Star Grier still blazing trails in film

Work as long as Pam Grier, and you’ll have stories. And does Pam Grier ever have stories.

There’s the one about Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, who wanted her to teach him to make fried chicken but all they had on hand was squab.

“I made fried pigeon for him, and the rest of my life he sent me a birthday card until he passed.”

Or the one about meticulously rehearsing a scene in which she has to stealthily pull a gun in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown.

“(Tarantino) says, ‘The minute I don’t see the gun, we can do the scene.’ Four hours later.”

Those lucky enough to have snagged a spot at Film Training Manitoba’s sold-out Supporting Women in Film Trades (SWIFT) conference Saturday will hear her tell some of them in person. The Hollywood legend known for playing such iconic, badass title women as Foxy Brown (1974), Coffy (1973) and Jackie Brown (1997) — and is roundly regarded as Hollywood’s first female action star (who, by the way, did her own stunts) — will be delivering this year’s keynote address.

This year’s conference theme is Breaking Barriers, Building Careers, and few people represent that spirit better than Grier, 77.

“When looking at the people who’ve been registering, we did know that by getting someone from the BIPOC community — an iconic person within the film industry — we really recognize that it would help us expand who we’re trying to bring and welcome to the industry because there’s been lots of reports in the last year or so about there’s a continued decline of women getting opportunities in the film industry,” says Adam Smoluk, executive director of Film Training Manitoba.

Grier made her own opportunities, blazing a trail from the women coming up behind her. She became an icon of the 1970s Blaxploitation genre, playing strong, independent, tough-as-nails women who could empower other women — and, in particular, empower women to get out of abusive situations. That’s why she disagrees when people say the genre is negative or promotes stereotypes.

“Blaxploitation is about the black community being exploited by every known colour crook — and the women stopped it,” she says, during a wide-ranging sit-down with the Free Press a day before the conference.

“I stepped in and stopped it. My aunt, who was Foxy Brown, rode a Harley. All of us were taught by Daddy Ray (Grier’s grandfather) to shoot their eyes out and protect yourself.”

In addition to stories, Grier, unsurprisingly, has got opinions. Like, no, actually, life doesn’t end at 40 if you’re a woman — “we’re hornier and our orgasms are three days longer” — and women’s bodies are sacred.

“We know there’s a temple about us, but it’s overlooked in society as recreation, as a gymnasium. And when you have that, then you’re gonna have Cornell. You’re gonna have Epstein.”

As her focus shifts to behind the camera as a director and producer, she also has strong beliefs on what modern sets should have in order to attract more women — including daycare.

“There’s almost all female electric crews and camera crews now that I look for. Anybody show up, just show up. We have daycare on the set wherever our base camp is. You drop off your kids from one to five. … So on your way home, you pick them up and take them with you, so you can read a story, bed and bath, the whole thing — have a family.”

That mirrors discussions that will be happening at the conference this weekend.

“If we’re trying to reach out to women, the industry has to actually evolve,” Smoluk says.

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com