Belle

Fiction Film (2004) 35mm • 16 min. • color
Quietly shocking in its frankness  – Film Threat

Belle is a subversive fable of old age and beauty.

The film is fiction but created with a community of 80 – 93 year old women whose participation as actors and advisors shaped the heart of the work.

Please also see Ethel, Cusp, Bruce

Belle trailer (see below for complete film)

Belle premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and broadcast on IFC.

Additional screenings include the IFP Film Market, Hamptons Film Festival, Women in the Directors Chair and the Woodstock Film Festival. Rhode Island Film Festival, Lake Placid Film Festival, Coney Island Film Festival, CinéWomen, Vermont Film Festival, Tiburon Film Festival, High Falls Film Festival, Reel Venus

Belle was made with the generous support of the Jerome Foundation and NYSCA.

Writer/Director Ruth Sergel Producers Pamela Griffiths Nicole Franklin Maya Montañez Smukler Associate Producers Jude Calder Mei Szetu Director of Photography David Griffiths Editor Lora Zaretsky Music Michael Montes Costume Designer Suzanne Kelly Production Designer Paul Weathered Props Tyler Kim Sound Editor Al Zaleski Title Design Steve Tozzi Mr. Fix-it Manfred Reiff Production Manager Carolyn Hepburn

Belle Ethel Greenbaum Ladies of the Boardwalk Marion Baker, Hope Bernstein, Goldie Gold, Blanche Schreiber, Ruth Shapiro, Susan Spielman, Ruth Vogel Pablo George Valencia Cashiers Jennifer Poe, Jennifer Vilette Gas Station Attendant Juan Molinari Dandy Nathan Farb Hussy Deborah Schwartz Store Customers Kate & Lola Buncher, Robert Castanos, Sylvia Cattan, Denise, Sarah & Sylvia Grazi, Shannon Mincieli, Christopher Trudeau Gas Station Customers Kristen Carey, Molly Lariccia, Manfred Reiff Boardwalk Marsha Gildin, Franklin Perkins, Marilyn Silverman Belle’s Neighbor Shirley Seligman Belle’s Son Michael Shulan Secretary Vera Zelen Pablo’s Wife Candice Coke

Special thanks to Fay Greenbaum.

Interviews with the 8 Belles, women from 80 to 92 years, who collaborated in the making of Belle.

Cusp

Fiction Film (2000) 35mm • 25 Minutes • Color
Lays bare the growing pains of a  12 year old girl
– New York Times

There is an electric moment for girls as they leave behind the bold egoism of girlhood for the shaky dislocations of adolescence. Cusp is a fiction film created with a group of 11-12 year old girls hitting the wall of early adolescence.

Please also see Bruce, Belle

Cusp premiered at New Directors/New Films (Museum of Modern Art, NYC) and broadcast on IFC.

Additional screenings include Clermont-Ferrand (European Premiere) Women Make Waves (Asian Premiere), the UN (for the Special Session on Children), Boston Museum of Fine Art, Anthology Film Archives, Independent Feature Project (Buzz Cuts), Black Maria Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Women in the Directors Chair, Newport Film Festival, Bumbershoot/One Reel Festival, CinéWomen, AIR Gallery, Shorts International Film Festival, Harlem Film Festival, Lower East Side Girls’ Film Festival, Lake Placid Film Forum, Cork International Film Festival (Ireland), Dingle Film Festival (Ireland), Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Stony Brook Film Festival, Portland International Film Festival.

Writer/Director Ruth Sergel Producers Pamela Griffiths, Claudia Sidoti Director of Photography David Griffiths Editor Lora Zaretsky Music Michael Montes Costume Design Suzanne Kelly Production Design Paul Weathered Line Producer Susan Forrest Title Design Steve Tozzi

Alice Sophie Mascatello Mother Marlene Forte Eliza Hannah Goldwater Lila Gina Maria Paoli Becca Audrey Gelman PJ Dylan Weathered Sam Jerry Hildebrandt Lainey Ashley Brichter Candy Store Clerk George Valencia Candy Store Girl Giselle Forte Ring Vendor Alex Furth Happy Family Kate, Seth & Lola Buncher Screaming Couple Elizabeth Canavan, Jared Shaw Eliza’s Mother Claudia Sidoti Sam’s New Girlfriend Aimee Gallin Teacher Beverly Crick Kung Fu Boy Brian Dolphin, Nicholas Forrest-Reynolds School Kids Elizabeth Aguilar, Eliot Aronson, Chris DeLoach, John DeLoach, Anna Gribetz, Kate Gribetz, Antonella Lentini, Francesca Lentini, Zach McDonald, Arianne Moore, Matt Moore, Claudia Maria Perez, Lucia Reynolds, Aliza Stone, Nick Turner

Bruce

Dance Film (1998)  35mm • 3 Minutes • B&W

A duet for camera + dancer that challenges expectations of grace and disability.

The film features dancer Bruce Jackson and the song “We Are….” by Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell. Performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock on Sacred Ground.

Please also see Cusp, Belle

Bruce premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS.

Selected screenings include: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Anthology Film Archives, The Place (London), Passages (Milan), Exploratorium (San Francisco),IDAT 00 (International Dance and Technology), Dance on Camera, El Infinito (Mexico), American Dance Festival, Toronto Worldwide Shorts, General Roca Festival (Argentina), Do Boy’s Dozens, Sisyphus Emerging (Limelight Nightclub), Aurora Picture Show, Cinéwomen, Projections (Toronto), Stony Brook Film Festival, Brooklyn Disability Film Festival, Alice’s 3 MInutes Film Festival, Dis This…Film Festival, CMJ Music Fest, Care Of (Italy).

Director/Cinematographer Ruth Sergel Editor Juliette Olavarria Production Design Paul Weathered Assistant Director: Kate Sergel Buncher Camera Assistant Tricia Clark 2nd Camera Assistant Peter Gabriel Gaffer Eric Neason Best Boy Alexi Williams Stills Pamela Griffiths Props Dominic Toto Sound Tim Mangin Catering Claudia Sidoti

Dancer Bruce Jackson

Photo of Ruth Sergel + Bruce jackson by Pamela Griffiths

Photo by Pamela Griffiths

For each child that’s born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

We are our grandmothers’ prayers.
We are our grandfathers’ dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of God.

We are
Mothers of courage
Fathers of time
Daughters of dust
Sons of great vision.
We are
Sisters of mercy
Brothers of love
Lovers of life and
the builders of nations.
We are
Seekers of truth
Keepers of faith
Makers of peace and
the wisdom of ages.

We are our grandmothers’ prayers.
We are our grandfathers’ dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of God.

For each child that’s born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

WE ARE ONE.