NEWSLETTER OF THE UCLA CENTER FOR THE TG09 STUDY OF WOMEN SPECIAL CSISSUE onW THINKING GENDER 2009 Collaborative Film Authorship WRITING LATINAS INTO THE PICTURE EXCERPT FROM PLENARY SESSION BY MIRASOL RIOJAS U.S.-based Latinas have generally been Women in the Top 250 Films of 2007,” found Feminist film theory has repeatedly called included in film history through an analysis women represented only 6% of directors that for the redefinition of authorship in order to of their on-screen representations and year.1 Although there are no statistics available account for women filmmakers. Yet most calls contributions as directors of short, experimental, with regard to what percentage of these women for alternative models of authorship do, for the and documentary films. Unfortunately, as far were Latinas, they account for only a fraction most part, maintain the director at the center as the filmmakers are concerned, the shorter of that 6%. It is also important to note that of their work. 3 The notion of authorship, still formats I mention fail to receive the level of even Latina directors who do gain access to tightly bound popular, critical, and scholarly recognition the means of production still have only limited to the director, that feature films receive. Particularly since opportunities within the industry.2 The small contributes the 1990s, the number of Latinas working on number of Latina-made feature films available for significantly to features has increased significantly. To put this in analysis reflects Latinas’ marginalization within the relegation perspective, Martha M. Lauzen’s, “The Celluloid the industry, which has been reproduced in the of Latina Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of writing of film history. filmmakers to 1 toc TG09 IN THIS ISSUE FEBRUARY 6, 2009, 11:30 AM TO Thinkıng Gender 12:30 PM, UCLA FACULTY CENTER PLENARY SESSION Excerpt from Plenary Session DOCUMENTING GABRIELA ( Changing the his)story) WOMEN IN FILM WRITING LatINAS INTO THE PICTURE NEtwOrk, AN ACTIVIST FILIPINA AND TELEVISION MODERATED BY Kathleen McHugh Director, center for the StuDy of Women • ProfeSSor, engliSh anD cinema anD meDia StuDieS WOMEN’S OrgaNIZatION AND FEATURING Mis-Remembering Lucille Kallen: Mirasol Riojas The Erased Career of Your Show of Shows' Lone Woman Writer FELICIA D. HENDERSON, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA Collaborative Film Authorship: Writing Latinas into the Picture 1 MIRASOL RIOJAS, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA Making the Cut: Female Editors and Rebecca Dean Representation in the Film and Media Industry JULIA WRIGHT, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA 13 Thinkıng Gender is an annual public conference sponsored by the UCLA CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN. It brings together graduate students from across the disciplines to share feminist research on women and/or gender. Parking at UCLA is $9. To view the conference program, please visit www.csw.ucla.edu/thinkinggender.html PANEL REVIEWS Coordinator’s Notes THINKING GENDER 2009 Vivian Davis, Jonathan Cohn, T-Kay Sangwand, Mirasol Riojas and Leila Pazargadi 3 15 FEBRUARY 6, 2009, 11:30 AM TO Thinkıng Gender 12:30 PM, UCLA FACULTY CENTER PLENARY SESSION Excerpt from Plenary Session ( Changing the his)story) WOMEN IN FILM FEmalE EdITORS AND REprESENtatION AND TELEVISION MODERATED BY Kathleen McHugh Director, center for the StuDy of Women • ProfeSSor, engliSh anD cinema anD meDia StuDieS IN THE FIlm AND MEDIA INDUStrY AND FEATURING Mis-Remembering Lucille Kallen: The Erased Career of Your Show of Shows' Lone Woman Writer FELICIA D. HENDERSON, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA Collaborative Film Authorship: Writing Latinas into the Picture MIRASOL RIOJAS, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA Making the Cut: Female Editors and Julia Wright 7 Representation in the Film and Media Industry JULIA WRIGHT, CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES, UCLA Thinkıng Gender is an annual public conference sponsored by the UCLA CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN. It brings together graduate students from across the disciplines to share feminist research on women and/or gender. Parking at UCLA is $9. To view the conference program, please visit www.csw.ucla.edu/thinkinggender.html DEPARTMENTS 25 Staff . 26 . 2 TG09 COORDINATOR’S NOTES Thinking Gender 2009 Usually, when I wake up to the sound of Thankfully, that fear was completely interesting lineup that promised to provoke raindrops hitting the roof over my head, unfounded. UCLA’s Center for the Study stimulating conversations, but it wasn’t it genuinely makes me smile. Whether of Women has a reputation for bringing until I heard the buzz in the California I head out to face the big, bad world or together some amazing scholars who are Room at the UCLA Faculty Center at have the luxury of hibernating under a committed to doing work on women, around 7:30 in the morning that I realized pile of blankets with some hot tea and gender, and sexuality. On February 6th, everyone else was just as excited to begin a stack of good books and movies, the the CSW community showed up in the day as I was. It would take more than rain is welcomed, especially in L.A. But droves to take part in what proved to be a little water to put a damper on Thinking on the first Friday of this past February, an extraordinary day, proving once again Gender. We shook off the rain and got to when my alarm went off and I heard that their commitment to their work. business. pitter patter coming from somewhere The Thinking Gender conference Attendees had a difficult task of overhead, all I could think was, “Oh no!” I is typically comprised of four sessions choosing between panels covering a wide was terrified that six months of planning of five panels each, as well as the range of historical periods. While sessions were about to go down the drain. I had plenary session, all of which are included topics as vast and varied as this fear that the rain was going to keep scattered throughout the course of gender and disability, spirituality, women people from heading out to CSW’s the day. This year, the 20 panels, along in sports, and representations of femininity Thinking Gender conference, an event with the plenary, amounted to 86 (just to name a few), selecting from the that so many people had worked so hard student presenters. As the Conference day’s offerings was a task that everyone to make happen. Coordinator, I knew that we had an seemed happy to have to do. The panels 3 TG09 COORDINATOR’S NOTES were well attended from early morning students who came from as near as our would be made, and that everything until the end of the day, and in fact, for own UCLA campus and as far as Turkey, would go according to plan, the day “Between Girls,” “From Our Doorstep: the West Indies, and New Zealand, I felt passed in a flash. It was truly a whirlwind Contemporary Politics,” and “Changing personally invested in seeing each of the that I wish I’d been able to more fully the (his)story: Women in Film and presentations, in person. It was a pleasure experience. I am happy to report that Television,” attendance was so strong that to meet so many of the students and what I remember most about the day the rooms were filled to capacity. In some faculty I had come to know electronically, is being surrounded by a sea of smiling cases, the rooms were actually overflowing. face to face. I am only sorry that I was faces, satisfied by successful presentations Thinking Gender comes but once a year not able to be present for each and every and the provocative discussions that our and is a special opportunity for people one of the papers that was given. Gladly, fantastic moderators helped to facilitate to gather with like-minded individuals. I have been able to continue to watch after each set of papers. In the end, that is This conference is important to our podcasts of the select few panels that we what it’s all about: engaging in a dialogue community, not only on a professional were able to film (http://www.csw.ucla. with colleagues and being challenged level, but for most, also a deeply personal edu/podcasts.html), as well as read the to do our best work in a supportive level. It was a true joy to be a part of majority of the papers, as most have been environment. I am proud to say that CSW making it happen. posted on-line (http://repositories.cdlib. provides exactly the kind of space where In between attending to my duties as org/csw/thinkinggender/). I do hope that that can happen. the Conference Coordinator throughout the rest of our readers will do the same. Now that the 2009 conference has the day, I was lucky enough to be able to The day of the conference come to a close, I find myself checking sit in on several of the panels, all of which passed quickly and before I knew it, what seems like a terribly empty more than met my expectations. Each of unfortunately, it was over. After months of inbox a little too often, but life after the papers had been carefully chosen from preparation and anticipation, attending to the conference is slowly returning to a pool of very competitive applicants, all the details to ensure that everyone had normal. I will be passing the torch on to and after much correspondence with what they needed, that good memories the next Thinking Gender Conference 4 TG09 Coordinator in the very near future. To that person I can honestly say that you have a phenomenal group of people upon which to depend while you are at CSW.