Audition

After being blocked by Saul Steinberg to exhibit my first film, InBetweening America, I was determined to make a film that was all mine. A friend suggested I make a film about the women's movement and I thought I could use myself as a stand-in for my generation. It was a universal theme, not a personal one. When I finished the film, I booked a screening room and invited everyone I knew to come to the screenings (this was before vhs's, dvd's, streaming-- if you wanted people to see a movie, they had to see it on the big screen!).  There were 3 showings and I served champagne between the viewings.  As people were leaving the theater,  the universal comment was "Boy, you're brave!"

I was embarrassed. And for a long time, I never showed the film. I thought my animation wasn't up to par, my singing was definitely not..and maybe I'd exposed too much of myself. A few years ago, a young woman was writing a scholarly article about independent women animators of the 1970's and came upon me. She loved Audition and said she found it relevant and touching for her, even 40 years later.

I'm looking at it differently now, and proud to show it!