THE 2ND SEX &amp; THE 7TH ART: WOMEN DIRECTORS IN FILM

Bite-sized blog post: Amy Heckerling

AMY HECKERLING studied at NYU and then went on to get her MFA at AFI. Shedirected the now classic film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and went on to direct the cult classic Clueless (1995).

She most recently directed for the Amazon series Red Oaks.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

Bite-sized blog post: Jane Campion

The first woman to win the Palme d’Or was JANE CAMPION for her film The Piano (1993) which also made her the second woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Director (Lina Wertmüller was nominated before Campion in 1976 for her film Seven Beauties).

In 2013 Campion took over as Cannes Jury President, the year after a petition was circulated when no women directors were represented at the festival. As Campion said about the sexism in the industry, “Excuse me gentlemen, but the guys seem to eat all the cake. It’s not that I resent the male filmmakers. I love all of them. But there is something that women are thinking of doing that we don’t get to know enough about. It’s always a surprise when a woman filmmaker does come about.”

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AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

Bite-sized blog post: Jodie Foster

JODIE FOSTER grew up in Hollywood and in 2013 she won the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.” She went after directing with as much force and insight as she did in pursuit of acting roles. At one point she reached out to French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and expressed interesting in appearing in a film of his convincing him her French was up to par and she would play any size role despite her Hollywood status because she so admired his filmmaking.

In 1993 Jodie Foster started her own production company Egg Pictures after directing her first feature Little Man Tate (1993). She found out about the Netflix series Orange is the New Black and intrigued by the book it was based on and the show itself she reached out to get a directing gig on the show for which she was nominated for an Emmy.

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Bite-sized blog post: Kasi Lemmons

In 1997 Roger Ebert. wrote of KASI LEMMON’s first feature film, “There has been no more assured and powerful film debut this year than Eve’s Bayou.” She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature that year.

Lemmons appeared as an actor in several films before her directorial debut and has gone on to direct several feature films with notable actors and in 2002 gave the tribute to Sidney Poitier at the 74th Academy Awards celebration.

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Bite-sized blog post: Lake Bell

LAKE BELL studied drama in England at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance and came back to the United States to start a successful career as an actress. She directed her first short film Worst Enemy (2010) shown at Sundance. Her feature In a World... (2013) also premiered at Sundance.

In an interview she said about her directing experience: “The first day I thought, ‘My god, I feel so at home. What a great comradery This quenches my thirst for something creative in a way I never knew was possible.’ I sort of loved the bustle of a thousand questions. Women are inherently kind of multitaskers.”

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Where to watch her films:

BARNES & NOBLE DVD to PURCHASE

Bite-sized blog post: Sarah Pirozek

SARAH PIROZEK comes from a fine arts background – studying at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program early in her career, then going on to study at the Actors Studio and screenwriting at the New School.

Her first feature documentary Free Tibet (1998) documents the 1997 two day concert to benefit Tibet. Many prominent rock artists of the time took part – Smashing Pumpkins, De La Soul, Fugees among others. Pirozek has gone on to direct numerous music videos and commercials.

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Where to watch her films:

DVD on Netflix

Bite-sized blog post: Barbara Loden

BARBARA LODEN, inspired by John Cassavetes and other independent filmmakers of the time, wrote, produced and directed her feature film Wanda (1970).

As the wife of famed director Elia Kazan Loden was able to get Wanda made but the financiers expected to use the film as a write off assuming it would be a financial failure and were less than pleased by its critical acclaim and modest earnings which did not allow them to take that loss. Loden died of cancer at a young age and was never able to direct another feature.

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Where to watch her films:

YOUTUBE

Bite-sized blog post: Nancy Meyers

NANCY MEYERS’ first job in Hollywood was as a production assistant on The Price is Right. She then started working as a story editor and wrote her first screenplay Private Benjamin (1980), starring Goldie Hawn.

The first film she wrote and directed was The Parent Trap (1998) – a remake of the 1961 film and she has gone on to make several Hollywood box office hits.

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Bite-sized blog post: Sofia Coppola

SOFIA COPPOLA began her career as a still photographer and actress in her famous father’s films, playing an infant in a christening scene in The Godfather (1972). She learned all about making movies first hand by growing up in the industry and after directing a few shorts made her first feature film The Virgin Suicides (1999) which premiered at Sundance.

She was the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director with her film Lost in Translation (2003) for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)