Event Details
Only three female cinematographers have ever been nominated for an Academy Award. In the top 250 grossing films, women make up only 7% of cinematographers. This percentage has remained relatively stagnant, with only a slight increase from 4% in 1998 to 7% in 2023. A vast majority, 94%, of top films have no women cinematographers.
While there have been some gains in other behind-the-scenes roles like producing and directing, the percentage of female cinematographers has not seen a significant increase.
But in an industry made up overwhelmingly of men, these women provide a shining example of female artists who have overcome (or outright ignored) the typical barriers to entry. True change is going to come about by each one of us taking another woman, another person of color, another unheard voice and helping them make their movie.
Guest
Elizabeth Casinelli– Cinematographer
Elizabeth (Libby) Casinelli began her career in film and television as an assistant prop manager on an indie film, where she quickly discovered an interest in cinematography. Shortly thereafter, she joined the camera dept. She then spent several years learning the trade as a camera assistant, lighting technician and gaffer on various independent projects. After a multi-year break to complete a master’s degree and explore the corporate world, Elizabeth returned to filmmaking with a renewed appreciation for hands-on, creative work. She still continues to work as a union camera assistant to supplement her work as a cinematographer. Her work in this field includes projects such as Now You See Me (Lionsgate), The Four Seasons (Netflix), Saturday Night Live (NBC), and many more.
One of her proudest achievements as a Director of Photography was the film Nia on Vacation, shot on location in Greece. Due to tight financial and scheduling constraints, the crew worked for 17 consecutive days to complete the film. While not a method she’s typically endorse, the final project is a testament to what can be accomplished through determination and resourcefulness.
Blaga Ditrow– Cinematographer
Blaga Ditrow is a full-time, NYC-based cinematographer. Spending most of her childhood in a movie studio because of her movie director father, Blaga gained an addiction to film and to capturing and telling stories. Blaga works with both film and digital cameras to capture corporate events, family sessions, and films. From the very first idea of the project until the moment it becomes a work of art, Blaga is there through it all. When she’s not working on file, Blaga loves listening to Jazz, travelling the world, and enjoying all that New York State and the ocean have to offer.
Laela Kilbourn- Director of Photography
Emmy winning director of photography Laela Kilbourn has accomplished narrative and documentary works that present intimate portraits of character and compelling stories of transformation; her over thirty years in filmmaking inform her use of verité and studio techniques to build cinematic experiences of discovery and connection. An Emmy winner for Outstanding Cinematography for her work on the documentary GIRLS STATE, she also won a Best Feature Cinematography award for SWIM TEAM, and has filmed eight Sundance Film Festival premieres, such as the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award winner THIS IS HOME: A REFUGEE STORY; Peabody Award winning HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO; and Emmy nominated WORD WARS. She also shot SYNC OR SWIM, winner of the Billie Award for Journalism from the Women’s Sports Foundation, and filmed History’s eleven part series SANDHOGS.
Her noted narrative work includes the black comedy CRABS IN A BARREL, featured on HBO Max; THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF QUEENS, awarded Best Narrative Short at Katra Latinx Festival; SOMEONE LOVES YOU, Best Short winner at ESSENCE Film Festival; and the feature DEATH OF A FOOL, available on Amazon Prime. She has worked on projects for FX, NBC, PBS, Netflix, Hulu, Epix, Amazon Studios, AMC, A&E, TBS, Nick Jr., NickMom, ESPN, Disney, History, MTV, VH1, and WeTV.
A member of the International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Women in Film & Television, and the International Collective of Female+ Cinematographers, she has served as a juror for the Brooklyn International Film Festival and the Cinema Eye Honors, as a panelist on cinematography at the Canon Creative Studio and DOC NYC PRO, and as a guest speaker at The New School. She has a degree in social anthropology from Harvard University.
Moderator
Sunny Edelman- UPWIFT Director
As a Classically trained actor, Sunny has directed and performed roles from Shakespeare to Clare Boothe Luce, working in regional, Off Broadway theaters, as well as in an Emmy winning television program and numerous Indie films. She received a B.A. in Theater Arts from S.U.N.Y New Paltz and studied with Iza Itkin, Robert Castle, Bob Luke and Peter Sklar. Sunny also took classes at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.
Sunny is an Associate Casting Director for Hudson Valley Casting and has worked on such films as “The Dead Don’t Die”, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”, “What We Found” and “Driveways” to name a few.
She has worked with a number of film festivals, in a few different roles. She was the events coordinator for The Hudson Valley International Film Festival and The Catskills International Film Festival. Festival Director of the North By Northeast Film Festival and host at The New York State Film Festival. Ms. Edelman is both honored and excited to be working at the Lake Placid Film Festival.
A fierce advocate for women in film, Sunny is currently the President of Upstate NY Women in Film and Television.
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