{"id":10731,"date":"2023-09-05T11:13:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T09:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/?p=10731"},"modified":"2023-09-21T14:36:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T12:36:48","slug":"women-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/en\/women-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Video: when women seize the camera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\nIn recent years, more and more women and people from gender minority backgrounds have been kickstarting careers as video makers. Nevertheless, they remain in a minority when compared with their male colleagues, whose work is valued more highly. Legitimacy, safety, mutual aid and collective strength: the film director and videographer Diana Vos takes stock of the situation.\n\n\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n
Diana has always loved video. It all began in her teenager\u2019s bedroom with a computer, Lost<\/em> and Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em>: \u2018I would download the series, then cut passages and redo an edited version with what I had watched. Later on, I did the same thing with films. I had a YouTube channel with subscribers and everything,\u2019 she says, with a giggle. Very determined to carve out a career in the milieu, she began a Bachelor\u2019s in the technology of the image at the HELB in Brussels: \u2018Initially, I wanted to do editing before enrolling in cinema school. But I neglected to turn up for the entrance exam, so I did courses which combined the image and editing in the first year,\u2019 she explains, still with the same cheerful tone. Having pocketed her degree, she quickly started working on a series of film and photo shoot projects one after the other: \u2018What really got things going for me was when I covered the Nuits Botaniques by taking photographs. It was in 2018. I photographed Ang\u00e8le during her concert and I amassed a lot of artists\u2019 rights. From then on, people would contact me for concert photos, and to make videos.\u2019 Over the years Diana, having adopted Brussels as her city, has navigated a path in the local music sector and nowadays essentially makes a living from videos: clips, live sessions, after-movies of tours and concerts, interviews and documentaries. She is snowed under with offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nDiana Vos \u00a9 Jos\u00e9phine Devillers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\nDiana Vos \u00a9 Jos\u00e9phine Devillers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, things are not quite as straightforward as they might seem: since the beginning of her career, Diana has witnessed striking gender inequalities within the video sector. \u2018In the cinema schools, there is always more or less gender parity, except that the women choose more \u201cfemale\u201d specialisations such as production, for example. In image-related areas, there are a lot fewer women,\u2019 she adds. On the set, these inequalities are often expressed in violent terms: between sexist comments, invisibilisation and a crucial lack of consideration, women and people from gender minority backgrounds are not always treated well. \u2018One of my friends is a camera assistant. As she does not have a butch lesbian look*, everyone assumes that she is a make-up artist or set design girl,\u2019 she declares. \u2018There is also the \u201cboys club\u201d thing: the blokes are always together, all the time. [\u2026] It is very difficult to gain admittance to productions managed by men: they will just hire their friends, or the friends of friends, who are sometimes not as good as we are. As a result, you are obliged to create your own thing on the side.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mutual aid, networks and legitimacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Giving voice to people who are not heard is Diana\u2019s primary mission. \u2018In Brussels, women collectives which make videos, there is no such thing. Apart from Kokoro Prod and Enfants Terribles Films, all of the organisations, or as good as, are run by men. With La Horde, I want to buck the trend by proving that it also works with a team of women,\u2019 she states. La Horde is the 100% queer and female production company project Diana and her friend Aline Pauwels have been plugging away at for several months. The concept? To provide visibility for the work of artists from gender minority backgrounds whilst offering them a secure and welcoming environment to operate in. \u2018The aim is to get to the point where women and queer people can say to themselves, \u201cOK, there is a company which is like me, I want to work for those people and I am not obliged to do get involved with male production companies, where I don\u2019t always feel comfortable on set, where I get comments or people quite simply don\u2019t even speak to me\u201d,\u2019 she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAlo\u00efse Sauvage \u00e0 l’Olympia \u00a9 Diana Vos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
You won\u2019t be learning anything new: the main power of the collective is the strength of the group. Because other people who are similar to us are doing the same job, because we support one another, because we are part of a professional and career-developing structure which strengthens our sense of legitimacy. \u2018You have the right to try, you have the right to screw up. The idea with La Horde is also to create a space for experimentation, in which we can make mistakes together without getting all worked up about it.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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