Now in our fifth year of supporting female filmmaking talent, here at Underwire we are keen to keep track of our alumni and celebrate their achievements. As we approach Underwire 2014, we have been catching up with some of the wonderful craftswomen who have showcased at the festival, to find out what they’ve been up to and what’s coming next…

First in our interview series is filmmaker and artist Jessica Cheeseman, who was nominated for Best Cinematographer at Underwire 2011 for her film Needle. Find out more about Jessica’s work

What was your experience of screening at Underwire?
I really enjoyed it. Really friendly and supportive people and atmosphere. There was an eclectic mix of films shortlisted and I was up against some really tough competition too.

What was the process of entering your film in the festival?
I submitted my film ‘Needle’ to the Director’s category originally. Underwire got back to me asking if they could short list it for best Cinematography instead. Although I also directed the actors, cinematography is where I feel I’m strongest creatively and no festival has ever asked me if they could include my work in a category where they felt it was better suited. I really appreciated the personal touch.

Did any opportunities arise directly from the festival?
At the Underwire networking breakfast, I made quite a few new contacts, most significantly cellist and composer Katie Chatburn who’d been shortlisted for best soundtrack that year. We’re working on a project together at the moment.

What have you been up to since? Who have you been working with?
Since Needle, I have been working on other art projects, directing and co-directing works and attending a few screenings for them. My next film, like Needle, mixes live action with some animation and is based around the theme of ‘sound and silence’. It’s due to premiere at the Teststrip film night at the APT Gallery this November.

Cinematography-wise I finished a 30 minute silent film called ‘Arthur Sleep’. The first time director is a musician and graphic designer. He had unconventional ways of presenting his ideas such as using mood boards which graphic designers use to present their colour pallette and style for a project. There a was a lot of creative problem solving to do too which I enjoy. The plot is a Greek myth updated to a 30’s film noir, complete with costumes and lighting style, a touch which I totally loved. It screened at Deptford town hall with a live orchestral soundtrack and that was amazing.

I’m currently gearing up to shoot the final live action scene of a feature-length horror film called ‘Baked Alaska’. It’s the biggest project I’ve undertaken so far and with the horror aesthetic there have been a lot of interesting lighting and camera set-ups to work with. The plot involves transatlantic time travel, ghosts and a bit of body harvesting. The director is a long term collaborator of mine and has been editing it as we go. It’s been a lot of fun to shoot and I think that will come over in the final cut.

How important has screening at festivals been for you as a cinematographer?
It is a real buzz to see your work on a big screen. Especially as a cinematographer. You lose a lot of that experience when watching it on TV or through web streaming. Your role as Cinematographer on the film gets the exposure it should from a cinema screening at a festival so it’s definitely worth doing.

Would you like to see more support and celebration of craftswomen in the film industry?
I work in a university Audio Visual department in order to feed myself and have the freedom to choose what film projects I want to work on. So I guess, not working in the mainstream film industry myself, I’m taking an outsiders view when I answer this question. Which is yes totally.

It always helps to have role models when you’re starting out for example. People whose work you’re influenced by. If your role models are male you know as a female you’re going to be treated differently to how they were treated. Seeing the other women already making it in your area - even if they don’t influence you stylistically - still encourages you to think ‘I can do that too’. It makes it all more of a reality.

Even now when I see a fantastic piece of cinematography on a film or television program I find myself smiling a little wider when I see a woman’s name come up on the credits for it. Technical based careers are still extremely male-dominated. There’s no real excuse for it as far as I can see except that maybe many women are being discouraged early on. The trailblazers would have to have been twice as resilient as a man would be doing the same job with a lot more self-belief to boot.

So while I’d love to see the day when ‘female’ is dropped from the front of ‘filmmaker, director or cinematographer’ because it is no longer relevant. That day is still a long way off and right now women craftspeople, as a glaring minority, definitely need more recognition and support.

Do you have any advice for craftswomen currently submitting their work to film festivals?
By all means submit to the big name festivals but also try some smaller ones and newer ones. Festivals just starting out tend to be less competitive and better at offering feedback too. Then it’s up to you whether you want to listen to it or not. For instance one told me that maybe ‘Needle’, being an experimental film, would work better in a gallery rather than a cinema. Underwire screened it in the cinema and it went down very well. It has also screened in a gallery and, with the white walls, and echoey acoustics the effect and experience of seeing it was totally different.

When you get accepted to a festival, go along in person too if you can. I’ve met other organisers this way and got other screenings. Plus, like different venues having a different effect on your film, different audiences react differently to your film in different screenings which is always interesting.

A word of caution also. Submitting to festivals is pretty exhausting, as is filmmaking in general. So in order to avoid getting overwhelmed, submit to a few at a time, be selective and don’t burn yourself out. If you miss a few submission deadlines it’s not the end of the world. There are other festivals as well as other ways of getting your work out there.