I discovered the website Miss En Scene through Instagram and I’m lucky to have contributed to this website as a guest contributer. It is a platform to highlight and amplify female voices in the film industry and also features articles about LGBTQIA+ representation in film and TV.
I’m luckier still to have gotten this wonderful opportunity to talk to the founder of this website, Clare Kingswell, who is wonderful herself. Clare wears many hats—from being a reviewer to a teacher and also a writer and film critic—and she was kind enough to help me gain some more insight into her website:
Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a bit about yourself?
CK: Hello and thank you for having me! I’m Clare and I run a website called ‘Miss En Scene,’ which I started in 2018. The name is a film-based pun, but the ‘Miss’ is particularly relevant as I was a teacher (of English and Media Studies) when I first started the site.
When and how did the idea for ‘Miss En Scene’ sprout?
Rebeca Durán, a female filmmaker that was features in an interview on “Miss En Scene” (submitted photo).
CK: I was the editor of an online music site for six years but had to give that up due to the intense demands of my career. ‘Miss En Scene’ came about for a multitude of reasons: I was really missing writing and needed a creative outlet, I was spending more and more time in the cinema (mostly on my own!) and felt like I needed to record my thoughts, and finally, because a couple of my (female) students said to me that they wanted to be film directors.
That was the inspiration I needed to actually start the site. I always loved teaching and discussing gender representation in media (film, television, advertising, etc.) but the idea to focus on women in film came from my realisation that those young people didn’t have a lot of female role models when it came to women behind the camera. The more reading and research I did, the more determined I became in my mission to celebrate and promote women in film—both in front of the camera and in ‘behind the scenes’ roles.
Could you elaborate on the kinds of content that you publish on ‘Miss En Scene’?
CK: I started out just writing reviews of films that are considered F-Rated (directed by a woman and/or written by a woman) or films that feature significant women on screen. For example, the first review I published was “Lady Bird” (directed and written by Greta Gerwig) and the second was “I, Tonya” (directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Margot Robbie).
This year, as well as the reviews, I also started doing interviews… I want to use my website space as a platform to promote the wonderful women working in the industry.”clare kingswell, miss en scene
Reviewing films is still at the core of what I do, but I’ve introduced more blog categories and regular features as the site has developed. One of these is the ‘Guest Posts’ category, which is intended as a place to host writing by other women and non-binary writers about anything television or film related. My hope is that this will help to give others a boost in a competitive field, enrich the range of voices on my site, as well as providing an online space for women to write freely about film, television and the industry. I’m really proud of all the guest posts published so far and hope it continues!
This year, as well as the reviews, I also started doing interviews. Again, I want to use my website space as a platform to promote the wonderful women working in the industry. I’ve interviewed directors, cinematographers, screenwriters, producers, actors, and a film festival director in recent months. Their stories are incredible! I am always blown away by the level of wisdom shared and the positive messages they share. It’s taught me a lot about the creative process of filmmaking as well as the sheer determination so many female filmmakers demonstrate. They are brilliant leaders and I’m excited to follow their careers.
Finally, I also host a ‘Film and TV Lunch Club.’ There is a different theme each month (normally based around a global day or event) and we meet to discuss the titles on the short list. I post the list on ‘Miss En Scene’ each month, along with a long list of related suggestions to the film. There is always at least one F-Rated title! It started out as a lunch club at work where we would meet in person but due to the pandemic we now meet online. It’s worked out well because now people can join us from anywhere! Besides the meet up, my hope is that these posts will just provide a bit of inspiration for people’s watchlists.
When you initially began the website, did you encounter any hurdles or has it been a smooth run?
Saoirse Ronan (left) with writer/director Greta Gerwig (right) on the set of “Lady Bird” (photo: Merie Wallace).
CK: Not really! I enjoy experimenting with technology, so I enjoyed actually building the website from scratch. The hardest thing was understanding how to reach my audience. I started an Instagram account for ‘Miss En Scene’ in July this year and now I wish I did it sooner! It’s really helped me to connect with film lovers across the world and a network of filmmakers that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to meet. The array of knowledge within the community (affectionately called ‘Filmstagram’) there blows me away. I was made to feel a welcome member of that little corner of the internet very quickly which was much appreciated.
I feel that your site has been a great platform to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices and female filmmakers. What are some changes that you would like to see in the future with regards to how the film fraternity treats female filmmakers, actresses and of course, the LGBTQIA+ community?
CK: Thank you. I hope so. I’m a proud intersectional feminist and believe that if we are to empower women, that must include women from all communities. Equality shouldn’t be complicated, but it is. With regards to film, I think the industry still requires a huge shift, and I’m saying that as an onlooker and as someone who has read about and listened in on this conversation, rather than participating in it.
That said, filmmaking is statistically male-dominated and has been for a very long time. The percentage of women working in key behind the scenes roles on top grossing films has barely budged in 20 years (according to the 2020 Living Archive study) and that suggests to me that women are not valued enough in technical and creative roles behind the camera. I would like to see the vision, viewpoints and perspectives of women, people of colour and the LGBTQIA+ community given far more (equal!) value and opportunities.
Many film festivals already consider gender (and race) within their programming with a lot aiming for 50% or above, so there’s no reason why streaming platforms can’t take the same approach. There is room for everybody.”clare kingswell, miss en scene
Socioeconomic status and class also play a role too. Like I said, it’s complicated! We know how much of a cultural impact films can have and I’d love to see how attitudes towards gender, race, and sexuality would change if what we saw on-screen was being told by much more diverse cast and crews.
In terms of treatment: acknowledgement, equal pay, and redressing traditional beliefs about ‘gendered’ roles would be a good start—there is very little diversity in cinematography, for example. A lot of independent films are coming through where 50% of the crew are female and the characters (no matter the gender) are portrayed as far more complex characters rather than just pigeonholed archetypes. They are more conscious as filmmakers—perhaps because they’re in it for the art and the craft, rather than as a money making enterprise. Major studios (NBSUniversal, ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia, Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures—all of which have a white male CEO at the helm) could be doing that too, of course. Streaming services can also play their part in commissioning content where production and representation has been carefully thought about. Many film festivals already consider gender (and race) within their programming with a lot aiming for 50% or above, so there’s no reason why streaming platforms can’t take the same approach. There is room for everybody.
I also checked out some of your interviews with filmmakers and with other women who are leaving their mark in the industry. Who are some other filmmakers or people from the film industry whom you hope to interview some day?
Film festivals like the Athena Film Festival help to include women’s voices in cinema and herald diversity (photo: womeninhollywood.com).
CK: I really admire Ava DuVernay, Chloe Zhao, and Laura Dern and would love the chance to interview them. I would also love to speak to Rachel Morrison, the first woman ever nominated for an Oscar for cinematography. I think Edith Bowman, who is a British presenter and podcast host, would be great to chat to as well. I haven’t done any interviews with other female film critics yet so that’s on my list too.
What big plans do you have for the website in the future? What more can readers expect from ‘Miss En Scene’?
CK: The call for women writers is always open so hopefully more articles and voices on the site offering different takes on film and television! The themes for the next couple of months for my Film and TV Lunch Club are ‘Australia’ and ‘Love is Love.’ I’ve also got plans to mark International Women’s Day that I need to finalise, so keep your eyes peeled in March. I may branch out of the written word more and dabble with audio, but we will see what 2021 brings!
That brings us to the end of this interview, but do head on over to Miss En Scene to read some awesome write-ups on the empowering women in film, LGBTQIA+ representation in the industry, film and TV show reviews, etc, and interesting interviews like this one with filmmaker Rebeca Durán and much more here: https://www.missenscene.co.uk/single-post/2020/08/07/feature-in-conversation-with-rebeca-dur-c3-a1n.
Also, give Clare a follow on Instagram since she posts a lot of interesting stuff and also has guides to some of her best articles there.
