The American Film Institute (AFI) has received a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and plans to use those funds to conduct “an unprecedented, landmark study of gender parity in the history of American film.” A press release has announced that the research project, called “Women They Talk About,” will focus on women’s representation on both sides of the camera during the early days of cinema, “an era in which more women held positions of power than at any other time in the U.S. motion picture industry.”

Named after the 1928 film — which, it’s worth pointing out, was directed by a man — “Women They Talk About” will be led by the research team at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, a database of every American movie released in the first century of cinema. The study will use “cutting-edge technology” to examine gender roles in the 500,000-plus credits of the first 100 years of American film, “providing new empirical data to support women’s inclusion in the historical narrative.”

According to AFI, the overall goal of this project is to create a more inclusive entertainment landscape and promote more diverse role models for future generations.

“‘Women They Talk About’ is a game-changer for the story of women’s roles in film,” said Sarah Blankfort Clothier, Manager, AFI Catalog. “This essential project will bring forgotten female film pioneers into the cultural vernacular, and secure their contributions in the canon of American cinema.”

“Women They Talk About” is also financed by the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Lovell Foundation.

AFI’s other gender equality programs include the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the AFI Cinematography Introductory Intensive for Women, and the Young Women in Film Intensive.