Giovanna Chesler

A narrative and documentary filmmaker, writer, editor, and cinematographer, Giovanna Chesler is dedicated to producing films which explore social constructions of gender, beauty, identity, and sexuality. Sound practice, sound theory and documentary theory figure prominently in her film work and critical research. Chesler’s background in Anthropology, Archaeology, and Women’s Studies at The University of Virginia also informs her films and critical writing. During her studies in San Francisco State University’s graduate cinema program (MFA 2002) Chesler completed a trilogy of 16mm films about three sisters and their relationships with beauty, BeauteouS: The Trilogy (16mm, TRT: 43:00). BeauteouS: Stephanie (2000) the first of the three films, is a documentary about her sister who, born with a cranio-facial deformity, endured over twenty surgeries to transform her face. BeauteouS: Giovanna, a short B&W experimental narrative reveals the multiple ways Chesler understands her own body through sound and image experiments. The third and final film in the trilogy, BeauteouS, is a narrative comedy based on the life of her middle sister. In this fiction film, Donatella, who has been known for nothing other than her beauty, begins to see that she is more than just a pretty face. She starts this exploration with an understanding of her sexuality and intellect. Chesler’s latest work, an experimental documentary, hand-some (16mm, 12:20, 2004), is a portrait of a lesbian relationship coming to an end that reveals the dangers of documentary filmmaking. She is completing a feature length documentary: . (Period): The End of Menstruation? which addresses current trends in menstrual suppression and reveals how these trends in menstruation address the construction of gender through and despite the body. Giovanna Chesler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at University of California, San Diego and teaches classes on documentary production, film history and theory, sound editing and cinematography. She serves as the Director of Programs for the San Diego Women Film Foundation and is the primary Cinematographer in a forthcoming six-part documentary series on violence prevention produced by Discovery Education Networks.