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After learning that Errol Morris’ infamous ‘Interrotron,’ (responsible for his signature interview style wherein subjects speaking directly to camera) was actually invented by his wife, despite limited credit ever being given to her. A classic tale with film directors (and women in every sector – see Rosalind Franklin, or Lise Mietner), it is crucial to give credit to female directors as it is due.

Alice Guy 

The first female studio owner, and one of the first female directors, of her time. Despite creating one thousand films, just 350 survive. Despite her achievements, and pioneering work exploring the sound syncing system, colour tinting, interracial casting, gender roles and special effects, Guy has historically been overlooked by historians, with much of her legacy lost, attributed to her husband, or utterly unrecorded in cinema academia.

 

Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties), Jane Campion (The Piano), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker): the only four women to have ever been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. Bigelow is the only woman to have ever won the award.

One of my favourite short documentary films, which I adore for its simplicity and stunning cinematography, is by Elizabeth Lo – hopefully she may become one of the future pioneers for women in film.

Each night in Silicon Valley, a public bus transforms into an unofficial shelter for the homeless. Hotel 22 captures a single, dramatic night on the Line 22 route. 

So why are women overlooked so often in the film industry, and denied the accolades they deserve? 

Why is it that documentary film appears to be the only section of the film industry where women have any semblance of a foothold? 

Deep-seated, insidious, internalised sexism and delusions concerning the abilities of men vs women, are the driving forces of cinema’s drought of female directors. It provides barriers to securing funding, and favours first-time male directors over women who are seen as ‘higher risk’ investments. In documentary film, the flexibility of filming, small budgets, lack of authority and ability to work solo or in small groups enables more women to break into the documentary film world. Although this is true, the majority of big budget documentary productions are still reserved for men; the most renowned and popular documentarians that instantly spring to mind (Louis Theroux, Michael Moore, Werner Herzog, David Attenborough, Errol Morris, etc) – all men. Women simply aren’t afforded the same opportunities. Further, these opportunities extend to when a documentarian tries to make the leap to feature films, or fiction films. Women are rarely supported in these endeavours, whilst men are far more likely to find support and funding for their projects. A clear unconscious bias runs through our culture. In an ironically recurring cycle, culture absorbs the messages broadcast to them through film. While women continue to receive a pittance of funding and opportunity, their stories will continue to be absent from screen, and the message this sends to our culture only perpetuates the messages that have created these conditions in the first instance.