A tense thriller shot on location in South Africa, 'In Their Eyes' (13 min.) follows a confident young African-American woman who finds herself alone in Africa, not sure whom she can trust. Exploring the felt experience of women as we journey forth from our homes, the film addresses questions of women's freedom, fears and the choices we make to try to keep ourselves safe.

Interview with Writer/Director Gina Levy

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

As a woman who has traveled solo across continents, I was made very aware of the ways in women are not at all free. I was inspired to make a film that explores how men can constrain women in women's quest to simply walk the earth as free sovereign beings. I wanted to look at male framing of the female as prey to be caught and controlled and how that limits the lives of women. Exploring the felt experience of women as we journey forth from our homes, "In Their Eyes" addresses questions of women's freedom, fears and the choices we make to try to keep ourselves safe.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

I want men to watch the film so they can experience what women experience everyday -- the constant need to make calculus about whether the choices they are making in the moment will keep them safe, or put them at risk. For women, the film is a reminder of the ways in which we are not free and our continued struggle to emancipate ourselves so that we can walk the earth free from fear.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film is very personal as it is inspired by my own experiences traveling solo. It explores both personal and universal themes of women's liberation and resonates with the recently sparked #metoo movement.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

I wrote the script at home in Los Angeles and workshopped it with friends. I was in South Africa for another project when I decided to shoot it there. I could not find a convincing lead in South Africa who could play an African American so I brought an actress over from Los Angeles to play the lead. The rest of the cast were local South Africans.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback so far has been very positive. It was selected as a semifinalist for the NBC Universal Shortsfest and won Best Director at the Moonfaze Film Festival.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

What has been interesting is that with some audiences men and women tend to view the film very differently. Some men do not quite understand the film. Other men find it eye-opening. From some women, the film can be triggering as it reminds us of personal experiences that we have had.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

It's important to increase the number of women's stories and share the challenges women face everyday.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

I am open to any interest from sales agents, buyers and distributors who are interested in my film. Of course, I am also interested in journalists who would like to write about "In Their Eyes" and how it relates to the current #metoo movement and film festival directors who would like to program the film.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

We are in the midst of an important conversation about women's role in the world and the ways in which women have been constrained and held back by sexual harassment and sexual assault. This film adds to this conversation by examining that, for a woman, simply trying to travel from point A to point B can be a challenge. Women the world over need to be guaranteed the freedom of movement. Because of the ways in which men sometimes aim to control, assault and harass women, this freedom does not exist.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

For women, in what ways in your life is your freedom constrained? For men, are you aware of the ways in which women's lives are constrained due to fear of male predation?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I have two feature scripts in development: the thriller "The Education of Trista Thomas" and the horror film "Remember".

The Education of Trista Thomas:

Just out of college, earnest and eager to be a foreign correspondent, Trista travels with her friend Julie to The Philippines, where the two women fall into romances with a pair of attractive local men. In this gripping coming-of-age thriller, the women get more than they bargained for as they learn that the men are also involved with Mindanao Island's Islamic insurgency.

Remember

Flunking high school, Caitlin spends most of her days getting high, shoplifting and frustrating her single Dad until her grandmother lands in a creepy senior living facility. No one believes Caitlin when she claims her grandmother is not safe there, until Caitlin finds herself battling mind-sucking demons who are bent on sucking out human traumatic memories to fuel their shapeshifting.

Interview: May 2018

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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In Their Eyes

Length: 13 minutes

Director: Gina Levy

Producer: Hanelle Culpeppar

Writer: Gina Levy

About the writer, director and producer:

Director:

Gina Levy produces, writes, directs, shoots and edits commercials, documentaries, fiction and video journalism. Her documentary “Foo-Foo Dust” was short-listed for an Academy Award, received many honors and screened at Sundance. Her video work for The New York Times was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning project. Her commercial series for Children’s Bureau received a Silver Telly. Gina’s feature script, “The Education of Trista Thomas,” a coming-of-age thriller about two young American women who find themselves romantically entangled with terrorists, was a finalist in the Circle of Confusion/Harvardwood screenplay competition.

She is currently shopping her horror thriller, Remember, about a teenage girl who must fight to save her grandmother from mind-sucking demons. Gina has created short form content for entities including Fusion Media, Mitu, AJ+ and Atlantic Magazine. Gina recently leveraged her producing and director skills to form a technology company, Kindra Connect, and launched in April 2018, Kindra Dating, a next generation dating app. She is a graduate of Harvard University.

Producer:

Hanelle M. Culpepper is an award-winning writer/director based in Los Angeles, where she operates her own production company, Hillview 798 Productions.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191697/

Key cast:

Kayla played by JoNell Kennedy https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0448129/

John played by Jacques Gombault https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0326808/