Editor

More women are working in the indie scene as witnessed by this year's Sundance festival. As proof, a staggering 56% of the documentary competition films this year were made by women. Sundance also scheduled a panel entitled "The Next Wave: Where Does Women's Film Go from Here". One of the festival films, Lesli Klainberg "In the Company of Woman," is a documentary about the contributions of women to independent film. In 1987 3% of the top 100 films were directed by women. Now the figure is at 26%.

Patty Jenkins is one of the directors on the move whose new film Monster on Aileen Wuornos debuted on December 24th. Wuornos was executed in 2002 for murdering seven men. The film has received wave reviews including making Roger Ebert's all time top ten list and stars Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci and Bruce Dern.

In a recent LA Weekly interview with Jenkins entitled 'Sympathy for a Monster?' the director is asked if is she an apologist for the crimes of Aileen Wuornos. Jenkins replies that she had access to correspondence written by Wuornos before her death. She was not interested in package movie deals with strings that would divert her from her artistic intention of presenting how Wuornos' life went out of control.

Jenkins doesn't focus on the trial as two documentaries made on Wuornos do, and presents a story that contextualizes the background to the murders. She also departs from some of the real life material to convey her story. For example, Selby Hall (Christina Ricci), Wuornos' lover is made into a 'feckless waif' in the film, though in real life she was 'sturdily built' and 'pragmatic'.

Jenkins is clear that she does not apologize for the crimes of Wuornos. She claims she shows the first murder - where Wuornos kills in self defense - and the last one - as bookends - to demonstrate she no longer was "so sure who deserved to die.” The film asks for sympathy, not apology. “As for how it ends up making people feel — well, you can’t count on that”, admits Jenkins.

Moira Sullivan,Nordic Correspondent