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'After the Facts' - changing film historiography to recognise the influential innovations of women in early film

Impact: Culture impacts, Training impacts, Symbolic impacts

Purpose of research project *

To discover, illuminate and communicate the influence of women on the development of film form by using innovations for which historical women filmmakers are (or should be) known to tell their stories.

To generate new knowledge of creativity and collaboration through practice and analysis of expert filmmaking teams in history and the present.

Who has, is or will benefit *

Recovering the overlooked contributions of women to the development of film form has benefitted creative women in many fields by providing role models and evidence of authorial achievement that counter oft-repeated misapprehensions about women's creative participation in early film. Through re-publication on the Women Film Pioneers Project online database, this film has reached thousands of people and is readily accessible for teaching, screenings and discussions.

The film changes the nomenclature of a device central to creation of compelling screen stories and characters from 'the Kuleshov effect' to 'the Editors Effect'.

This change benefits film editors worldwide by proposing and popularising a concise and compelling way of recognising editors expert judgement. It shifts understanding of the development of editing as an art form from being the closed and finite work of one man to recognition of the ongoing and significant participation of editors in the evolution of film form.

Academics and students in filmmaking, film history, and feminist historiography all benefit from the film and its demonstration of new ways of doing and understanding film history. Re-publication by the Australian Film Television and Radio School research project on inclusive and equitable film teaching methods has, along with accessibility through other website (including the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image site) , Kanopy, and film festival screenings, ensured that the changes to understanding of film history are being embedded in curricula internationally.

Description of impact *

Esteemed film historian Jane M. Gaines, Professor of Film at Columbia University, writes: "In 'After the Facts' we have what feminist film theory never achieved in the 1970s—a theory of women’s editing practice. ... 'After the Facts' stimulates the field, challenges it to return women to the top, taking as its premise that to start with “women in the early industry” is to transform motion picture filmmaking as a historical field. ... 'After the Facts' demonstrates that there are more places to “look” than we “thought to look,” especially if we are looking for women working at editing." ('In Transition' 01-06-2020, 6/4 Special Issue:Montage Reloaded https://doi.org/10.16995/intransition.11365)

Category of impactCulture impacts, Training impacts, Symbolic impacts
Impact levelBenefit (mid)

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