Fellow juror Beanie Feldstein for this year’s program, which nurtures, mentors, and funds five director and producer duos, agreed that support is paramount to success. “My whole career has been rooted in working with female filmmakers,” the star of Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird and Wilde’s directorial debut Booksmart said. “I owe my whole trajectory to working with young women and first-time female directors, so to be a part of learning about the next batch of females coming in, how talented they are, and the story and narrative they have to share, it’s really inspiring and wonderful.”
“It’s a really exciting time in film,” Australian actress Phoebe Tonkin said. “I like to see my own stories reflected on screen, and I don’t think anyone tells women’s stories better than women themselves. There’s a nuance about the female experience that only we understand.”
Chloe Fineman, a bubbly beacon in the typically male-dominated field of late-night comedy, added, “This summer was the first time I’ve worked with female directors and female DPs, and it was the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. I sobbed when it was over!”
As AnnaSophia Robb put it, when you’re involved in a female-driven set, there’s simply an inimitable spirit of collaboration, communication, and “female power.” The same could be said for Tuesday afternoon’s seated three-course family-style luncheon of salads, fish, pasta, and dessert, at the airy Italian eatery, which served to officially usher in a three-day workshop for this year’s filmmakers. (Conveniently, the action takes place right upstairs, in The Greenwich Hotel’s luxury penthouse suite.)
Those emerging names and entertainers of tomorrow—Chloe Sarbib, Rtusha Kulkarni, Sophia Youssef, Céline Bava-Helms, Alyssa Loh, Charlie Traisman, Jahmil Eady, Selena Leoni, Lara Everly, and Elease Lui Stemp—sat interspersed with the jurors, mentors, and advisors, as well as many of today’s leading ladies.
One individual, resplendent in Chanel, who was particularly qualified to testify to the life-changing experience of being in a room like that was advisory committee member A.V. Rockwell, who was the winner of the program back in 2016. How’s that for a dream plot line!
