Friday, April 20, 2012

Making a movie

Beck ColeBeck Cole (Luritja/Warrumunga), writer and director from Alice Springs, Australia, began her career as a journalist with Imparja Television in Central Australia. Since graduating from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 2002, Cole has directed the majority of her documentaries and short films in Alice Springs, often working with the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA). Cole was one of the outstanding indigenous directors of the SBS documentary series First Australians which won the 2009 Logie Award for Outstanding Documentary. Her film Wirriya—Small Boy won Best Australian Film at the 2004 Women on Women International Film Festival in Sydney. Cole’s other works include Plains Empty (2005) and Flat (2004), both of which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to her career in film, Cole has worked on various projects for Australian television, including serving as a writer for the SBS seriesThe Circuit, and for the children’s show Double Trouble. Cole also directed the documentary Making Samson and Delilah, about the feature film directed by Warwick Thornton (Kaytetye) that won the Camera d’Or award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
·Here I Am(2011) director, writer
·Making of Samson and Delilah(2009) director
·First Australians:A Fair Deal for a Dark Race(2008) director
·Lore of Love (2005) director

By www.nativenetworks.si.edu July 2009

Hear I Am











    http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/stories/s3385961.htm

    In fall 2011, I studied documentary, and was contributed to the New York Movie Festival. I enjoyed the movie of Beck Cole, “Here I Am” and was a witness of her transitions of her movies from documentary to fiction.  Back then, I was studying cinematic techniques, I wasn’t taking perspective about the conditions of women as filmmakers or presenting “others”. Now, after studying women’s issues in Media, I re-encountered the movie, because I see how high of an achievement it was not only the aspect of making the movie, but the topic it was placed on, representing women’s visions and getting her film to the general public.
    I remember, from my outlook of the movie, I didn’t seem to find myself much impressed at the screening of her film, and interview of the filmmakers at the presentation. I found this film perpetrating stereotypes of black people. I agree with Bell Hook's suggest that filmmakers think in constructive ways about how black characters are represented (Reel to Real, Page 7). Bell Hooks  says "while these filmmakers made use of border crossing and themes of cultural hybridity, they do not do so in any way that was particularly subversive and/or enlightening.... the ways transgressive imagery of a nonwhite "other" is used in the work of these filmmakers without challenging stereotypes or existing structures of domination" (Reel to Real, Page 8). An audience member asks Beck Cole during the discussion if she worried about stereotyping black people in her film, to that she replied “I don’t care; I’m just showing the reality from my life experience.” I strongly agree with Bell Hooks when she says “Whether we like it or not, cinema assumes a pedagogical role in the lives of many people. It may not be the intent of a filmmaker to teach audience anything, but that does not mean that lessons are not learned.” (Bell Hooks, Reel to Real, Page 2)  I think the moviemakers have to remember that “most folks will say that they go to movies to be entertained, if the truth be told lots of us, myself included, go to movies to learn stuff. Often what we learn is life transforming in some way.” (Bell Hooks, Reel to Real, Page 2)
     I was disappointed by her transitions from documentary to fiction. From my perspective in the sequences of intimate moments that were used just for the purpose of “sex sells”.., she just “gave” the audience what they wanted to spice up the movie. Now, analyzing the subject of women filmmakers, I got a clearer idea of the situation to comprehend it, and now I could avoid judging, even though I agree with Bell Hooks, as I mentioned earlier, her so harshly. Debra Zimmerman wrights how it is hard to deliver the creators vision to the masses in present situations “Zimmerman noted that many experimental and cutting-edge filmmakers are dismissed by the critics, who don’t seem to understand what the filmmakers are trying to do.” (Woman Make Movies, Page 263).  “I think that’s the biggest problem that women film- and videomakers have right now: When they go through all the struggle to make films that really represent their vision, they are not received by the general public.” (Woman Make Movies, Page 263).  Zimmerman also mentioned “And the filmmakers were talking about how they were trying to do something different with the style of the films, and the audience just did not want to deal with that.” (Woman Make Movies, Page 263).
    Just as we discussed in class, women in films have a horrific situation in modern cinema. In one of the classes, we witnessed a video clip, about a girl trying to find two or more women on main screen, in main stream film, exchanging dialogue for thirty or more seconds, non-talking for men. Unfortunately, from all varieties, she wasn’t successful for find many. Beck Cole in “Here I Am” did a profound job because her nearly whole cast were women. As Debra Zimmerman states "A major problem, even today, is convincing men that films by and about women are important, At the screening of Trinh T.Minh-ha’s Surname Viet given name nam (1989), a man in the audience asked the filmmaker, ‘There are so many things to make a film about, why did you make a film about women?’ The question didn’t surprise Zimmerman. ‘That to me is exactly what goes through men’s minds’ She said. People who have seen this film don’t get it. They don’t understand- why is she focusing on women? Why is she focusing on the look on woman’s face? That is incredibly feminist to look at all the small things, all the parts that make up the whole. I know there are lots of men who are not going to like this film. When we go around trying to get people to show it, I guarantee you that eighty percent of people we are going to be talking to are men, not women, and they’re the ones that are the gatekeepers, they’re the ones who decides whether the film (shows for) two nights or three nights a week'" (Woman Make Movies, Page 265).

    However, from all the controversy, as a filmmaker, Beck Cole is incredibly important, because she is an influence to other women film-makers, and presents her strong, personal visions of a group of women’s world, and the world of others.
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