Film Fellowship Brings Industry to Campus

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Students in Barnard’s Film Studies Program explore many facets of cinema, often through a feminist lens, from courses on film production to screenwriting. Recently, the College began offering courses taught by industry practitioners well versed in the latest tastes, trends, and technological advances. The initiative has been made possible through a $3 million gift from American film producer and philanthropist Regina K. Scully’s Artemis Rising Foundation, which has, in turn, funded the Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellowship.

This spring, students have snapped up seats in classes taught by the fellows on such topics as writing for television, using found footage, and storytelling with archives. “The response has been overwhelming,” says Ross Hamilton, program director for the past two decades and chair of the English Department. “One waiting list has over a hundred students.”

A committee of faculty from Barnard and Columbia helped choose the fellows with an assist from Victoria Lesourd, chief of staff of the Athena Center for Leadership, which runs the Athena Film Festival (February 29 - March 3), for which Artemis Rising is the founding sponsor. The festival, which showcases films highlighting women’s leadership by filmmakers of all genders, gives students yet another inside-the-industry experience. There, they can mix with fellow filmmakers and feature their films at the festival’s annual Student Showcase.

“One of the most powerful forces we have is fellowship, collaboration, and storytelling, especially when we put smart, creative women together and give them entrée into this field,” says Scully. “Because the greatest barrier to entry is exposure and, honestly, financial support.”

This past fall, the program — which is housed in the English Department — brought two fellows to campus. Sushma Khadepaun, a writer and director, taught a semester-long writing course on crafting a global short film. Victoria Sendra, a cinematographer and camera operator, taught a workshop on camera movement, employing her background as a dancer. Barnard Magazine brought the two together the last week of classes to discuss their courses, their students, and the industry.

Though based in New York, Sendra had never been to Barnard before. She says she was delighted to be back on a college campus, though she spends quite a bit of time on the campus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where she is an associate producer and videographer of dance films. Her own work as a cinematographer and camera operator has been screened at festivals including Nowness, Dance Camera West, San Francisco Dance Festival, and Film at Lincoln Center.

With such dance filmmaking chops, it’s not surprising to see Sendra’s videos employ a camera that interacts with the dancers. This is not a camera on a tripod sitting in the audience statically watching the action. While students in her course did learn the basics of the camera, they also participated in contact improvisation, a dance technique that explores boundaries, balance, and the dancers’ relationships with the other dancers on stage.

“Students had partners, and they learned to react to each other, so the relationship between the camera and the subject became a push and pull between the two as well,” Sendra says. “I’m very interested in a camera that is moving with the subject to create really immersive and engaging filmmaking.”

While Sendra’s class provided a kinetic workshop atmosphere, Khadepaun’s class was decidedly writing intensive. Khadepaun was one of Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2021 as well as a recent fellow at the Film at Lincoln Center’s Artist Academy, and her films have played at festivals in Venice, Stockholm, Atlanta, Dublin, and Palm Springs. Her work, which explores ideas of home and identity, has been featured on NPR and in BOMB magazine.

Although Khadepaun is currently developing her first feature-length film, Anita, she remains committed to “shorts,” a genre, she says, her students seem woefully unfamiliar with. She noted that most students watch features and series while trying to make short films.

“An important part of the class is learning from shorts that are very diverse and global. They’re more contemporary films, as opposed to the sort of classical cinema that often tends to be white, male, and straight,” she says.

Khadepaun says the films shown prompted conversations with students regarding what’s happening in editing rooms elsewhere, such as whether there should be a trigger warning before some film screenings. If so, what material would warrant it? They discussed representation, such as how filmmakers often portray women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ characters. Of course, she says, students asked what it is like to be a woman in the industry.

“I had a student ask, ‘Is it difficult for you to be a female director?’, because they heard that directors always have to be confident. It is such a relevant question, because as a female director you are expected to go the extra mile to show that you are strong and capable.”

She added that to portray strength, women filmmakers need to strike a balance between authority and collaboration. In an art as collaborative as filmmaking, a woman director needs to hear the other voices in the room without fear that she will come across as someone who doesn’t know what she is talking about. Speaking from experience, Khadepaun says she hardly lacks confidence, but when on set she factors in “society’s sexist gaze” when working with others. “It’s a legit concern, especially if you’re working with a male cinematographer, because there are a number of cases where they will take over with a female director. That happens a lot,” she says.

Both say that fellowships like the one that brought them to Barnard can help other young filmmakers about to head into the profession. “It’s incredible for students to see women in the field doing our thing, learning from us, and hopefully getting inspired and going out there and doing their own version of that,” says Sendra.

“I agree,” says Khadepaun. “I know the difference it made for me to see women filmmakers, teaching and learning from them. It made a huge impact on my work, who I am, and the possibility that I could make work and have a voice. That’s a big reason why I teach.”