Kimberlee Bassford
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Kimberlee Bassford is an independent documentary filmmaker from Honolulu, Hawai'i. In 2005, she founded Making Waves Films LLC, which is a documentary production company.[1] She advocates for gender equity and diversity in films and television.[2] Most of her work focuses on Asian American women and young girls, and her films actively seek to correct underrepresentation of those groups in the media.[3]
filmmakers and
gatekeepers should actively produce and distribute content that shows girls as
leaders, doers and decision-makers and that highlights the diversity of girls’
experiences.
She has won the Student Academy Award in Documentary and a CINE Golden Eagle Award. Her films have been screened at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and Gate City Women's Film Festival.
She has been featured on the Insights on PBS Hawai‘i program, OC16's Hawai‘i's Reel Stories series, in the feature documentary Rise of the Wahine: Champions of Title IX and in the podcast American Beauty. She has spoken at colleges and community events in Hawai'i including those for the American Association of University Women, Honolulu Civil Beat's Civil Café, Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking, SAG/AFTRA Hawai‘i, and the dedication ceremony of the Patsy T. Mink sculpture.[4]
Education
Bassford has a BA in psychology from Harvard University and a Masters of Journalism from the University of California Berkeley.[5]
Career
Bassford has produced and directed the documentaries Winning Girl (2014, World Channel), Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority (2008, PBS) and Cheerleader (2003, HBO Family). She was a producer on episode 6, "Collateral Damage," in the PBS documentary series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (2008). She was also producer for The Meaning of Food (2005), a three-part documentary series looking at the "social and cultural significance of food among Samoans in Tacoma, Washington; Native Hawaiians in Hawai'i; and among Native American Makah in Neah Bay, Washington."[6]
She established Making Waves Films LLC, a documentary production company, in 2005.[1]
Bassford is currently an instructor of journalism at Windward Community College, where she is also advisor for the school's student newspaper, Ka 'Ohana.[7]
Cheerleader (2003)
Cheerleader is a short documentary about a squad of California cheerleaders attempting to compete in the national cheerleading championships. The film won the Student Academy Award in Documentary and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.[8]
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority (2008)
In 2008, Bassford produced, directed, wrote and co-edited Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority, which won the Audience Award for Favorite Documentary at the Hawai'i International Film Festival. It also won a CINE Golden Eagle and received awards at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, DisOrient Asian American Film Festival, San Joaquin International Film Festival, Honolulu International Film Festival, San Francisco Women's Film Festival and Gate City Women's Film Festival.[9] The film is about Patsy Takemoto Mink, who became the first woman of color in the United States Congress in 1965. Mink co-authored Title IX, legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in higher education and athletics, in 1971.
Winning Girl (2014)
Winning Girl tells the story of Teshya Alo, a teenage girl from Hawaii who is striving to be an Olympian in both wrestling and judo. It explores her competitions as well as her family life and coming of age. The documentary won the Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.[10] Bassford said that the film "shows what it takes for her to advance in her sports and what it means to be a champion."
Awards and honors
Bassford has won film festival audience awards and grand jury prizes, a duPont-Columbia Award, Student Academy Award, CINE Golden Eagles, and has been featured on panels and juries for ITVS, Center for Asian American Media, Pacific Islanders in Communications, Hawai'i International Film Festival, and the Ohina Short Film Showcase.[7]
Personal life
Bassford is married with two children.[2] In 2015, she spoke about the challenges of being a working mother. She revealed that, while she was making Winning Girl, she was pregnant with and gave birth to her second child. She "ultimately outsourced quite a bit of work" and struggled "to attend screenings and other events."[11]
References
- ^ a b "About | Making Waves Films LLC | United States". Making Waves Films. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- ^ a b "Guest Post: Why We Desperately Need More Girls On Screen for Both Our Sons and Daughters". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Filmmaker Spotlight: Kimberlee Bassford | Asian American Film & TV". Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "About | Making Waves Films LLC | United States". Making Waves Films. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Kimberlee Bassford". Women Make Movies. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Meaning of Food". www.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- ^ a b "About | Making Waves Films LLC | United States". Making Waves Films. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- ^ Sarapolay, Added by; Events, View. "Producing the Documentary with Kimberlee Bassford". www.techhui.com. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- ^ "Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority". www.wmm.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Q&A With "Winning Girl" Doc's Kimberlee Bassford". CAAM. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Family First -- 3 Moms Document the Paid Family Leave Movement". MomsRising. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2020-03-04.