I think it’s hurting women’s opportunities that there is a notion abroad that women only like to work on small, independent movies. So far that’s the case because that’s where they’ve found the work: i.e. they’ve worked hard to create those opportunities.

There are different forms of entertainment. Sometimes I want a big blow-em-up movie, and other times I want something more personal and well-made. Women should be hired on crews/staff on films across all of these categories.

Normally, directing a film that gets this level of attention ensures that a male director will get further up the food chain and land more commercial and challenging projects. This hasn’t happened very often for women.

When we see a woman directing a blockbuster action movie like Transformers or Mr. and Mrs. Smith (a film that starts out with a big budget and is marketed that way) then you know that women are beginning to achieve parity.

One of our problems is that women writers and directors are labelled as niche or low-budget filmmakers. This year I’m seeing some hope that this might change. But, it’s down to the conservative decision-makers at the studios to hand out the plum jobs, and they prefer men.

Her films are:

She, a Chinese

and

Once Upon a Time Proletarian

She’s also an excellent novelist.

You can’t imagine the electric current that went thru me as I read this article yesterday because the person ringing all the bells about the 2004 Oscar Noms, was, you guessed it, yours truly. As I called around doing interviews for my Women’s eNews article, everyone was focused on Sofia Coppola. Almost no one (not even the folks at Women in Film in LA!) had fully appreciated the bigger picture. This article ended up winning the “Best News Article Written for the Internet” award from NPFW the following year, effectively setting me on my way:

http://www.films42.com/feature/2005-FeatherAward.asp

But as you read my article in current context, note this: I asserted then (& I still assert now) that success in 2004 didn’t just depend on a good crop of films. It was also a result of the fact that many women (including me) howled in protest when Julie Taymor was NOT nominated for Best Director for FRIDA (even tho FRIDA received 6 nominations & eventually won 2 Oscars).

If history is repeating itself, then perhaps the howling we did last year about Loveleen Tandan has helped to sensitize everyone again this year? Before you blow me off &/or accuse me of grandiosity (or worse) consider this: The Hurt Locker screened in Toronto last year… but it was barely noticed… When Independent Spirit Award noms were announced only Mackie & Renner got noms (quickly forgotten as the race heated up). What changed? Well, lots of things changed (including the election of Barack Obama & new conditions in Iraq), but two things that did NOT change are the film & its director.

Think about it… And then, let’s keep the pressure up!!!

Meanwhile: You Go, Girl!!!
Jan

It is great that so many of these films are about women as well as by them. Jordan Scott’s Cracks looks particularly interesting because of the setting in a girls’ school in the 1930s which is just my cup of tea. There are so many exciting looking films by women coming out now.