2008 Woodie Awards
Cine Mujer: Women in film screens Saturday
By Natalie Olivares
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Premiere
Originally published: 4/3/08 at 7:06 PM CSTLast update: 4/4/08 at 4:21 PM CST
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This is the fourth year the center has sponsored the festival. The films are mostly foreign with subtitles and directed and produced by women.
Statistics show only 7 percent of film directors are women, although they are attending film schools in equal numbers alongside men, according to the 2005 Celluloid Ceiling Report by Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D.
Anne Lewis, independent filmmaker and senior lecturer in editing and documentary filmmaking at the University of Texas at Austin, states that she has a fairly equal ratio of male to female film students in her classes; however, the male students are more vocal. "We have to speak up," Lewis said. "Women can easily get slotted into positions and not fulfill their full potential; I think we need a new wave of feminism in the industry."
"I am very proud of the work women filmmakers have accomplished, especially the coverage of issues such as labor, human rights and social justice," Lewis said.
"Morristown: In the Air and Sun," directed by Anne Lewis will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The documentary follows the story of Mexican immigrants and low-wage factory workers in Morristown, Tenn., who are impacted by globalization and economic change.
"We don't think about the Midwest as being an area where immigration is present, but factory job loss is greatly tied to this issue," Lewis said.
The film consists of nearly a decade of interviews, which document the economic and personal struggles of the workers. The film is in Spanish and English with subtitles.
Lewis aims to support the working class in efforts to advocate social justice through her films.
"It is important to see what the global economy is doing and how it affects women in particular. Society views immigrants as victims and not as real people with real power. We have to ask ourselves why can companies cross borders and people can't," Lewis said.
Lewis will be present at the screening and will answer questions.
The Esperanza Center is located at 922 San Pedro Ave. at Evergreen.
For a complete film schedule, go to www.esperanzacenter.org or call 228-0201.
Admission is free.
For more information on women filmmakers, go to www.moviesbywomen.com.
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