Tia Lessin was nominated for an Academy Award for her work as a director and producer of the Hurricane Katrina survival story “Trouble the Water,” winner of the 2008 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Gotham Independent Film Award. She directed and produced “Citizen Koch,” about the rise of the Tea Party in the Midwest, which also premiered at Sundance and was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2014. “The Janes” is the third feature-length documentary that Lessin has directed.
Emma Pildes is an Emmy-nominated producer and filmmaker. As one of Pentimento Productions’ principal producers, Pildes produced “Spielberg,” “Jane Fonda in Five Acts,” and “Very Ralph,” all for HBO Documentary Films. At PBS’ “American Masters,” Pildes helped to produce the Emmy and Peabody-award winning “LennoNYC,” Emmy-award winning “Inventing David Geffen,” as well as “American Masters: Billie Jean King.” “The Janes” is Pilde’s directorial debut.
“The Janes” is screening at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which is running online from January 20-30. More information can be found on the fest’s website.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
EP: “The Janes” is a cautionary tale. The story is our past and potentially our future.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
TL: I was immediately struck by the drama of the Jane story — a group of ordinary women turned outlaws, risking arrest and a lifetime in prison to help women in need. As a filmmaker, I’m drawn to telling stories about resistance, particularly women’s resistance – the stories are so damn compelling, and too many have been erased from history.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
EP: I don’t have any one expectation for what people should think after watching this film. Or any film, really. For me, documentaries are about giving people the opportunity to explore and experience places they may not otherwise have access to. We wanted to tell this story and put people in this historical moment in an effort to help drive the conversation around reproductive rights in this country. To understand the stakes. Where they go from there is up to them.
TL: I agree with Emma. And when the credits roll, I don’t want audiences to be thinking. I want them to be feeling – exhilarated, angry, inspired, engaged.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
TL&EP: The pandemic was a huge challenge in making “The Janes.” While we were fortunate to have filmed more than half of the interviews before February 2020, we had to postpone key interviews with our older subjects for six months and we had to put the edit room on ice.
But we persisted. Finishing the film and getting invited to Sundance was a big middle finger to Covid. We never imagined that the pandemic would still be going strong in 2022 and that the world premiere of “The Janes” would be a virtual one.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
EP: There is no dearth of talent or determination or stories to tell in this world and funding is the worst of all reasons for a great film not to get made. We were incredibly lucky to have HBO come onboard in the very early stages of this film.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
TL: Getting rejected from film school.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
TL: The best filmmaking advice I’ve ever received is from documentary cinematographer and director Joan Churchill: “Point the camera at what interests you.” It’s really that simple.
EP: Jerry Temaner, one of the founding members of Kartemquin, told me very early on, “Making documentaries is a group sport, but take the time to be knowledgeable about all of it. Understand everyone’s contribution and then you can come back to the parts you love most.”
W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?
EP: Hire other women.
TL: Collaborate with people who respect and support your vision and your creative decisions. Don’t tolerate mansplaining. Also, keep hydrated and feed your crew.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
TL: Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning film “Harlan County, USA” is a masterpiece. Barbara was fearless in the making of it and kept her cameras rolling despite death threats and violence. The film is riveting to watch and has brought me to tears more than once.
EP: I’m no good at picking favorites but Tia and Carl Deal’s film “Trouble The Water” comes immediately to mind. That film excited and inspired me in new ways, which is always the itch I’m trying to scratch with documentaries.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?
EP: Making this film during a global pandemic was not easy. But it was also a gift. We had this beautiful constant in our daily lives, for which I feel immensely grateful. We were able to hunker down with our work – reading, watching, listening, and absorbing. The process of telling this story really was a tremendous source of strength and resolve for me.
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make it more inclusive?
TL: The film industry must heed the many calls for systemic change and radical accountability – that goes for independent production companies as well as distributors, studios, funders, talent agencies, unions and guilds, film schools, and festivals. All structural barriers preventing entry, visibility, and just compensation for artists of color must be removed, as detailed in Sahar Driver’s Beyond Inclusion report.
As a member of the documentary branch, I would also like to see the representation and inclusion standards that the Oscars have adopted for eligibility in the best picture category adapted and extended to the documentary feature and short film categories.
