Female Filmmaker – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SPOTLIGHT January 2025: Vivian Kerr, Actress and Indie Filmmaker, SCRAP and SEANCE

December 30, 2024December 31, 2024 Jennifer Merin Female Filmmaker, greta gerwig, independent filmmaker, jodie foster, Johanna Coelho, reframd award, scrap, seance, Vivian Kerr, WeFunder

AWFJ’s January 2025 SPOTLIGHT is focused on Vivian Kerr, the producer, writer, director and star of Scrap, an entirely indie film that has been winning awards and gaining acclaim at film festivals since 1922 and has at long last landed (mid-December, 2024) on the internet for easy audience access. Scrap is Kerr’s first feature, and it took her almost a decade of dreaming and scheming to get it made and make it known. In doing so, she has transformed her career from that of an actress with roles on Grey’s Anatomy, Masters of Sex, Criminal Minds, New Girl, The Bold & The Beautiful and other shows to an new role as an independent filmmaker with promising prospects. She’s already premiered her second feature, a horror/thriller titled Seance, in October 2024 at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Kerr’s path to success is one that many women working in the movie industry might wish to follow. In AWFJ’s SPOTLIGHT interview, Kerr generously shares her experiences and strategies.

Festivals

TIFF 2024: Female Filmmaker Preview – Rachel West reports

August 21, 2024August 21, 2024 Rachel West angelina jolie, Coralie Fargeat, elizabeth lo, Female Filmmaker, gia coppola, Halina Reijn, Julie Delpy, Marielle Heller, mati diop, rachel morrison, Sydney Freeland, TIFF 2024

Of the 278 films playing at TIFF in 2024, according to our calculations, approximately 25% are directed or co-directed by women – a number down from the festival’s all-time high of 45% women-directed films in the pandemic-era 2020 online-only festival. Women-helmed films comprised 36% of the festival lineup in 2019 and 2023. Though TIFF may have to make leaps and bounds to reach gender parity, there are still a number of women-helmed films directed by cinematic stalwarts, up-and-comers, and award winners scheduled to hit the screen at the 2024 festival. With more than 65 films, series, and shorts directed by women, there are many opportunities to take in female-helmed films this festival, which runs September 5th through 15th.