In a room brimming with excited students, alumni and donors, the 17th annual Women in Focus conference centered the lens on five women in the film industry, zoomed in on their triumphs and put their struggles on the big screen.

The event was held in the Folino Theater April 8. Included in the lineup were film director Sanaa Hamri, President of TriStar Pictures Hannah Minghella, producer Molly Smith and Oscar-winning producer Nicole Rocklin.

An enthralled audience chattered as Alexandra Rose, a professor at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, took the stage to introduce the panelists.

“Women in Focus is a unique phenomenon,” Rose said. “Every year, it encourages us to look into those hazy areas of gender bias (in the film industry).”

Rose emphasized the extreme disparity in gender within the film industry, with only 19 percent of all directors, writers, executive producers, editors and cinematographers being female, according to a 2015 study conducted by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Rose inferred that the reason women are rarely found in the film industry was perhaps not only due to lack of opportunity but institutionalized sexism in society.

“We call it the ‘bravery deficit,’” Rose said. “Boys are encouraged to play rough on the playground, contact sports. They’re even rewarded for being a little reckless.”

However, girls aren’t afforded the same positive reinforcement, instead being told to “play nice” and take care of others, Rose said.

“So are we teaching our boys to be brave and our girls to be perfect?” Rose said.

With that, Rose gave the stage to Denise Di Novi, mediator of the event and a producer and director who worked as a journalist before making her foray into the world of film production with the cult classic “Heathers.”

Before introducing the panelists, Di Novi spoke about her own experience in such a male-dominated industry.

“Just by being a woman in this industry, we challenge the status quo,” Di Novi said. “The film I just directed – just for fun, I asked my crew how many had worked with a woman director. It was about 80 people and one person raised their hand.”

Di Novi then opened the floor to the panelists to discuss how daring to defy the norm has been prevalent in their careers.

Rocklin discussed the grit and determination it took to produce a controversial movie like “Spotlight,” a 2015 film depicting the team of journalists who was behind exposing the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse cover-up, as a female producer.

“(Women) have always struggled harder,” Rocklin said. “We push hard. That’s oftentimes all we know how to do as women.”

Hamri agreed, but warned women against entering the industry with anger toward men.

“You have to just move forward and not allow outside forces to bring you down,” Hamri said. “I don’t enter the market with a chip on my shoulder about men. I look at the male and say, ‘What great qualities does he have?’ And I take those qualities.”

Hamri referred to Rose’s opening statement regarding gender roles when discussing the difficulties women tend to have in articulating what they need in certain situations.
“We’re conditioned, as women, to ask permission,” Hamri said. “I don’t need to ask permission. (Not asking permission) is a quality that men have been able to have, and they’re nurtured to have that.”

Rocklin also referred to gender roles in terms of parenting and family life when addressing preconceived notions she had about the industry.

“I’m a single mom, and had my son as I was in production for ‘The Perfect Guy’ and cracking ‘Spotlight,’” Rocklin said. “You can have it all, and you can find a way to have it all. You figure out how to make it work.”

The idea of racial diversity in Hollywood, as well as gender equality, was a prevalent topic.

Hamri responded to an audience question about the importance of women filmmakers creating cultural diversity in their films.

“It’s almost a lie not to represent the world as it is,” Hamri said. “When you look at the world around you, everyone is different. Women need to be represented and people of color have to be represented because it’s what the truth is.”

Minghella agreed, adding that the answer to female representation was not to strip women in film of their femininity.

She emphasized the need for three dimensional characters who are also women but was wary of ignoring the characteristics of real women.

“I think it’s about having women who are the wife or the girlfriend, but they also have a job, they also have opinions,” Minghella said during the panel.

Di Novi spoke about her annoyance regarding the lack of opportunities women are given to direct films without female subjects.

“The thing that really bugs me is that we’re having females direct the big-action action movies, but they pick them to do ‘Wonder Woman,’” Di Novi said. “We can do ‘Batman’ as well. And it might even be a better movie.”

Lane Lyle, a junior film production major, enjoyed the panel.

“The discussion about the need for film to represent life, and the fact that (Hamri) is moving more minorities in film is super important to me as a half African-American human,” Lyle said.

Lyle loved listening to women speak about their experiences in film at the luncheon prior to the event, where she received a Women in Film award.

“I got to talk to all of these women about their experiences like sleeping in editing bays when James Cameron goes home,” Lyle said.

Lyle was also inspired by speaking with Hamri one-on-one.

“(Hamri) was like, ‘You have to do you,’” Lyle said. “Just being persistent and being yourself, at the end of the day is what’s important. It’s just seeing that people have succeeded.”