Filmmaker Statement

LEAN IN was Sheryl Sandberg’s much criticized novel of 2013 - her “feminist” viewpoint on women’s leadership. How to bring your most masculine self to the workforce. Embody the male ego to assert yourself in the patriarchy. Be them. Join them. Assimilate. I grew up with three brothers. My youngest brother and I, the closest. Out the back of the surf quoting Austin Powers and under the doona watching True Blood. But when we left school and grew into ourselves, I became the lefty feminist filmmaker and him the finance sales bro. We went through a few contentious years to say the least and yet we were still each other's ride ‘n dies. This relationship was one half of the inspiration of LEAN IN. The other half - an extremely toxic work dynamic I found myself in a year ago. Working with an esteemed male superior, the light of his validation shone so brightly on me… until it didn’t. And it became very clear he wasn’t going to respect me unless I stepped up to the plate like a man. Played the game “with balls” and asserted myself with masculine abrasiveness and ego. He didn’t respect my innate femininity in the slightest and if anything he saw it as weakness. LEAN IN became a story born from deeply affecting experiences. A f***ing frustrated young woman desperately trying to succeed for herself and stay true to who she is, but what if when challenged to “lean in”... she just fucking did. This isn’t a satisfying tale of female empowerment. But a dirty one.