Camera

Clare Major

Clare Major is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, California, who specializes in handheld observational camerawork and in stories that illuminate the intersection of cultures and the lives of women and girls. Clare's work has played at festivals around the world and appeared on HBO, PBS, the Discovery Channel, Netflix and the New York Times, among many others. Her recen…

Known For

World's Biggest Great White?World's Biggest Great White? · 2019
World's Biggest Great White?
★ 4.22019
MovieDocumentary
Three great whites are spotted in the waters off Oahu, but another one could be lurking just below the surface.
Miles Davis: Birth of the CoolMiles Davis: Birth of the Cool · 2019
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
★ 7.12019
MovieDocumentaryHistory
An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).
Birthing JusticeBirthing Justice · 2023
Birthing Justice
2023
MovieDocumentary
BIRTHING JUSTICE, a feature-length documentary film, captures the experiences and challenges of Black women, their families, caretakers and advocates, and examines the structures and systems that determine disparate rates of mortality.
Thanks, Babs!Thanks, Babs! · 2025
Thanks, Babs!
2025
MovieDocumentary
Meet Babs, an optimistic octogenarian speed-racing through life, one five-year plan at a time. Like a modern day Maude from Harold and Maude, Babs moves through life at breakneck speed. She spars with her ex over her 5-year plan for relationships, admitting to a reputation for always having her vibrator. She lap-dances at a party celebrating the 41st anniversary of her 39th birthday, threatening to kick anyone who says “80” out the door. A trip to the AIDS memorial grove on the heels of aquacise class at the Jewish Community Center sparks a glorious rumination on a possible afterlife.
Amy Tan: Unintended MemoirAmy Tan: Unintended Memoir · 2021
Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir
★ 8.22021
MovieDocumentary
Amy Tan has established herself as one of America’s most respected literary voices. Born to Chinese immigrant parents, it would be decades before the author of The Joy Luck Club would fully understand the inherited trauma rooted in the legacies of women who survived the Chinese tradition of concubinage.
Belly of the BeastBelly of the Beast · 2020
Belly of the Beast
★ 7.22020
MovieDocumentaryDrama
When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes - from dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal drama captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.
We Are the Radical MonarchsWe Are the Radical Monarchs · 2019
We Are the Radical Monarchs
★ 7.02019
MovieDocumentary
A group of tween girls chant into megaphones, marching in the San Francisco Trans March. Fists clenched high, they wear brown berets and vests showcasing colorful badges like “Black Lives Matter” and “Radical Beauty.” Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBTQ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice. Started by two fierce, queer women of color, we follow them as they face the challenge to grow the organization, both pre/post the 2016 election
Ahead of the CurveAhead of the Curve · 2021
Ahead of the Curve
★ 7.32021
MovieDocumentary
With a fist full of credit cards, a lucky run at the horse track, and a title that called to mind a certain French film star, Franco Stevens launched the best-selling lesbian lifestyle magazine ever published, connecting her community in an unprecedented way. AHEAD OF THE CURVE is a new feature documentary about the extraordinary woman who started Curve magazine, and by doing so helped accelerate the political and social evolution of the nation.

Filmography

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Belly of the BeastBelly of the Beast · 2020
Belly of the Beast
★ 7.22020
MovieDocumentaryDrama
When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes - from dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal drama captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.

Director of Photography

We Are the Radical MonarchsWe Are the Radical Monarchs · 2019
We Are the Radical Monarchs
★ 7.02019
MovieDocumentary
A group of tween girls chant into megaphones, marching in the San Francisco Trans March. Fists clenched high, they wear brown berets and vests showcasing colorful badges like “Black Lives Matter” and “Radical Beauty.” Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, a city with a deep history of social justice movements, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBTQ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice. Started by two fierce, queer women of color, we follow them as they face the challenge to grow the organization, both pre/post the 2016 election

Director of Photography