Happy Female Filmmaker Friday! This Friday, instead of featuring one filmmaker, we’d like to showcase some of our Cinema Femme voices, which are excerpts from past Cinema Femme filmmaker features. We hope their wisdom will inspire you as they have for us.

At Cinema Femme we elevate the voices of the female film experience. We share the stories of women in film to show other women how they can do it too, and support them on their journey there. We do this by featuring interviews from women in the industry who speak about their career insights, professional experiences, inspiration, and more. 

Cinema Femme inspires change in the industry. We are vocal about the need for women, women of color, and LGBT+ representation on screen and behind the lens. We elevate the diverse voices of film critics, filmmakers, and moviegoers. We believe that together we can change the industry for the better.

Laura Moss (Filmmaker) – Fry Day (2017) FEATURE

I was asked recently in an interview what would be different if you were a male director. I was sort of like, I’m not a male person, I’m a female person, and so much of my perspective is based on my life experience. My life experience is moving through the world as a woman. So I don’t think of myself as a female director, but essentially I am.

Clare Cooney (Actor, Filmmaker) – Runner (2017) FEATURE

There is no route in this business that will take you where you want to go. It’s all these diagonal and sideways paths to get you to where you need to get. I think the way that I’ve made strides and any success has always been unexpected to me. The one thing that I’ve learned is to be kind to everyone. Go to as many events and plays and film screenings as you can, and do as much as you can, help out, volunteer, because you never know where those connections are going to take you. Finally, just work really hard and do good work. Do those things, and I’m not saying those things will make you really famous, but you will be in good company and will have a lot of exciting endeavors happening in your life. Those are the key things.

Penny Lane (Filmmaker) – Hail Satan? (2019) FEATURE

My goal was to prove that you could be a serious, intelligent artist and not always take yourself seriously all the time. I want people to have fun. I think it’s an underused tactic. Like my film, as you know, takes a typical audience member to overturn about, oh, I don’t know, like ten deeply held beliefs in ninety minutes. That’s hard to do. If you’re laughing it’s a little bit easier. You loosen up. And you’re more open.

Anya Camilleri (Filmmaker) – A Girl of No Importance (2017) FEATURE

It’s a very interesting era, because while indie film is being eroded, TV is exploding. Years ago, you were either a TV director or a film director. Now we do both. The whole industry has revolutionized. While the demise of cinema has happened because of the studios producing mainly commercial comic book films, there’s been a huge rise in production.

Miranda Bailey (Producer, Filmmaker, and Cherry Picks founder) – Being Frank (2019) FEATURE

The only reason I am still here is because I just persisted. You’re not always going to make something good, you have to be able to stick around. Eventually you just stick around, and other people do not, and they fall by the wayside, and then you know, you’ve done more than you ever thought you would.

Jennifer Reeder (Filmmaker) – Knives and Skin (2019) FEATURE

Speak, and be heard, self-publish and get it out there, because people are paying attention to what young people are saying and doing way more so than when I was a younger filmmaker. You can get your vision and your voice out there.

Emily Lape (Actor, Filmmaker) -Mercy’s Girl (2018) FEATURE

Honestly I didn’t think about representation as much on screen as behind the screen. My first crew was all female. And I ended up losing them, but my first round was female. That was my conscious decision to do that, and I think I’ll always do that, even for the next one. That’s what I’m going to strive for, even if the story is female centered or not, even it has to do with a relationship that doesn’t involve a man, or whatever, I think I will always consciously decide to have a female crew.

Molly Hewitt (Actor, Filmmaker) – Holy Trinity (2019) FEATURE

I think that having a well-rounded and diverse cast and crew can only enhance one’s story telling. There are so many voices we have not heard from yet and stories that do not get to be told that would really do good in the world for people who need to hear them and see themselves reflected in these stories. 

Tuva Novotny (Actor, Filmmaker) – Britt-Marie Was Here (2019) FEATURE

But for me it’s about creating characters that I can relate to, disregarding of age and gender and all that. There are so few stories and characters that I do relate to. So it’s been important for me to put those female and minority groups out into the leads, because how else are we going to move those norms?

Oluwaseun Babalola (Filmmaker) – SOJU Africa Web Series FEATURE

You can’t be what you can’t see. And it can really open up new worlds for younger generations to see these accurate and positive representations of Africans.

Maura Delpero (Filmmaker) -Maternal (2019) FEATURE

I worked in several hogars, and it was there where the film turned itself around. There I saw a young nun hugging a little baby. My gaze was captivated on this image, and I thought, ‘Is something happening to her?’ And then I realized something was happening to her. So in a way, in my writing, I was being led by this image of this nun hugging this baby. 

Haroula Rose (Filmmaker, Actor, Musician) – Once Upon A River (2019) FEATURE

I’m Greek, my family is from Greece, but I grew up in the Midwest, and I also love Americana as well as folk and country music. Who gets to have a right to those things that are evocative of their experience? If you’re a fish out of water, you can find them anywhere.