Outnumbered female filmmakers are taking control of their own fates in the film industry, as minorities behind the camera create more universal and diverse stories.
The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film conducted a study in 2021 about the women’s employment in the top-grossing films and found that only 6% of cinematographers were female which was the same for 2020.
When watching a film, I like to dissect my favorite part which is the art of the picture. Cinematography is combining camera tools and lighting to create a specific mood or feeling for film.
When a woman is behind the camera, there are more emotions put into the filmmaking.
Cinematographer and SJSU radio, TV and film alumna, Ashley Valenzuela, said she still asks herself why there are not many women in the technical departments of filmmaking including cinematography.
“I just think that’s how it used to be and it’s really frustrating,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela thinks that no woman should feel like anything is stopping them, “we should just conquer.”
Before I realized I wanted to get into journalism, I studied film at my community college. I was surrounded by dudes, mostly white, who belittled me.
I vividly remember sitting in my film production class at a table with all men.
There was one other girl in the class and we happened to be in the same production group. Instead of encouraging us, the boys around us made us compete as if they were saying “there can only be one girl.”
Amy Glazer, a theatre and film professor at SJSU, described the industry experience as “the boys club” in which the men dominate the film workforce.
“We are not as generous with our women as we learn as I think we are with the men in the boys club,” Glazer said. “But it’s changing.”
She said that if you want to be a filmmaker, you must be tenacious.
Deidre Locklear, a cinematographer in the Bay Area said she’s been surrounded by men in almost every single job during her career.
“In such a male dominated industry, there’s so many male voices and such a small amount of female voices participating that sometimes women get overlooked,” Locklear said.
Locklear said she’s only had one female mentor, writer and director Ellen Sumter, who she said had a power that only a woman can possess.
“She talked about the emotional resonance that the power of lighting provides to make you truly feel something. . . and that’s maybe a woman’s super power in a way,” Locklear said. “Providing emotional strength for something that’s very tech focused.”
I recently watched “Spencer,”directed by Pablo Larraín, and thought the film was gorgeous. It turns out the cinematographer is a French woman: Claire Mathon.
“Spencer” is a beautiful character analysis about Princess Diana and Mathon really helped tell the story in an extraordinary way.
Princess Diana’s story isn’t hollow and the movie is packed with beauty from such a low place. Mathon captures the hurt and loneliness Princess Diana experienced while also showing how beautiful her soul was.
If a man was behind the camera, the film would have been shot differently because a man could not have captured Princess Diana’s character like Mathon did.
Jessica Gallegos, whose pronouns are they/them is a cinematographer and the founder of Bay Area’s Rock Paper Film society.
Gallegos said they believe the industry is changing massively and quickly.
They said that there is a huge opportunity for women to take advantage of the change, land more jobs, and pay it forward to help other minorities get their break.
“I do believe that we have to change that pipeline and that narrative. . . we also have to choose the pipeline and the narrative of including even further than that,” Gallegos said.
They said it still feels “pretty weird” when they get a call from a filmmaker asking for a female cinematographer. Gallegos said they give whoever is calling a heads up that they don’t identify as female.
“To be honest with you, yes I’m born female at birth but I don’t assign to the female gender and at the same time I’m like we need more fucking women, people that were born women like me, in film,” Gallegos said.
With cinematographer Ari Wegner’s 2022 Oscar nominated film “Power of the Dog,” we’re witnessing more women and minorities being recognized for their outstanding work.
When women and non-binary people are in power, you feel their strength.
Women will keep pushing, shooting beautiful films, and taking on noteworthy roles both behind and on camera.
“It’s like a painter, the hardest part is the blank canvas just keep fucking painting,” Gallegos said.
