Women all over the world were pivotal in the development of the early film industry. They contributed to the field as directors, producers, screen writers, editors, distributors, exhibitors and actresses with substantial financial and creative clout. By the late 1920s however, movies became a big business and most women were pushed to the sidelines.
I’m co-editor, with Jane Gaines and Monica Dall’Asta, of The Women Film Pioneers Project, a digital sourcebook that catalogues women’s contributions to all aspects of early cinema. The sourcebook includes overview essays, biographies, filmographies, lists of extant prints, video clips, paper artifacts and more.
I’ve also written academic essays on women in early cinema:
“How Women Worked in the US Silent Film Industry” with Jane Gaines. Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds. Women Film Pioneers Project. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries.
“Madeline Brandeis.” Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds. Women Film Pioneers Project. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries.
“Frederica Saagor Maas.” Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds. Women Film Pioneers Project. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries.
“Reevaluating Footnotes: Women Directors of the Silent Era.” Jennifer M. Bean and Diane Negra, eds. A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
CINEMA INDIA!
Before I started writing novels, I founded and curated Cinema India!, a touring program of films from India that played at museums and art-house theaters across the U.S., including The Museum of the Moving Image, The Asia Society, The Museum of Fine Arts-Boston, The Smithsonian Institution, and The Walker Arts Center.
New York Times film critic A.O. Scott writes: “The United States, ensconced in the imperial parochialism of Hollywood and spoon-fed exquisite art-house morsels from the international festival circuit, has lagged behind the rest of the world in its recognition of India's cinematic supremacy… [Cinema India!] offers glimpses into a parallel cinematic universe, one that is complex and sometimes puzzling but at the same time accessible and welcoming.”