REEL WOMEN: Director Yaara Sumeruk

Yaara
(Reel Woman: Yaara Sumeruk)

Editor’s Note: Five years ago we had an idea. Being a woman-owned publication, it made sense to us to celebrate women who were making a difference in the industries we cover. So, we started a “little” feature for Women’s History Month called “Reel Women.” To say it blossomed into something special would be a vast understatement. It exploded. Over the last four years, we have gotten to know leaders, mentors and visionaries from a variety of creative industries. We have learned about their ups. And how they get back up after being down. This is our 5th Annual REEL WOMEN. For the month of March, let us introduce you to some very special women like Sweet Rickey director Yaara Sumeruk.

Yaara Sumeruk is an Argentinian-South African director, editor and story editor. She works in both fiction and nonfiction films, focusing on making the invisible visible, whether it’s under-represented communities, body language or women being human in the world. Her films have been screened at Locarno International Film Festival, Short Shorts Tokyo, Encounters International Documentary Festival, Camden International Film Festival, and The Museum of the Moving Image.

Commercially, Yaara has directed videos for Eastern Bank, Converse, Google, Penguin Books, USPS, Rado Watches, and has edited trailers for director Spike Lee, The Sundance Institute and many other independent films.

Before becoming an independent filmmaker, she worked as a story editor to screenwriter Justin Haythe (The Lone Ranger, Red Sparrow) and ran video production at BOND/360, a documentary distributor. Yaara is a MacDowell Fellow, School of Making Thinking Resident, and has taught film at Princeton University and The Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

Let’s meet Yaara!

What’s your origin story?

I have four different nationalities and speak three different languages. It’s a long story so let’s just say my parents met in Buenos Aires and then left on a boat.

How did you become a director?

My first real job in film was as Matt Dillon’s assistant. It was a fantastic experience because he was a kind, generous boss and included me in everything, eventually having me help with developing story ideas at his production company.

Then in grad school I got a job as a writer’s assistant for screenwriter Justin Haythe (The Lone Ranger, Revolutionary Road, Red Sparrow). While I was doing that I started making tiny, low budget videos; if I met a musician I’d ask them if I could direct a music video for them. If I saw a poster for a short film competition I would enter. Basically anything that would give me a budget so that I could get my creative ideas on screen.

As an immigrant to the US, I didn’t have the luxury of college or work relationships to help me (I knew one whole person when I arrived). But at the same time I didn’t have anything to lose by asking for help, which led me to learn a valuable lesson early on in my career:  reach out to the most talented people you’ve met for the job – whether it’s scoring, editing, sound -whatever the position is.

Just because a project is small and low budget, doesn’t mean you need to hire someone who is inexperienced or not what you’re looking for. If you have passion (and a lot of respect), people will feel that too. The worst they can say is no. A “no” is a lot better than a shitty end product. That helped me be a better director, as I was learning from the best I could.

Who were your mentors?

Director Lenore DeKoven. I took her directing workshop for three years. She truly taught me how to direct actors, how necessary it is to have a throughline for the films I was working on, and to make  those throughlines personal, even if they weren’t obviously so.

While there will be others, what do you consider your biggest achievement to date?

The first short film I ever directed, a dark comedy called RINGO, got into the Locarno International Film Festival.  It was one of 25 films picked out of thousands. I didn’t even know what a festival really was or what it meant to get into Locarno.

Watching my film premiere on a giant screen in Europe with 800 people laughing at what up until then I alone thought was funny (and learning what other parts audiences thought were funny), made me feel that I may have a shot at this whole directing thing.

A recent PUMA job I directed called “She Moves Us” is something I’m so incredibly proud of – 3 different countries and 14 different scenes shot over 2 months and keeping everything looking and feeling like one dynamic universe.


REELated:


What drives you to create?

I’m driven by the desire to use cinema in its most relevant and artistic way. We have so much “content” right now that sometimes we lose sight of the fact that this is also an art form, but it’s the artistic, boundary-pushing work that rises to the top, even in commercials. I’m also driven to tell stories about women in leading roles without constantly pointing to the fact they’re women. Women have existential moments too that have nothing to do with being a girlfriend or a mother and I want to show that. Women think about and react to life, death, travel, meaning, philosophy, friendship, music, art, and don’t just exist in the roles we inhabit.

What shows are doing the best job of portraying strong women on TV?

I think the creators of shows like Insecure (Issa Rae), Frayed (Sarah Kendall) or Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) are brilliant because they sculpt compelling, complex, dynamic characters that have rich inner and outer lives.

There are too many T.V shows where the female lead eats too much chocolate to indicate that she has a quirky personality 🙂 I can list four shows like that off the top of my head right now. But I won’t!

Coffee, Lunch or Happy Hour. Which famous woman is going with you?

Coffee: Claire Denis (but like a three-hour coffee and a stroll)

Lunch: Ava Duvernay

Happy Hour: Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

What is the biggest challenge to women in your industry?

This isn’t the biggest challenge but the one challenge I find quite rewarding is being doubted. There’s something very satisfying about being underestimated and then proving people wrong.

When you’re not creating, what do you do in your off time?

Dinner with friends, travel, travel, travel, make bad music.

Predict your future! Where are you in 5 years?

On the film festival circuit with an epic dark comedy I directed featuring a female protagonist who never says the words “sorry” “just” or “I don’t know.”


Nominate Someone You know For Reel Women


Yaara
(Reel Woman: Yaara Sumeruk)

Editor’s Note: Five years ago we had an idea. Being a woman-owned publication, it made sense to us to celebrate women who were making a difference in the industries we cover. So, we started a “little” feature for Women’s History Month called “Reel Women.” To say it blossomed into something special would be a vast understatement. It exploded. Over the last four years, we have gotten to know leaders, mentors and visionaries from a variety of creative industries. We have learned about their ups. And how they get back up after being down. This is our 5th Annual REEL WOMEN. For the month of March, let us introduce you to some very special women like Sweet Rickey director Yaara Sumeruk.

Yaara Sumeruk is an Argentinian-South African director, editor and story editor. She works in both fiction and nonfiction films, focusing on making the invisible visible, whether it’s under-represented communities, body language or women being human in the world. Her films have been screened at Locarno International Film Festival, Short Shorts Tokyo, Encounters International Documentary Festival, Camden International Film Festival, and The Museum of the Moving Image.

Commercially, Yaara has directed videos for Eastern Bank, Converse, Google, Penguin Books, USPS, Rado Watches, and has edited trailers for director Spike Lee, The Sundance Institute and many other independent films.

Before becoming an independent filmmaker, she worked as a story editor to screenwriter Justin Haythe (The Lone Ranger, Red Sparrow) and ran video production at BOND/360, a documentary distributor. Yaara is a MacDowell Fellow, School of Making Thinking Resident, and has taught film at Princeton University and The Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

Let’s meet Yaara!

What’s your origin story?

I have four different nationalities and speak three different languages. It’s a long story so let’s just say my parents met in Buenos Aires and then left on a boat.

How did you become a director?

My first real job in film was as Matt Dillon’s assistant. It was a fantastic experience because he was a kind, generous boss and included me in everything, eventually having me help with developing story ideas at his production company.

Then in grad school I got a job as a writer’s assistant for screenwriter Justin Haythe (The Lone Ranger, Revolutionary Road, Red Sparrow). While I was doing that I started making tiny, low budget videos; if I met a musician I’d ask them if I could direct a music video for them. If I saw a poster for a short film competition I would enter. Basically anything that would give me a budget so that I could get my creative ideas on screen.

As an immigrant to the US, I didn’t have the luxury of college or work relationships to help me (I knew one whole person when I arrived). But at the same time I didn’t have anything to lose by asking for help, which led me to learn a valuable lesson early on in my career:  reach out to the most talented people you’ve met for the job – whether it’s scoring, editing, sound -whatever the position is.

Just because a project is small and low budget, doesn’t mean you need to hire someone who is inexperienced or not what you’re looking for. If you have passion (and a lot of respect), people will feel that too. The worst they can say is no. A “no” is a lot better than a shitty end product. That helped me be a better director, as I was learning from the best I could.

Who were your mentors?

Director Lenore DeKoven. I took her directing workshop for three years. She truly taught me how to direct actors, how necessary it is to have a throughline for the films I was working on, and to make  those throughlines personal, even if they weren’t obviously so.

While there will be others, what do you consider your biggest achievement to date?

The first short film I ever directed, a dark comedy called RINGO, got into the Locarno International Film Festival.  It was one of 25 films picked out of thousands. I didn’t even know what a festival really was or what it meant to get into Locarno.

Watching my film premiere on a giant screen in Europe with 800 people laughing at what up until then I alone thought was funny (and learning what other parts audiences thought were funny), made me feel that I may have a shot at this whole directing thing.

A recent PUMA job I directed called “She Moves Us” is something I’m so incredibly proud of – 3 different countries and 14 different scenes shot over 2 months and keeping everything looking and feeling like one dynamic universe.


REELated:


What drives you to create?

I’m driven by the desire to use cinema in its most relevant and artistic way. We have so much “content” right now that sometimes we lose sight of the fact that this is also an art form, but it’s the artistic, boundary-pushing work that rises to the top, even in commercials. I’m also driven to tell stories about women in leading roles without constantly pointing to the fact they’re women. Women have existential moments too that have nothing to do with being a girlfriend or a mother and I want to show that. Women think about and react to life, death, travel, meaning, philosophy, friendship, music, art, and don’t just exist in the roles we inhabit.

What shows are doing the best job of portraying strong women on TV?

I think the creators of shows like Insecure (Issa Rae), Frayed (Sarah Kendall) or Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) are brilliant because they sculpt compelling, complex, dynamic characters that have rich inner and outer lives.

There are too many T.V shows where the female lead eats too much chocolate to indicate that she has a quirky personality 🙂 I can list four shows like that off the top of my head right now. But I won’t!

Coffee, Lunch or Happy Hour. Which famous woman is going with you?

Coffee: Claire Denis (but like a three-hour coffee and a stroll)

Lunch: Ava Duvernay

Happy Hour: Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

What is the biggest challenge to women in your industry?

This isn’t the biggest challenge but the one challenge I find quite rewarding is being doubted. There’s something very satisfying about being underestimated and then proving people wrong.

When you’re not creating, what do you do in your off time?

Dinner with friends, travel, travel, travel, make bad music.

Predict your future! Where are you in 5 years?

On the film festival circuit with an epic dark comedy I directed featuring a female protagonist who never says the words “sorry” “just” or “I don’t know.”


Nominate Someone You know For Reel Women