In the Company of Women is a fascinating documentary about the rise of women actors and directors in independent film. I never realized how important gay and straight women were to the medium. Lesli Klainberg and Virginia Retickers documentary is a reaction to the documentary A Decade Under the Influence which chronicled the rise of the maverick filmmakers in the 1970s. What the filmmakers who made Decade never seemed to touch on is the women behind the camera.
In the Company of Women has interviews with some of the biggest female actors in Hollywood such as Jodie Foster, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Parker Posey who talk about the films that influenced them and where female roles in movies are going. But the best part of it is the interviews with [I Shot Andy Warhol director] Mary Harron, Allison Anders and Lisa Cholodenko. These directors talk about how there doesnt seem to be much of difference between them and their male counterparts except for subject matter. In films such as High Art and Gas, Food, Lodging they created female characters with real problems. They werent just foils to reflect back on the male leads. They were real people with real problems.
The Independent Film Channel strikes again with another brilliant documentary that dissects the medium of film.
Check out IFCs website for airtimes.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whose idea was the documentary?
Lesli Klainberg: The film came out of a moment at last years Sundance Film Festival when I attended a screening of the film, A Decade Under the Influence which is about the 1970s directors. I raised my hand at the Q & A and asked the director Richard LaGravenese, what did he attribute the lack of female directors during this time period. It wasnt a question about why didnt he include women but why do you think there werent women. I turned to my friends at IFC and said that we had to make that movie. A couple of days later we met, decided to do some development and [Executive Producer for IFC] Alison Bourke matched me up with Virginia Reticker who produced, A Decade Under the Influence. We ended up directing the film together.
DRE: How do you start off with this kind of documentary?
LK: We spent a certain amount of time developing the idea meaning we did research on women in independent film, watched a lot of movies and read a lot of books. We tried to think of who were the directors taht were important and what actors were important. Then you make an outline of what you hope your story is going to be. A lot emerges after you interview people because then you get a handle on what films are important and what their visceral response is to those films.
DRE: Do you feel like you answer the question, why arent women included in the 70s filmmakers?
LK: I think we do to an extent. The why to what women were doing in the 70s is kind of clear in the sense is that the womens movement was going on, women were just going to film schools and they were emerging as filmmakers. After what was the heyday of filmmakers, the beginning of independent film and frankly it was a time when Hollywood was not as receptive to character films because they were becoming the Hollywood blockbusters that we all know and love. Women emerging as filmmakers paralleled the rising of independent film. It was a natural thing for a lot of women to work in what we would call the traditional independent world.
DRE: Was it a conscious decision to avoid women documentary filmmakers because then you would have to interview yourself?
LK: Right [laughs]. Obviously there are a lot of wonderful female documentary filmmakers so its an even more level playing field. There is a limit to what you can cover in a film like this so we made the decision that documentaries couldnt be covered.
DRE: Was it too late to get Sofia Coppola?
LK: We tried to get her but she just wasnt available. She was nominated for the Oscars after we finished the film. The same with Jane Campion, she wasnt in the country at the right time. When you make a film you always look back. We dont pretend that our documentary covers all the films either.
DRE: How tough was it to get the people you interviewed?
LK: Some people are easier to get than others.
DRE: Lets just say it, how hard was it to get Jodie Foster?
LK: She wasnt that hard to get. I think thats what we found in general. My partner, Lisa Ades, is the one who spearheaded our interviewees. It was her task to book them. It wasnt a huge struggle to get most of the people we interviewed to agree to be interviewed. Sometimes it was just hard to find the time to do it. Jodie Foster was interested and was very generous with her time. I think one of the things that we found is that people are really interested in talking about the topic of their work, other peoples work and women in film in general. Part of that came from the fact that some of these things have never been asked of them. When youre an actor or director you do press interviews where you do these short clipped interviews and there isnt a lot of thoughtful discourse on their work or others work. They were extremely thoughtful about each others work. There were many interviews where had to apologize because we finally had to stop. It was really a pleasure to talk to them.
DRE: What surprised you the most after doing this?
LK: I think one thing that came out that we werent sure we wanted to talk to people about was the issue of being a mom and how that affected their work. Both logistically and in the context of how it affected their creativity. One question we thought of is that if we had to interview Steven Spielberg would we ask him what its like to be a dad and how that affects his work. So is it fair to ask a woman that. It just emerged naturally and it was a legitimate question. It affected how frequently some women worked and the choices that they made and just how it affected them creatively. There were certain things we thought that was important such as seeing your life reflected on the screen and how important that was to women filmmakers.
DRE: Is the title any kind of allusion to the Neil LaBute film, In the Company of Men?
LK: Not really. Obviously its a play on that but not in a direct way. It just emerged naturally out of talking to all these women.
DRE: Did anyone want to go into films made by men about women that they hated?
LK: Not really. We didnt bring it up and it didnt come up.
DRE: I know film clips have to be cleared but did you have to clear Frances McDormands nude scene in Laurel Canyon with her personally?
LK: We did go to the actors in all these films for their permission.
DRE: How was going to Sundance with this?
LK: It was really a positive experience. It was nice because we had a special screening so there wasnt pressure for us. I think it was nice because often times you do films, especially ones that are to air on television, you dont always get to screen it for people. What was exciting about screening it there is that it was surprising the amount of women and men who came up to us afterwards and told how inspired they were by it. When you go to Sundance there are a lot of industry people there but it is also a lot of filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers. So it was nice to get that feedback.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
In the Company of Women has interviews with some of the biggest female actors in Hollywood such as Jodie Foster, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Parker Posey who talk about the films that influenced them and where female roles in movies are going. But the best part of it is the interviews with [I Shot Andy Warhol director] Mary Harron, Allison Anders and Lisa Cholodenko. These directors talk about how there doesnt seem to be much of difference between them and their male counterparts except for subject matter. In films such as High Art and Gas, Food, Lodging they created female characters with real problems. They werent just foils to reflect back on the male leads. They were real people with real problems.
The Independent Film Channel strikes again with another brilliant documentary that dissects the medium of film.
Check out IFCs website for airtimes.
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whose idea was the documentary?
Lesli Klainberg: The film came out of a moment at last years Sundance Film Festival when I attended a screening of the film, A Decade Under the Influence which is about the 1970s directors. I raised my hand at the Q & A and asked the director Richard LaGravenese, what did he attribute the lack of female directors during this time period. It wasnt a question about why didnt he include women but why do you think there werent women. I turned to my friends at IFC and said that we had to make that movie. A couple of days later we met, decided to do some development and [Executive Producer for IFC] Alison Bourke matched me up with Virginia Reticker who produced, A Decade Under the Influence. We ended up directing the film together.
DRE: How do you start off with this kind of documentary?
LK: We spent a certain amount of time developing the idea meaning we did research on women in independent film, watched a lot of movies and read a lot of books. We tried to think of who were the directors taht were important and what actors were important. Then you make an outline of what you hope your story is going to be. A lot emerges after you interview people because then you get a handle on what films are important and what their visceral response is to those films.
DRE: Do you feel like you answer the question, why arent women included in the 70s filmmakers?
LK: I think we do to an extent. The why to what women were doing in the 70s is kind of clear in the sense is that the womens movement was going on, women were just going to film schools and they were emerging as filmmakers. After what was the heyday of filmmakers, the beginning of independent film and frankly it was a time when Hollywood was not as receptive to character films because they were becoming the Hollywood blockbusters that we all know and love. Women emerging as filmmakers paralleled the rising of independent film. It was a natural thing for a lot of women to work in what we would call the traditional independent world.
DRE: Was it a conscious decision to avoid women documentary filmmakers because then you would have to interview yourself?
LK: Right [laughs]. Obviously there are a lot of wonderful female documentary filmmakers so its an even more level playing field. There is a limit to what you can cover in a film like this so we made the decision that documentaries couldnt be covered.
DRE: Was it too late to get Sofia Coppola?
LK: We tried to get her but she just wasnt available. She was nominated for the Oscars after we finished the film. The same with Jane Campion, she wasnt in the country at the right time. When you make a film you always look back. We dont pretend that our documentary covers all the films either.
DRE: How tough was it to get the people you interviewed?
LK: Some people are easier to get than others.
DRE: Lets just say it, how hard was it to get Jodie Foster?
LK: She wasnt that hard to get. I think thats what we found in general. My partner, Lisa Ades, is the one who spearheaded our interviewees. It was her task to book them. It wasnt a huge struggle to get most of the people we interviewed to agree to be interviewed. Sometimes it was just hard to find the time to do it. Jodie Foster was interested and was very generous with her time. I think one of the things that we found is that people are really interested in talking about the topic of their work, other peoples work and women in film in general. Part of that came from the fact that some of these things have never been asked of them. When youre an actor or director you do press interviews where you do these short clipped interviews and there isnt a lot of thoughtful discourse on their work or others work. They were extremely thoughtful about each others work. There were many interviews where had to apologize because we finally had to stop. It was really a pleasure to talk to them.
DRE: What surprised you the most after doing this?
LK: I think one thing that came out that we werent sure we wanted to talk to people about was the issue of being a mom and how that affected their work. Both logistically and in the context of how it affected their creativity. One question we thought of is that if we had to interview Steven Spielberg would we ask him what its like to be a dad and how that affects his work. So is it fair to ask a woman that. It just emerged naturally and it was a legitimate question. It affected how frequently some women worked and the choices that they made and just how it affected them creatively. There were certain things we thought that was important such as seeing your life reflected on the screen and how important that was to women filmmakers.
DRE: Is the title any kind of allusion to the Neil LaBute film, In the Company of Men?
LK: Not really. Obviously its a play on that but not in a direct way. It just emerged naturally out of talking to all these women.
DRE: Did anyone want to go into films made by men about women that they hated?
LK: Not really. We didnt bring it up and it didnt come up.
DRE: I know film clips have to be cleared but did you have to clear Frances McDormands nude scene in Laurel Canyon with her personally?
LK: We did go to the actors in all these films for their permission.
DRE: How was going to Sundance with this?
LK: It was really a positive experience. It was nice because we had a special screening so there wasnt pressure for us. I think it was nice because often times you do films, especially ones that are to air on television, you dont always get to screen it for people. What was exciting about screening it there is that it was surprising the amount of women and men who came up to us afterwards and told how inspired they were by it. When you go to Sundance there are a lot of industry people there but it is also a lot of filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers. So it was nice to get that feedback.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
Guess that shows how far we still have to go.
Otherwise, great interview. Can't wait to see this documentary.
IFC said:
Watch the documentary
Thursday March 18 at 8pm, 11pm & 2:30am ET
Saturday March 20 at 10pm & 1:30am ET
Monday March 22 at 11:30pm & 4:30am ET
Well, I guess I won't be watching the documentary...