UPFRONT

Still waiting
Filmmaker Louise Lever admits she was constantly surprised
while making a documentary about feminism in the 21st century.

was bored at work – that’s how it started. I borrowed
an unused video camera and promised my boss I
wouldn’t break it. Hillary Clinton was running for
US president, and I couldn’t help wondering about
the state of feminism in this part of the world. Were
we any better?
The heart of my film Revolt She Said is about
When I interviewed some of the older, radical lesbian femi-
nists, their views were very much informed by their era, society’s
expectations and their own trauma. Often, these views do not
align with the latest thinking, and that’s okay. We don’t need
everyone to agree. We can hold the space for contrasting views
without needing to shut anyone out.

‘W
why it’s taking so long to reach gender equality in hat’s your name and phone number?” a stranger
Australia and New Zealand. I don’t know about you, but I’m not demands. It’s August 2019, and I’m filming alone
willing to wait 132 years for the global gender gap to close. at the University of Melbourne. The students,
In fact, there’s been a widening of the gender pay gap as a result who are angry that the university has allowed an “anti-trans”
of the Covid pandemic, and group to hold a meeting
many of the same issues on campus, are out in
feminists fought for in full force. The police
the 70s and 80s are still jostle. I aim to get a few
being fought for today. The interviews, but I’m eyed
rollback of Roe vs Wade suspiciously as soon as
in the US is one example I take my camera out.
of how things can turn to I stay firmly on the side
custard. We must all protect of my rainbow community,
the rights andfreedoms we even though the documen-
have today in New Zealand tarian in me is curious
because if 2022 has taught to film what’s on the other
me anything, it’s to not take side. The people in my film
anything for granted. represent their own per-
The interviews I did spectives and it was my aim
A scene from Revolt
for the film were about She Said: airing to paint a rich portrait of
an hour each, and they conflicting thoughts the textures of gender and
always surprised me. I was and attitudes. feminism.
not expecting to address It’s become a toxic global
the issue of whether debate: who counts as a
transgender women are woman? One interviewee
“women”, for example. If 2022 has taught me anything, it’s to not told me: “They deny us
There are strong views in take anything for granted. the right to meet and be
the film, but it’s vital and in women-only spaces.” I’m
helpful, especially in cancel well aware how polarising
culture, to be able to think through these issues with grace and some of these opinions are, but my aim is to air these conflicting
perspective. We are all human, and have our own clunky words thoughts and attitudes in a space that allows them serious
to describe our gender identities and the worlds we each inhabit. consideration.
I am reminded of these powerful words by philosopher Judith It’s unusual to have only women speaking in a film. I did con-
Butler from Gender Trouble: “To operate within the matrix of template interviewing men as well, but decided they already had
power is not the same as to replicate uncritically relations of enough platforms.
domination.” Power imbalances are innate to feminist concerns, This film has been brewing inside me since my days at Epsom
especially when it comes to how we see ourselves and who gets to Girls Grammar School, where I first discovered the Guerrilla
“label” our identities. Girls and was encouraged by my teachers to make films. And
I forgot to breathe when one of my interviewees said: “Why did here I am, doing what I love. And fighting for what I love, too. l
you chop your tits off?” I was transfixed by their argument around
how minority communities (who were once discriminated against) Revolt She Said screens at Auckland’s Lido cinema on March 12.
are now, in turn, discriminating against another minority. Tickets are available on Ticket Tailor.

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MARCH 11 2023 LISTENER 3

 LETTERS

Holes in
the net
Professor Ray Hilborn’s article
titled “Net gains” (Upfront,
February 18) should have
been named “Net losses”.
It was almost entirely based
on misinformation and even
disinformation.
One example of disinfor-
mation was that “fisheries
… leave the base of the food
chain alone”. It is true that we
don’t harvest microplankton
yet, but other elements of the
food chain are under serious
pressure. Examples include
the overfishing of Antarctic
krill, and the sad histories of
the destruction of Pacific and
North Sea herring, Chilean
and North American sardines
and Peruvian anchovies.
An item of misinformation
involved the assertion that the
oceans are not “being emptied
of fish”. True, small forage fish
are increasing in numbers, but
only because we are killing the
species that prey on them. We
are actually undermining the
food chain by taking the forage
fish along with the species that
used to eat them.
Even the argument that com-
mercial fishing has less impact
on the environment than other
food industries because the
“greenhouse gas footprint …
depends almost totally on fuel
use” ignores an inconvenient
truth. The action of bottom
trawlers dragging heavy gear
across the ocean floor not only
destroys the very environment
that produced the fish, but also
releases an amount of trapped
carbon dioxide comparable to
that produced by international
aviation each year.
And, of course, our fishing
activity starves penguins,
whales, squid, sea birds and
other species.
Mark Feldman
(Kerikeri)
Marine biologist Ray Hilborn
argues that wild-capture
fisheries are more envi-
ronmentally friendly than
livestock or crops. Although
there are some distinct
benefits from wild-caught
fish, Hilborn ignores or
glosses over many of the
significant impacts of fishing
on the environment and ocean
ecosystems. This includes
non-target bycatch (one study
estimates more than 20 million
fish from endangered, threat-
ened and protected species are
caught each year), discarding
(about 10 million tonnes are

Well, I say
WINNING CAPTION the monarchy
Steve Godsiff, Timaru is not
FINALISTS pointless!
Prince William: “No, you’re the Prince of Wails.”
– Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin

Toddler: “Didn’t your mummy tell you it’s rude

to point?” – Hans Zindel, Palmerston North
Toddler: “Mum said we’d see the hair apparent.”
– Paul Kelly, Palmerston North

William: “You, my little friend, would be well

advised not to have a younger brother.” – Bill McEwan,
Blenheim
GETTY IMAGES

William: “When Louis sticks his tongue out, Caption

we send him to the Naughty Throne.” – Mary Timings competition
THIS WEEK’S PICTURE

Caption Competition
{listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz}
TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at
right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with
“Caption Competition No 502” in the subject line.
Alternatively, entries can be posted to “Caption
Competition No 502”, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122,
Kingsland, Auckland 1352. Entries must be received
by noon, Tuesday, March 14.
THE PRIZE Former Moscow correspondent Owen
Matthews’ authoritative investigation into the origins US director Steven Spielberg was granted the Golden Bear award at
of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. the 73rd Berlinale film festival last month for his decades-long career.

4 LISTENER MARCH 11 2023