Yesterday, October 16th, Jane Rosenthal, Paula Weinstein, Tribeca, and CHANEL hosted the 4th annual Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program kickoff luncheon at Locanda Verde in New York. They brought together a hundred women leaders in entertainment – actors, directors, writers, producers, casting directors and costume designers – to celebrate their filmmaking community and the ten emerging female filmmakers selected for the program.
During the luncheon, Jane Rosenthal, Executive Chair of Tribeca Enterprises and Paula Weinstein, EVP of Tribeca Enterprises spoke about the importance of women storytellers coming together and building a community of both established and emerging filmmakers alike. Jane Rosenthal said, “We’re not waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with us; we’re leading and . . . we’re persisting.”
The three-day workshop from October 16-18 aims to balance industry support, artistic development and funding for new and emerging U.S-based female writers and directors of short-form narrative films. At the end of the program, each of the five projects will be pitched by the filmmakers to a jury of industry experts. One filmmaker will be awarded full financing to produce her short film, along with the support of Tribeca Studios to make the project. The four other projects will each be awarded grant funds to continue the development of their films.
Program mentors and participants included director Kathryn Bigelow, actor/director/producer Courteney Cox, writer/director Debra Granik, cinematographer Rachel Morrison, producer Christine Vachon, writer Jenny Lumet, producer Effie T. Brown, writer/director Stella Meghie, writer/director/executive producer Veena Sud, costume designer Stacey Battat, Tribeca Film Institute’s Amy Hobby and more.
Other notables spotted at the Luncheon were actors Katie Holmes, Zosia Mamet, DeWanda Wise, Melissa Leo, Uzo Aduba, Samira Wiley, Piper Perabo, Adepero Oduye, Alysia Reiner, Hailey Gates, Sophie Auster, Julia Goldani Telles, Ekaterina Samsonov, Ella Hunt, directors Mira Nair, Gillian Robespierre, Hannah Fidell, Mary Harron, Sophie Barthes, Shari Springer Berman, Naomi Foner, Mary Lambert, Tanya Wexler, Laurie Simmons; casting directors Alexa Fogel, Avy Kaufman; producers Deborra-Lee Jackman, Donna Gigliotti,Paula Wagner, Caroline Baron, Molly Conners, Celia Costas, Lucy Donnelly, Anne Harrison, Anne Hubbell, Caroline Kaplan, Pamela Koffler, Susan Lewis, Lydia Pilcher, Meryl Poster, Celine Rattray, Frida Torresblanco, Wendy Finerman; DP Ellen Kuras, writers Jill Kargman, Ann Leary, Kelly Marcel, Leslie Dixon; editor Sabine Hoffman; Robin Roberts, and more.
The selected filmmakers for the program: Francesca Mirabella and Kylah Benes-Trapp, Laramie Dennis with producer Jenna Cedicci; Suha Araj with producer Maryam Keshavarz, Gabriella Moses with producer Shruti Ganguly, and Jennifer Cho Suhr with producer Carolyn Mao.
Check out more photos from the Through Her Lens Luncheon in our gallery.
Photos: BFA