Women Under The Influence Film Festival's Founder Tabitha Denholm Discusses The Magical Weekend In Idyllwild
In the 90-year run of the Academy Awards, only four of the Best Director winners have been women. And while in film we’re starting to see more diverse women’s stories be told — by women themselves — we’ve still got a long way to go. And that’s why the work Tabitha Denholm is doing is so important.
Denholm is best known for her directorial work (including videos for Florence and the Machine, Haim, and Dawes) as well as being 1/2 of the DJ duo Queens of Noize, but in 2015, she also founded Women Under The Influence, a community devoted to spotlighting and sharing the work of female filmmakers. And this year, the organization took the next natural step in doing just that — a film festival set in the heart of California’s San Jacinto Mountains.
WUTI Goes IdyllWILD has its inaugural weekend September 20th through 22nd, and it’s safe to say that the venture exceeded even the highest expectations of its attendees. Besides featuring screenings for films by Alex Prager, Hailey Gates, Kimberly Pierce, and the late Anges Varda (among others) as well as panel discussions and conversations with Karen O, Courtney Love, and Barbara Kopple, there were surprise appearances and performances — most memorably Ariel Pink serenading Max the Mayor, the infamous Golden Retriever that presides over Idyllwild.
Following the event, Denholm recounted some of her favorite moments from the weekend with us, plus shared her thoughts as a woman working in the industry. For the highlight reel, plus how she gets inspired by her peers, and what made her fall for Idyllwild, read on.
Photo Courtesy of Davey James Clark
You started WUTI a few years ago. What was your original impetus?
[It] grew out of a frustration with people’s knowledge about women filmmakers from people in the industry and the fact that that lack of knowledge feed into an unconscious bias. So I wanted to spread the stories of heroic women filmmakers. It is also a passion: I love discovering the underrepresented history of cinema driven by women.
I also was excited about the idea of creating a screening series that was an opportunity for people to get together to share their love of cinema so the two interests collided. I wanted to do events that would be exciting for all kinds of people, not just people already interested in “women in film." We have been running screenings since 2015 celebrating great cinema by women — for everyone.
What were some of your favorite moments from the festival?
For me there were lots of little moments that might not be the obvious ones, like seeing everyone walking through the windy roads with their flashlights, or hearing the local ex-marines at the party laughing at how packed with people their local spot had become. It was always the dream of the festival that away from all the pressures of the city we would see these fascinating combinations of people coming together in a way that felt welcoming, so it was so memorable to see [Warhol Superstar] Viva swapping stories with our younger directors.
Photos Courtesy of Davey James Clark
Other smaller moments included a very moving conversation with one of my documentary heroes Barbara Kopple, who was so lovely and humble. We screened her new documentary New Homeland on Sunday morning at the local Town Hall and everyone had tears in their eyes and huddled together. It was fun announcing our midnight movie Blood Diner with Jackie Kong to our audience of die hard cinephiles and seeing Daft Punk in the audience, and it was so generous of Courtney Love to make the trip up there and have everyone in stitches. Also, [the Wayne’s Word screening] on the Saturday night under the stars when everyone had pizza and wine and Penelope Spheeris and Tia Carrera were in a very mischievous mood.
There were just so many moments but I didn’t even get to see lots of them because I was running around! I am going to get all the videos of the conversations that I couldn’t watch at the festival and screen them in my garden and live it all over again. Although we are already plotting WUTI Goes IdyllWILD 2020!
How did you settle on Idyllwild as the location? What do you love about it?
Meredith, the cultural programer at Neuehouse, fell in love with the town of Idyllwild, and we have a running joke that we always go for the day but end up getting lured in by forces beyond our control and end up extending the trip. Idyllwild is such a unique town with quite a funky countercultural history. It is very open and what other town that size has a historic movie theater, outdoor amphitheater, and renowned art school all within walking distance? It is also the perfect distance from LA to kick the dust off your heels and escape for the weekend. In September you even get to experience autumn! So we teamed up with creative director Laura Rule and decided to start a festival there.
Photos Courtesy of Davey James Clark
As a director and artist yourself, how does being around other female artists inspire you/ your work?
The sense of community around women working in the film industry in LA is inspiring! It is such a shift from the days when women felt they had to be competitive with the other women at the company: Now it is about extending a hand to the other woman and building an alliance.
