In 2002, Cinefemme was founded on the belief that cinematic art can profoundly impact society, and that cinematic art must reflect the multiple visions and voices within our culture. It is Cinefemme's mission to work on behalf of female filmmakers to increase women's presence in the film and entertainment industry, while also furthering cinema as art. We encourage girls and women to be leaders in film and fulfill their individual potential. Our non-profit organization is dedicated to creating strategies for encouraging and supporting emerging female filmmakers in realizing their artistic film projects. Cinefemme provides consultation and assistance to select filmmakers on all stages of a project, and helps catapult artistic film projects by women screenwriters, directors and producers from initial conception into production, and finally, exhibition.
Visionary Role
Cinema is our culture's most popular form of artistic expression and has the potential to be the catalyst for social change. Viewers are given opportunity to examine their own environment, personal beliefs and behaviors: an act of self-examination which may profoundly change one's course of action. Filmmakers often serve as visionaries for society, or else serve to capture the voices or experiences of those who need a voice. In media meant for the masses, viewers can find meaningful depths on a deeply personal level. Female filmmakers are in a unique position within the film industry, with an innate female subjectivity. Female auteurs-- women who write and direct their own films-- often have different visions of and different concerns for the future than their male counterparts. It is a balance and scope of varying visions within the art that Cinefemme works to support.
As more women become creative contributors to the film industry, a wider variety of female perspectives and characters come to life on the screen. These new voices and visions add to our collective consciousness, expanding both our individual and global possibilities.
Cinema as Art
Profit-driven films should not rule the world. In her article The Decay of Cinema, Susan Sontag writes:
"To be sure there was always a conflict between cinema as an industry and cinema as an art, cinema as routine and cinema as experiment. But the conflict was not such as to make impossible the making of wonderful films, sometimes within and sometimes outside of mainstream cinema. Now the balance has tipped decisively in the favor of cinema as an industry."
Cinefemme aims to tip the scales back towards cinema as art. Be an artistic filmmaker, support other artistic filmmakers, and promote the visions of women whose works of art can have a positive, profound impact on our future.