Filmmaker Magazine: In early 2015, Kino Lorber mounted a successful crowd-funding campaign for Pioneers of African-American Cinema. The campaign raised over $53,000, far surpassing its original $35,000 goal.
Now Kino Lorber is hoping to repeat that success with its new Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming release Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers. So far, they’ve raised more than $20,000 towards the $44,000 goal.
2 comments:
As a fan of classic cinema I found this article/video so important and informative. I've read plenty of articles about the lack of female filmmakers in Hollywood and I had no idea that women pioneered/were more present specifically in the silent film industry. Not only did their work progress the medium of film as a whole, but they also used their work to advocate for social change. These women have deserved recognition over the last 100 years but it's great their work can be compiled, restored, and presented together now, if this project is successful, that is. Not only will their work be part of this project, but so will a history of how female directors were treated by Hollywood. Based on this group's past project highlighting the pioneers of African-American cinema, this project will be successful as well.
HELL YES.
It is so easy to forget in the effort to end sexism and misogyny that we today are not the first to try this - not by a long shot. Women have been fighting for the right to be seen, heard, and known for as long as patriarchy has existed, and the footage this documentary seeks to uncover and expose is visible proof of the erasure of female accomplishment in all history, film and otherwise. I am so thrilled to see this examination being made at such a pivotal time, when it is crucial that we all remember the efforts, stories, and names of women who fought for the rights we now enjoy without a second thought today. History at this moment is at a cross-roads: we have been given the opportunity to take a whopping leap backward, or to launch ahead into a new time of greater awareness and equality. Sexism is just one of the issues at the crux of this decision. Films like this one need to be made in order to keep reminding us of just how weighty the decision we make will be, and how making the wrong one dishonors more than just us. To forget sexism is to forget all the women who have fought against it before us, whether from behind the camera or behind bars. Here's hoping we remember to keep fighting.
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