This part of the article really stood out to me:
"Of the roughly 13,400 members of Directors Guild of America, only about 1,000, or 7 percent, are listed as female directors. (Total female membership, which includes people on the directing team like assistant directors and unit production managers, is about 3,000 or 22 percent.)
No woman has ever won an Academy Award for best director, and only three have ever been nominated: Lena Wertmuller for 1975's "Seven Beauties," Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano" and Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation." A woman has never won the Directors Guild's top honor, either, though six have been nominated."
This made me ask myself, "How can people support women directors?" Obviously, showing up to watch the movies at theaters is often the best way of creating a buzz for movies. My next question was, "Which movies have been made by female directors?" I couldn't answer this question. The article went on to answer this question:
"This year has seen tremendous work from actress Sarah Polley, making her writing and directing debut at just 28 with the stirring Alzheimer's drama "Away From Her." Australian Cherie Nowlan gave us the family comedy "Introducing the Dwights," and Zoe Cassavetes followed in the footsteps of father John Cassavetes with her first feature, the indie "Broken English."
Shari Springer Berman co-directed the big-screen adaptation of "The Nanny Diaries" (out August 24) with her husband, Robert Pulcini. Helen Hunt's directorial debut, the romantic comedy "Then She Found Me," premieres at September's Toronto International Film Festival. Kirsten Sheridan's musical, "August Rush," is due October 19.
Next March marks the return of Kimberly Peirce with her first film since 1999's "Boys Don't Cry": "Stop Loss," about a soldier returning from the Iraq war, which was inspired by her brother. And, of course, Valerie Faris co-directed the small gem "Little Miss Sunshine," which was nominated for four Oscars and won two."
I guess I will finally return my movies back to the Dreaming Ant so I can rent some of the aforementioned movies.
Thanks for posting that, Agent Ska. But (to quote Gloria, in a previous comment), "I grow weary ... "
ReplyDeleteWomen have to work so damn hard to get anywhere at anything ... so this is again, no surprise.
I'm 52 & back in the day we thought we were kicking this stuff to the curb. I can't remember if we were arrogant, naive or just plain dumb in thinking that we were going to change the world.
ReplyDeleteAt 16 I was in downtown Cleveland with the rest of the peaceniks calling for an end to war, war's name in those days was Vietnam. I was working with other high school students from around Cleveland to draw attention to environmental abuses. And, always I was marching or writing or something regarding women's rights issues.
Any Pollyannas out there in the readership, please pause for a deep cleansing breath before you tell me how much better it is now. I understand that some stuff's better, I also understand that not enough stuff's better.
In addition to growing weary, I am growing depressed. Ska, you're young, it's your turn now, tag - you're it! I'd like to switch to making slurpees at the Quikie Mart & not worry about anything anymore.