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A film by Irving Sara~ Allie Light and Julia Hilder 1999, 87 minutes, Color, Video Because murder by women is still relatively rare- only one out of eight murders in the United States is committed by a woman- women's own stories provide unique insights into the circumstances leading to these violent acts. In this absorbing documentary, intimate one-on-one interviews with six women murderers are combined with re-enactments of their background experience and visual re-creations of their interior lives. Sharing and reflecting on their memories, fantasies, dreams, and anger, the six women candidly describe their actions as perpetrators in detail and address the issue of having taken a life. Interspersed between their separate stories are their individual reflections on coping strategies, around life and relationships in prison. From the Academy and Emmy- award winning filmmakers responsible for Dialogues With Madwomen, Blind Spot is a provocative and riveting encounter with throw-away children, out-of-control adults, and the emotional, psychological and spiritual consequences of murder. "Provocative, disarming...a brief essay in the banality of evil. ' , -Sura Wood, San Francisco Mercury News "An exceptional piece ofwork, Blind Spot provides an unique perspective into the minds of murderers. " -Craig Marine, San Francisco Examiner -- Women Make Movies. 462 Broadway .New York, NY 10013. Tel: 212/925.0606. Fax 212/925.2052. E-Mail: [email protected]
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A film by Irving Sara~ Allie Light and Julia Hilder 1999 ... · PDF fileJulia Hilder Editor Irving Saraf Allie Light Videographer Irving Saraf Additional Camera Allie Light Julie Hilder

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Page 1: A film by Irving Sara~ Allie Light and Julia Hilder 1999 ... · PDF fileJulia Hilder Editor Irving Saraf Allie Light Videographer Irving Saraf Additional Camera Allie Light Julie Hilder

A film by Irving Sara~ Allie Light and Julia Hilder

1999, 87 minutes, Color, Video

Because murder by women is still relatively rare- only

one out of eight murders in the United States is

committed by a woman- women's own stories

provide unique insights into the circumstances leading

to these violent acts. In this absorbing documentary,

intimate one-on-one interviews with six women

murderers are combined with re-enactments of their

background experience and visual re-creations of their

interior lives. Sharing and reflecting on their memories,

fantasies, dreams, and anger, the six women candidly

describe their actions as perpetrators in detail and

address the issue of having taken a life. Interspersed

between their separate stories are their individual

reflections on coping strategies, around life and

relationships in prison. From the Academy and Emmy-

award winning filmmakers responsible for Dialogues

With Madwomen, Blind Spot is a provocative and riveting

encounter with throw-away children, out-of-control

adults, and the emotional, psychological and spiritual

consequences of murder. "Provocative, disarming...a briefessay in the banality of evil. ' ,

-Sura Wood, San Francisco Mercury News

"An exceptional piece ofwork, Blind Spot providesan unique perspective into the minds of murderers. "

-Craig Marine, San Francisco Examiner

--Women Make Movies. 462 Broadway .New York, NY 10013. Tel: 212/925.0606. Fax 212/925.2052. E-Mail: [email protected]

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BLIND SPOT: MURDER BY WOMEN

Credits

Producer and DirectorIrving SarafAllie Light

Julia Hilder

EditorIrving SarafAllie Light

VideographerIrving Saraf

Additional CameraAllie Light

Julie Hilder

Location SoundSara Chin

Music

Larry Seymour

On Line EditingEd Rudolph, Video Arts

Re-recording MixSamuel Lehmer

Saul Zaentz Company

Archival Footage: Film bank, ABC News Video Source, KSL TV-- CH. 5,-Salt LakeCity-UT, WCJB TV 20- Gainesville -FL, Kevin Devo, Bill Jersey-Quest Productions,Sharon I. Monroe, Steve Okazaki-Farallon Films, Diane Orr, Gordon T. Allen-I.T.News

Funders: National Endowment for the Arts, American Film Institute, Lucius and EvaEastman fund, The Playboy Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Marta Drury

Fiscal Sponsor: Film Arts Foundation

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BLIND SPOT: MURDER BY WOMEN

Filmmaker's Statement

One out of eight murders in the United States is committed by a woman. Because of therelative rarity of murder by women, their stories in Blind Spot provide additional insightinto the dark and violent side of the human psyche. These intimate interviews reveal thewomen's fantasies, dreams, and angers. The inclusion of background stories lendunderstanding to the circumstances leading to their crimes. Each woman admits tobeing the perpetrator, describes the murder in detail and addresses the issue of havingtaken a life. Interspersed between individual stories are discussions about specificsubjects: prison wives and girlfriends, prison families, afterlife.

Blind Spot is a film about throw-away children, out of control adults and the emotionaland psychological consequences of murder. Childhood trauma, like a Greek chorus,casts its shadow across the individual soliloquies of six women murderers whosedramatic stories stun and captivate the viewer. -Irving Saraf and Allie Light

THE WOMEN

Twenty eight at the time of her crime, Marnie, was a drug dealer caught up in theprotection of her territory. She is serving four life sentences-two for first degree murderand two for weapon charges. She has been in prison for seven years.I must have been a monster that night to do what I did. I don't even know how I did it. ..

Venus has a long juvenile record. She committed her crime at the age of 16 andreceived a life sentence. She was released shortly after we interviewed her. She hadserved 13 years. While in prison, Venus gave birth to a son.My case is not right and I shouldn't have never did all this time. But, as much as it hurts,as much as it took away from me, I think it was necessary because I was hard andnobody cared about me, so I didn't care about nobody.

After killing her abusive husband, Jennifer "woke up to a charge of second degreemurder", Since she has been in prison, she has lost her parental rights and her son hasbeen given to his paternal grandparents.I shot again and, we", it hit him. It's like the world stopped- I didn't see any blood, Ididn't see him fall, there was no wind, the clouds were not moving, there was no air- itwas just still. Everything was still. And I picked up Zachary and he looked at me and said"Mama, want to go night-night, " just like nothing had happened.

Melinda's desire to have a child led to a bizarre plan that resulted in two life sentences-one for first degree murder and one for kidnapping.I was going to scare her and she got shot instead and she died. I sat there with her for along time and was screaming at her to wake up and I knew she wasn't going to.

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Kaysie's first letter to us described herself as a "dead man walking". Originally she wasgiven a death sentence which was changed on appeal to 25 years to life. Hers was aviolent crime of greed in which her mother participated.I remember looking down at the dog and saying "Oh my God, what are you going to do?Your master's dead, " and putting him in another room and shutting the door because I

didn't think the dog could handle it.

Michelle's history of parental neglect, foster homes and drug addiction prepared the wayfor her violent act against a helpless 76 year old victim. At the age of 15 Michelle wascharged as an adult and sentenced to 25 years to life. She has served 12 years.I took what money she had in her purse and while I was in the house, I went into thekitchen and there was a knife there and I picked the knife up. ..

THE STRUCTURE

Blindspot is a film built on intimate one-on-one interviews that use a narrative structureto shape the individual stories. Each story is developed through reenactment and byvisually creating the interior life- particularly memory and dream. In the reenactments,no actors were used. Ordinary people were chosen as stand ins for the women atdifferent stages of their lives, or to represent those people who were part of a woman'spast: parents, peers, victims. Natural images are used as metaphors for emotion: fog,wind, trees. These images we call emotional equivalents. We use dramatic elements toshed light on the different aspects of the life portrayed- for in life, as in film, reality andfantasy shift depending on the moment and the point of view.

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BLIND SPOT: MURDER BY WOMEN

Biographies

IRVING SARAF, winner of the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, InThe Shadow of the Stars and National Emmy Award for Dialogues With Madwomen,(both with Allie Light) works in fiction and documentary film as producer, director andeditor with over 150 films to his credit, mostly made for television. He was the filmmakerof Poland, Changing World (Emmy Nomination). His directorial work includes GoingInternational (six films about living and working abroad, producers: Copeland-Griggs)and We Are Driven (Japanese production in the U.S. : Frontline PBS). Among hisediting credits: Battle of Westlands (Dupont-Columbia & Peabody Awards), Las Madres(Oscars Nomination) and Three Warriors (United Artist release). With his partner AllieLight, he has also produced and directed Mitsuye and Nellie, Visions of Paradise (fivehalf hour films about contemporary American folk artists), Shakespeare's Children(director only) and Rachel's Daughters (HBO). He was founder and former head of theKQED- TV film unit and former manager of Saul Zaentz Production Company. Irving is amember of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

ALLIE LIGHT, winner of the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary feature, In theShadow of the Stars and 1994 National Emmy Award for Best Interview Program, writes,directs and produces documentary films with her partner Irving Saraf. Her creditsinclude: Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer (HBO),Dialogues with Madwomen, (Emmy Award; Freedom of Expression Award, SundanceFilm Festival), In the Shadow of Stars, (Academy Award), Mitsuye and Nellie, AsianAmerican Poets, Visions of Paradise (five half hour films about contemporary Americanfolk artists) and Shakespeare's Children (director only). She has published a book ofpoems, The Glittering Cave and edited an anthology of women's writings Poetry FromViolence; an interview with her is included in Film Fatales: Independent WomenDirectors, by Redding and Brownworth (Seal Press, 1997). Allie is a member of theAcademyof Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts &Sciences.

JULIA HILDER has been a television journalist for more than ten years. A graduate ofSan Francisco State University in Broadcast Journalism, she has anchored and reportedthe news for El Paso, Houston and Austin, Texas television stations. She has worked inmedia relations with the Houston Police Department. Currently, Julia, co-owner ofMedia Sawy, a consulting service, also works as an independent documentary filmproducer. Blind Spot is her debut film. Her next production, Desert Dogs, has completedfilming in New Mexico.

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OSCN-

winners

Irving Saraf

and his wife,

Allie Light,

enlisted the

help of their

daughtel;

JuliElHildel;

a fvnner

journalist.

Sarafsaystheir new

OOcumentalj'

is not likely

to be favored

by Oscar

uoters.

By Craig Marine

OF THE EXAMINER STAFFS.F .~based filmmakers document

jailhouse interviews with

six female murderers in 'Blind Spot'

, ITHIN EVERY hu-

man soul exists thecapacity to take an-other's life. Eve~ne,in moments of anger,

has likely uttered, or at least thought,"I'm going to kill that guy!"

Why some people cross the fragileline and actually commit murder is asubject of great fascination, a windowinto tl1e complex and ultimately un-fatl1omable workings of the mind

With their new documentary,"Blind Spot," Academy Award-win-ning producers and directors AllieLight and Irving Saraf -joined bytheir daughter Julia Hilder -takeviewers deep into the minds of mur-derers. Six inmates, in riveting jail.house interviews, examine their ownpsyches and try to explain why theyused a shotgun, or a knife, or a beltor whatever weapon was at hand to

erase another person from the planet.All of the killers in "Blind Spot"

are women; lout of 8 murders in theUnited States is committed by awoman. The subject matter couldn'tbe more different from Light andSaraf's Oscar-winning documentary,"In the Shadow of the Stars," aboutmembers of the S.F. Opera chorus."Blind Spot" will be shown at a spe-cia! benefit preview Wednesday at theCast:ro Theatre at 7 p.m., as the 17thannual Film Art.'! Festival of Indepen-dent Cinema begins.

"We have always been curiOlm aboutwhat it takes for a person to kill," saidLight. " And when we found out how

many women were sitting in prisonsfor murder, we thought trying to int2r-view some of them might give us moreinsight, maybe a different perspective. "

Light, 65, and Saraf, 68, spoke asthey sat around the kitchen table oftheir home in San Francisco, alongwith Hilder , who had finally decided

[See DIRECTORS. 8-41

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reasons: one for space, another forlying and another for changing herstory once the camera was rolling.

"We got half an hour to set upthe lighting and, if we were lucky,an hour-and-a-half to conduct theinterview," said Saraf. "That wasit. We weren't allowed to returnand do any follow-up questioning."

What they found out was that,while the circumstances of thecrimes were different, there weresome common denominatorsamong the murderers.

"In every case, there was neglectduring childhood," said Light." And there was abuse, and there

was some kind of substance abuse.As you can tell, particularly from acouple of the participants, theseare incredibly articulate and intel-ligent people damaged by a worldthey were brought into, over whichthey had no control. So much ofthis is about tragedy -the liveswasted by the killers and the liveslost by their victims."

While sharing her parents' sen-timents, Hilder was quick to addthat "Blind Spot" wasn't made as avehicle to excuse the women fromtheir crimes.

"Everyone of those peopleshould have been punished forwhat they did, no matter their up-bringing," Hilder said forcefully." As one of the women says herself,

there are a lot of people with horri-ble childhoods who don't go on tobecome killers."

"Blind Spot," along with theunique perspective it provides intothe minds of murderers, also dealswith diverse subjects includingprison wives and girlfriends, andviews on life after death. It usesregular people as stand-ins in re-enactments of parts of the crimes,as well as some newsreel footage.But while it is an exceptional pieceof work, the trio hold no illusionsabout their chances of holdingstatuettes come Oscar night. -

"The subject matter is much toodisturbing, I think, for the Acade-my," offered Saraf, who interest-ingly enough is on the nominatingcommittee (though he can't nomi-nate his own work). "It seems tome, from my experience, that thisisn't the type of film that wouldwin an Oscar."

.DlRECTORSfromB-l

Filmmakers talk with

female murderers

to move on from her successfulcareer as a television news anchorand reporter to venture into theless secure world of filmmaking.Their collaboration, two years inthe making, succeeds as much ontheir ability to navigate the puz-zling and frustrating world of pris-on bureaucracies as it does on theircinematic skills.

"Men are trained as killers,"said Saraf, a marksman in the Is-raeli army as a young man. .'It isthe men who are supposed to beviolent -women, we are taught,are not supposed to kill. Yet thereare thousands of convicted femalemurderers. Maybe, we hoped, bydealing with the exceptions, wewould be able to more easily drawout the emotions that were presentat the time of the violence."

With her background in newsreporting, Hilder, 40, a product ofLowell High School and San Fran-cisco State, was able to help herparents with the logistical aspectsinvolved in obtaining permissionfor the interviews, as well as add anexperienced eye to the process.

.'1 guess I'm much more cynicalthan they are," Hilder admittedwith a smile. '.Frankly, I expectedthese women to feed us a load ofbull. That wasn't the case, al-though they all did try to maybesoften the image the public mighthave of what they had done, whichis understandable. They didn'twant to come across as monsters,even though it would be easyenough to see them in that lightbased solely on the nature of thecrimes they committed. If any-thing, I helped to cut through someof the kid-glove treatment and getto the point."

By sending out 160 letters tovarious women killers, the triowhittled down the prospective in-terviewees and, through extensivecorrespondence, worked to estab-lish a mutual trust that resulted inthe frank and insightful stories thesix women told on camera. Incredi-bly, there were only nine inter-views conducted, with three of thewomen being excluded for various

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NOVEMBER I, 2000 I WEDNESDAY

FILM

Continued from Page 1E some dramatic revelation," saysLight. "But that didn't happen."

There's Kaysie, a remorseless,cold-blooded murderer who bru-tally killed an elderly woman formoney; Michelle, a young, pretty,cherubic-faced woman who couldeasily pass for a sorority girl if itweren't for the fact that shestabbed a 76-year-old woman 37times in the face and head duringa robbery; and Venus, who killedanother girl in a gang fight andhas been in prison since she was16.

"I wouldn't want to kill nobody,"Venus says. "But it's so easy."

It's just that feeling thatprompted the film's title. Eachwoman experienced the sense ofdislocation while committing themurder -a moment when theystood outside themselves and be-came observers of their own ac-tions.

Kaysie. one of theconvicted murderers in"Blind Spot."

sho~ tonight to open the FihnArts Fihn Festival. The documen-tary uses candid interviews withsix women who have been impris-oned for first-degree murder. Theinmates tell their stories directlyto the camera, describing theircrimes and recounting their per-sonal histories, which have beencharacterized by drug use, prosti-tution and a legacy of sexualabuse as children.

Light corresponded by mailwith more 150 women before set-tling on the six who appear in thefihn. "The criteria were that theyhad to be the perpetrators ratherthan accomplices, they had to ad-mit their guilt, have some under-standing of the consequences, andthey had to not be lying to us,"says Light, who adds that thecr~w had only an hour with eachprisoner.

Over the past 20 years, Lightand Saraf have delved into eclec-tic topics, from the environmentalcauses of breast cancer in "Ra-chel's Daughters" to "In the Shad-ow of the Stars," a backstage viewof the San Francisco Opera.

"We have always been interest-ed in the emotional lives, the inte-rior lives of ordinary people," saysSaraf.

Touches of evil

And after all, it is ordinary peo-ple who kill. Savagery can be trig-gered in certain people under theright circumstances, and extremecruelty may wear the face of thegirl next door. The film, whichtakes a disarming, straightfor-ward approach to its subject, is abrief essay in the banality of evil."I went into the project thinkingof Medea and Lady Macbeth andbelieving that there would be

.BlIND SPOT: MURDERBY WOMENOpening night of Film Arts

.Film Festival of Independent~',Cinema

MIere: Castro Theater,c Castro and Mall<et streets,

San Francisco

WfBt 7 tonight

festival i1fmmtMMI: (415)552-FILM or

wwwfilmarts.org

By SiI'a WO(MiSpecinl to the M ercu1Y N ews

In the United States,women commit one of everyeight murders. That statis-tic challenges the commonlyheld supposition that wom-en are not inherently vio-lent. When murder is perpe-trated by a woman, it's re-garded as a crime againstnature.

This provocative subjectis explored in "Blind Spot:Murder by Women," the lat-est documentary from Os-car-winning San Franciscofilmmakers Irving Saraf andAllie Light and their daugh-ter Julia Hilder.

Though men still domi-nate the ranks of death row,the number of women in

prison for murder is grow-ing. "The first prison thatwas willing to send us a list

was in Oregon," remembersSaraf. "When the wardenasked if I wanted all 86 fe-male murderers, I practical-ly fell off my chair, because Ididn't expect there'd be thatmany from such a smallstate; but, then we found outthere were more than 500 in

Florida.""Blind Spot" will be

Unfettered view

Though Light and Saraf saw theactual crime scene photos andfound them repugnant, the fi1m-makers, in an effort to present thewomen without judgment, decid-ed not to show the pictures in thefilm. "We know much more aboutthese women than you get fromseeing them on screen --whattheir victims looked like and whatthey did," says Light. "It was verytraumatic for both of us."

Saraf says, "They should be injail, because they definitely com-mitted the worst crime that canbe." She says she approached theproject without preconceived no-tions. "I was just fascinated withwhat it takes for someone to crossthat line and actually kill some-body. What really affected me themost is how mundane the act ofmurder can be. It doesn't feel likeanything. It's like a piece of meat."