Between them, Julie Delpy and Marjane Satrapi have helmed 12 features and netted three Oscar nominations — they obviously know what they’re doing. Yet, as the filmmakers recently revealed during a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, the fact that they have established, successful careers often doesn’t mean much, because they’re also women. The two got candid about the constraints they — and other women directors — contend with, from financing to the types of stories they tell.
Delpy spoke about the funding problems she had while making her latest pic, family drama “My Zoe,” explaining that her investors didn’t trust a woman’s ability to make a movie. “We had a moronic lawyer taking care of this financial company who kind of convinced them to pull out of my film, because I was a female director, basically a week prior to prep. And suddenly this company, this Korean company, the day before signing the contract, says no,” Delpy recalled. “It was really traumatic. It took me six years to put the film together. And then this main financier suddenly vanishes with no excuse.”
“They had ‘doubts about my capacity’ to make the movie,” the “Lolo” director added. “It’s weird because it’s been changing. But there are still some people that have doubts about women dealing with bigger-budget films.”
There are also people who are fine dealing with moody male directors, but object when a woman so much as frowns. “I never go over budget. I never have crazy moments on set because I know that time is money. I’m super paranoid that I never raise my voice even when I should,” Delpy confessed. “Because then people are going to say I’m hysterical and should take a Valium. Do the smallest thing and you’re a bitch for like 20 years. As a woman, you have to be perfect, basically.”
“With men we say, ‘Oh, he is such a genius. He’s an asshole but a genius, so he has the right,'” Satrapi agreed. “But women, we always have to be perfect and nice and kind.”
As an Iranian woman who has explored the post-revolution Iranian experience on-screen, Satrapi explained that she’s felt pressure to tell stories exclusively about Muslims and the political situation in the Middle East. “I’m not a Muslim woman! I grew up in a family that didn’t believe in anything,” the “Persepolis” director said. “Until the revolution, I didn’t even know religion existed. Religion was the same as fairy tales.” And yet people consider her a Muslim filmmaker, above all else.
Since the world sees her as just an Iranian, Muslim director, Satrapi explained, she’s often criticized for her movies’ subject matter. “When I made ‘Chicken With Plums,’ people said, ‘There are all these problems in your country, why are you making a love story?'” she recalled. But why is it her responsibility to depict Iran’s woes on-screen? “Would somebody ask an American only to make films about Trump?” she asked. “It’s like only subjects I’m allowed to be interested in are atom bombs and burkas.”
Satrapi’s latest film, Marie Curie biopic “Radioactive,” premiered at TIFF this year, as did Delpy’s “My Zoe.” Satrapi was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar for “Persepolis,” the film adaptation of her graphic memoir. Her other movies include “Gang of the Jotas” and “The Voices.”
Delpy received screenwriting Oscar nods for co-writing “Before Midnight” and “Before Sunset.” “2 Days in New York,” “2 Days in Paris,” and “The Countess” are among her directorial credits. You can catch her on-screen in “Burning Shadow,” a drama about a loner and his doppelgänger, out February 28.
