Name: Listen to Your Creative Core: Why Filmmaking Needs Courage
Start: 2025-02-16 17:00:00
Location: HAU2

Distinct as their crafts and voices may be, what unites director Cheryl Dunye, producer Christine Vachon, and actress-filmmaker Sara Fazilat is an unwavering commitment to their visions and communities. With "The Watermelon Woman" (a Berlinale highlight from 1996) Dunye offered something electrifyingly new: a study of Black lesbian identity by a Black lesbian director. From "Carol" to "May December", Todd Haynes’s longtime producer Vachon, in turn, is responsible for some of the most astute and engrossing films in recent memory. And Fazilat, whose most recent acting credits include Ali Abbasi’s 2022 "Holy Spider" and Michael Fetter Nathansky’s "Every You Every Me" (a Berlinale Panorama standout from last year) has long been promoting equality for all genders and diversity in the film industry. In this talk, the three weigh in on their different practices, their relationship with the industry, and the ways they’ve fought to defend their ideas and empower others to pursue theirs.

Cheryl Dunye

Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American director, producer, and writer who emerged as part of the "queer new wave" of 1990s filmmakers. She has made over 15 films, including "Mommy Is Coming", "The Owls", "My Baby’s Daddy", and HBO’s "Stranger Inside", which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Her feature film "The Watermelon Woman" (1996) won the Teddy Award and was restored for its 20th anniversary. Her short film "Black Is Blue" (2014) was named a “Must See Feminist Film” by IndieWire. Dunye has directed series like "Queen Sugar", "Dear White People", "Bridgerton", and "Lovecraft Country". Her "Strange Case" episode was NAACP Image Award-nominated and listed among 2020’s best episodes. In 2018, she launched JINGLETOWN FILMS, developing "The Gilda Stories" and a feature-length "Black Is Blue".

Christine Vachon

Christine Vachon is an Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award winner who co-founded powerhouse Killer Films with partner Pamela Koffler in 1995. Over three decades, they have produced more than 100 films, including some of the most celebrated and important American independent features: "Kids", "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Happiness", "Boys Don’t Cry", "Hedwig and the Angry Inch", "Far from Heaven", "One Hour Photo", "Still Alice", "Carol", "Beatriz at Dinner", and "Dark Waters". In television, Vachon executive-produced the Emmy and Golden Globe-awarded miniseries "Mildred Pierce" for HBO as well as the Emmy Award-winning limited series "Halston" for Netflix. Recent releases include Todd Haynes' "May December" (Netflix), starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, and Celine Song's "Past Lives" (A24), which marks her first Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category.

Sara Fazilat

Sara Fazilat is a storyteller both on and off screen, working as an actress, producer, screenwriter, and director. She studied acting in London at RADA and Guildhall and filmmaking at the DFFB and Columbia University in New York. In 2017, she was selected for Berlinale Talents. On television, Fazilat has appeared in several films and series, including "Counterpart" alongside J.K. Simmons. In cinema, she was part of "1000 Zeilen", "Every You Every Me", and the German Film Award-winning and Cannes-winning "Holy Spider" by Ali Abbasi. Her Film NICO was nominated for the German Academy Award 2022 and was among 9 Films shortlisted from German Films for the Oscar Entry.