If you’re not having a good time, find something else that gives you some joy in life.
—Penny Marshall (October 15, 1943–December 17, 2018)
When there is a passion inside you, you can’t deny it. When there is a dream and a passion inside you that you achingly want to exist, you will do everything in your being to make it happen. When you find other people, your people, who share this passion, your life brings on a new meaning. And even more, when you’re a woman and your passion is shared with other women, this can become a driving force for your life. In “A League of Their Own” (1992), that shared passion between women is baseball. In our Issue 4, “A League of Their Own” edition, we carry on that same spirit with personal essays about the film and interviews with women in film accompanied by beautiful design and illustration.
Our issue seems very timely. One, because baseball season is starting (Go Cubs!), and two, because of the amazing work that’s
being done by the film’s leading star Geena Davis. Davis is a trailblazer in the research of gender and media, with her institute the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and her film festival, coming up in May, the Bentonville Film Festival. I was fortunate to interview for this issue Caroline Heldman, the director of research at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (aka See Jane).
Another amazing part of this issue, beyond the film, are the stories that myself and film critic Pamela Powell were privileged to share from women in film. The theme of our March/April issue is Women’s History Month (March) and Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April). Some of the women we interviewed for the issue aligned with these themes. One interview I did was with director Pamela Green, director of documentary “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” (2018). Pamela brought Alice to life by digging up her true story with her impeccable research skills. Thanks to Green, Alice has a rightful place back in film history.
British filmmaker Anya Camilleri is passionate about telling the stories of women’s unseen history, specifically the voices of women sold through sex trafficking. Camilleri is bringing to light an alarming epidemic through a cinematic lens, and it’s beautiful and heart-wrenching. Her short “A Girl Of No Importance” (2017) premiered at Cannes and now will be leading to a feature called “Highway of Love.”
Pamela Powell interviews filmmakers with recent festival releases: One is Rebecca Stern, director of the SXSW documentary hit “Well Groomed” (2019). I cannot wait to see this doc that explores competitive creative dog grooming in America; this grooming introduces you to color combinations you haven’t seen before. I’m very excited to see this one once it’s on full release.
And finally, I had the pleasure of interviewing the 2019 Sundance Ebert Fellows, Niani Scott, Whitney Spencer, and Tiffany Walden. These women are very talented, intelligent, and inspirational. They introduced me to films that showed at Sundance that were personal to their stories. I can’t wait for you all to watch the interviews and hear their stories.
Along with this amazing issue, we will be featuring more interviews and personal essays on our website. Learn more about our online subscription options at cinemafemme.com.
