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

Bite-sized blog post: Catherine Hardwicke

CATHERINE HARDWICKE was the first woman to launch a billion dollar movie franchise when she directed Twilight, the first in the series of mega-successful films based on the book series about teenage vampires and werewolves. All sequels of the series have been directed by men.

Hardwicke began her career as a production designer where no doubt skills gained from her degree in architecture gave her insight that she was able to utilize when attending film school at UCLA and entering the professional arena. She continues to direct films and television.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

Bite-sized blog post: Tamra Davis

TAMRA DAVIS began her career directing music videos for popular bands in the eighties and nineties including the Bangles, Depeche Mode and NWA.

She has gone on to direct feature films including Chris Rock’s “rockumentary” spoof CB4 (1993) and Billy Madison (1995) starring Adam Sandler, direct for television and direct and produce a documentary about her friend, the renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

YOUTUBE

Bite-sized blog post: Michelle MacLaren

MICHELLE MACLAREN began her career as a production manager and producer. While producing X-Files she directed an episode and then went on to direct for critically acclaimed series including Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead.

MacLaren was originally slated to direct the Warner Brothers feature film Wonder Woman.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

Bite-sized blog post: Dee Rees

DEE REES began studying business and then went on to get her MFA from NYU. She interned for Spike Lee before making her first feature film Pariah (2011) based on the short she directed of the same name. The film premiered at Sundance and she then went on to write and direct the Emmy award winning HBO film Bessie (2015).

She is currently developing a television series with Shonda Rhimes.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

Bite-sized blog post: Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall began her career as an actress who became famous for her role as Laverne on Laverne & Shirley. She directed a couple of episodes of the long-running sitcom and then went on to direct the feature film Big (1988), the first film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million.

Her film Awakenings (1990) was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy, however she was not nominated for Best Director for the film.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

Bite-sized blog post: Cheryl Dunye

After directing and producing several shorts CHERYL DUNYE made her first feature film The Watermelon Woman (1996) exploring sexuality and race and film, funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

After the success of The Watermelon Woman and the HBO movie Stranger Inside (2001) Dunye directed the Hollywood vehicle My Baby’s Daddy (2004) written by Eddie Griffin. She continues to write and direct as well as teaching at various Universities in California.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

FIRST RUN FEATURES

VIMEO

Bite-sized blog post: Barbara Kopple

BARBARA KOPPLE began her career working with the Maysles brothers and has gone on to win two Academy Awards for her documentaries, the first for Harlan County, USA (1976) and for American Dream (1990).

She has directed numerous documentaries and for the Emmy award winning television series Homicide: Life on the Streets.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

VIMEO

Bite-sized blog post: Allison Anders

ALLISON ANDERS made her first feature film Border Radio (1987) while still a student at UCLA, shooting with classmates Kurt Voss and Dean Lent and reaching out to punk music icons to act in the film which is now a Criterion classic. She has gone on to direct features as well as for television.

For The Miramar Summit in the spring of 2000, well before the issue of the lack of women directors became mainstream news, Anders gathered women in the film industry to discuss the challenges facing female filmmakers in Hollywood.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

CRITERION

Bite-sized blog post: Agnès Varda

Despite being only a few years older than Truffaut and Godard AGNÉS VARDA is known as the Grandmother of the French New Wave. With a background in art not cinema, her first film La Pointe Courte (1955) was made in her hometown without film training but by her simply picking up a camera and making it happen which has proven the inspiration for many of her subsequent films.

Varda did a brief stint in Hollywood where she directed Lions Love a film about New York transplants (including some of the famous Warhol crowd) in Los Angeles and a short documentary about the Black Panthers. Her time in Los Angeles was short lived but she returned to France to continue making movies and just last year at the age of 87 premiered her short Les 3 boutons at the Venice Film Festival.

More to add to this “bite-sized blog” – please send us a comment!

Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (DVDs for PURCHASE)