Happy International Women’s Day everyone!

As a female movie fan and film critic, as well as someone who’s dabbled in filmmaking, I’d like to take the opportunity to talk about where we are in terms of female representation. I have lamented in my Oscars nomination musings that Hollywood once again ignored female filmmakers with the five directors nominated being ALL males.

It seems that after the historic Best Director wins for women directors back to back–Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)–we are back to #OscarsSoMales once again. It’s disheartening considering there ARE terrific directorial works by women worthy of nominations, notably Sarah Polley (Women Talking) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King).

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STATS ON FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN HOLLYWOOD

Gina Prince-Bythewood on the set of The Woman King with Viola Davis

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I know that Hollywood says they’re working on improving diversity, but let’s take a look at a few stats compiled by Women and Hollywood website:

1) Women account for 50% of moviegoers. (MPA 2019)

2) On the top 100 grossing films of 2019, women represented:

• • 10.7% of directors
  • 19.4% of writers
  • 24.3% of producers
  • 70.4% of casting directors

(Inclusion Initiative)

3) Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, and Jane Campion are the only women to ever win the Academy Award for Best Director.

• • Only seven women have ever been nominated (Lina Wertmüller, Campion, Sofia Coppola, Bigelow, Greta Gerwig, Zhao, and Emerald Fennell).
  • Zhao is not only the first woman of color to be nominated in the section, but she is also the first woman of color to win.
  • Campion is the only woman to be nominated in the category more than once (in 1994 for “The Piano” and 2022 for “The Power of the Dog”).

4) In 2018 “Mudbound’s” Rachel Morrison became the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Cinematography.

5) During the 2019-2020 TV season:

• • Women accounted for 30% of all creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography working on broadcast network, cable, and streaming programs
  • The number of women creators (28%) marked a historic high
  • 94% of the programs considered had no women directors of photography, 76% had no women directors, 81% had no women editors, 73% had no women creators
  • 20% of female characters were Black, 5% were Latina, and 8% were Asian

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So clearly we still have a long way to go in terms of female representation in Hollywood.

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INTERVIEWS WITH FEMALE DIRECTORS

Here at FlixChatter, I always strive to champion female filmmakers’ works and I’d like to share some of my previous articles where I highlight their work, as well as interview posts where I had the privilege to chat with a few of my favorite female filmmakers:

Interview with writer/director Pamela B. Green – Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

Interview with Debra Granik – Leave No Trace

Q&A with director Deepa Mehta – BEEBA BOYS

Interview with director Emily Ting – Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

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CELEBRATING FEMALE CREATORS ON FILM + TV

Here are past articles I’ve published highlighting my favorite works by women working in various parts of filmmaking in TV and Movies:

10 Favorite TV Series Created, Directed, or Written by Women

In appreciation for 5 great female DPs working today

10 Favorite Romantic Films Directed by Women

Five Romantic Dramas directed by women with POC leads worth staying in for on Valentine’s Week

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One of the best film-related initiatives that you can participate in is the 52 Films By Women Challenge. I’ve been doing that for the past few years 

I started the 52 Films By Women challenge on International Women’s Day a few years ago. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within the course of one year. Share about the films you’re watching on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word, and get more people talking about the women filmmakers that don’t always get attention.

My 52-Films-By-Women Recap of 2021

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REVIEWS OF RECENT FAVE MOVIES #DIRECTEDBYWOMEN

Petite Maman

Atlantics 

A Call To Spy

The Farewell

Nomadland

The Power of the Dog

Little Women

The Woman King

Good luck to you Leo Grande

She Said

Women Talking

Saint Omer

EMILY

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FEMALE-EMPOWERMENT WEBSITES WORTH CHECKING OUT

CherryPicks is your trusted source for movie and TV recommendations, reads, and reviews exclusively from female and non-binary critics. Created in 2018 by Miranda Bailey and Rebecca Odes who decided enough was enough with very little to no representation of the female and non-binary critical voice.

Women And Hollywood – Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the global film industry. The site was founded in 2007 by Melissa Silverstein. On a daily basis, Women and Hollywood sets the standard, defines the conversation, fuels coverage, and reinforces messages throughout the specialized and mainstream media to call for gender parity.

Last but certainly not least, I simply have to give a shout-out to my friend Lillie Gardner whom I met at a Pitch Event at Catalyst Content Festival in Duluth last year. She pitched a phenomenal historical drama pilot for a series called Ruth Rising which focuses on three generations of scrappy Minnesota women fighting for the American dream by bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition. 

Another project she’s working on that I hope would get off the ground soon is Allegra Sparkle’s Guide to the Great Composers (You Might Not Have Heard Of) – an Austin Film Festival-winning animated TV series for kids. The series aims to educate kids about women and other underrepresented composers and to offer an inclusive and entertaining history of classical music.

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Hope you’re celebrating International Women’s Day today and continue to support #WOMENINFILM all week/month/year long!

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