The Woman Director [Paperback]

Jurgen Vsych (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2004

The first autobiography of an American female film director, "The Woman Director" tells the story of Jurgen Vsych, who decided to become a filmmaker at age two. She began shooting Super-8 film at age four and made her first "proper" film at age six, financing the venture with baby-sitting money and editing the film with her father's toenail clippers.

A woman decades ahead of her time, Vsych's never-ending search for financing led her to take jobs as a cellist, elementary school bodyguard, detective, movie-theatre usher, butler and bagpiper - experiences she used as material for her films. Vsych's quest took her to Scotland, where she became the first filmmaker ever to win the Prince Charles Trust Award. "The Woman Director" tells how one woman succeeded in a male-dominated profession without selling out, succumbing to drugs, or going (too) mad. Possessing the enthusiasm of Auntie Mame, the Presbyterian Dudley Do-Rightness of John Glenn, the daring of Chuck Yeager, the wit of Groucho Marx, the artistic rebelliousness of Beethoven and the fortitude of Seabiscuit, Vsych discovered just how low the glass ceiling is for women seeking the most coveted position on the set. "The Woman Director," based on Vsych’s 17,256-paged diary, is a masterpiece of comic prose, celebrating a gladiatress of independent films who, in 30 years of filmmaking, never once batted a single eyelash at a man to make her films.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jürgen Vsych made her first film at age 6. Her films have been shown at 40 film festivals in 28 countries.

"Pay Your Rent, Beethoven," her 27th featurette, was made in Glasgow and won the Prince Charles Trust Award. It was distributed in Scotland, paired with "Slacker" and "Delicatessen." "$on for Sail," featurette #28, aired on Britain's Channel Four and on America's P.B.S. Her feature debut, "Ophelia Learns to Swim" is now available on DVD.

Vsych's journal was included in the book "World Cinema-Diary of a Day." She also wrote, directed, produced and starred 38 plays and 110 one-act plays. She has written a feature-length screenplay of "Pay Your Rent, Beethoven," as well as five other feature comedies. Jürgen is also a professional bagpiper, and her films are distinguishable by their eclectic soundtracks.

Vsych recently finished a five-month stint as Ralph Nader's campaign photographer and videographer, during which she directed the famous Nader-Bush-Kerry virtual debate, "Ralph Nader Crashes the Two Parties." She is currently writing a book about Ralph's campaign.

Product Details

• Paperback: 229 pages
• Publisher: Wroughten Books; First Printing edition (November 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974987905
• ISBN-13: 978-0974987903
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,934,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget film school - buy "The Woman Director", May 24, 2005

By 

Angus Atkinson (Cleveland, OH, U.S. of A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Woman Director (Paperback)

It's 2005 and finally, finally an American woman film director has written her memoir, "The Woman Director: The Adventures of a Really Independent Filmmaker, Ages 6-36;" and brother, is this one REALLY independent filmmaker! This is one of those rare books - like John Sayles's "Thinking in Pictures" - that really lays out the difficulties of shooting on low budgets. It's both inspiring and, at the same time, will probably make a lot of women think twice about going for the director's chair. Jurgen Vsych survived physical attacks and unbelievable harassment. If things in Hollywood are better now than in 1973, it's because of women like Vsych, who gained ground by sheer artistic excellence. If nothing else, this book explains why there are so few women directors. This is one tough dame. Her nickname is "Rommel," and not for nuthin' - this woman is a tank, taking missile fire and staying on course. She'll probably be the first woman to win the best director Oscar.

She wrote, directed and produced "Ophelia Learns to Swim" (which you can get on Amazon.com) and the shorts "Pay Your Rent, Beethoven" and "Ralph Nader Crashes the Two Parties (they're only available on TheWomanDirector.com) - pure dead brilliant! She was obviously inspired by Buster Keaton and the great silent comedians, but dialogue is her true strength - she has a great ear (she's a professional musician, and her scores and sound effects are top-notch). She obviously likes actors (she even got a good performance out of Ralph Nader!), and she tells great stories about working with John Gielgud, Max Von Sydow and Dudley Moore.

The cover photo, like the book, is both funny and sad - a woman who has spent all her money on an Arri 35mm camera and has no money left over for a proper dolly, so she's forced to use a shopping cart. If Vsych were a man - or the daughter of a famous director - she'd be as famous as Steven Soderbergh, Alexander Payne and Sofia Coppola. I hope this book will help her get the recognition - and the budgets - she deserves.

This is the only memoir I've ever read that was written in present tense, which does really put you in the rollercoaster alongside Vsych (pronounced "Vy-zick," according to the handy pronunciation guide on her book cover); it makes the story seem like it's happening as you read it. My only beef is that it's way too short. Her diary at the time she wrote this book was 17,256 pages long. I hope she'll publish the rest someday. She's written a book about Nader's campaign - I'm counting the days 'til it comes out!

I hope Vsych one day writes a book about film technique - it would be The Missing Manual for young filmmakers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Memoir of an American Woman Director-and about time!, May 23, 2005

By 

Elsa Castle (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Woman Director (Paperback)

The writer-director-producer-credit-card-goddess of the cult classic "Ophelia Learns to Swim" and 29 other films is the first American woman director - and only the third woman director ever -to write her autobiography. This is a historic book, a classic which not only describes her personal struggles, but illuminates the climate from 1973 - when women were unable to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and there were virtually no women directors - to 2003, when women were still only making 73 cents to a man's dollar and women directors were still viewed as an oddity.

Vsych was born in Hollywood, but never went Hollywood. Growing up in the worst place on earth for an independent film maker, she eventually escaped and made films in Scotland, England, Seattle and New York (she's now based in Washington DC, having worked as Ralph Nader's 2004 campaign videographer - she wrote and directed the brilliant "Ralph Nader Crashes the Two Parties," a mock debate with Nader debating Bush and Kerry [as portrayed by GI Joe dolls]). She did whatever it took to raise money for her films - digging for food in trash cans, living in her car, working as a bookseller, a butler and a bagpiper.

"The Woman Director" is written in the rarely-used present-tense, which puts you smack inside this most unusual brain. Vsych edited 17,000 pages of journals into 226 fast-paced pages - let's hope a publisher one day publishes the entire diary - it will be the Pepys Diary of its day.

Vsych is a true Renaissance Woman. Unlike many other memoirs, there is nothing whiney, self-pitying or self-indulgent in her book. Vsych will stand with Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland as one of the great women artists and role models in cinema history. I can't wait for the sequel, "The Old Lady Director: The Adventures of a Really Wealthy Filmmaker, Ages 37-97."

(Incidentally, I display this book on my bookcase facing out - the photo of Vsych in her shopping cart dolly is a great metaphor for women; no matter how high we climb, we always get stuck doing the shopping.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move Aside Don Quixote!, February 25, 2005

By 

Christopher A. Driscoll - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Woman Director (Paperback)

"The Woman Director" is an insider's journey through the triumphs and tragedies of film-making for the love of the art - rather than for the love of the money. Our tour guide is the archetype-incarnate of a female Don Quixote, jousting with and jutting at the windmills of Hollywood.

Along the way she has encounters with several characters you will recognize, several prima donnas, a gaggle of weasels and even a few decent human beings.

Her travels to Scotland and Seattle, attempts at finding more supportive environments for her film-making, make for interesting travelogues and could have each stood alone as fascinating peeks into the veiled culture of the independent cinematic arts community.

But it is in Hollywood where our author, Ms. Jurgen Vsych, is able to show us the biggest obstacles in the way of the independent film maker as well as giving us a look we can not get anywhere else into how "indies" are made.

Ms. Vsych brings to her story the same combination of sharp - even piercing - social commentary and zany comedy as we find in her films. This is one not to miss if you are "in to" indies or wonder why there are so few women in that field. Oh, and by the way, this book reads like a novel; each page has something to titillate your fancy and keep you reading on to the end.