Sundance 2018 confirmed what I already knew to be true, sending a resounding message that story, art and film are our greatest weapons of mass construction.
This year the industry is doubling down, putting more money and visibility into affecting change, specifically around sexual harassment and assault.
From the most superficial – Time’s Up pins, Planned Parenthood hats – to continuous programming on arts and activism and the power of the two combined, to the foot soldiers on the frontlines of culture change – artists, storytellers and filmmakers using their work to help us all come to grips with the injustices of modern times – never has the commitment to social justice been so clear as it was at this year’s festival.
Of the 122 features that premiered at Sundance this year, 45 – including RBG, Seeing Allred, Jane Fonda in Five Acts, On Her Shoulders, Half the Picture, and Jennifer Fox’s The Tale – were directed by women.
Hollywood has always cared about elevating stories that expose issues, but 2018 is the year that we put our money, time, energy – and hopefully more awards – where our mouths are. The launch of Time’s Up on January 1st set the tone, and the Golden Globes kicked off the awards season on a high. Oprah Winfrey talked about championing the women “whose names we otherwise would not know,” and educated the masses on the story of Recy Taylor, the subject of the recent documentary film “The Rape of Recy Taylor.”
The SAG Awards featured all-female presenters who continued to call for truth and change throughout the night.
We are making headway, but the 90th Academy Award nominations showed we still have a long way to go. Nominees are mostly male and still very white.
It is the telling of stories of women by women that will lead to the change that advocates and social impact practitioners seek. This can only happen with women at the helm. We need women from the ground up – in director’s chairs, producing films, as cinematographers and editors – and we need to have each other’s backs.
White women have an obligation to ensure pay equity among our sisters of color. Both Octavia Spencer and Jada Pinkett Smith have openly shared about their work with Jessica Chastain. Does she march and wear black to awards shows? I’m sure. But more importantly: She leverages her white privilege to get more money – the amount deserved – for her co-workers on various films.
That’s not always the case. There are times when people we think are advocating to expose the system of corruption and abuse turn out to be something other than the progressives they seem to be. When a small boutique public relations firm I worked for years ago was shuttered as a result of widespread allegations of assault and harassment by an executive against employees and clients, I was initially stunned. This was the place where I worked when I led the social impact and advocacy campaign for the previously Oscar-nominated film “The Invisible War,” a documentary that exposed the epidemic of sexual assault in the U.S. military. The accompanying campaign I ran pushed for reforms and influenced important policy change. This was a place where my colleagues and I showed up to work every day to advocate for the rights of women and girls.
Yet we continue building power through the telling of our own stories and elevating those of other women – not just the glitzy stories of high-profile women, but of hidden figures who day in and day out have been some of the greatest champions for change. To ensure this movement is more than a watershed moment, we must continue to do so at festivals, during awards season and beyond.
Heidi Nel is a principal in the Washington D.C. office of Raben Group, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm firm committed to making connections, solving problems, and inspiring change across the corporate, nonprofit, foundation, and government sectors.
