The insults just continue. Yesterday, the folks at Cannes added another male director, Ken Loach to the competition lineup, for his new film Route Irish.
As the festival opens Wednesday the competition currently has 18 – correction now it’s 19 – male directors and NO FEMALE DIRECTORS!
The Times of London has a story with an exaggerated title: Women film-makers on the warpath over Cannes Film Festival snub, but the point is right – women are pissed.
Women & Hollywood gets a brief mention:
In the US, Melissa Silverstein, founder of the blog Women & Hollywood, wrote: “So much for the Bigelow effect. We are still going backwards.”
Have you signed the petition making your voice heard?
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I signed the petition. But I’m thinking maybe female film-makers should start their own film festival. How about we tell NOW to join forces with the WMC and do like the NAACP and have their own awards ceremonies. If they won’t let you into the system, make your own system. I’m sure it’s easier said than done, but it feels like all we’re getting from the “mainstream” is token gestures at best.
Looking through the blurbs provided about each of these films, I’m also noticing that a staggering number of these directors also don’t have any women – or have only one woman – credited as part of the production team.
Add to that a focus on stories about men, and I wonder why exactly I’m supposed to value Cannes as such an important cultural institution.
I’m also sort of shocked at the fact that I can’t seem to find anybody really talking about this in the MSM. I *shouldn’t* be surprised at that at this point. I just can’t help but imagine the outcry, the condemnation, the televised discussions, the headlines if it ever just so happened that all the films chosen for competition were created by women.
What is even more disturbing is that I keep hearing men comment that maybe there just weren’t any good films by women. Now this is possible, but statistically unlikely given we are 50% of the world’s population. How come a woman can be Supreme Court Justice or Secretary of State and excel in any number of fields, but every time the dismal number of working female directors is brought up…the answer is we’re just no good. If we’re no good, wouldn’t we be no good at everything…not just film directing.
So here are my suggestions. Obviously, the programming committee has a bias. Next year, make sure there are multiple women on the committee. Jane Campion and Kathryn Bigelow would be great. Both are true artists with their own unique styles. I’m sure they would be honored. Cannes should also make sure there is a gender balance with the pre-screeners, which is where a lot of the films get knocked out. As for the consultants submitting films directly to the committee…is there not one woman in the world who can fill this role?
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