
Full Professor, Film and Video Studies, CVPA
Affiliated Faculty Women and听Gender Studies
Contact Information
Personal Websites
Biography
Professor G. Chesler (pronouns they/them) directs, produces, and writes fiction and documentary films that address sexuality, the body, gender and racial justice. Their films have been exhibited at hundreds of film festivals, museums, community centers, and galleries worldwide. They teach courses in fiction directing, screenwriting, and interactive storytelling.
Prof. Chesler鈥檚 latest documentary films include Connection | Isolation witnessing trans community during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Outliers and Outlaws on the migration of hundreds of lesbian world-builders to Oregon in the 1960鈥-1980鈥檚. They also Produced the feature documentary Out in the Night on a group of Black lesbian and gender divergent friends who were attacked, homophobically, and defended themselves. This was broadcast on PBS and LOGO television and screened in 70 countries through the United Nations鈥 Free + Equal campaign to combat homophobia and transphobia worldwide. Prof. Chesler co-edited Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA which won top awards at Blackstar and the African Academy Awards in Nigeria and featured the filmmakers of the first independent film movement by artists of color in the US. Their documentary 鈥淧eriod: The End of Menstruation鈥 became a cultural touchstone on the changing meaning of menstruation when it was covered on the front page of The New York Times.
Among Prof. Chesler鈥檚 award-winning short fiction films are the queer rom coms The Pick Up and BeauteouS, and melodramas Java and Bye Bi Love. Their work as a screenwriter includes these shorts and feature film scripts. You can learn more about their films at .
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Prof. Chesler鈥檚 recent awards include a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant, an award from the Portland Film and 麻豆国产 Office, and the Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Professor Chesler is a member of the board at NW Documentary, and serves on festival and grant juries regularly. They were recently awarded a Producer鈥檚 Guild Fellowship for their work Producing a documentary feature on the healing journey of a prominent intersex activist.
Prof. Chesler鈥檚听听focuses on sound, documentary, and community engaged learning. Professor Chesler鈥檚 recent essay 鈥溾 published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies Teaching Dossier focuses on structural strategies for antiracist teaching practices in film and media instruction. Their interviews with parents who are educators 鈥溾 appeared in Jump Cut and provides a glimpse into what educators with young children faced during restrictions supporting communal health.
Professor Chesler鈥檚 G6 Pix Instagram account features capsule reviews and news on their work .
Degrees
- MFA, Cinema, San Francisco 麻豆国产听(Most Distinguished Graduate)
- BA, Anthropology, Minor Women鈥檚 Studies,听麻豆国产 of Virginia (with Highest Distinction)