Five Major Influences For Kristy Guevara-Flanagan

2012-03-09

WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Going on 13WONDER WOMEN!

1. I have been incredibly inspired and humbled by the amazing documentary filmmakers that have come before me. People like Barbara Kopple, the Maysles brothers, and Frederic Wiseman. These verité filmmakers found the most riveting stories and characters and they had the patience to let these small dramas unfold slowly and quietly for their audiences. They filmed hours of footage and followed their subjects everywhere and anywhere to composite the most haunting portraits of people, towns and spaces. 2. I have been quite emotionally moved by political filmmakers like Steve James, Lourdes Portillo, and Joe Berlinger. These filmmakers are not afraid to express their opinions through their films and to claim the space for communities and issues that need to be addressed by our society at large. I am floored by their gumption and determination to do battle with documentaries.

3. I have always loved the more poetic documentary filmmakers like Agnes Varda, Heddy Honigmann, and James Longley. I am reminded to be as free in form and narrative as they are and I will continue to study their films. They challenge their audiences and their expectations and I think that is so important. As a filmmaker one can get used to catering to one’s audiences, but I try to remember that filmmaking is first and foremost an art. 4. For my most recent film, I was particularly interested in the “essay” film. There is a feminist filmmaker, Trinh T. Minh-ha, who through a wide swath of voices explores real events, but does so in a fragmentary way, searching for meaning rather than claiming the authoritative "voice of God" that marks so many documentaries. This fragmented approach makes the essayistic form particularly suited for addressing history in a way that amends the mainstream narratives of our times. 5. My students! I teach film and video to college students and I learn as much from them as they learn from me. Most importantly, I get to see the world through their eyes on a daily basis and I am very interested to know how they navigate this complicated and overwhelming pop cultural universe we inhabit. Where do their ideas about gender, race and class come from? It is a collaborative experience sharing with them my perspective of media and getting to know theirs. It definitely informs the kind of stories I want to tell and the audiences I hope to reach!