Jennifer Siebel Newsom brought Miss Representation to Sundance

Sundance wraps up this weekend and Bay Area filmmakers were front and center. Jennifer Siebel Newsom premiered her directorial debut, Miss Representation, at the festival.

Miss Representation is a startling documentary that takes a look at the portrayal of women in the media and the sheer power and influence the media has on our perception of the people around us.

Newsom was inspired to create the film when she began to think of the world she was bringing her children into. She is candid in her approach to the topic and honest and open about her own struggles. The film presents startling statistics about the underrepresentation of women in the political arena, the prevalence of violence against women, and the sexualization of girls at a young age. Newsom hopes her film will spark a social movement with the power to change the landscape of American society. To Newsome, Miss Representation is not just a film, but also an action plan.

While at Sundance I had an opportunity to discuss Miss Representation with Jennifer Siebel Newsome. Below is an excerpt from our conversation.

Diane Davis; The premiere had an unbelievable reception, full house, huge wait list line and a standing ovation once the lights came up. Is this what you were expecting or hoping for?

Jennifer Siebel Newsom: You know I'm just so appreciative and grateful that we got to launch the film and the movement essentially here at Sundance Film Festival. I can't think of a better entree for this film and for our social action campaign. So, I'm obviously very honored and I suppose somewhat surprised, but in some sense not surprised because we have been hosting these sort of 'power hours' across the country, mostly on the coast. Over the past two years where we have had these conversations with both men and women and people have been very receptive for the most part and really excited. So, I'm very enthusiastic and appreciative.

DD: So, what will be happening after Sundance?

JSN: Right now we are working out our distribution deal. So the film will be on TV, in theaters, in schools, both grade school, middle schools, and high schools. Although, the younger students will receive more tame versions of the film and shorter versions of the film for education curriculum. There will be many events surrounding the documentary because it is more than a film it is a real social action film.

DD: You are calling this a 'social action plan,' what do you want people to take away from the movie?

JSN: I want people to recognize their individual power as consumers. You know, women are 80% consumers in this country and you don't have to consume or buy that which makes you feel bad about yourself or which is degrading or demeaning of women or of those that you care about. I want people to recognize their power as citizens, as those who elect officials who are there to protect and empower us. So, there is a lot we can do individually, there's stuff we can do as communities and organizations to consume good media and not consume bad media, or even boycott bad media.

DD: Your film is full of statistics that people don't normally talk about. While researching the film what was the statistic that was the most shocking to you?

JSN: That 15% of rape victims are under the age of 12. I would say that horrified me, and being a mother of a daughter and with a son on the way... we have to do something in our culture to reduce violence towards women and to really shed light on the fact that unfortunately there is this notion that violence in the media isn't correlated, or that there isn't a correlation of violence in the media or violence in our culture and what the message and the imagery of what it is to be a man and that is being communicated to young boys. We really have to look at the fact that men are the primary perpetrators of violence against women, especially young women, and that we are also sexualizing women at a younger and younger age. So, it's depressing, it is something that we have to address and we cannot ignore the fact that all of this is connected.

DD: In the beginning of this film you really reveal a lot about yourself. Did you have any apprehension about sharing your story?

JSN: You know, it is hard sharing. I wasn't apprehensive, it just was hard to go through that because I still struggle with the loss of my sister and I still struggle with some of the things that happened to me when I was a young girl and so it is painful. It is painful just recording the narrative, but I felt like I needed to tell my story and I was encouraged to tell my story and to speak the truth so that people could understand why this is so important to me and so that people could perhaps see themselves in me as well, or see their struggles in someone else and to make the film more universal.

DD: What's next for you?

JSN: There are a few films that we are contemplating making next. One looks at the way the media impacts our men and boys and delves deeper into that. Given the 24 hour news and info-tainment cycle and that there is no sort of buffer protecting young men from some of the imagery and messages that the media is communicating to us daily, 24/7. I'm also really curious, internationally, about how women are empowered in other countries around the world and what the political climate looks like for women over seas and the business climate, corporate climate, corporate representation, and also... It is interesting, I had dinner with some friends the other night with some friends from Norway. In Norway women get a years paid family leave and their partners get 10 1/2 weeks paid leave. If their partners don't take it there is, not necessarily a fine, but they don't receive that money. I think that is really interesting because Norway gets that men need to play a role in parenting and that men need to see the value in parenting in order to change the culture such that not everything is put on the women. I think in America there are more and more men who are playing a larger role in parenting given the careers of their wives. I think we really should look at what Norway has done and see if there is something we can emulate. There still is this stigma in America and I think unfortunately some men do feel shame or embarrassment when they are the only male in the mommy and me group. I want to empower men to feel confident and empowered being the primary parent and I want there to be less stigma around that in America. That is something that I would be interested in exploring in one of these different documentaries.

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