Geena Davis Institute to Tackle Jennifer Holness Doc on ‘Harmful’ Beauty Standards in Hollywood and Fashion (EXCLUSIVE)

Tatiana Siegel
·3 min read
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That’s not how real women look!

When it comes to depictions of women’s bodies, Hollywood and the fashion industry have long faced criticism for missing the mark. That’s why the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media is teaming up with production companies Rose Pictures and Besties Make Movies on the documentary “Nothing Fits.”

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Jennifer Holness, an alum of Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival, is attached to direct the feature film, which will examine the impact Hollywood and fashion have had on how multiple generations of women feel about their bodies and the struggles faced by those who do not fit the industries’ standard beauty norms.

“Nothing Fits” will take a deep dive into more than a century of fashion and deconstruct how it has elevated certain female body types while leaving others behind. The documentary aims to capture the experiential connection that women feel with fashion, while also shining a light on the women who fail to meet standards set by Hollywood and the media. “Nothing Fits” will feature personal stories from a range of influential media personalities, artists and models as well as fashion designers, producers and executives who set the standards.

Director Jennifer Holness, whose credits include the Toronto International Film Festival award-winning doc “Subjects of Desire,” sparked to the “Nothing Fits” concept as an opportunity to challenge “global narratives that have dictated who we are, how we should look and how we should feel for too long.” With the doc, Holness plans to “traverse race, culture, sexuality and gender and tear down prevailing norms that do much harm.”

Rose Pictures’ Rose Ganguzza echoed the idea that the status quo has created dangerous expectations for women. “A well-known mantra of the fashion and entertainment world has been, ‘The illusion is better than the real thing,’” Ganguzza said. “So, what we have seen and what we strive to be has been dictated by manufactured images, through the magic of the silver screen or the manipulation of a lens. And yet, all of this has formed our desire to look and be perfect, a harmful concept.”

“Nothing Fits” producers include Ganguzza, MARS, Jackie Schwartz and Stacey Maltin as well as Elizabeth Kilpatrick and Madeline Di Nonno of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Added Di Nonno: “The stories we tell have real world impact on our perceptions and definitions of beauty. Given the rich diversity in our culture, it’s important that we see more diverse portrayals across all forms of media, including fashion.”

Founded in 2004, the Geena Davis Institute bills itself as the only global research-based organization working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family-targeted media.

New York-based Rose Pictures is the company behind such indie films as Antonio Campos’ “Afterschool” and JC Chandor’s “Margin Call,” as well as Julian Fellowes period drama “The Chaperone” for PBS.

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