Most people who are familiar with the American film industry are aware of the major gap between movie audiences (50% of movie tickets are sold to women), and the number of women who are making films, especially in the directing role (28% of independent films are directed by women, while only 4.4% of studio films are directed by women).
However, despite these dismal numbers, there does seem to be a cause for hope–film festivals featuring independent filmmakers have shown higher numbers in the representation of female directors (one third of the films at Sundance this year were directed by women), and Rooftop Films is among those leading the way.
Several of the feature films in Rooftop Films’ 2017 program features female directors, several of them making their directorial debut. Next on the list is a documentary showing this Friday, July 7, at New Design High School: Whose Streets? is the directorial debut of Sabaah Folayan, a self-proclaimed activist and storyteller, and one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2016.
Folayan and her co-director Damon Davis began documenting the aftermath of the Ferguson protests in 2014, focusing on humanizing the issue with their character-based documentary approach. Folayan has also rallied for the need to include a female voice in the film, such as Brittany Farrell, one of the key subjects of Whose Streets?
In an interview with Elle, Folayan reveals just how deep Farrell’s influence touched her: “I asked her, ‘How do you find the space to lead?’…She said, ‘You don’t wait for someone to make a place for you–you take your place.’ And that woke me up personally and inspired me, in doing this project, not to wait for permission.”
Learn more about the making of Whose Streets? at the film’s website, here.
RSVP for the Rooftop Films screening of Whose Streets?, featuring a Q&A with filmmakers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis, here.