Bianca Oana - Women in Film (EN)

We continue the series of interviews from the file “Women in film” with Bianca Oana, the Romanian producer of some of the movies with the most awards from the last years, such as Colectiv (dir. Alexandra Nanau) and Touch me Not (r. Adina Pintilie).

Can you briefly tell us what happens during a typical workday as a producer?

It depends on the stage of the project. The typical workday (pre-covid) had emails, meetings and phone calls, and a lot of travelling to festivals and industry programmes (pitching forums, funding committees, screenings, etc). A lot of what I do is “officework”, which means that I spend a lot of time preparing a project (from financing, to working with the team – especially with the director – to administrative work: accounting and legal work). There is a long way to the actual filming. And this is usually the shortest period of all of the production. Next is the post-production, which again can last for months, and finally the distribution, that with a bit of luck, can last for a lifetime. It can be more intense for the first two years, followed by the launch of a DVD, a festival screening or an educational screening etc. 

I think that one of my favourite days would be being busy with creative work (the financing strategy, the preparation of a creative file and meetings with the co-producers and team members to develop a plan). What I like less is working no excel (even though I have become rather good with it after a lot of time and struggle) and staying on set to oversee the team, especially when the budget is low and does not allow for tasks to be divided and two people end up doing the work of four. But this is inevitable, especially now during the pandemic. And in the end, all jobs have their dark sides that I think you learn how to handle with time, in order to focus on what you know how to do best. 

What does the concept of the female gaze mean to you, how would you define it? Could you give us an example of a movie you have worked on and in which you think that the female gaze brings a valuable contribution?

This is a complex question, and answering it will take some time so bear with me :). It seems to me that the female gaze is a term often used in a combative manner. It was invented as a response to the concept of the male gaze (pertaining to the theorist Laura Mulvey, name dropping for trivia) and and it implicitly became a weapon, an all encompassing concept that could explain in one shot women’s point of view in film in the first place (since this is where it started), and subsequently in the other arts as well. I try to ignore gender theories when I think abut a project or when I watch a movie, since it would seem like putting on a pair of filtering glasses – if I think before about any of the terms used by the film critics or about the feminist waves. I do not think that the female gaze can be used by itself in a movie or that you can choose to have it or not. And I do not think that I would like to work on a movie that defines itself by it either.  

Until now I have worked with two female directors, Ivana Mladenovi and Adina Pintilie, and I can say that the female gaze was never raised as a point of view in itself. Yes, watching the resulting movies (Turn Off the Lights – the director that enters the world of the juvenile offenders and partakes in their first year of social reintegration and Touch Me Not – a female director that explores intimacy and the different ways in which people live this intimacy side-by-side with their protagonists – cis, trans, males, females), obviously, there is a valuable female gaze in each and every one of them, by the very fact that Ivana and Adina are themselves women. How would these movies have looked if they had been made by a man? I’ve never asked myself that. Just as I have never asked myself how the movies of Alexander Nanau would have looked, had they been made by a woman. 

What does this female gaze add? Candour and a lack of prudery, I would say, or rather the courage of being vulnerable in front of the viewer (no matter who they are, cis or non-binary). The more female gaze, the more balanced the representation, which means we will see bodies in cinema that are different from the norm and faces that are not classical models of beauty, but which are as valid as the former (the same way in which the male gaze is valid when it is not abusive). 

What are the barriers that a woman with your job has to cross? What are the entry barriers?

I think that they are the same barriers that women encounter in any job. And the greatest barrier is the secular tradition of the patriarchal model, in which men work and the women stay at home. This worked until society developed well above these dual principals: good / evil, male / female, home / office and I realize that it is very hard for us to adapt to the speed with which people and societies are implicitly changing on a global level. It is much more simple to adhere to something that is known by everyone – the woman in the kitchen –, than to start looking closely at everything you’ve learned from school, from parents or from the church. And I have noticed it not only from men, but from women as well. 

On a personal level, it was hard for me to be a young woman from Eastern Europe that coordinates international projects. I was met with this kind of superior attitude from men and even passive-aggressiveness. I cannot tell whether there is some sort of  subconscious need for men to demonstrate that they are capable, because they feel intimidated by women in positions of power, that were previously occupied only by them, or if this is simply their way of dealing with the world and if this is what they do, even when there are only men on a team…?

In the 11 years that I have worked in this domain I have clearly noticed this seizing tendency in male over 45 years old, raised in religious families, be it from a very restrictive environment and that they do not know how to interact with  women beyond the classical game of male-woman / dominator-dominates.

It is obvious that there are exceptions even here, but in my case most of them were like that. With younger men who are less pressured to perform by society, I had a better relationship, almost on a level of total camaraderie. 

In the last few years, I think that the power ratio has considerably improved (with lots of sacrifice) and I think it is possible to reach 50 / 50 in a few years. Women do not get to work on big budget films yet, since men are still in the front seat. There are still some admirable female producers who hold big budgets (from Adele Romanski in the States, to Ewa Puszczyńska in Poland, Rebecca O’Brien in the UK and Ada Solomon in our country – and these are only the ones I can name from the top of my head) and I think that perseverance and consistency are needed in order to reach that. 

How do you explain that there are less women in highly technical jobs? Do you think that this is something that comes from gender socialization from an early age or is it an industry barrier?

Cinematography is still a young art that struggles to find a place between economic and industrial tendencies and art. Technical training is missing in a lot of countries, especially in Eastern Europe. More often than not, you end up being an electrician or a prop not because you have studied this in school, but because the opportunity arises from the job you were practicing before. Along with the standardization of the industry, more jobs will emerge, that will be open according to capabilities and not sex. 

At an ideological level, I think it stems from the patriarchal tradition. And from society’s preconceptions regarding women’s capacity in general. I come back to the example of the binary mindset I find to be the most toxic: men are rational, females are emotional. As a result, men do whatever pertains to technology and women deal with feelings and beauty (?!). History shows us that there are a lot of men that have aesthetic sense and female sensibility (not only in the visual or performing arts, but in fashion as well) and a lot of women who work in business or science. 

And coming back to tradition, what is said to a girl about what she can / is allowed to do when she grows up is very important. Gender socialisation only comes after that. 

How did you build your authority on set?

I don’t believe in authority, only in respect. This is something you gain with time, with each and every person, whether they be in the office, at home or on set. 

How are things with femininity on set / in the industry?

Oh, this is a very general question. And once again, it depends on a lot of variables: the kind of movie you are making, if it is an art film or just entertainment. Whether you have a large team or just a handful of people (by extension if you have a budget or not). In what country you are filming, etc.

I don’t know what to say about this. Femininity is appreciated and admired everywhere, but it can also be regarded as a sign of weakness by macho / wannabe alpha males. I do not think that if you want to enter the “male world”, you have to dress and behave like them, but I think it is recommended to be aware of the fact that if you display a feminine look, some of these men will react instinctively, and it is good to “put on some protection”, as I like to say jokingly. Meaning you have to be adamant, clear and concise in your femininity. 

Precisely because it is a mainly masculine environment, do you think there is a heightened camaraderie between women in the film industry? Or on the contrary, is there a lot of internalized misogyny?

It is hard to tell. I was just saying earlier that I have met camaraderie in men, too. But yes, there is clearly a more free-flowing communication between women. Even if there is competition, too. Personally, I’ve had negative experiences with both men and women, and I could not tell which of them was worse. 

Aside from gender, what is an example of a challenge and a type of satisfaction that you get from your work?

The challenge is the film itself. It is different each time and each time I have the impression that I am starting anew, no matter how much experience I have accumulated through my previous films. Certainly, there are some things that I can do more easily after the first experience. But in itself, my relationship to the project is as full of unknowns as it was for my first film. My type of satisfaction is continuing my work. To continue to make films, after having finished the previous one. And of course to hear the reactions of the public in Q&A’s and to read the reviews (either good or bad) – this tells me that the film sparked a reaction and moved the hundreds and thousands of people that paid for a ticket to see it, even if just a little bit.