to elaborate on the roles they played in it. Thank you all, it was an incredible learning experience, and I hope, after reading the blog, that others will be as amazed as I was.

I also want to comment that, never having been involved in a film festival before, pretty much every aspect of CJFF was a new and either crazy, confusing, or fascinating experience for me. Therefore, I hope these posts help create a deeper appreciation for the work, time and creativity that go into making Citizen Jane a reality every year. Happy reading, and see you in 2011:)

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Kerri Yost

2010-11-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

One of the creators of the festival, Kerri Yost has served CJFF in too many ways to count.

--Paula Elias and I are co-directors of CJFF. We work on it throughout the year, basically. We do try to divide and conquer, each doing specific jobs. We get to see the whole festival from beginning to end, development and execution. In general, my role is fundraising--like right now I have a lot of reports for grants that fund our festival, so it's the little bit less glamorous part of making a film festival, but very important. So then I also handle the finances and the accounts. After the festival, we look at the next year. We establish our budget and operating costs. Honestly, it's always a challenge, because we started the festival in a really "unique" time in our economy, obviously. But it's interesting: our festival is twice as big as it was last year. Still, we'll probably have to get creative and do it with less money next year, so that takes a little more time than it used to.

The rest of my job is mostly programming, and so around January I start to really look at the programming for the next year. In between we have a lot of meetings about, you know, web design and art design and public relations and development, but in general I'd say those are my three main roles. Operations, budget and fundraising, and programming.

Do you decide who coordinates the more specific jobs in the festival? Like marketing, volunteers, ticketing and such?

Yeah, we do. I mean, Paula and I are basically the supervisors and we'll hire; or, you know, a lot of it's still volunteer work, unfortunately, but it's still really important, who has those roles. They work really hard. A lot of the people who volunteer for the larger positions are really looking for professional development on top of volunteerism, so we weigh that into account. Typically, one of the first things we do after the festival is have a follow-up meeting with all of our big core volunteers. You know, it's still new, so we talk about how to streamline things or how to fix them and talk about whether or not they're interested in doing it next year. We really try to retain the staff we've had in previous years.

A lot of our volunteers are actually students, so we try to give them jobs--if they're film students, or PR students, or whatever they happen to be--we try to give them jobs that will help them grow. We try to give everyone a job they're passionate about.

I know that the festival was quite a bit bigger this year than it has been the past two years--is that coming from a difference in the budget?

No, in fact the budget has stayed the same--it actually was probably a bit tighter this year. We're a very scrappy festival. Quite frankly, our budget is minuscule compared with your average festival our size, thus all the volunteerism, but it kind of works. We're more academically focused behind the scenes--not that the community would notice--but behind the scenes, a lot of the positions were internships and learning opportunities, so that helps a lot. But a lot of it has been word of mouth. I think year three is kind of the year where, if you've met the community's needs and the industry's needs correctly, you typically do grow quite a bit. This year, we had a lot of new attendees--people who don't go to films a lot. We work very hard in our outreach to try to attract a diverse audience. We spend a lot of energy trying to get all kinds of people to come see these films because we truly want this to be a community event. I think we're on to something. Every year, I'm more and more convinced that we need this type of festival, not only in our community, but in our film industry too.

Its' very obvious, if you look at the content of this year's festival, that you were focusing on pulling in all kinds of people--to create a very broad audience. Films like The Last Truck and The Aviatrix of Kazbek and Growing Up Female...and then, of course, there's the youth program as well.

It's funny. I didn't realize how...different that made us compared to most women's festivals. It's a dilemma, I think, whenever you represent something like this. They'll ask, "are you about women's issues?" They think, "you're a women's festival, thus every film is about women's issues." OR, is it simply that you want to highlight women filmmakers? Most women's festivals, the films are simply about women's issues.

Our festival is actually completely opposite of that. I mean, one of the reasons it's that way is because our students, our film students, they're not necessarily interested in just making women's issues films, and it angers them that people assume that. They want the freedom to make any kind of film, and we want women to have doors opened in any kind of genre. We're trying to support women in all different genres, especially the ones that are kind of tough to break into. It would be incredibly easy for us to simply have a documentary/experimental media film festival, because that's where most women are working, but we try really hard, especially, to get quality narratives made by women. You know, we simply want to support women making movies, whatever those movies are.

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Cozette Lehman

2010-11-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

It's simple. Cozette Lehman: code for CJFF jack
of all trades with ideas coming out of her ears.

What has been your job for Citizen Jane? You gave the festival a "face," but you do much more...

Technically, I was CJFF's graphic designer,
responsible for reinterpreting the festival's
existing design concept (created by Tiny Circus) into myriad materials (festival program, ads, poster, etc.). I had the general idea of what I'd be producing when I accepted the gig, but there's always "the little extras" that come up too. I have copy editing and writing experience, so I also helped edit a lot of the materials when I could. And after bouncing a bunch of ideas back and forth with Paula [Elias, CJFF co-director] late one night while working on the program, I suggested the name "Jump, Jive & Jane" for the Friday night entertainment. I'm always thinking about projects as I'm designing for them, so I try to bring ideas with my designs.

I knew there would be times I would feel overwhelmed or sacrifice a little too much sleep, but that's the life/profession I chose. In the thick of things, I may be cursing the deadlines and lamenting my stress level, but I really do love what I do. I feel lucky that I love the line of work I'm in. So many people don't have that luxury, and I try not to take it for granted. It's icing on the cake that others like what I do enough to include me in something like Citizen Jane.

What has the experience of designing for a women's film festival been like?

When Paula approached me to work with the festival, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I happily accepted because I love what the festival represents--empowering women, supporting women, collaboration...(feminism, what a concept!). It's one thing to say you're a women's film festival, but it's another to make it a reality. The people at CJFF really do embody what the festival is all about, and it's incredibly fulfilling for a creative person (or anyone, really) to work in that kind of environment.

How long have you been involved in the festival?

I worked for the Missouri Theatre, the venue for the opening night film Trouble the Water, in 2008, and did a little bit of last minute design work for the 2009 festival, but I definitely wasn't involved to the extent I was for 2010.

In your opinion, how has the festival grown in terms of identity?

Overall, I think (and hope) that the public's understanding of the "f" word (feminism) or what it means to be a "festival for women in film" has grown. CJFF isn't about a bunch of women getting together to bash men or talk about their periods. It's about showcasing the work of talented women in an industry where women's contributions have historically been ignored, overlooked, or viewed as inferior to their male counterparts'. The films at CJFF aren't just some of the best films being made by women today. They're some of today's best films. As CJFF grows each year, the dialogue grows. More people start to see that if you just give us a chance, women can do some amazing things.

What was the most challenging thing about designing for this year's festival?

The most challenging thing about designing for CJFF 2010 was saying no. It's hard to say no when you know people genuinely appreciate what you're doing, and they're all giving 110%, missing sleep, missing time with their kids and so on. Plus, with a community like CJFF, what each person contributes really matters. Every last minute invitation or special event poster could be the impetus for someone new checking out a film or an event. That person might tell someone else who comes next year. They might bring a friend who's inspired to make her own film... It's [designing for a cause like CJFF] a lot of pressure when you think about it, but it's good pressure. Only positive things can come from the kind of work CJFF is doing. I truly believe that.

Women in Film Update

2010-11-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

"The Rule" done by cartoonist Alison Bechdel is the creation of Bechdel test. Sadly even 23 years after the fact several movies don't pass this test. Next time you are at a movie you should see if it passes the Bechdel test and sice several women's centered films have come out or will be coming out soon this could be an interesting challenge. Good movie watching.

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Chad Freidrichs

2010-11-20T19:16:00.001-08:00

Citizen Jane featured some very unique shorts programs this year, including "The Secret Life of Girls: CJFF Youth Media Program," and "Portraits: Short Films That Say a Thousand Words." I sat down and spoke with Chad Freidrichs, tech-man extraordinaire and compiler of this year's programs. It turns out that creating a cohesive series of shorts that moves with ease isn't easy at all.

What is it that you do for Citizen Jane?

Well, what I did for this year was compile the shorts programs. What we do is get a bunch of short films either sent in on DVD or via the FTP server, so my job is to basically take those files and then conform them to a standard file format, cut them up into a timeline file cut, assemble them, and make sure all the audio and video levels are consistent, and then help put them into a proper tape format.

I was going to ask you to describe that process, because I know there's so much that has to be done to make it look the way it does.

Well, I can tell you what can go wrong! We did encounter a couple projects that, number one, were late, but then also had technical issues with them. The most common technical problem that exists is that audio levels will be mixed at varying degrees between movies, and so one movie will be very, very loud--it's almost like you're watching a TV show, when the commercials get really loud all of a sudden--you even get that in theaters sometimes, when a film will have very quiet scenes, and then will get very loud very quickly. Then, of course, you get movies that are loud all the time, so finding that happy medium between films is usually the biggest challenge, you do have to listen to it and work it out.
The other thing that can go wrong is that you can get submissions sent in that were made in a file format that you've never seen before, that your computer won't even read. We had one sent in like that. Luckily, the filmmaker had a DVD copy with her as well, which is kind of an inferior format, our sort of last resort, but it worked, and so literally the day before the festival we ripped it off the DVD. The problem was, the DVD audio was messed up, so we had to take the audio from the file with the messed up video and match that to the file from the DVD. They didn't quite sync up properly, though, and the audio was playing at different frame rates. The film started out well, but by the end, words weren't matching the characters' mouths. I ended up having to do a .03% speed up on the audio to get it to match the exact length of the video; there are always these last minute things.

I know that you try to leave yourself enough time for the last-minute stuff before the festival, but how long does it usually take to prepare and compile the programs?

Truthfully, I think that if I had a continuous block of time, I could do this in five or six hours. It's relatively easy. The problem is that we're getting files in at different times, and there will always be a couple out outliers at the last second, so you try to prepare as much as you can beforehand. But last minute stuff, this time it ended up costing me about six or seven hours just dealing with those couple of files that had problems, in addition to the prep work that went on beforehand. I've dealt with so many files, though, and seen so many different formats that when I get something different, it's easier to not panic and just handle it. It usually works out.

Have you been the tech-man for Citizen Jane all three years?

Pretty much. In previous years, though--I didn't do it this year--I was a projectionist. I would screen the films and be there to assist whoever was setting up the decks. And then I've always compiled the shorts programs. Every year, we say that we're going to get this done ahead of time, but filmmakers, you know, they can be flaky at times. Those few outliers who don't get their films in until shortly before the festival hold up the show for everyone else. The thing is, you play it on your computer, and it plays just fine, but when you send it off to a festival, the thing you have to keep in mind is that they're looking for a relatively standardized format. So, when you send something out that they may not have, they can't read it.
But, you know, I'm sure I've had people cursing me and my own submissions at times. Earlier in my career, I'm sure I was sending out crazy files, ones nobody could read. So, with experience, you try to make it easier on people.

Did you enjoy the films?

Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting, especially with shorts programs, because you're always going to get a wild bunch, especially with Citizen Jane. We had such a diverse set of programming, and that's what's great about shorts programs.

Women in Film Update

2010-11-18T18:33:00.001-08:00

Well, the Cinematic Woman episode finished up about half an hour ago and it was a great episode. The discussions were insightful. Jennifer Erickson brought up an interesting article from New York magazine about the top ten sexist jobs. If you missed the episode don't worry it will be online soon. Until then join in on the discussion of women in film by commenting on this blog, the facebook page or look up MYFEMTV on facebook or email myfemtv@gmail.com. Keep the conversation going.

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Leah Cheaney

2010-11-18T18:31:00.000-08:00

One of the most unique aspects of the Citizen Jane Film Festival is its youth media program, which features short films by young, extremely talented women. I was lucky enough to talk with its director, Leah Cheaney.

So, what exactly is the youth media program, and what prompted you to create it?

The youth media program selects and highlights films made by women 18 and under. A selection of about 20 short films was shown during the festival; several of these young filmmakers were in attendance to answer questions after the screening. My screening team (Camellia Cosgrove and Lanie Overton) and I chose films that showcased a variety of genres and skill levels. I did not create the youth program, I just directed it this year. I believe it was the brainchild of Polina Malikin, Stephens professor and artist extraordinaire. Last year Neely Current directed the program. Neely had done a lot of research that made programming for this year much easier than it would have been otherwise.

How excited are these young filmmakers to be included in the festival?

Our visiting filmmakers were very excited, even though they had shown their work at other festivals as well. I hope that all of the young women who had their work shown are excited and encouraged by their inclusion. We want them to know that there are people interested in their stories, creativity and work. One thing that makes programming this portion of the festival challenging is that a lot of young women don't know about film festivals and the submissions process, so we really had to do a lot of searching online for films.

What kind of response and feedback have you gotten from audiences about this?

A few visiting directors that had films screened during Citizen Jane talked to me after the program and said they were excited to see young women making such inspiring and thoughtful films. I talked to a mother that was in attendance with her 12 year old daughter and she said that her daughter is going to submit films for next year's fest. Knowing that we have young, local girls that are planning to submit next year is the best kind of response I could ask for.

How does the submission process work? I'm assuming it's a little different than the rest of the festival.

As I mentioned before, we found most of our films online and asked the filmmakers if we could show their work at the festival. We search for sites that host work made by young people all over the world. We did receive some submissions, but getting work into festivals is not a priority for most young people. The youth media program submissions process is a bit different. There was no fee to submit and young filmmakers did not to use the Withoutabox program that other filmmakers used to submit.

What opportunities exist for young people who may not have access to the resources needed to begin filmmaking?

Almost anyone can make a video now, with their phones, digital cameras, etc. Granted, this opportunity is not easily accessed by those from low-income households, but many organizations are making it possible (check out http://www.theoneminutesjr.org/ and http://www.reelgirls.org/). These types of organizations are popping up all over the country and they help get cameras in the hands of young people. They are typically in larger cities, but more and more schools are adding film programs as well.

What has been your favorite moment in working with the youth of the program?

Can I make that plural? My favorite moments were meeting and spending time with visiting filmmakers Hannah Ezzel and Chara Kli and meeting the local siblings that made one of my favorite short films, "Hamburgirls."

Women in Film Update

2010-11-18T04:56:00.001-08:00

Hi Citizen Janers! Tonight on CAT Channel 85, your local cable access station, MYFEMTV will be doing their "Cinematic Woman" episode. It will start airing at 6:30 so tune in and hear some behind the scenes insight from our very own Keri Yost and Jen Erickson among other guests.
For those of you who don't know MYFEMTV is a television show dedicated to women. It is for women(men can watch too) by women about women. The goal of MYFEMTV is to increase dialogue about issues relating or pertaining to women. So check it out tonight at 6:30 and if you happen to miss the show it will be up online at a later point in time.

Women in Film Update

2010-11-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

"We are such stuff as dreams are made of and our little life is rounded with a sleep." The Tempest is my favorite Shakespeare plays and I am so excited for this to to theaters in mid-December.Directed by Julie Taymor, starring Helen Mirren and has Alfred Molina I personally think that these people alone will make the film phenomenal! I am really interested to see how/ if anything is changed now that Prospero is Prospera. Changing the gender of the lead character for such a famous piece may cause backlash and I will be keeping my eyes open to see how critics and audiences will react.

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Ginny Muller

2010-11-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, welcome to "Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane," where we get a closer look at the faces that made up the backbone of the 2010 Citizen Jane Film Festival.

Someone had to be in charge of all the people in CJFF Volunteer T-shirts buzzing around the festival all weekend, so this post features Ginny Muller, who told me all about all about it.

So, what exactly is it you do for Citizen Jane?

I work with Linda Reeder as the co-coordinator of volunteers. Basically what we do is find people to fill the various positions throughout the festival, make sure they have the support they need to do their jobs, schedule shifts when necessary, and try to troubleshoot any problems that come up along the way. We try to find the right fit for people when it comes to the jobs they'll be doing for the festival, and we draw on our personal contacts, all very talented people, to get the jobs done that require more commitment and skill than just taking tickets at a venue.

How was the experience of heading the volunteer effort with Linda Reeder?

It's always a good time working with Linda. We've worked together for years now, initially on T/F. We complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. Together we make a pretty good team, and we remind each other not to take anything too seriously.

How did this year's volunteer force compare with last year's? How reliant is the success of the festival on volunteers?

The festival absolutely depends on volunteers--they are the engine of the fest. Without them, the fest simply could not happen. This was my first year working on CJFF, so I can't really compare it to past years. I will say that based on my experience going to the festival the previous two years, this year seemed bigger and like there was more energy involved. That could just be because I was so involved this year, though.

Continuing on that wave, how do you feel this year's festival went? What kind of feedback have you received?

I think this year's festival was great! I've heard wonderful feedback from people who attended and from people who worked this year. The films were good, the audiences were large and enthusiastic, and the parties were awesome.

To keep Citizen Jane growing, what needs to happen?

I think the energy needs to stay high, and the best way to do that is to get more people involved.

Just curious, what was your favorite film?

I like Monica and David quite a bit, but I didn't really see many of the films. It's hard for me to sit still and relax during the festival.

Folks Behind the Films: Deborah Stratman

2010-11-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

Name Deborah Stratman
Age 43
Hometown Chicago
Current Location still Chicago
Favorite Color chartreuse
Favorite Food tomatoes

When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

an astronaut

Please tell us a bit about the following:

Your first project:

My first film was called “My Alchemy”. Coincidentally, it was mostly shot on a farm in rural Missouri near a town named Bland (I guess by a bored founding resident). The film features weeds, cows, pond slime a dirt road and a fake gold fish.

Your favorite project:
The FEAR project.
To participate, just call 1 800 585 1078

Your most recent project:
A sonic installation called “Tactical Uses of a Belief in the Unseen”

What is your creative process like?

I like to skip between mediums.
And I tend to be reactionary... meaning I’ll use a technique that differs as much as possible from the previous project.
Like if I shoot a film largely with a tripod, employing long shots, then the next film will be handheld, with much shorter shots, and then I’ll do a sculpture, and then a writing collaboration, then some drawings... etc.

What do you feel was the biggest turning point in your life as a filmmaker?

When a 16mm bolex was put in my hands.

How do you feel you have changed since you started?

My work is less erratic now, which is both good and bad.

What advice would you give to young women going in to this field?

Be stubborn, be flexible, do it because you love it.

For more of Deborah's work, please check out www.pythagorasfilm.com

Folks Behind the Films: Hannah Robbins

2010-11-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

Name Hannah Robbins

Age 23

Hometown Columbia, MO

Current Location Kirksville, MO

Favorite Color Red

Favorite Food any of the curries

When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

As a quiet kid, outdoor theater helped me find a voice and break through some barriers. For a while after, I wanted to be an actor.

Please tell us a bit about the following:

Your first project:

My first film was a two minute animated documentary about the concept of home. No Place Like Home starred people from all walks of life, from the very wealthy to the homeless, as well as Hurricane Katrina victims. The True/False Film Festival offered an animated documentary workshop to people and even gave out some scholarships to some youth to partake. They brought in professional artists to teach filmmaking. This opportunity would change the course of my life. With the gentle patient teaching and combination of music, photography and voice, I practically fell in love with the medium and my new baby, a short film, was born.

Your favorite project:

My favorite project is Will, a short documentary about a homeless youth. By the fourth year of film school, most students can confidently approach a subject and not get bogged down by learning editing programs and equipment.

Homelessness is a topic I had always had a heart for and I felt technically ready to approach the subject. It was fun to experiment with archival footage and art direction.

Something that kept me motivated was the intention behind the film, to show how a person can get to this point, as well as faith.

Your most recent project:

My most recent film was Will.

What is your creative process like?

The creative process can be dated back to the animation workshop, which interviewed only sound from people, no camera. We were then supposed to animate it on top of the voice. Ideally, I now prefer to interview people with just voice. Then from the voice over, figure out what to put for visuals, and then have the interviewee in different shots. I have found better results interviewing just voice versus camera and lights, people to tend to squirm and feel uncomfortable, as expected.

How do you feel you have changed since you started?

As anything, the beginning was shaky, wobbly, timid and uneducated. But with experience comes wisdom, and the more you shoot and edit, the more technically sound you will become and there will be less “surprises.”

This past summer, I worked at a camp as a videographer and editor, and it kicked my butt. I had to learn real quick how to get in, shoot and get out, as well as quickly and efficiently edit.

What advice would you give to young women going in to this field?

Edit! Practice! The more you work with the software and camera, the more comfortable you will be. Also, don’t be afraid to approach a subject you feel passionately for, however, make sure you are ready technically. Reach out to organizations or people that are interested in the same subject, they are and may have resources.

At the end of the day, it is your sweat and blood, and if you really like something but viewers hate it, go ahead, keep it in, if you feel most comfortable and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Links:

http://willthefilm.yolasite.com/

http://www.thesmalls.com/members/the-smalls/films/will-by-hannah-robbins.go

http://www.thesmalls.com/hd/shortfilmfest2010/will_by_hannah_robbins.html

http://www.thesmalls.com/meet-the-2010-runners-up-hannah-robbi

Women in Film Update

2010-11-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Forbes’ List of the Top Female Hollywood Earners

Thought this was an interesting post and had to share it with the rest of you.

Women in Film Update

2010-11-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Film lovers. At our local theaters there are several films already showing and coming soon that are either women's centered, written,directed, or produced by women and combinations there of. Below are the listings of these films and ones that will be coming to theaters in the next few months. Be on the look out for enjoyable films to fit all tastes.

Women Centric Films Currently Playing at a theater near you:
For Colored Girls- based on the play by Ntozake Shange
Conviction- Written by Pamela Gray
Secretariat
Life as We Know It- written by Kristin Rusk Robinson
Morning Glory- written by Aline Brosh McKenna

Coming Attractions:
Fair Game- Nov. 24 (Ragtag)
Tangled- Nov. 24
Burlesque- Nov. 24
Black Swan- Dec. 1
The Tempest- Directed by Julie Taymor Dec. 10
Country Strong- Written/directed by Shana Feste Dec. 22

Coming to Ragtag
In their Forbidden Hollywood Series they will be playing Baby Face made in 1933 and co-written by Kathryn Scola and Gene Markey. Also coming is She Done Him Wrong (1933) with writing credits going to Mae West along with Harvey F. Thew and John Bright.

Be on the look out for more film information.

Folks Behind the Films: Steph Foley

2010-11-09T15:50:00.001-08:00

Name Steph Foley

Age 42

Hometown Kansas City, Mo

Current Location Columbia, Mo

Favorite Color Blue

Favorite Food omnivore

When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
Documentary filmmaker, artist, musician

Please tell us a bit about the following:

Your first project:
My first project was a short film about living in NYC. It was just random footage that I shot and then edited. I discovered how much fun it was to make a little film.

Your favorite project:
Hard Luck Story: an homage to growing up. I took my old family super 8 movies and made a sort of music video out of them. You can watch it here: www.vulvettejackson.com

Your most recent project:
Working on a public access tv show starring my dogs. One is a miniature long-haired dachshund and the other is a miniature poodle. They are going to solve crimes and sing songs. I will probably use live action shots of the dogs, animation, and puppets. I am a musician, and a lot of my friends are too, so I am going to ask people to collaborate on the soundtrack.

What is your creative process like?
I get an idea from somewhere in the universe and I dive in. A lot of time I use found footage, so I just start bringing in the raw footage and placing it in some kind of order. Sometimes I just place the clips randomly and try to find the narrative. I like to play around a lot and explore color, image, and the quirks of random placement. Then adding music and sound adds another layer of fun for me.

Watch what you watch 60s PSA.mov

2010-11-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

While poking around the internet I found this PSA sponsored by the Girls Scouts of the USA. It has an awesome message not just for young girls, but for all people. I am a big advocate for media literacy. We all need to pay attention to how women and girls are being portrayed in all forms of media and I think this announcement helps to bring that idea to light.

Folks Behind the Films: Jennifer Arnold

2010-11-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Name: Jennifer Arnold

Age: Feeling pretty damn old

Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

Favorite Color: This is like the fifth time a film fest blog wants to know my favorite color. What’s up with that? Blue I think.

Favorite Food: Chocolate. Sometimes the Cochinita Pibil tacos at Yucca’s, but mostly chocolate.

When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
At the age of 8, after a stellar career doing backyard magic shows, I decided become a filmmaker. That’s what my mom says anyway.

Please tell us a bit about the following:

Your first project: Maid of Honor (not the Patrick Dempsey one). You can still find it on DVD though – so check it out.

Your favorite project:
My favorite project is usually the one I just finished, so right now it is A SMALL ACT.

Your most recent project:
A SMALL ACT

What is your creative process like?
It involves a lot of note cards.

What do you feel was the biggest turning point in your life as a filmmaker?
My first time getting into Sundance – it was a thrill.

How do you feel you have changed since you started?
My rate went up.

What advice would you give to young women going in to this field?
Never give up. Just keep going. And don’t act privileged, the business is hard – for everyone.

Is there anything else you would like to share?
I’m very, very happy to have the support I have from other women filmmakers. And from other filmmakers in general. It means a lot to me.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER SITES FOR JENNIFER ARNOLD:

www.asmallact.com

www.facebook.com/asmallact

www.networkforgood.org/asmallact

http://www.movieberry.com/american_mullet/

Folks Behind the Films: Olivia Wyatt

2010-11-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Olivia Wyatt, director of Staring Into the Sun, visited our Stephens College Experimental Media class October 27th 2010 after her showing at Ragtag Cinema the previous evening. Here is a collection of interviews with her about the making of her film, and a little bit more.

Here's a trailer for her film below

Staring into the Sun from olivia wyatt on Vimeo.

PART ONE

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

PART 8

PART 9

Women in Film Update

2010-11-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the nominees for the Cinema Eye Honors in Nonfiction Film making were announced at an event held during the Sheffield Doc/Fest in the U.K. Why is this important? Cinema Eye Honors recognize “exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film” (About/ F.A.Q. section of the website)and 70% of the films nominated had a female working with either direction, production or editing. 50% of the nominees for the Audience Choice Prize were films done by female filmmakers. And all 12 categories had nominees that were produced, directed or edited by women. These statistics are an exciting step for women in film.
Now for some informational highlights on a few of the nominees. One of the nominees for Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature Film was Into Eternity which was produced by Lise Lense-Moller (Burma VJ). Another nominated film is 12th & Delaware was directed and produced by the same women who did the Academy Award nominated documentary Jesus Camp. One of the films nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Film is The Oath (Laura Poitras) which is the second installment of a trilogy that started with the 2006 Academy Award Nominated film My Country, My Country. For more films or information about Cinema Eye please go check out their website: www.cinemaeyehonors.com.

Women in Film Update

2010-11-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Citizen Jane supporters. I will be starting a "Women in Film Update" here on the CJ blog. Even though CJFF 2010 is over our support for women in film should keep going strong. In these updates I will be letting you know what is going on around town and in the media with women and film.

The first update I have involves one of CJ's supporters, Ragtag! On Nov. 7 (this coming Sunday) at 8pm they are doing "A special must-see secret screening fundraiser!" This is part of their Employee of the Month series. This month Uprise Bakery employee Jordan Leinen is employee of the month and has picked the film "directed by the most gifted young director working in Hollywood." The proceeds received from this film all go to Ragtag's video projector fund. Come out a little before 8pm on Sunday and support a group that supports CJ!

http://www.ragtagfilm.com/series.php?id=18

Closing Night Film: Winter's Bone

2010-10-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Often mentioned as an Oscar contender, this rich and complex film directed by Debra Granick and co-produced by Kathryn Dean, with a script by Anne Rosselini is the perfect Closing Night film for Citizen Jane 2010. It is the story of seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) as she sets out to track down her father through a dangerous web of meth dealers in order to save the family home from seizure after her father put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her younger sister and brother will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin's code of silence and risking her life, Ree relentlessly hacks through the lies, evasions and threats from her relatives and begins to piece together the truth. Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell.

Join us in celebrating this film and our own Missouri culture at Windsor Auditorium at 5:15 on October 17th. This is your last chance to see this gem on the big screen. Followed by an in-depth discussion on the making of the film with local stars of the film, the producer and musicians from the film.

Passes on Sale Until September 28th!

2010-09-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

CJFF 2010 Opening Night Film Announced

2010-09-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Citizen Jane Film Festival 2010 Opening Film is "Tiny Furniture", written and directed by 23-year old Lena Dunham and showing Friday night, October 15th at the Missouri Theater. Passes on sale at www.citizenjanefilm or at the Box Office at RagTag.

Create, Liberate, Aggregate . . . CJFF2010 is coming!!!

2010-09-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

It’s the time of year when the humidity starts to ebb, the leaves are beginning to fall, and for those of us behind the scenes at Citizen Jane it is also the time of working frantically on the festival programming as we near the unveiling of this year’s festival schedule of films and events. Honestly, I should be crazy by now because everyone who works in film festival land knows what this time is like trying to frantically meet deadlines and making sure the work we’ve been doing all year becomes a reality finally. But I’m not crazy, although a little sleep deprived. No, I’m giddy with joy actually. Why? Because Christine Vachon is coming to town!!! Yes, that’s right, veteran producer and co-founder of Killer Films, one of the creators of the independent film industry itself, and just plain smarty-pants businesswoman who has the ability to make films that really no one else could, or would, get made . . . this Christine Vachon. If her name isn’t familiar to you, that’s probably because we don’t seem to highlight the producers of films but instead directors. But you probably know her films. Her earlier arthouse films of the 1990s included such indie landmarks as SWOON (Tom Kalin), GO FISH (Rose Troche), KIDS (Larry Clark), SAFE (Todd Haynes) and I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (Mary Harron). The success of those films moved her and her company Killer Films into bigger budget projects. Yet somehow Vachon managed to retain the edginess and controversy that made her earlier work so influential while still keeping the films independently financed. By the late 1990s even people outside of the indie film scene took notice with the emergence of bigger hits that also became box office contenders such as HAPPINESS (Todd Solondz), THE VELVET GOLDMINE (Todd Haynes) and the Oscar-winning BOYS DON'T CRY (directed by Kimberly Pierce and featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Hilary Swank). In the past few years, she has continued to produce films that have a distinct point of view while reaching even wider audiences with such projects as ONE HOUR PHOTO (Mark Romanek), FAR FROM HEAVEN (Todd Haynes), A DIRTY SHAME (John Waters), and I’M NOT THERE (also Todd Haynes).

I’m much like many other filmmakers who have been inspired by Christine Vachon and the films she’s produced. Vachon was one of the first people to make films that really affected me, made me think, and always surprised me. Did I mention that I grew up in small towns in Kansas and Missouri? And in the late 80s and early 90s, before the land of Netflix and the Internet, the only way you would even learn about these films was to be lucky enough to live by an arthouse theatre and stumble in one day to a Killer Film and walk out a different person. So when I was old enough to get myself to one of these theatres, I saw films with complex characters and unique visions, and even though the topics and characters were unlike anything I’d seen before, somehow I could relate to these characters more than what was in the big multiplexes at the time. And I’m one of many hundreds of thousands of people that was inspired to pick up a camera and work in film because of what Vachon and Killer Films was doing in those early years of independent film. Since then she has been able to make films within the larger studio system while still retaining the creative control of the director—no easy feat these days when budgets have ballooned and marketing tends to rule all!

So naturally every year we send a pleading invitation to Christine Vachon, knowing how busy she is and how far away we are, and cross our fingers that this will be the year. We’re not the biggest film festival nor is our budget as big as our dreams, so these invitations get sent with high hopes but realistic expectations. And this year, much like her films, she surprised me! She’s coming to kick our festival off on Friday and share her years of knowledge in a unique workshop called “Create, Liberate, Aggregate!!”. No filmmaker in the area should miss this, and I’m sure it would appeal to anyone who is interested in the behind the scenes of filmmaking or new media in general. The workshop focuses on the changing independent film landscape while drawing in large part on her past experiences. You’ll learn about emerging models of distribution, the challenges of finding financing, the growing importance of social media and crowdsourcing as well as the new influence and opportunities available on TV. It’s a very current discussion for our ever-changing industry. And if you’ve ever read her best-selling books Shooting to Kill or A Killer Life, you know she’s a frank talker and shares all of her experiences, both good and bad, that she’s gained over many years of making movies.

So come kick off the festival with us Friday, October 15^th at 11am at Stephens College and listen to one of the pioneers of independent film that always seems to be reconstructing the reality of our film industry. I can’t think of a better person to start the weekend with and start our alternative world of films and art where female made films are celebrated, where stereotypes are shattered, and where we have the power to make media that matters now more than ever.

CJFF 2010 SEASON KICK OFF!

2010-08-12T19:40:00.001-07:00

"We are celebrating a generation of makers. We are reshaping how people consume and interpret the handmade. Handmade Nation attempts to capture what is happening in this amazing community.

Our community is just beginning to grow into our roles of knitter, book binder, shoemaker, painter, seamstress, potter, etc. We appreciate the generations of makers who came before us and from whom we draw inspiration and support. In turn we are setting the groundwork for future generations, leading by example and showing the creative paths you can take."

Faythe Levine

Handmade Nation

It is so fitting that Citizen Jane has chosen the film Handmade Nation and it's filmmaker, Faythe Levine to help us kick off our 2010 season (Micaela O'Herlihy, one of our filmmakers from 2008 was the cinematographer). Our theme this year is Reconstructing Reality and whether we do this with our hands, our minds or our communities, it is at the very core of what the festival is all about...recreating the way we see each other, recreating what we believe we are capable of, recreating our future.
On Wednesday, September 8th at 5:15, come recreate with us at Ragtag as we show the film Handmade Nation, an inspiring doc about the rise of DIY, art, craft and design, talk with filmmaker Faythe Levine and spend a couple of hours sitting on the patio after the film doing some art/craft/DIY projects of our own. Join us and be the first to hear this year's film line-up and the first to get a crack at an Insane Jane or Plain Jane film pass with all the benefits that entails including first choice of this year's films.

Winter's Bone opens at Ragtag this weekend!!

2010-07-01T11:33:00.001-07:00

For those of you who follow the film buzz, it's no surprise that the Sundance winner Winter's Bone is now coming to a theatre near you. But don't think that premiering at a top festival like Sundance and even winning the big award equals an automatic theatrical release, because it rarely does. And no one probably knows this better than the director of Winter's Bone Debra Granik herself. Six years ago her first feature film Down to the Bone had the identical premiere experience (Sundance, winning top awards, critical acclaim) yet it was also chosen as one of the "best undistributed films of the year" by Indiewire in 2006. This is an honor in many ways, because so many brilliant films like Down to the Bone appear on this list every year. But I can't tell you how disappointed I was that the film I saw at a festival would never be playing anywhere near my hometown. I still remember Vera Farmiga in that film, and it's to this day her best role yet. So it's very nice to see the much deserving Winter's Bone defy the odds for indie filmmaking and reach a wider audience.

Now what would be even better for Granik's much-deserved success? That we go to the theatres and see this film on a big screen, in a dark room, and be taken on the odyssey through the Ozarks that Granik and her team have so carefully constructed for us. I reviewed this film as a guest writer on the Women in Hollywood blog after seeing it at Sundance, so I won't go into the details here and it's been well-reviewed by better film critics than myself in the past months. But know that your ticket matters. That supporting filmmakers and their films in the theatres is the only way to assure that they get to make films in the future. Know that too few talented filmmakers get this opportunity that they so deserve, and be aware that a world without these filmmakers is a world of sequels, comic book heroes, and nostalgic 80s remakes. If you believe film is an art, then please go support this work of art by seeing Winter's Bone at your local arthouse theatre. My own Ragtag Cinema starts screening Winter's Bone tomorrow for those of you in the Columbia, Missouri area. We're usually behind, so the chances are good you already have it somewhere on the coast.

And why does this matter? Because too few female filmmakers ever get a real budget to make their movies. Future budgets are usually determined by past ticket sales. And as much as the film festivals and series can highlight these gems that deserve larger audiences, the reality is that a filmmaker's true goal is to get their films in theatres. And what better way to spend a hot summer day than watching the frigid Missouri landscape in wintertime?

A Broken Record, So Let's Throw the Player Away

2010-06-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like the topic of women in film is a broken record. Just when we think women are finally being represented and gaining leadership in the film industry--WHAM, the needle goes back to the beginning of the record. I have to say it's been a little disheartening at times. The statistics show that we're not much better off than we were decades ago, particularly in technical and leadership areas of filmmaking. For instance, there are 2% less female directors this year than there were last year, and this is the same statistic as the number of directors in 1987!!! (according to the most recent Celluloid Ceiling report). But it seems like this year has so far been a roller coaster year for women in film. It started with a bang, with Kathryn Bigelow being the very first woman to win a Best Director Oscar (and she's only the fourth to ever be nominated in history!). This was a substantial gain because for once in a very long time, the spotlight was on the issue of women in film. Film is a funny medium. We get the impression, from outside of Hollywood, that the film world is a progressive, liberal agent of change compared to the rest of the U.S. and perhaps the world. But really it's a culture very slow to change. I mean, vvverrry sllloowwww. And keep in mind I live in the midwest, which isn't exactly a hotbed of change but I would say my very own community is actually more progressive than Hollywood really is. For instance, if you compare the statistics of women in film to other professions (which I have done based on the U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau reports), then you see that there are more clergy, farmers, software engineers, CEOs, taxi drivers, industrial engineers, and police officers than there are female filmmakers. So when Bigelow was even nominated for an Oscar the mainstream media started writing about this irony (and of course, how can you resist when she was in the running with her ex-husband, a.k.a. king of the world himself James Cameron?).

But then came Cannes. The biggest film festival in the world. And not one female director was in competition for the Palme d'Or. It's as though they didn't exist this year. Oh sure, they screened films made by women at the fest, they just were out of the major competition. And I have to wonder if they didn't add some because of the backlash after they announced their competition line-up. Honestly, the negative publicity really in some ways made me smile. At least it didn't go unnoticed. If anything, as usual, it forced us to become more organized. To work together and form coalitions and combat this stupidity. And I think we all know it's not necessarily the festivals that are at fault. The problem is that there aren't enough women making films in the first place. But still, there are some out there and shame on you Cannes.

Like I said, it's a roller coaster year, and it's important to remind ourselves of two big wins this year. Maybe not as big as Oscars or Palme d'Ors but I hope a sign that things are changing. First, there was director/actress Lena Dunhams's sweep of the SXSW film festival in March with her feature debut Tiny Furniture winning Best Narrative Feature and Emergent Narrative Women Director Award (given by the ever so supportive Chicken & Egg). And then later at the Tribeca Film Festival, Austrian director Feo Aladag won Best Narrative Feature for her film When We Leave. Aladag, herself an actress, achieved this accomplishment with her directorial debut as well.

All year long I've been impressed by the young women, many of them actresses turned directors, who create the films they want to be in. It's killing two birds with one stone. They are shattering the stereotypes of women on screen by writing complex, interesting, and surprising female characters we see too rarely on film. And they are hopefully chipping away at the Celluloid Ceiling. Now let's fix the damn record player once and for all!! Or wait, who needs a record player these days?

Citizen Jane Lecture Series

2010-04-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

We were so honored to host filmmaker Gemma Cubero this month for the Citizen Jane Lecture Series and to see her beautiful film Ella Es el Matador.
I highly recommend seeing this film, regardless of how you feel about bullfighting, if only for the incredible footage of the female matadors. Their grace and power is such a lovely combination of the traditionally strong image we have of males and the traditionally beautiful image we have of females that it created an entirely new idea in my head for what we as women can be. The film was created with such sensitivity and poetry that it will stick with you long after the film is over.
Go to www.talcualfilms.com and get a copy of your own to watch and share with friends knowing that you are supporting a truly amazing filmmaker in the process.
Gemma visited several of the film classes at Stephens and met with many of us during her visit, spreading inspiration everywhere she went. Insightful, generous and courageous, she is exactly the kind of filmmaker we so love to host!
We hope to see you again soon Gemma!

Mark Your Calendars!

2010-04-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN JANE LECTURE SERIES:

Ella Es El Matador with Director Gemma Cubero del Barrio

April 22, 2010, 7:30pm to 9pm –
Windsor Auditorium, Stephens College

Join us in screening the award winning documentary, Ella Es El Matador by Director Gemma Cubero del Barrio.
For Spaniards — and for the world — nothing has expressed their country's traditionally rigid gender roles more powerfully than the image of the male matador. So sacred was the bullfighter's masculinity to Spanish identity that a 1908 law barred women from the sport.
Ella Es el Matador reveals the surprising history of the women who made such a law necessary and offers fascinating profiles of two female matadors currently in the arena: the acclaimed Mari Paz Vega and neophyte Eva Florencia. These women are gender pioneers by necessity. But what emerges as their truest motivation is their sheer passion — for bullfighting and the pursuit of a dream (film description courtesy of POV).
Join us on Thursday, April 22 at Windsor Auditorium for a showing of the film and a discussion with Spanish filmmaker Gemma Cubero del Barrio.
Free and open to the public.
Organized by Citizen Jane Lecture Series, Citizen Jane Film Festival, Film & Media Department, Stephens College.

Best Director Academy Award Goes to Kathryn Bigelow

2010-03-07T21:16:00.001-08:00

And history is made. Congratulations to Kathryn Bigelow for being the first woman in history to receive the Academy Award for Best Director. Her film The Hurt Locker also won for Best Picture.

Risk, Jerks and Self-Promotion

2010-02-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

According to The Center for Study of Women in TV and Film, Women comprised 9% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2008. Ninety percent (90%) of the films had no female directors and overall, in 2008, women comprised just 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This represents a decline of 3 percentage points from 2001.

What's the problem?

New Media professor at NYU, Clay Shirky recently wrote an interesting piece called "A Rant About Women" (http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2010/01/a-rant-about-women/) claiming that women won't risk putting themselves forth unless they are completely sure they are qualified for something. Whereas men, in Shirky's view, will often even lie and say they are qualified just to get the chance to try something.

"I’m not concerned that women don’t engage in enough building of self-confidence or self-esteem. I’m worried about something much simpler: not enough women have what it takes to behave like arrogant self-aggrandizing jerks."

And according to Shirky, it is just this arrogance that makes men better at getting what they want. He's not pretending that sexism doesn't exist, just that we as women could get more of what we want if we "behaved more like men".

"Now this is asking women to behave more like men, but so what? We ask people to cross gender lines all the time. We’re in the middle of a generations-long project to encourage men to be better listeners and more sensitive partners, to take more account of others’ feelings and to let out our own feelings more. Similarly, I see colleges spending time and effort teaching women strategies for self-defense, including direct physical aggression. I sometimes wonder what would happen, though, if my college spent as much effort teaching women self-advancement as self-defense."

His point is that as women we have to stop trying so hard to please and start trying harder to win.

"It’s tempting to imagine that women could be forceful and self-confident without being arrogant or jerky, but that’s a false hope, because it’s other people who get to decide when they think you’re a jerk, and trying to stay under that threshold means giving those people veto power over your actions. To put yourself forward as someone good enough to do interesting things is, by definition, to expose yourself to all kinds of negative judgments, and as far as I can tell, the fact that other people get to decide what they think of your behavior leaves only two strategies for not suffering from those judgments: not doing anything, or not caring about the reaction."

Something interesting to think about as we wait to find out if this year we will finally see the Academy Award for Best Director go to a woman, for a "war movie" no less.

Sundance: 4 out of 16. Not bad? Or Not Good?

2010-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here’s a snapshot of my time at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks ago: I’m sitting on a bus heading to another theatre when I realize I’m sitting next to Diane Bell, the director of the film Obselidia. I tell her how much I enjoyed her film and she is excited that I program films made by women for the Citizen Jane Film Festival. She says, “You know, there are only 4 of us!” And I start laughing instantly. I immediately know exactly what she means, because I also did the math. 4 out of 16. There are 4 out of 16 films in the narrative competition category at Sundance this year. When you are programming for a women’s film festival, you start to notice these things, and so do other women filmmakers. Pretty much in unison we say, “That’s 25%."

When I first noticed the 25% figure after they announced this year’s lineup I thought, not bad. This is way better than the 9% of female directors working in the Hollywood film industry right now (based on the 2008 Celluloid Ceiling Report). But the more I was at Sundance, the more I thought, "It's 2010. This is ridiculous!" Really, 25% is not good either. Maybe it was because the whole theme of this year’s Sundance festival was the “renewed rebellion." Every poster, bumper, or lovely street banner stated this and maybe I’m persuaded by artful propaganda, but it was starting to really grow on me. I was forming my fist and getting ready to write a manifesto by the end of my time in Park City. Or maybe it’s because I’m old enough to remember past Sundance film festivals when we thought we were already starting the rebellion, around the time Alison Anders’ film Gas, Food & Lodging came out in 1992, or the later success with Kimberly Pierce’s Boys Don’t Cry in 1999. It seemed like these women would have every opportunity the film world could offer. But it didn’t happen that way. So by the time Debra Granik won Sundance with her stunning film Down to the Bone in 2006, I wasn’t so naïve. Even though this should be her Steven Soderbergh moment, I knew it probably wouldn’t be. Why? Good question. I’m still working on that one.

And since returning from Sundance the question has been eating away at me. Why aren’t there more women represented in independent film? After all, the independent film industry has historically been where all filmmakers rebel against Hollywood, whether in style, subject, or simply by being a non-white-male filmmaker at all. And truthfully, there are certainly more women in the independent world. Just when I needed to know more, I heard about the new study by Martha M. Lauzen (the same researched that conducts the Celluloid Ceiling Reports), Independent Women: Behind the Scenes Representation on Festival Films. From the 2008-2009 festival circuit, she looked at 25 major film festivals around the nation and analyzed over 900 films to come up with information on how women were represented in independent film, and specifically, in what roles. It's noteworthy that compared to women in the Hollywood film industry, women in independent film have more than double the number of directors (22% vs. 9%) and cinematographers (9% vs. 4%). And the study also shows that of the women directors in independent film, 32% directed narrative features and 67% directed documentary features (not sure where the extra 1% went to, but I’m guessing some kind of experimental genre). The rest of the study is equally informative, and not surprising. Yes, women are better represented in independent film, but still not as much as we probably should be. So the glass is either half full or half empty depending on your perspective.

This is interesting to me because it’s something we’ve noticed the past few years working on our own festival. We have to work much harder to program narrative feature films compared to documentaries, shorts, or experimental work. Why? Because there are so few. And why are there so few? I’m still working on that one . . . Statistics don’t tell us this, but I’m sure it will be a discussion at this year’s Citizen Jane Film Festival.

A few months ago we were also coming up with our own theme for this year’s Citizen Jane Film Festival. We decided that of course, we will explore issues of women in film and ask these questions, but mostly, we want to move beyond these questions. Rather than spend so much time wondering why there aren’t more women in film (which is a conversation many women filmmakers get tired of discussing, including myself at times), we will create the reality we want to live in at our festival. Thus our theme this year: Reconstructing Reality. Because honestly, change is coming much too slowly and maybe we should just build the film industry we want to work in ourselves. Call it the renewed rebellion. Call it reconstructing reality. Call it what you want. The tools are more accessible than ever before (and be damned the distribution confusion right now!), so let’s get started!!!

(The next post really will be about Sundance, because although smaller in quantity, this year's films made by women more than made up for it in quality. And Debra Granik came back and won again with Down to the Bone!)

Will a female finally win the Oscar for Best Director?

2010-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

The nominations for this year's Academy Awards are in and as expected Director Katherine Bigelow has been nominated for The Hurt Locker. Competing for the Oscar against four other men, including her ex-husband James Cameron, Bigelow has what many believe is the best shot ever at becoming the first female director to win the Oscar in its 82 year history. Stay tuned, Sunday, March 7th to see women make history.

Globe Winner Streep Says Hollywood Is Improving for Women - Thompson on Hollywood

2010-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

Globe Winner Streep Says Hollywood Is Improving for Women - Thompson on Hollywood

Cinematic Exquisite Corpse

2009-12-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

Check out "cine cadaver exquis": http://cinecadaverexquis.blogspot.com/
This is a new film/video project, based on the Surrealist/Dada 'exquisite corpse' drawing games, that is open to all female participants:

The same old story?

2009-12-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times bemoans the dearth of female filmmakers in Hollywood:

Women in the Seats but Not Behind the Camera

By MANOHLA DARGIS

Published: December 13, 2009

In 2009 women came out in droves for movies made by and/or for them. Was there a similar increase in female directors? Not by a long shot.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/movies/13dargis.html)

CJFF celebrates teen filmmakers as well as veteran artists

2009-11-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Pioneer of queer cinema, Barbara Hammer (who just recently turned 70) with Molly Nemer (15), whose films were part of this year's first ever youth media program, "The Secret Life of Girls"... CJFF celebrates women filmmakers in all stages and ages of their lives!

Barbara Hammer presented her most recent film, A HORSE IS NOT A METAPHOR at this year's CJFF. The filmmaker, fighting ovarian cancer, stage 3, returned to her experimental roots, in a multi-layered film of numerous chemotherapy sessions with images of light and movement that take her far from the hospital bed. A cancer “thriver” rather than “survivor,” Barbara Hammer rides the red hills of Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, the grassy foothills of the Big Horn in Wyoming, and leafy paths in Woodstock, New York changing illness into recovery. The haunting and wondrous music of Meredith Monk underscores and celebrates in this film that lifts us up when we might be most discouraged.

In the last 30 years, Hammer has made over 80 works that span a broad spectrum of genre. Her experimental films of the 1970s often dealt with taboo subjects such as menstruation, female orgasm and lesbian sexuality. In the ’80s, she used optical printing to explore perception and the fragility of 16mm film itself. Her documentaries tell the stories of marginalized peoples who have been hidden from history and are often essay films that are multi-leveled and engage audiences viscerally and intellectually with the goal of activating them to make social change. Hammer’s work has screened in galleries, festivals and museums around the world, including the Whitney Museum of American Art Bienalle (’85, ’89 and ’93). She has been a Fulbright Senior Specialist, awarded the first ever Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Filmmaker award and has been the subject of two major retrospectives. Her memoir, Hammer: Making It in Sex and Movies is forthcoming in spring 2010 and will coincide with a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. (more at: http://barbarahammer.com)

Molly Nemer, our youngest filmmaker in attendance this year, came to CJFF's attention through a wonderful organization called TVbyGIRLS . Molly's films were part of a program called "The Secret Life of Girls") which showcased films by talented young female filmmakers, 18 years of age and younger. The program presented young women's perspectives on global issues such as labor rights, immigration, and women in politics. More intimately, filmmakers delved into the nature of God, beauty, and finding self in a complex network of peers and family. This program (the first ever at CJFF) was curated from over 80 films made by young women all over the world as well as some closer to home. Three local youth filmmakers, Nikie Watson (Columbia, MO), Caitlin Gaylord (Seattle, WA), and Molly Nemer (Minneapolis, MN), were in attendance to present and discuss their work.

Many of the filmmakers in the program developed their films through the support of non-profit youth filmmaking organizations who work to educate and celebrate the next generation of women filmmakers: TVbyGIRLS (http://www.tvbygirls.tv), Reel Grrls (http://www.reelgrrls.org), Reel Works (http://www.reelworks.org), Adobe Youth Voices (http://plantandinspire.org), Street Level (http://www.street-level.org), and In Progress (http://www.in-progress.org)

MC Lyte, Chocolate Thai, and Cipha at CJFF 2009

2009-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

CJFF 2009 in the press...

2009-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Melissa Silverstein talks about CJ on her blog, Women and Hollywood

Review of CJFF 2009 by Sarah Boslaugh in Playback STL: "Organizers Kerri Yost, Paula Elias and Polina Malikin put on a fine combination of local, independent and big-budget films directed by women."

Missourian covers CJFF: "Twenty six guest filmmakers will present their work as part of Stephens College's 2nd Annual Citizen Jane Film Festival this weekend."

Vox talks up CJFF 2009 with descriptions of all the panels/workshops and trailers of all the movies.

More to come...

The Celluloid Ceiling: Thoughts From Five Women Who Broke Through

2009-10-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article describing the panel, “Snipping Away at the Celluloid Ceiling,” that took place at this year's London Film Festival.

Citizen Jane Film Festival + Tiny Circus = LOVE

2009-10-20T15:27:00.001-07:00

The History of War, a brand new animation that was made collaboratively at this year's Citizen Jane Film Festival with the amazing Tiny Circus brigade, an amazing traveling art collective! More of Tiny Circus's beautiful work can be seen here. Go to their website to learn more about the project and how to support their excellent work.

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of the workshop.

Watch their latest below... a poetic and profound take on war, created with a group of 15 children and adults over the course of 4 days at this year's CJFF. Thank you Tiny Circus! We are so grateful for their hard work, patience, and incredible energy.

Some sweet words about CJFF 2009 from guests & audiences

2009-10-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some nice things people have to say about CJFF2009...

From Greta Songe (Tiny Circus):
Here I am back in "real life" and still dreaming of the lovely time we had in Columbia. I hope all is settling down a bit on your side!
I just wanted to send a great big thank you to all of the organizers...
We had such a fantastic week and I can think of nothing but positive thoughts about our time spent in Columbia. It was such a fantastic experience saturated with interesting, generous people! It was truly an honor to meet you guys and to be a part of the festival!
We look forward to being a part of next year's festival and helping wherever we can!
We are all still riding on the high of what was a fantastic week! Thanks so much for your efforts to promote Tiny Circus and just for your overall hospitality. I am honored to have met such great people, and we are really looking forward to working with you guys with next year's festival.
Thanks again for everything!

From Shira Derman ($9.99)
i'm back home, still not completely taking in just how much fun i've been having these last few days! i'm feeling much better now, thank you for taking care of me! i'm sorry i didn't get to say goodbye in person, and wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this amazing experience at the festival. it's admirable what you've managed to put together; i strongly feel that being around women film-makers in an intensely creative surrounding changed something for the better in how i see myself in this industry and has inspired me immensely to pursue my personal creative path with renewed energies.
i really hope i'll get to meet all three of you, in your lovely city again.
thank you so much

From Beth Mickle (Cold Souls):
I just wanted to thank you again for having me at the fabulous Citizen Jane Film Festival this past weekend! I had such a great time, and you all did such a fantastic job organizing it. It was quite a treat to be able to present COLD SOULS and talk about it with an audience, very rewarding for me...
I would just love for us to stay in touch, and definitely keep me in mind down the line for more Citizen Janes! Would love to be involved in any way.
Take care!

From Linda Pattie (Stephens College Equestrian Studies):
I just have to tell you how much I enjoyed the festival – what an incredible variety of talents, ages, perspectives. I particularly was heartened by the amazing young women’s work presented on Sunday morning! Wow. Kudos to all and I am inspired by the work you did with coordinating volunteers, venues, graphics, food, (not to mention , film…)
Thanks to you all for giving yourselves to this project. Can’t wait until next year, LP

From Leslie Cockburn (American Casino):
Many thanks for a lovely festival. I really enjoyed meeting the filmmakers who came and hope to keep in touch with everyone. I was impressed with the panel after my screening. Please extend my thanks to them for coming.

From Ibtisam Barakat (writer and moderator for Lemon Tree):
Thanks for all the amazing work that you guys have done. And thank you for inviting me to participate in the Fest. I loved it -- all details and complexities not withstanding and having been resolved awesomely.
The films were great. The invitees were awesome. The atmosphere was totally functional, and the communication occurred in all ways it needed to occur.
Thank you for inviting Marcie Rendon as well.
As far as my role goes, I am thrilled that it all got achieved in the best possible ways. I think it really added a lot to the multiculturalness of the scene that a Palestinian was in the creative mix since a few Israelis were there...
I connected with many of the women especially that I attended the Friday workshops.. which I think are so crucial really. They build a wonderful buzz before the shows start. I look forward to the next Citizen Jane, and hopefully there will be a Palestinian or an Arab woman film included. I will keep an eye out and keep you posted for your consideration. In all ways, I am thrilled that this Film Fest is in town and I trust it will be a national event in the near future, especially that it's coupled with the name of Stephens College.
Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks again, you are doing awesome work.
Ibtisam

Behind-the-scenes in the film industry! Up in the Air with Joyce and Joni

2009-09-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Citizen Jane Lecture Series presents... Up in the Air with Joyce and Joni
Sept. 24, 2009 @ 7 p.m.
Charters Auditorium, 1405 E. Broadway
A conversation with costume supervisor Joyce Kogut and casting director Joni Tackette about the behind-the-scenes making of movies, including the upcoming Paramount Pictures feature film “Up in the Air.”
Free and open to the public.

Two more Citizen Jane films announced

2009-09-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Two more Citizen Jane films announced

By Aarik Danielsen
September 23, 2009

Less than two weeks ago, I wrote that Citizen Jane Film Festival had made their first film announcement: "Lemon Tree," a drama exploring Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of a friendship between two women. As more films are added to the schedule, buzz surrounding the festival is sure to grow. This year's lineup is growing more diverse by the day and promises to expose festivalgoers to a wide spectrum of often underrated storytellers and their diverse, fascinating ways of telling stories.

Today, organizers confirmed two more films for this year's fest:

Director Tatia Rosenthal's full-length debut, "$9.99," is a stop motion animated feature about the meaning of life. Featuring the voice talents of such notables as Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush ("Shine," "Shakespeare in Love," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films) and Anthony LaPaglia (TV's "Without a Trace," "Empire Records," "Sweet and Lowdown"), "$9.99" shows how the lives of apartment building residents intersect as they pursue their own version of happiness. From the film's Web site:

Taken together these stories offer a beguiling view of what hope looks like in a hauntingly fragmented world.

Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum said that Rosenthal "concocts an artful film that's enchanted, enchanting, and meaningful, too." A look at the film's trailer suggests all that, and more, may be true. It hints at a mix of charm and depth that has certainly piqued my interest. Watch it below:

As a special treat to Citizen Jane attendees, "$9.99" concept illustrator Shira Derman will be present at the screening.

"Older Than America", from filmmaker/actress Georgina Lightning, promises to bring heft to this year's festival. According to a synopsis on the film's Web site:

A woman's haunting vision reveal a Catholic priest's sinister plot to silence her mother from speaking the truth about the atrocities that occurred at a Native American boarding school. A contemporary drama of suspense, Older Than America focuses on the lasting impact of the cultural genocide that occurred at such schools.

The film features several name actors—Bradley Cooper ("Wedding Crashers," "All About Steve"), Wes Studi ("Dances with Wolves," "Heat") and Adam Beach (TV's "Law and Order: SVU")—but also retains an upstart spirit consistent with the mission of Citizen Jane. Lightning, who stars in and co-wrote the film, is a first-time director on this project. She is also cofounder of Tribal Alliance Productions, a group dedicated to "producing media that matters" from a Native American perspective. Lightning will accompany her film to this year's Citizen Jane.

You can read a SXSW review of the film here and see the trailer below (warning: it contains NSFW langauge):

For more information on the Citizen Jane Film Festival, visit their Web site.

Color of Film Collaborative

2009-09-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

In our research, we came across this exciting and important organization...
The Color of Film Collaborative is a non-profit organization that works to support media makers of color and others who have an interest in creating and developing new and diverse images of people of color in film, video and performing arts.
www.coloroffilm.com

CJFF in The Columbia Daily Tribune...

2009-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

by Aarik Danielsen
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Ever since March 1, when the closing film of True/False — “The Yes Men Fix the World” — faded to black and I rose from my plush Missouri Theatre seat, I’ve been jonesing for an uninterrupted weekend of thoughtful cinema and conversation. I suspect other Columbia residents have experienced the same symptoms — going through shaky, sweaty withdrawals, staring longingly at anyone wearing clothing that bears the T/F logo.

Friends, yearn no more — our film festival fix is here. Citizen Jane Film Festival will be back for its second go-round Oct. 16-18, and organizers are ready to make their first exciting announcements about this year’s lineup.

Paula Elias, who co-directs the festival with Kerri Yost and Polina Malikin, confirmed “Lemon Tree” will show as part of this year’s festival. Characterized as a “border parable” by National Public Radio’s Mark Jenkins, the film examines volatile Israeli-Palestinian relations at the most personal level possible. Conflict and circumstance link unlikely allies in a fight against injustice: Salma, a poor Palestinian widow, and her neighbor, the wife of an Israeli official.

The selection of “Lemon Tree” is consistent with Citizen Jane’s mission on several levels. First, the film was scripted by a woman, Suha Arraf, who will appear at the screening. Citizen Jane exists to amplify the work of female filmmakers, a vital yet often underrepresented segment of the industry. According to the festival’s Web site, women held only 16 percent of the top creative jobs on the 250 biggest-grossing domestic films of last year, not to mention work being done overseas by talented artists such as Arraf.

“Lemon Tree” also uses a highly creative approach to address a clash that “affects people intimately and very individually,” Elias said. The film resonates on a plane where emotionally and geographically detached news dispatches cannot, she added.

Last year’s inaugural festival featured a remarkable selection of high-caliber, critically acclaimed offerings including the powerful Katrina documentary “Trouble the Water,” Oscar-nominated indie drama “Frozen River” and director Margaret Brown’s terrific “The Order of Myths.” Special guests, panel discussions and workshops made the festival highly interactive.

Organizers went one step further to ensure this year’s Citizen Jane experience is participatory, not passive. Tiny Circus, an upstart, collaborative animation team whose genesis came in another college town — Grinnell, Iowa — will stop in Columbia to conduct several workshops. Pieces produced — with the aid and ingenuity of community members — in those workshops will be seen at Citizen Jane.

To see the festival schedule expand as more films are announced, visit www.citizenjanefilmfestival.org.

Reach Aarik Danielsen at 573-815-1731 or e-mail ajdanielsen@columbiatribune.com

This article was published on page C1 of the Sunday, September 13, 2009 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune.

LEMON TREE AT CJFF 2009

2009-09-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Citizen Jane Film Festival is proud to announce our first film for the upcoming fest:

LEMON TREE (ETZ LIMON)
www.lemontreemovie.com

Directed by: Eran Riklis
Written by: Riklis and Suha Arraf
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman
In Arabic and Hebrew, with subtitles

Based loosely on a true story, LEMON TREE is the rich and engaging human drama of one woman's courage amidst the complex politics of two conflicted nations. Salma (Hiam Abass), a Palestinian widow struggles to preserve her way of life while earning her living tending to her late father's lemon grove. When an Israeli government minister moves in next door and declares the grove a potential security threat, Salma struggles to defend her peaceful livelihood. Personal drama gives way to political controversy as Salma forms an unexpected bond with the minister's lonely wife taking her protest - with the help of a young lawyer - all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court.

Israeli Arab actress Hiam Abbass has been called a "cinematic force of nature" and the "Anna Magnani of the Middle East." US moviegoers might recognize her from THE VISITOR or as the bride's older sister in 2004's SYRIAN BRIDE.

Citizen Jane 2009 will proudly bring Israeli writer of both LEMON TREE and THE SYRIAN BRIDE, Suha Arraf, to Columbia, MO for the festival to present the first film chosen for this year's festival.

Robin Griswold at Ragtag

2009-08-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Films of Robin Griswold
Tuesday, August 18: 5:30PM
After a year in the MFA film program at the San Francisco Art Institute, ex-Ragtager Robin Griswold returns to show us what she's been up to with an eclectic little program of experimental short films shot on super 8, 16mm and video. Selections will feature army toys falling in love in stop-motion, moving image postcards from Olympia, WA, Chaplin-esque tomfoolery, and tributes to the cinema of Andy Warhol.

Free Admission!

Made in LA on PBS

2009-07-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

Made in L.A.by Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar
Tuesday, August 11 at 10:00 PM
This is an encore performance.*
* Note: Not all PBS stations choose to rebroadcast encore presentations. Please check local listings to see whether this show will be airing.http://www.pbs.org/pov/tvschedule/

From film to book... EXAMINED LIFE on paper!

2009-07-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Rarely do we see films being made into books, but Astra's film is of a special ilk...
It is a treat to delve into the expanded conversations with the thinkers that we first met on screen when Astra's film played at CJ 2008. The book (Examined Life: Excursions with Contemporary Thinkers)is out now through New Press and you can find it here.

WITASWAN

2009-06-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

From the website:
WITASWAN = WOMEN IN THE AUDIENCE SUPPORTING WOMEN ARTISTS NOW!
WITASWAN is an informal alliance of women who have pledged themselves to helping women filmmakers break through the Celluloid Ceiling that restricts opportunities for women in Hollywood & beyond. WITASWAN members have all made a commitment to see at least one film every month either directed by &/or written by a woman, either in a theater or on DVD/VHS. No one measures us. No one checks up on us. This is a VOLUNTARY commitment made on the honor system.

Citizen Jane is excited to start up WITASWAN in Columbia and its environs! Look out for more info on this soon!

Women Film Critics: An Endangered Species?

2009-06-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Women Film Critics: An Endangered Species?
by Jennifer Merin (The Women's Media Center)
The lack of female voices in film criticism is a manifestation of an industry that favors male-oriented movies and audiences.

Thumbs Down - Representation of Women Film Critics in the Top 100 U.S. Daily Newspapers: A Study
by Dr. Martha Lauzen (Director of the Center for the Study of Women In Television and Film, San Diego State University)

Of the newspapers featuring film reviews in the fall of 2007, 47% had no reviews written by women critics, writers or freelancers. In contrast, only 12% had no reviews written by men critics, writers or freelancers. Overall, 70% of the individuals reviewing theatrical film releases in Fall 2007 were male and 30% were female. In addition, men wrote significantly more film reviews than women. Men wrote an average of 14 film reviews. Women wrote an average of 9 film reviews.

These imbalances may be slightly tempered by the fact that women critics, writers, and freelancers wrote for newspapers with marginally higher circulations. The average circulation size of newspapers with women writing reviews was 348,530. The average circulation size of newspapers with men writing reviews was 294,760.

Where are the ladies this summer?

2009-06-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Is There a Real Woman in This Multiplex? by Manohla Dargis
Males are playing superheroes, funnymen, even leading ladies. Females aren’t so lucky.

Excerpt from the article:
Nobody likes to admit the worst, even when it’s right up there on the screen, particularly women in the industry who clutch at every pitiful short straw, insisting that there are, for instance, more female executives in Hollywood than ever before. As if it’s done the rest of us any good. All you have to do is look at the movies themselves — at the decorative blondes and brunettes smiling and simpering at the edge of the frame — to see just how irrelevant we have become. That’s as true for the dumbest and smartest of comedies as for the most critically revered dramas, from “No Country for Old Men” (but especially for women) to “There Will Be Blood” (but no women). Welcome to the new, post-female American cinema.

Examined Life Continues to Impress

2009-06-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

Examined Life, by CJ '08 filmmaker Astra Taylor, continues its tour de force across the country. The film will be coming to Columbia's Ragtag Cinema soon. If you missed it at last year's fest or want to enjoy it again with a glass of wine and a friend, be sure to look at Ragtag's upcoming schedule.

And the reviews keep piling on...
Another one from the NYT: Cerebral Celebrities Entertaining the Big Questions , by A. O. SCOTT
And another in Time Out Magazine .

Pashly Interview

2009-05-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

Pashly (the fantastic performer, artist, and musician Susan Ploetz) was one of our favorite guests at Citizen Jane 2008. She performed in our special performance art showcase and lead the entire audience out to a massive dance party outside the theater!

Pashly was recently interviewed by a new blog called "YoungCreature" while doing a residency in Portland, OR. As stated on the site, YoungCreature is "a blog focused on exposing and supporting Queer musicians, artists, filmmakers, writers, troublemakers, and earth shakers."
To read the interview, click here!
Also, read, listen, and learn about Pashly on her Myspace page.

Jesse Epstein on Sex, Lies, and Photoshop (in the New York Times)

2009-03-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Filmmaker and 2008 Citizen Jane participant, Jesse Epstein, is featured in a recent New York Times video:
Sex, Lies and Photoshop: Why magazines should let readers know if images have been retouched
Jesse presented her films at the 2008 festival's closing night screening. The short pieces are part of a series of films that each deal with body image and our oftentimes warped, obsessive relationship with what we, as a society, deem “perfection.” Epstein highlights, through humor as well as stark confrontation, how the time, money and energy spent on all this “beauty” is turning into a crisis of sorts, for both men and women, affecting family lives, careers, and other relationships.

Examined Life Opens in Theaters Across the Country!

2009-02-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Examined Life, which is director Astra Taylor's second feature film, will open at the Film Forum this Thursday, February 26th. The film had it's local premier at last year's Citizen Jane Film Festival with Astra Taylor in attendance. The film has already been receiving great reviews and is hailed as a refreshing, earnest, and intelligent approach to discussing and sharing philosophy.

Here is the recent review in the New York Times: "Thinkers in Transit, Philosophy in Motion"
(by Dennis Lim, February 22, 2009)

Get Ready for Citizen Jane 2009!

2009-02-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

Statistics about women in cinema point to a mainstream industry that has remained incredibly difficult for females to break into. This is astonishing when we consider how far women have come in so many other fields. But what is even more remarkable is that despite these barriers, women all over the world are making amazing films! From Mira Nair to Maya Deren, the proof is in the pudding: women can direct and be bosses, they can carry those heavy cameras and produce remarkable images, they can nurse babies while editing, and they can make exciting, important work...

But will anyone get to see these films!?
YES! Because this coming fall, the Citizen Jane Film Festival will launch into its second year! Mark your calendar for October 16-18, 2009.

The frenzy, enthusiasm, and goodwill of last year has inspired us to make this coming fest EVEN better! Like last year, the festival will celebrate the work of women behind and in front of the camera through screenings, discussions, exhibitions, and other unique community events, giving birth to inspiration and the courage to go out there and let our voices be heard.

See you in the theaters and in the streets as we support and make the change we want to see!
Please consider supporting the fest as a volunteer, sponsor, artist, and audience member.

Citizen Jane Sponsors True/False 2009!

2009-01-29T08:50:00.000-08:00

The second year of Citizen Jane is on its way!
Mark your calendars for October 16-18, 2009.

To start off the year, Citizen Jane is proud to be a sponsor, advocate, and true believer in the True/False Film Festival , a pioneering non-fiction film festival in it's 6th year.

True/False, our brother film festival, is bringing several exciting women filmmakers to town for the weekend.
Look out for the incredible filmmaker and T/F "True Vision Award" winner, Kim Longinatto and her newest film, "Rough Aunties".

Citizen Jane's First Year is a Success!

2008-10-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the hard work, commitment, and trust of hundreds of people - invited artists, students, volunteers, and audience members from near and far! Together, we created a very special and beautiful weekend!

Here are some articles, interviews, and reviews from the press... More soon from our own documentarians!

The Cinematic Mystique & Interview with Astra Taylor, featured filmmaker at Citizen Jane and director of "Examined Life":
http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2008/10/09/cinematic-mystique/

"Women and Hollywood blog"
http://womenandhollywood.com/2008/10/guest-post-citizen-jane-film-festival-october-17-19-in-columbia-missouri/

"Film festival puts focus on female filmmakers"
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/10/19/citizen-jane/

Missouri Life: Citizen Jane Film Festival
http://missourilife.com/articles/show/483-Citizen_Jane

Citizen Jane, a New Film Festival - Imprint Magazine
http://www.imprintmagazine.org/arts_and_entertainment/citizen_jane_new_film_festival

Interview with Almudena Carracedo, featured filmmaker at Citizen Jane and Emmy award-winner for "Made in LA":
http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2008/10/09/q-almudena-carracedo/

"Film Festival Catches Eye"
http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/18313c8c-80ce-0971-0100-19e2b0c0c719

Citizen Jane Film Festival: bringing the community together in Columbia, MO
http://www.madeinla.com/blog/citizenjane

Citizen Exene: A punk rock legend makes her home in mid-Missouri
http://move.themaneater.com/stories/2008/10/14/citizen-exene/

Double Takes Blog
http://www.doubletakesblog.com/2008/10/citizen-jane-film-festival.html

ticPick — CITIZEN JANE MUSIC SHOWCASE
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Oct/20081016Go!012.asp

BXR.com
http://www.bxr.com/includes/news_items/3/news_items_more.php?id=210&section_id=3

Blogs about: Center Citizen Media
http://www.blogged.com/about/center-citizen-media/

Chicken and Egg: Jesse Epstein
http://chickeneggpics.blogspot.com/2008/09/body-typed-screenings.html

Life Behind the Lens (Kerri Yost)
http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com/1756/2008/08/08/life-behind-the-lens/

Some of the 2008 Participants...

2008-10-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Made in LA wins Emmy!

2008-10-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

From: http://www.madeinla.com/blog/Emmy_win

We are thrilled beyond words to report that Made in L.A., which started as such a small grassroots project, has just won an Emmy award! The film received the Emmy at the 29th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards in the category of Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story-Long Form at a ceremony on Monday night in New York. Made in L.A. has been a six-year journey, and we couldn't be happier to have received this honor. Robert and I were both there to accept the award and it was exciting and very moving...

Acceptance speeches provide a unique opportunity to say "thank you", since this film could not have been made without the care, support and encouragement of literally hundreds of people. And so we took the moment to thank our families, our friends, our amazing crew, the organizations that believed in us (including NALIP and our fiscal sponsor Women Make Movies), and the hundreds of individuals that have supported this film throughout its journey. Special thanks must also go to our Executive Producers Simon Kilmurry, Cara Mertes and Sally Jo Fifer, and to Cynthia Lopez, Annelise Wunderlich and the amazing teams at American Documentary | P.O.V. and ITVS that took such care and devotion in bringing Made in L.A. to a national audience. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to PBS and to our funders ITVS, POV, the Sundance Documentary Fund, Latino Public Broadcasting, CPB, Pacific Pioneer Fund, Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society, Diane Middleton Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Agape Foundation, and nearly 300 individual donors. Finally, we thank our outreach partners for helping us to spread the word and make an impact!

Above all, we owe the deepest, most personal thanks to the people in the film and to the three amazing women in Made in L.A., Lupe, Maria and Maura, who opened their lives to us and allowed us to capture and portray their stories in Made in L.A. As we said in front of more than 1,200 attendees on Monday night, we dedicate this award to them, because it was their fight for their rights and personal dignity that taught us the true meaning of courage and perseverance.

Women & Hollywood blog

2008-10-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

The "Women & Hollywood" blog - one of our allies and one of our favorite blogs - invited us to do a guest post. Check it out here... and look at all the amazing resources, great interviews, and interesting info on the blog:
http://www.womenandhollywood.blogspot.com

LAST VOLUNTEER MEETING BEFORE THE FESTIVAL KICKS OFF!

2008-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

(Photo: Sarah Buccheri in Antarctica where she shot her latest film. She is one of 20 invited filmmakers who will be attending Citizen Jane Film Festival).

The last official all-volunteer meeting before the festival is THIS TUESDAY. Please note the slight time change from previous meetings: 6.30-7.30PM in the Windsor Auditorium lobby. See you there!
Questions about volunteering? Please contact Sarah Whorton, the volunteer coordinator at: citizenjanevolunteers@gmail.com
Thanks!

NEXT VOLUNTEER MEETING

2008-09-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

We need your help! Come volunteer for the Missouri's groundbreaking women's film festival. All genders, ages, and experience levels welcome! Come one, come all!
Work 12 hours and get a free pass to the entire fest.

NEXT VOLUNTEER MEETING:
TUESDAY, October 30th, 6 - 7 PM
Windsor Auditorium (1200 E B'way, Helis Comm Ctr, Stephens College)
If you came to the last meeting, come to this one so we can figure out your jobs! If you missed the previous meeting, you should definitely come to get hooked in!

ASTRA TAYLOR brings her new film "EXAMINED LIFE"

2008-09-26T10:08:00.001-07:00

Astra Taylor is a writer and documentarian born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1979 and raised in Athens, Georgia. In 2004, she was the associate producer for PERSONS OF INTEREST (Sundance 2004), which examined the round up and detention of Muslims and Arabs in the aftermath of September 11th. A year later, she directed ZIZEK!, an acclaimed documentary portrait of world famous philosopher Slavoj Zizek. In 2006, Astra was named one of the 25 New Faces to Watch in independent cinema by Filmmaker Magazine.

Together with Laura Hanna, she founded Hidden Driver, a production company that specializes in films that explore intellectual, cultural and political issues. Through Hidden Driver, Astra is producing short-form documentaries for The Nation and working on a new film, MEGAPOLIS. The film, which is a collaboration with urban theorist Mike Davis, is a meditation on the changing shape of cities in an age of increasing inequality and ecological instability.

The Citizen Jane Film Festival is excited to bring Astra's newest film, EXAMINED LIFE. Examined Life takes philosophy out of the darkened corners of academia and into the hustle and bustle of the everyday. Through challenging conversations and intimate cinematography, the film reminder that great ideas are born through profound engagement with the world around us. Examined Life interweaves fascinating “walks” with philosophers through places that hold special resonance for them and their ideas - crowded city streets, deser ted alleyways, Central Park and even a garbage dump. The film brings us closer to the “rock star” philosophers of our time, including Cornel West, Peter Singer, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler, Avital Ronell, Michael Hardt, Anthony Appiah and Martha Nussbaum. The film is co-produced by Sphinx Productions, whose award-winning theatrical documentaries include Imagine the Sound (Best Documentary, Chicago Film Festival), Comic Book Confidential and Grass (both Genie Award winners).

Examined Life website: http://www.sphinxproductions.com/pages/examinedlife.html
Hidden Driver website: http://www.hiddendriver.com
Official ZIZEK! website: http://zizekthemovie.com
Articles by Astra Taylor: http://www.alternet.org/authors/7806

VOLUNTEER and MAKE HERSTORY!

2008-09-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Want to connect with other talented women filmmakers?
Want to experience a weekend of entertaining, challenging, and beautiful cinema?
Tired of sexist media?
Annoyed by how few films are shown by women directors?

THE CITIZEN JANE FILM FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU!

Don’t just complain about women being under-represented in film – DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Join dozens of other women in your community to help this new women’s film festival as it gets ready to premiere in Columbia!

VOLUNTEERS get a special FESTIVAL PASS & a custom-designed T-SHIRT!
The festival pass gets you in to see AMAZING MOVIES from around the world + RADICAL PERFORMANCES that you won’t catch anywhere else + ART INSTALLATIONS that will blow you away + EXCLUSIVE PARTIES with visiting filmmakers! + the chance to NETWORK, LEARN NEW SKILLS, and BUILD COMMUNITY!

VOLUNTEER MEETING for ALL STUDENTS: September 11, 12:30 – 1.30 PM in Windsor Lounge at Stephens College (Feel free to bring your lunch!)

VOLUNTEER MEETING for ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS: September 16, 6 – 7 PM in Windsor Auditorium at Stephens College (The Windsor Auditorium is in the main lobby of the Helis Communication Center on Broadway at the corner of Ripley).

MORE INFO or CAN’T MAKE THE MEETING: Email us at citizenjanefilmfestival@gmail.com
DIRECTIONS to Stephens College: www.stephens.edu/tour

EYEDEAL WOMAN DEADLINE EXTENDED!

2008-09-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

The Eyedeal Woman Short Film Competition is open to filmmakers of ALL AGES and ANY GENDER. Film interpretation of an “ideal woman” can be narrative, documentary, animation or experimental. Films must be five (5) minutes or less and submitted in the form of either VHS or DVD. Submissions will be accepted now until OCTOBER 1, 2008.
For more information about the festival or how to submit your film, please follow this link and download the submission form:
http://www.stephens.edu/news/stephensevents/citizenjane/index.php

SARAH PRICE at THE CITIZEN JANE FILM FESTIVAL

2008-07-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peek at one of the festival's featured filmmakers and one of our favorite people, Sarah Price.
Sarah Price is an award-winning filmmaker whose films include the feature documentaries THE YES MEN (2004), CAESAR'S PARK (2003), and AMERICAN MOVIE (1999). American Movie won the Grand Jury Prize winner for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Additional work includes a music video for Warner Bros. artist Har Mar Superstar, and artist David Robbins’ TV variety show, THE ICE CREAM SOCIAL (MOMA-Paris 2004). Other notable credits include co-editor of Chris Smith's AMERICAN JOB (Sundance Film Festival 1996) and sound on Michael Moore's THE BIG ONE (1997).
We are excited to bring her latest acclaimed film, SUMMERCAMP!
SUMMERCAMP! follows the day-to-day drama of 90 kids let loose in the woods at Swift Nature Camp in northern Wisconsin. Camp is a place where kids can be kids, where their home and school lives momentarily fade into the background as they go through the highs and lows of adolescent rituals: sing-alongs, talent shows, homesickness, counselor mutiny - and first love. Amidst group activities, showy arguments, and secret conversations, filmmakers Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price submerge themselves into this curious camp subculture, capturing a diverse array of adolescents from all economic and social backgrounds. Through the non-calloused eyes of kids, Summercamp! captures the raw emotional experiences that will endure with them for the rest of their lives.
For more information about the film, check out:
http://www.summercampmovie.com/

The Citizen Jane Film Festival

2008-06-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

Women make up only about 7% of filmmakers, but not for long...

This October, the Citizen Jane Film Festival will bring the best of features, documentaries, animation, experimental, and short films that showcase women behind and in front of the camera. Please continue to check back as more information appears!

CITIZEN JANE FILM FESTIVAL, Columbia, MO: October 19-21, 2012

CJFF October 19-21, 2012

CJFF 2011 Film "Atomic Mom" to show on Documentary Channel in March

Women made up 5% of directors in 2011...down 2%

Ava Duvernay Wins Best Director at Sundance

Congratulations Julia Reichert! Growing Up Female chosen for National Film Registry

CJFF 2012 Dates Announced!

Post from CJFF2011 blogger Maria

Miss Representation

Citizen Jane 2011 is coming to town!

Festival Line Up Announced!

Looking for Volunteers for CJFF 2011!

CJFF Film April 7th, Ragtag

Global Journalist's International Women's Day

Folks Behind the Films: Tamra Davis

TINY CIRCUS!

Women in Film Update

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Final Thoughts

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Kerri Yost

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Cozette Lehman

Women in Film Update

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Chad Freidrichs

Women in Film Update

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Leah Cheaney

Women in Film Update

Women in Film Update

Behind the Scenes of Citizen Jane: Ginny Muller

Folks Behind the Films: Deborah Stratman

Folks Behind the Films: Hannah Robbins

Women in Film Update

Women in Film Update

Folks Behind the Films: Steph Foley

Watch what you watch 60s PSA.mov

Folks Behind the Films: Jennifer Arnold

Folks Behind the Films: Olivia Wyatt

Women in Film Update

Women in Film Update

Closing Night Film: Winter's Bone

Passes on Sale Until September 28th!

CJFF 2010 Opening Night Film Announced

Create, Liberate, Aggregate . . . CJFF2010 is coming!!!

CJFF 2010 SEASON KICK OFF!

Winter's Bone opens at Ragtag this weekend!!

A Broken Record, So Let's Throw the Player Away

Citizen Jane Lecture Series

Mark Your Calendars!

Ella Es El Matador with Director Gemma Cubero del Barrio

Best Director Academy Award Goes to Kathryn Bigelow

Risk, Jerks and Self-Promotion

Sundance: 4 out of 16. Not bad? Or Not Good?

Will a female finally win the Oscar for Best Director?

Globe Winner Streep Says Hollywood Is Improving for Women - Thompson on Hollywood

Cinematic Exquisite Corpse

The same old story?

CJFF celebrates teen filmmakers as well as veteran artists

MC Lyte, Chocolate Thai, and Cipha at CJFF 2009

CJFF 2009 in the press...

The Celluloid Ceiling: Thoughts From Five Women Who Broke Through

Citizen Jane Film Festival + Tiny Circus = LOVE

Some sweet words about CJFF 2009 from guests & audiences

Behind-the-scenes in the film industry! Up in the Air with Joyce and Joni

Two more Citizen Jane films announced

Two more Citizen Jane films announced

Color of Film Collaborative

CJFF in The Columbia Daily Tribune...

Citizen Jane Film Festival tempts with ‘Lemon Tree’

LEMON TREE AT CJFF 2009

Robin Griswold at Ragtag

Made in LA on PBS

From film to book... EXAMINED LIFE on paper!

WITASWAN

Women Film Critics: An Endangered Species?

Where are the ladies this summer?

Examined Life Continues to Impress

Pashly Interview

Jesse Epstein on Sex, Lies, and Photoshop (in the New York Times)

Examined Life Opens in Theaters Across the Country!

Get Ready for Citizen Jane 2009!

Citizen Jane Sponsors True/False 2009!

Citizen Jane's First Year is a Success!