\n<\/p>\n
\n\tOn a Thursday evening in the penthouse of New York\u2019s Greenwich Hotel, Jane Rosenthal stood in front of a small audience \u2014 a mix of emerging filmmakers, program alumni, jury members and mentors \u2014 for this year\u2019s Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women\u2019s Filmmaker Program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWith the room packed in almost shoulder-to-shoulder, and on the heels of a welcome message from Bryce Norbitz, vp of Tribeca Studios and artist development at Tribeca Enterprises, expressing gratitude for a program that is able to \u201ckeep pushing forward opportunities for women, non-binary filmmakers in our industry,\u201d especially when \u201cit\u2019s a challenge.\u201d Rosenthal took a moment to remind the five filmmakers and their teams participating in the program of what they\u2019d already achieved just by being in the room.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo matter what happens, you\u2019re all part of the Tribeca Through Her Lens family, and you\u2019re all winners,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cI believe all of your films will get made. That tends to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat vote of confidence was quickly followed by a note of why the program \u2014 now 10 years in \u2014 remains so important, particularly amid current industry, societal and political challenges.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI have a horrible habit of reading news alerts, so while I wasn\u2019t going to say anything at all politically about free speech or what happened last night [to Jimmy Kimmel], and I\u2019m really not going to say it, I\u2019m saying it,\u201d Rosenthal shared with the small penthouse gathering. \u201c11 elected New York City officials were just arrested trying to get into Federal Plaza to look at what\u2019s going on in the ICE detention center that\u2019s just a few blocks from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt makes me feel we have to use our voices even more and we have to be together even more and find ways that we will defend our free speech,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo many of your stories that you\u2019ve told are about that, and I applaud you all. I\u2019d like to raise a glass to you and to thank Chanel for these extraordinary 10 years. Again, without their consistency, there would not be this kind of community and program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSoon after, this year\u2019s jurors Kaitlyn Dever, Meghann Fahy, Allison Janney, Payal Kapadia, Issa Rae and Jenny Slate awarded filmmakers Karishma Dev Dube and MG Evangelista with the Through Her Lens grand prize for their short film, Strangers<\/em>. The film, which was pitched to the jury alongside four other projects, will receive full financing to produce the short with support from Tribeca Studios, while the remaining teams receive development grants. They were all chosen from a pool of over 600 invited or recommended filmmakers this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tJenny Slate, Kaitlyn Dever, Issa Rae, Jane Rosenthal, Meghann Fahy, Payal Kapadia and Allison Janney at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women\u2019s Filmmaker Program cocktail party. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDimitrios Kambouris\/WireImage<\/p>\n \n\tDube and Evangelista, who have been creative partners for a decade since meeting at NYU and already have feature ambitions for the short, told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> that it was an experience in which they felt support and seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt was magical. It\u2019s been great. It\u2019s been scary. It feels like surfing a wave for three days. But we were surrounded by people who just want to help you for no reason except to give you access and because they can,\u201d said Dube. \u201cI think all the projects here have been preparing for this moment for a long time and we felt well received and had the complete attention of people that it takes a long time to get in a room with.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAdded Evangelista, \u201cTribeca knows how difficult it is to get access to be able to make the kinds of films that we all want to make. It\u2019s something that is quite overlooked, and it\u2019s why we\u2019re so grateful for them. They see the fearless stories and fearless filmmakers more than a lot of other spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the lead-up to the announcement, Janney described the selection process as \u201can incredibly, incredibly difficult decision for us. Each project was really, really unique and gave us hope that each of these films is on a road to meet and affect audiences.\u201d The remaining jurors each chimed in, adding that all the projects were a \u201cgreat reminder of the beauty of art and progress, and it felt really invigorating at a time that is difficult in the industry and in the world,\u201d and that the winning pitch was a story both \u201cnuanced and complex, making us all question ourselves and our position in society and in a world that reduces people to their immediate identity.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor Dever, joining the Through Her Lens\u2019 10-year anniversary program as a juror follows a career that started as a girl and child actor who \u201cdidn\u2019t know how to stand up for myself, even in the world, but especially in the industry.\u201d She has since gotten to work with filmmakers like Kathryn Bigelow, but was also just 21 and two days into filming Netflix\u2019s Unbelievable<\/em> when the #MeToo movement kicked off. \u201cBeing in this group of people and on the jury is a really big deal, and it means a lot to me to be chosen in this way. I\u2019ve been to this event before. I\u2019ve admired all of these women for so long,\u201d she told THR<\/em>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tSarah Paulson, Karishma Dev Dube, Allison Janney and Kaitlyn Dever.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDimitrios Kambouris\/WireImage<\/p>\n \n\tThe Through Her Lens program was carried out across three days of one-one-one sessions with the filmmakers in which each of the five mentors discussed their projects in detail, followed by five group conversations and an extensive question-and-answer session with all filmmakers focused on composition and score with Laura Karpman; filmmaking and navigating the industry with A.V. Rockwell; filmmaking and a career walkthrough with Lucy Liu; producing with Pamela Abdy; and costume design with Colleen Atwood. Mentors included Sarah Paulson, Riva Marker, Frida Perez, Constance Tsang and Odessa Young.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat they were asking me sometimes was, \u2018What do you see on the page that isn\u2019t there that you wish were there? What if this came across your desk? What would make you say yes to this?\u2019\u201d Paulson said of how she served as a mentor to this year\u2019s Through Her Lens cohort. \u201cThey are investigating what it means to be alive, and they\u2019re doing it by way of art. There\u2019s a purity to it, and it\u2019s why it\u2019s so beautiful to bear witness to and to offer your time and your attention and your eyes and your ears to.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Through Her Lens experience began with a luncheon at Locanda Verde on Tuesday, which featured the filmmakers, press, jury members and mentors, along with new advisory board members Liu, Olivia Wilde and Tessa Thompson, who now serve alongside Rockwell, Karpman, Jane Fonda, Patty Jenkins and Kerry Washington to help advance the program through new collaborations and consultation with filmmakers. The kick-off luncheon also featured major industry names including Katie Couric, Lily Allen, Mariska Hargitay, Mara Brock Akil and Mary Harron.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tMariska Hargitay and Lucy Liu at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women\u2019s Filmmaker Program Luncheon.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatteo Prandoni\/BFA.com<\/p>\n \n\tThat level of name recognition in support of a pipeline program is rare even in Hollywood, but it is one way Through Her Lens can distinctively help \u201cenrich the culture\u201d with \u201cincredible works by very, very talented women and nonbinary people,\u201d said Rae. \u201cThe system is flawed. There\u2019s a lot of quality work, there\u2019s a lot of un-quality work, and sometimes you do need kind of a filtration system. A program like this, especially participating in it for my first time, and seeing the work that has come out of it \u2014 it is essential to see the unseen and to give a co-sign that the industry can look at to be like, \u2018This is a person worth taking a shot on.\u2019 And the range of talent is just incredible, honestly, so I\u2019m so glad it exists.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn the carpet, Rosenthal told THR<\/em> that early on in the program\u2019s existence, \u201cyou were explaining what it was and you were asking favors.\u201d In the 10 years since, the producer is now fielding requests to participate by some of Hollywood\u2019s biggest and most influential women and nonbinary creatives. \u201cPeople want to be part of this community and it\u2019s intentional. It\u2019s an intentional community because people get something out of it,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n \n\tOver the last decade, Through Her Lens has supported upwards of 50 films as well as hundreds of women and nonbinary writers, producers and directors, who Rosenthal noted have gone on to different distribution deals and accolades across various platforms. Alongside bringing on mentors like Bigelow, Catherine Hardwicke, Rashida Jones, Leslye Headland, Effie T. Brown, Glenn Close, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ilene Chaiken, Amma Asante, Misha Green and more, the program has supported the work of creatives like Rockwell (A Thousand and One Years<\/em>) and Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny<\/em>).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt really shows that what Tribeca and Chanel are doing is working,\u201d said Fahy. \u201cI think now more than ever, it makes us feel hopeful, and I think that\u2019s something we talked a lot about today when we were in our deliberation. It\u2019s more important than ever to have events like this, which exist to inspire women and nonbinary people to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn the rooftop of the Greenwich Hotel Thursday night, the Tribeca co-founder noted that part of how the program, which she co-founded with the late Paula Weinstein, is successful is by putting the art of pitching at its core. \u201cWhen you think about what you have to do in the industry to get a project made, you\u2019re always having to go pitch. Some people are good pitchers and can\u2019t execute, and some people can execute but can\u2019t pitch,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was a combination of what a group of us came up with in terms of, how do you help somebody? And you\u2019re always in front of a jury somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPaula Weinstein and I have been producers who have had doors slammed in our faces, projects we wanted to make for years and years, and were pushing. So we looked at how you can try to make it in the system,\u201d she continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tJane Rosenthal and Katie Couric<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatteo Prandoni\/BFA.com<\/p>\n \n\tFor Liu, Through Her Lens\u2019 program process isn\u2019t \u201cnecessarily about winning. It\u2019s really about being in the room and learning. Competition is always going to be something that happens in the industry, but it is important to know that it shouldn\u2019t be something that should lead you. It should help you to become more empowered by knowing that there\u2019s going to be competition, and that\u2019s how it works. You hone it and you become better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRosenthal also points to the program\u2019s consistency, made possible by the support of those like Rebekah McCabe and Chanel, as well as the commitments of programming staff, alumni and other filmmakers and artists, \u201cespecially in these times, when we don\u2019t support the arts in this country, when we\u2019re censoring the arts in this country \u2014 we\u2019re censoring and erasing our culture in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe all get stronger, so our program gets stronger. Then you have people like [co-chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group] Pam Abdy come, and she\u2019ll look at every one of these filmmakers. Kerry Washington talks about somebody she met here who\u2019s then become a writer on one of her shows,\u201d Rosenthal explained. \u201cWith this program, when you look around this room, everybody here that\u2019s new will connect with other people that have been in the program before. Even the advisory committees stay connected. No matter where you are in your career, you can turn to somebody, even when you\u2019re not feeling as hot as you were.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAcross the program\u2019s three days, Rosenthal repeatedly emphasized that \u201cin the beginning we thought we were building a program. Ten years later, it\u2019s a movement.\u201d Successful movements, she acknowledged to THR <\/em>on Thursday, don\u2019t just share ideological goals, but challenge members to refine and grow in their shared vision and values. With Through Her Lens, they do so with a sense of safety. \u201cIt\u2019s about being together where we feel like we\u2019re in a safe space to take care of each other,\u201d the Tribeca co-founder told THR<\/em>. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got to be able to push. But some of the more difficult films I\u2019ve done have come because the comedian needs to be safe to be able to do those crazy things.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor actor, writer, director, producer and comedian Ilana Glazer, showing up for an event that safely centers the voices of women and nonbinary creatives in the country\u2019s current social and political moment is a way regular people and artists can speak up and make their support clear.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re in a moment where authoritarianism is quickly descending upon us and I think the majority of American people\u2019s human rights are in danger. I always go back to what Nina Simone says: the role of an artist is to reflect the times,\u201d they say. \u201cJust showing up \u2014 for activist events, for artist events, for your community \u2014 is the way to do it right now. I really still believe in making calls to your government officials, but showing up to celebrate joy and beauty like we are today is just as important.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tIlana Glazer <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDimitrios Kambouris\/WireImage<\/p>\n \n\tThe safety and rights of women and nonbinary people in and outside of Hollywood has been precarious, but increasingly so for other groups over the last few weeks. Still, Rosenthal isn\u2019t waning in her support of artists and stories from within these communities, regardless of where the rest of the industry may be going.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re not about putting square pegs into square holes. We\u2019ve never been about that. It\u2019s about how you push those boundaries, and how you find the filmmakers who push those boundaries,\u201d she explained of the program. \u201cI will continue to support women and diverse communities to the end of the earth. Certainly [Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert DeNiro] and I did that before we started the festival, and we\u2019ll continue it long after.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWith 10 years of Through Her Lens under her belt, Rosenthal said this kind of work remains her purpose, with the hope that the program can continue on \u2014 though on Thursday night, as the event wound down, she was not completely sure what that future of Through Her Lens would look like.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere is something about how this has grown so organically and authentically. I\u2019ve been overwhelmed by the people that come to this program who want to be a part of it. And I think that eventually, in the coming years, it will be incumbent on this community to come together and say, how do we grow the next stage of it?\u201d she told THR<\/em>. \u201cBut right now, in this pretty gorgeous place to be sitting, right there [points across the skyline] you\u2019ve got an ICE detention center, so it\u2019s hard to think about literally anything else but right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On a Thursday evening in the penthouse of New York\u2019s Greenwich Hotel, Jane Rosenthal stood in front of a small audience \u2014 a mix of emerging filmmakers, program alumni, jury members and mentors \u2014 for this year\u2019s Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women\u2019s Filmmaker Program.\u00a0 With the room packed in almost shoulder-to-shoulder, and on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[3879,11389,8474,536,637],"class_list":{"0":"post-22812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-celebrates","9":"tag-filmmaker","10":"tag-lens","11":"tag-program","12":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}