There is a moment at the beginning of American Woman in which a man asks the film’s protagonist, “Why are you girls so goddamn mad?” The woman being questioned, Jenny Shimada ( Hong Chau, Downsizing), remains silent, but no matter her response, I was ready to stand up and cheer. Yet by telling this story through the eyes of a character who would too often be relegated to the periphery, American Woman gives us a much-needed new viewpoint on a time period that has been depicted on celluloid so many times before.
Loosely inspired by the woman who spent time with Patty Hearst while the heiress was on the run with revolutionaries, the film focuses on the complex politics and emotions that ran like an electric undercurrent through that troubled era in American history. In the case of American Woman, writer-director Semi Chellas’ adaptation of the novel of the same name by Susan Choi, that different perspective is that of an Asian-American activist during the dying days of the Vietnam War. These films might not have the most glamorous celebrity names attached or draw the biggest crowds at the festival, but if you take a chance on them, you will often be richly rewarded with stories told from a much different perspective than what you’re used to seeing on the big screen.
While the mainstream box office might still be dominated by films made by men and telling men’s stories, film festivals such as Tribeca are rich with diversity – if you know where to look. When I attend a film festival, I make it a priority to see as many films directed by and/or focused on women as humanly possible.