Helen Mirren was honored last week in London with a lifetime achievement award from Women in Film and TV International. She is now appearing in The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy which will probably get her another Oscar nomination. The film is in limited release this week to qualify for the Oscars and will reopen in January. It is a must see.
She took the opportunity of her award to call out for more female directors. Dame Helen from what I can tell has only once been directed by woman, Julie Taymor in the yet to be released Tempest.
She talked about her early career when there were so few women and how it’s changed but added:
It has not gone nearly far enough… I want to see more women behind the camera.
She also ackowledged that at an event like this (ie mostly women) the best place to network is the bathroom
I was just in the loo… and it was jam-packed with women…They were networking, because you know, we can’t do it on the golf course can we, so we do it in the loo at the Women in Film and Television Awards.
Fucking Awesome.
Mirren’s Female Directors Plea (Press Association)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love Helen Mirren. She’s one of my favorite actresses. I remember a few years ago at the academy awards Helen complained about the lack of great roles for women. So I researched her movies on IMDB and found she had only once worked with a female director.
I am a director and I cannot “get behind the camera”, because that would involve someone hiring me or financing my films. I would need an agent, which means an agent would actually have to watch my short films and/or read my scripts with the intention of representing me. I am not being rejected, I am never even being considered.
Now if Helen Mirren wants to see more female directors, here’s what she can do. Set up a production company, look for scripts written by women and look for talented up and coming female directors. Allow work to be submitted without an agent, because we can’t get representation, since everyone knows we can’t get hired. Once you’ve done all of the above, agree to star in the first feature of a female director. I can get 1-3 million dollars if I have Helen Mirren in my film.
strongzz I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I am quite sure I’ll learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
{ 1 trackback }