University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

‘Women Behind the Camera’ to be Screened at Hollywood Film Festival

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., July 26, 2007) — Cal State Northridge cinema and television arts professor Alexis Krasilovsky’s groundbreaking documentary, "Women Behind the Camera," has been accepted as an official selection of the Moondance International Film Festival to be held at University Studios CityWalk Theater next month.

The Moondance International Film Festival is taking place Sept. 7-9. The festival bills itself as one of the premier venues for the exhibition and promotion of feature and short films in the United States, and one of the leading indie film festivals in the world.

"I’m so excited that the North American premier of ‘Women Behind the Camera’ is taking place in Hollywood, where there are so many talented camerawomen in need of recognition," Krasilovky 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 shoot the top 250 films today by encouraging the decision makers to set timetables, establish mentorship programs and pro-actively solicit the reels of camerawomen and minorities."

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." Los Angeles-based camerawomen in the film include ASC members Nancy Schreiber, Amy Vincent and the late Bri Murphy; International Cinematographers Guild members Kristin Glover, Michelle Crenshaw, Amy Halpern and Liz Ziegler; and documentary director/camerawoman Marina Goldovskaya. Also included are the men and women who have supported camerawomen’s struggles in the industry, such as Haskell Wexler ASC and producer Sarah Pillsbury.

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 trauma of sex discrimination and harassment was so discouraging," she said, "that I needed to make this film as a healing activity, a means of breaking down barriers for women directors of photography."

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. "We sneaked the interview out the very week that feminism was declared illegal in Iran," Krasilovsky said.

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."