The Guerrilla Girls take on the problems of Hollywood. (gurerrillagirls.com)
A few weeks ago, filmmaker Erin Laing sent me an e-mail about the lack of attention female directors have been getting by mainstream bloggers. What pissed her off, specifically, was Filmshowing’s list Why 2008 Will be an Awesome Year for Movies. Fifty-four films, and not a one made by a woman. (You can read Erin’s own blog about the list here).
Other most-anticipated lists are not very different. Slash Film’s list of 55 must-see films does include one woman: Mira Nair’s film Shantaram, set for release this fall. At least The Times’ list of 50 biggest movies of 2008 includes a whopping three pictures: Persepolis, 27 Dresses and Mamma Mia!)
Clearly, the criteria used to make these lists are, well, pretty subjective. (I know I can’t wait until the April release of Repo! The Genetic Opera!, a paranoid apocalypic musical starring Paris Hilton [no, not really].)
But it’s not just a matter of exposure. According to the site moviesbywomen.com, only 5% of Hollywood movies are made by women, and the majority of women-directed films are small productions. Where are the women diectors? This is not the first time this question has been asked about film. In 2002, Salon ran an in-depth piece on the topic, and three years later, The Guardian asked filmmakers themselves to answer the question.
There are some bright moments: just this past week, films directed by women took half of the top prizes at Sundance. Women also won half of the directing prizes, and are well represented among the jury, too.
Makes me yearn for some good old Guerrilla Girls-style campaigns. Imagine how happy I was to find out that they are already on the case.
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
one comment
Hmmm, which would I rather have more women in, the instituition that basically runs the world, or the place that tries to sell me crappy movies? Both figures are abysmal, but I'm going to have to go with the senate.
Posted by Natalie
February 3, 2008, 9:18 PM
Leave a comment
This blog post is older than 90 days old. All comments submitted regarding this post will be automatically held for review by the editors before posting. Your comment will not appear on the site until it has been approved.
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.