Female Filmmaker Friday: Gina Hara, Voice for Geek Girls Everywhere

Gina Hara is a Canadian-Hungarian director, writer, and producer with a MFA in film production and a MA in inter-media. She has three short films to her name: Waning (2011), Rei (2012), and Orison (2014). Waning earned her a nomination for Best Canadian Film at the Toronto Film Festival.

Growing up in Hungary, Hara did not have a word to describe herself in terms of her passions. The words “geek” and “nerd” do not exist in Hungarian. It wasn’t until she came to Canada that Hara learned of this community that bonded through love of superheroes and science fiction. It was this realization that she herself was a “geek” that inspired a need to explore and share with others what that truly meant.

Her first feature-length documentary Geek Girls, currently showing at the Cleveland International Film Festival, highlights the women in geek culture. Women have created and given so much to this world, but Hara doesn't shy away from its dark side. She shows the discrimination most women go through in a mostly male-dominated community, while also showcasing the underground world itself, and how women have struggled through heavy resistance to be accepted in it.

Hear what filmmaker Gina Hara has to say about Geek Girls below, and learn more about the film here.