NOW YOU SEE HER

NOW YOU SEE HER

It sounds like something from a 1950’s sci-fi horror film – Invisible Woman Syndrome, but it’s something that many older women recognise and has gained significant attention in the media recently, with people like Rachel Ward and Wendy Harmer discussing and writing about it. Basically, it’s the feeling of being invisible in everyday life and extends right through to being under-represented in the media.

Imagine this, you’re an older woman and you’ve gone into a cafe to order a coffee. It’s crowded, there is pop-music playing and no matter how hard you try, you cannot get the attention of the wait-staff.

That’s exactly how Now You See Her starts, a film being made by Sydney filmmaker Sarah Steel and produced by Alison Kirwan. Steel describes her motivation for making the film, “I really wanted to make something that was quite female focused, because I’ve made two shorts, one in Sydney and one in London, and I’m always complaining about the female representation in film and both my shorts are male dominated.”

The idea of the invisible woman is particularly interesting given Australia’s current political climate, with the controversy surrounding Julia Gillard’s election and retirement. Whatever your political views, it cannot be disputed that much of the flak Gillard suffered during her Prime Ministership was related to not just her gender but also her age and high visibility. Apparently an unmarried career-driven woman presents a threat to the status quo in Australia. This issue was no clearer when towards the end of her term, she appeared in Woman’s Weekly, knitting with a dog by her side. This was an attempt to feminise her.

Kirwan says, “She didn’t fit that demographic, she wasn’t married and she didn’t have children. If you don’t fit a kind of mould by a certain age either, then maybe you’re not seen as ‘proper’.”

Both women are very aware of the issues that arise when women are in high-powered positions. Kirwan reflects, “She wouldn’t have had the same issues thrown at her, if she’d been a man. I mean I didn’t agree with all of her policies, but then you don’t have to, that’s not the point.”

“It should be based on policies, the conversation wasn’t about that,” adds Steel.

“What’s come out of it is that Australia is having a dialogue about it. Where as before it wasn’t even there, feminism is seen as won. Why do we have to have a conversation about that, it rises to the surface?” Kirwan remarks.

“Actually we do have to have a lot of conversations about it… A man wouldn’t be asked ‘How is this man balancing his family and career, how is he doing it’?” Steel says firmly.

The film will go at least some way to contribute to this dialogue, as part of the problem with older woman feeling invisible is their under-representation in popular media. The concept of the invisible woman goes beyond simple ageism; it’s about what women represent in wider culture. Steel says that it’s a “result of the objectification of young women – you’re seen because you’re sexualised and attractive, and then you reach an age where you’re not that anymore so what are you?”

Now You See Her follows Jane, a fifty-something year old woman, who experiences invisibility everyday. When her car breaks down on a trip to visit friends, she stumbles across a country fair and meets an old travelling performer who makes her locket disappear.

Steel says, “Because I’d been reading about this Invisible Woman Syndrome, I thought using this kind of fairytale story to talk about this bigger issue would work really well.”

She goes on, “I kind of wanted to make a film that had two older strong female protagonists… It is quite easy for women to sympathise with male characters because we grow up with a lack of women in films, whereas men don’t tend to do the opposite.”

The film is Steel’s passion project, adapted from a friend’s unpublished story. To date, the film is being self-funded by Steel, with support from Metro Screen towards equipment and with an entirely voluntary crew.

Kirwan says, “We’ve managed to get a really great crew on board with a lot of experience.”

It is also using crowd sourcing to raise awareness and further finance on the site Pozible. Crowd sourcing sites like Pozible provide a great benefit to young filmmakers.

“When people see it on Pozible and chip in a bit of cash they also get involved with the project and are interested in the outcome,” Steel says. She goes on to explain that with this film, contributors purchase the right to get a download when the film comes out.

“It’s a really nice way of feeling involved with the project,” explains Steel. (ATS)

pozible.com/project/26912

facebook.com/NowYouSeeHer

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