Hollywood has long been dominated by men, with few women reaching executive heights in major studios or getting the opportunity to produce or direct high-budget, blockbuster films. Yet, in other realms of filmmaking—from documentaries to shorts to foreign films to independent features—there is an ever-growing stream of highly talented and successful women filmmakers. Here in the Bay Area, female filmmaking talent is not only evident, it is rampant. In the 2007–08 school year, SFFS began highlighting films both by and about women in the first Women in Film series, and the program was so successful—and the list of educationally significant films so extensive—that the series will continue in 2008–09. In addition to regularly scheduled screenings, accomplished women filmmakers will visit all-girl schools in the Bay Area to meet with students and serve as key role models for young girls interested in both business and creative careers.

All of these programs are designed to be interactive experiences rather than passive viewings, so students are expected to come prepared to ask questions of filmmakers and special guests and to participate in post-film discussions and Q&As.

Upcoming Events in the Series

Programs to be announced. Check back soon for more information.

Past Events

The Monkey Kid
Thursday, March 20, 2008 at the Julia Morgan School for Girls
As a supplement to their unit on Chinese history and culture, the sixth grade screened the Mandarin-language film The Monkey Kid, the autobiographical story of a nine-year-old girl in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. Director Xiao-Yen Wang introduced the film by explaining the different stages of the Cultural Revolution and encouraged students to compare their own experiences to those of the film’s protagonist. In a post-screening discussion, the students asked questions about events in the film and about Wang’s life in China at that time, when most children lived alone in the cities while parents were sent out to the countryside to work. There was also much discussion about the making of the film and Wang’s experiences shooting a film in China about a subject generally forbidden by the government.

“Thank you again for arranging our viewing of The Monkey Kid.  The girls enjoyed seeing the film, and many of the girls who are able to conceptualize and critically think about the Cultural Revolution got a lot out of seeing a visual representation of the period.”—teacher, Julia Morgan School for Girls

Going on 13
Monday, February 25, 2008 at the Julia Morgan School for Girls, Oakland
This special presentation of Going on 13—a documentary chronicling the lives of four East Bay girls from ages 9–13—was part of a professional development day for 26 faculty members at the Julia Morgan School. After the film codirectors Kristy and Dawn led a discussion, during which the teachers all expressed a great personal connection with the film and its subjects. Many of the stories in the film gave them the chance to reflect on the hardships their own students are currently going through. The filmmakers found the experience equally beneficial and will be utilizing the teachers’ positive feedback as a foundation for the educational outreach strategy that they are developing for their film.

Whale Rider
Thursday, January 10, 2008 at the Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
The first theatrical event with Target School, the Julia Morgan School for Girls, featured the award-winning 2002 New Zealand film Whale Rider, about an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal Maori tribe who believes she is destined to be their new chief. The entire school—comprised of more than 200 girls in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and their teachers—was in attendance. The program focused on both the strong female protagonist of the film and the female filmmakers who produced and directed it. Executive producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton participated in a 45-minute post-screening discussion with the students, which focused on the making of the film, Goldstein Knowlton’s path to becoming a filmmaker and the challenges and obstacles she faces as a woman in a male-dominated industry. The program began with a live presentation by members of a local Maori cultural group. Wearing native dress similar to that featured in the film, they performed several traditional dances, explaining their cultural and historical context, significance and relevance.

“The program was a HUGE success. One teacher sent an email about how many times he was choked up during the day (in a positive way, that is).” —teacher, Julia Morgan School for Girls
 
“Thank you so much for the amazing Whale Rider presentation. The girls loved it. We spent all of Language Arts the next day discussing the grandfather’s motives. It was fascinating.”— teacher, Julia Morgan School for Girls

“We learned a lot about the Maori dance culture and symbolism, which really enhanced our experience of Whale Rider. In fact, we were still discussing the dances and the movie through the weekend!”—parent

Phoenix Dance
Friday,December 21, 2007 at Julia Morgan School for Girls, Oakland
East Bay filmmaker Karina Epperlein paid a visit to the seventh-grade classes of the Julia Morgan School for Girls to show her short film Phoenix Dance (SFIFF49) and discuss art, filmmaking, disability, body image, dance and women’s issues with the students. Before showing the 17-minute film about dancer Homer Avila—who lost his leg to cancer but continued dancing and performed a beautiful pas de deuxchoreographed by Alonzo King—Epperlein began with a movement exercise with the girls in which they practiced moving around the room on just one leg. After the screening, the students had many questions about what it was like to film such an emotional subject and how she became involved with the project. Epperlein also discussed her experiences and challenges as a female filmmaker and how she evolved into that role from being a dancer, artist and teacher. The students were so engaged by Epperlein and her work that they requested to view a portion of her first feature documentary, Voices from Inside, about a workshop she taught with women in a federal prison. After viewing the first 15 minutes of the film, the girls had a slew of questions about the women featured in the film, their stories and their current situations and what it was like for Epperlein to work with them. Epperlein’s key message to the girls was to truly learn to trust in themselves and not allow others to sabotage their better judgment, or their lives. The students and teachers will be viewing the DVD of Voices from Inside in its entirety after the winter break with the possibility of Epperlein returning to the school to further discuss the film with them.

“I enjoyed how it touched my heart, and said, Anything is possible, even against all odds.” —student
 
“I have always thought of becoming a director, and this presentation just made me pursue it even more.” —student

“I want to move people like I was with moved by both of these movies . . . because I can really get someone’s story out and learn about it myself.” —student

Global Lens 2007
Enough!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at the de Young Museum, San Francisco
Another Man’s Garden
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at the de Young Museum, San Francisco
In collaboration with the Global Film Initiative, SFFS presented two school screenings as part of their Global Lens 2007 Education Program. Both films were also part of the Women in Film series, focusing on the rights and realities of women around the world, as well as films made by women. About 120 high school students viewed the Algerian film Enough!, set in war–torn Algeria in the ’90s, whichfollows two women on a dangerous search for the younger woman’s husband, a journalist whose writings resulted in his disappearance. After the film, the students engaged in a discussion with SFSU Cinema Studies professor Laurence Mazouni, who is also French/Algerian, about the structure of the film and the ways in which it represented the experiences of women. The next day, 75 high school students had the unique opportunity to watch a Mozambican film, Another Man’s Garden, about a young girl who dreams of being a doctor in a country where odds and opportunities favor men and educating woman is considered a waste of time. The screening was of particular interest to a group of students from Wallenberg High School, where many of the female students are aspiring to professions in medicine; some of them have already begun internships with Kaiser Permanente and free clinics throughout the city. The screening was followed by an interactive discussion and presentation by Alice Yelbert-Obeng from the Global Fund for Women’s Africa Program.

China Film Day—From Cultural Revolution to Economic Revolution
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at the de Young Museum
In partnership with the teachers and students of the film programs of the Marin School and the Urban School, SFFS presented a dual Chinese film program for several hundred Bay Area students. The morning session featured Xiao-Yen Wang’s autobiographical 1995 Mandarin-language film The Monkey Kid, about a nine-year-old girl in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. After the film the students participated in a Q&A with the writer/director, who discussed her own experiences growing up in China in the ’70s and how those stories became the basis for her film. The afternoon session featured Micha Peled’s eye-opening documentary, China Blue, a rare look inside a blue jeans factory in present-day Guangdong, where hundreds of teenage girls work long hours and make slave wages in order to make jeans for the rest of the world. In a thought-provoking Q&A, Peled talked about his clandestine methods for shooting inside a Chinese factory and the risks he took to bring this story to the screen. He urged the students to think about how they felt about what they saw on screen and how they could make an impact with their own filmmaking.

“Today was AWESOME! It was so nice to meet the directors of the film and listen to the Q&A from the students. I will continue to come to these events. I am hoping more SFUSD schools will take advantage of these events. There is so much ‘learning away from the classroom.’” —teacher, Galileo High School

“My students (and I) are still so excited today to have enjoyed that great event with you all yesterday. I can’t even begin to tell you how much they learned from working with the de Young staff, the SFFS pros and volunteers, their Urban comrades and, of course, the directors. They also learned a great deal about themselves and what they’re capable of, thanks to the opportunity you gave them.” —teacher, the Marin School