Britta Sjogren | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1958-12-21)December 21, 1958 (age 66) |
| Occupation(s) | Independent Film director, Film Theorist |
Britta H. Sjogren (born December 21, 1958) is an independent filmmaker and academic.
Britta Sjogren was born inPortland, Oregon and attendedUniversity of California, Berkeley for her undergraduate andUniversity of California, Los Angeles, where she earned degrees in both aMaster of Fine Arts in film production and aPhD in critical theory.[1] Her films have received awards from a number of independent film circuits includingSundance Film Festival,SXSW,Dallas International Film Festival,Aspen Shortsfest and special showcases atCréteil International Women's Film Festival and theLocarno International Film Festival.[2][3]
Sjogren is a recipient of aGuggenheim Fellowship, theAmerican Film Institute Independent Filmmaker grant and theCinereach award for Best Screenplay - Best Minority Protagonist, among other honors.[4] She has programmed film series for theBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and theCréteil International Women's Film Festival. Furthermore, Sjogren continues her academic work as a professor of Cinema atSan Francisco State University. As the Director ofCinema Department at San Francisco State University from 2015-2019, she launched a significant curricular initiative to spotlight the contributions of women in film and oversaw capital improvements, including the renovation of the renowned Coppola Theater.[5] Additionally, Sjogren is the author ofInto the Vortex: Female Voice and Paradox in Film a scholarly book that focuses on female subjectivity, feminine voice and sound in film through the psychoanalytic, narratological and discursive contradictions of 1940s film.[6]
As a filmmaker, her films are unorthodox narratives that center upon the subjective experience of women.Jo-Jo at the Gate of Lions, Sjogren's modern Joan-of-Arc tale, premiered at competition atSundance Film Festival and screened atBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.[7][8] Her 1996 work,A Small Domain, won the Grand Jury Prize atSundance Film Festival for Best Short Film and SXSW Competition Award at theSXSW Film Festival in addition to other awards.[9][10] Sjogren's latest film,Redemption Trail is a contemporary feminist Western set in Marin and Oakland.[11] This film premiered at theMill Valley Film Festival, winning the audience award.[12] She co-founded the production company Dire Wolf in 2007.[13]
| Jo-Jo at the Gate of Lions (1992) |
| A Small Domain (1996) |
| In This Short Life (2005) |
| Redemption Trail (2013) |
In the Fall of 2021, Sjogren's work was featured in an exhibition atStanislaus State, in which her filmography, photography, and career were highlighted. A catalogue accompanied the exhibit titled, "Britta Sjogren - The Gaze Returned".[14]
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