Tribeca and Chanel are shining a spotlight on female creatives once again with another iteration of the collaboration Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program. Set for Oct. 12-14, the program will be a hybrid offering amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with both in-person and virtual events.
The 7th annual installment features many bold-faced names from in front of and behind the camera participating in workshops, classes and peer-to-peer sessions for five sets of filmmaker finalists. The roster includes Gayle King, Amy Schumer, Leslie Mann, Coda star Marlee Matlin, filmmaker Kay Cannon, In the Heights breakout Melissa Barrera, actress and filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones and Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green, among many others.
Founded in 2015 by Tribeca and Chanel and done in collaboration with Pulse Films, the mentorship program provides support, development and funding to emerging U.S.-based self-identifying women and non-binary writers and directors. One team will receive full financing to produce a short film with support from Tribeca Studios while four other projects will be honored with a grant to support development.
“Through Her Lens has proven to be an important vehicle for women filmmakers,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Festival co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “In a world that is in constant upheaval, it’s paramount to provide a reliable place where the everchanging journey of women can continue to be told.”
Masterclass advisors include Matlin, music composer Laura Karpman (Lovecraft Country), producer Maria Zuckerman (Spencer), actor-filmmaker Adepero Oduye (Pariah), casting director Alexa L. Fogel (Judas and The Black Messiah), and costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Little Women).
Jurors include Barrera, celebrated host King, producer Paula Weinstein (Grace & Frankie), and Mann. Mentors include producer Frida Torresblanco (Pan’s Labyrinth), writer-producer Soo Hugh (Pachinko), storyteller-advocate DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It) and writer-producer Ali Adler (Supergirl). Mentors in the writing category include Schumer, Green, Cannon, Lister-Jones (How It Ends), and writer-producer Tina Mabry (Pose).
Also featured on this year’s program is a special spotlight project titled In Development. One component of that is a photo project that will showcase more than 40 industry leaders including Angela Bassett, Angelica Ross, Diane Kruger, Glenn Close, Hari Nef, Lucy Boynton, Maude Apatow, Natasha Lyonne, Phoebe Tonkin, Thuso Mbedu, Uzo Aduba, and others. The second portion of In Development is a three-part film series that finds Boynton and Alisha Boe offering up a look at their creative process for developing characters, and in another, production grant awardee Hannah Peterson shares a glimpse of making her first feature.
Back to this year’s competition. The five filmmakers and their selected projects are below.
Anything Valuable, about a stoic widow and eager polymath who must traverse post-apocalyptic upstate New York to retrieve invaluable data from a mysterious motel, from director Annalise Lockhart (Inheritance) and writer-producer Mary Glen Fredrick (stage play Anarchy).
Honolulu, about a 12-year-old with a vivid fantasy life who complicates her already morose beach vacation with her father and grandmother, from writer-director Maya Tanaka (The Price of Cheap Rent) and producer Shuchi Talati (A Period Piece).
How Did I Get Here, which centers on sardonic twenty-something Cynthia who details a play-by-play of a recent “squicky” date, requiring her to confront some uncomfortable truths, from director Caroline Lindy (Your Monster) and writer-producer Kate Hamilton, founder of the production company Queen’s Gambit Films (launched prior to the Netflix mega-hit).
Night Bloom, which follows a father and daughter duo on a midnight joyride through New York City as they search for a flower that only blooms at night, from writer-director Tiye Amenechi (Mama Said No White Barbies) and producer Satchel Lee (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon).
Why the Cattle Wait, centering on an African goddess who must find and convince her former mortal lover to return to the eternal world with her before she destroys the earth, from writer-director Phumi Morare (When The Sun Sets).
More about Through Her Lens can be found here.
Source: HollyWood
