In The Guardian’s list of 40 best directors, which includes the likes of Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Hayao Miyazaki, only two are women: British Lynne Ramsay and Iranian Samira Makhmalbaf. The lack of prominent women behind the scenes in the film industry is what originally spurred students on to start the Sofia’s club. As a cinema and media arts major, sophomore Giselle Gonzalez has noticed this absence of women.
“I don’t want people to feel like I’m victimizing myself, but it definitely is an issue and a fact when you look at the statistics,” Gonzalez said. “The film industry is already hard to get into and certain positions, sometimes there’s a guy and a girl that are equal, and the guy is the default.”
"We just have to be the best at what we do."
Sofia’s, a club that aims to unify the Biola women seeking to enter the film industry, desires to shift the numbers into balance. Sophomore cinema and media arts major Ivana Jiron agrees.
“We know these views are out there, but we try not to think about it too much and not act every day with the idea that it’s only hindering to us,” Jiron said. “We just have to be the best at what we do and see where that takes us.”
Jiron was also quick to point out that she does not feel the discrimination as much at Biola. Named after Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter, who directed “Lost in Translation,” Sofia’s has a variety of club activities.
“We try to have different nights and focus on different things,” said club president Melissa McAllister, a sophomore cinema and media arts major. “One night we did a department breakdown and had experienced directors, producers and those types of positions come in. Other nights we’ll do hands-on activities.”
Aspiring for equality and closer community
The club’s aspiration for equality was seen during the department breakdown. Various upperclassmen spoke about and answered questions about their particular field. The speakers included senior cinema media arts major Emmy Ward for production, senior Drew Pick and Gonzalez for directors of photography, and alumni Andy Moss and senior Julia Rothenbuhler for directors. The last club meeting was a talk on the process and steps of pre-production.
McAllister went on to detail the more interactive activities, using the club’s screenwriters’ night as an example. During that night, anyone working on a script or an idea could share and receive constructive criticism. That meeting also included a brainstorming game where a prompt was given and the attendees were to come up with a pitch for a script.
“Sofia’s is a great place to be with other females in our major that we don’t see every day,” Jiron said. “It gives us a chance to get together and talk about anything as far as the film industry goes and our concerns bonding us together, giving us a chance to be there for one another.”
An open invitation
Although the club centers on unification and equality of women in the film industry, the club isn’t restricted to women. McAllister offered an invitation to anyone, including non-majors interested in film, citing their efforts to make teaching fun and not too heavy.
“It helps bridge that gap of the competition or negative feelings between guys and girls on set when they can sit and talk about positions together,” McAllister said.
