University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

MEDIA RELEASE

‘Women Behind the Camera’ Wins Hollywood Film Festival Honors

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Sept. 20, 2007) — Cal State Northridge cinema and television arts professor Alexis Krasilovsky’s groundbreaking documentary, "Women Behind the Camera," took top honors at the Moondance International Film Festival held this month at Universal Studios CityWalk Theater.

The festival, which bills itself as one of the premier venues for the exhibition and promotion of feature and short films in the United States, gave "Women Behind the Camera" its "Spirit of Moondance" award for best documentary feature film.

The next screening of the film will be at the Le Femme Film Festival at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Fine Arts Theater, 8556 Wilshire Blvd., in Beverly Hills.

"I’m excited that ‘Women Behind the Camera’ is screening in Los Angeles, where there are so many talented camerawomen in need of recognition," Krasilovsky said. "We are hopeful that this film will encourage the film and television industries to increase the numbers of camerawomen beyond the less than five percent who shot the top 250 films today, by encouraging the decision makers to set timetables, establish mentorship programs and pro-actively solicit camerawomen’s reels."

Krasilovsky spent six years of intense production putting together "Women Behind the Camera," the first documentary to examine the lives, work and challenges of camerawomen around the globe. The film features 50 interviews with camerawomen who "were among the first to film in war zones, from helicopters, underwater and on Hollywood sets."

The idea for the film germinated in Krasilovsky’s early days as an independent filmmaker, when she was not able to get enough work to make a living despite membership in two industry unions.

The film and Web site—www.womenbehindthecamera.com—are based on Krasilovsky’s successful book of the same title, "Women Behind the Camera."

With the university’s help, Krasilovsky flew to Mexico, Paris and finally to India, where she filmed the leading camerawomen of Bollywood and Delhi as well as camerawomen helping their rural communities survive "by picking up digital cameras and influencing policy makers."

Documentary unit producer Jalni Haria, a CSUN graduate student, and volunteer Mei Wu provided invaluable translation services for footage filmed abroad. "You can imagine making a film with eight different languages!" Krasilovsky said.

Colleague Elizabeth Sellers, a composer and CSUN music professor, contributed the film’s score, and art graduate student Mona Kasra helped secure an interview with Iranian camerawoman Rozette Ghaderi.

Krasilovsky said the stories of the women in her film "help us to see how interconnected our lives are as women and as filmmakers, and will empower the next generation to pick up cameras and show us a new world."

California State University, Northridge has 35,200 full- and part-time students and offers 62 bachelor’s and 50 master’s degrees as well as 28 teaching credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN is among the largest single-campus universities in the nation and the only four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. The university serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the Valley and beyond.