Who Are We?

The Northwestern University Women Filmmakers Alliance (NUWFA) seeks to unify, educate, and promote filmmakers who identify as women, trans, and/or gender nonconforming not only within the Northwestern community but also beyond the educational sphere. We accomplish these goals by encouraging this community's involvement as leaders in radio/television/film at Northwestern and promoting the development of visual media created by filmmakers excluded from the structures of the patriarchal film community. In addition to behind the scenes, NUWFA also advocates for dynamic representations of women, trans, and/or gender-nonconforming people on the screen.

What Are We Doing?

There are so many talented women interested in making films that each year we give our support to a student-run short-film project with a woman as the writer, director, or producer. The NUWFA grant is the best way that our student group can accomplish our mission.

We would love to raise $2,000 to continue our annual grant to a short-film project with a woman as the writer, director, or producer (or all of the above!). Hopefully we can raise enough funds this year to give TWO NUWFA grants for the first time ever! There are so many talented women interested in making films, and we want to give twice the amount of people the great opportunity to participate in a NUWFA grant!

Why Contribute?

For the past decade, our grant has aided women filmmakers in pitching, developing, and creating student films, and it has encouraged the representation of scripts with female characters and feminist values among the Northwestern film community. Many freshmen come into the RTVF major at Northwestern saying that they want to direct, but with limited opportunities most women graduate never having directed a project. NUWFA is at a crucial point as we take immense strides to promote female filmmakers. We hope to continue our legacy of helping women filmmakers begin and develop their careers by continuing this grant for years to come.

Furthermore, we take an industry approach to feminism in film because we feel it is important to begin tackling this overwhelming issue during college. Most people are aware of the alarming gender disparities and forms of sexism in the film industry. In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations are currently investigating gender discrimination within the industry structure. There are endless statistics that show the atrocious disparities in film, but the most important fact is that there has been almost no change in these disparities since 1998, despite heavy media attention and efforts to fight inequality. As young female filmmakers, who plan to break into this industry, we feel it is of utmost importance to band together and equip our peers with empowering experiences.

How YOU Can Help

Each gift will help us directly support the vision of the recipient(s) of the 2019 NUWFA Grant. Every gift, no matter the amount, will make a huge difference to this project. Please consider contributing to our cause!