Representation matters always, and as Marian Wright Edelman famously said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” It is therefore essential that if we want more Female to be involved in different aspects of the society, then we have to make them visible for the world to see. So that girls can see models and representations that’ll help them grow into great achievers.
This matter of representation and visibility is what Elena Rossini is tackling for the Film industry. She wants to make sure female film directors are made more visible.
Since graduating from film school, Elena Rossini said on her website that her number one challenge as a working director has been the issue of credibility. “Whenever I introduce myself and say that I am a filmmaker, the first follow up question is invariably: “Oh are you a film student?” or “Ah, what kind of little videos do you make?” At a professional conference not long ago, a woman actually asked me if I shoot my films on my iPhone. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I decided to be proactive, to speak up, and to engage in everyday actions that would promote the visibility of Female directors.”
She has therefore decided to tackle this by spinning the pop-culture storytelling pattern through the use of gifs! Elena has embarked on a mission to populate Giphy with images of Female directors with the tagline ‘This is what a director looks like’. Since launching, Elena has created over 30 gifs about Female directors and her GIF of Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour is one of the top search results on Google. Follow her Giphy channel.
via GIPHY
Elena Rossini is an Italian film director, producer, editor and public speaker. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of No Country for Young Women, a website whose aim is to provide positive role models for young girls.