Women Filmmakers: Refocusing

Mima Vulovic is a sessional lecturer at York University who also works
at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

Women Filmmakers Refocusing is a major Canadian contribution to the
contemporary discourse on women’s film culture. A product of the
Vancouver festival/conference, this wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary
volume combines theory and practice as well as work by both renowned and
lesser-known filmmakers from all corners of the globe. While
theoretically sophisticated, the study is largely readable and lively,
of interest not only to filmmakers and scholars (particularly in the
area of women’s studies and cultural studies), but also to film buffs
and non-specialists.

The study is organized into eight sections, each representing a shift
from one focus to the next, in terms of theory, praxis, and geography.
The introduction, which sets the stage historically and vis-а-vis
methodology, is followed by an examination of the experiences of
European auteurs, both alternative and those who have gained access to
commercial markets through the use of popular genres (e.g., Helma
Sanders Brahms, Margarethe von Trotta, Agnieszka Holland). Next, the
study discusses women working in non-Western contexts, such as Kenya
(Beatrice Wanjiky Mikora), Malaysia (Gaik Cheng Khoo), Argentina (Rita
de Frandis), Cuba (Susan Lord), and China (Yue-Quing Yang). Finally, the
Canadian scene comes in focus, with discussions of the First Nations
women filmmakers in British Columbia and feature filmmakers in Quebec,
among other topics.

Analytical approaches draw on a wide range of feminist and identity
theories, revisioning of gender, identity, race and class, as well as
postcolonial discourse. The book also addresses conditions of production
(training, funding, distribution, etc.), and includes useful information
on how to gain access to materials on both film and video.

Jacqueline Levitin is a filmmaker who teaches women’s studies at
Simon Fraser University. Judith Plessis is director of Language Programs
and Services at the University of British Columbia. Valerie Raoul is a
professor of French and former director of the Centre for Research in
Women’s Studies and Gender Relations at UBC.