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

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Bite-sized blog post: Shirley Clarke

SHIRLEY CLARKE began her career as a dancer and choreographer and used those skills as a filmmaker.

Her first feature The Connection (1962) was based on the play by Jack Gelber about heroine addicted jazz musicians, shot in the cinematic realism style of the 1960s Clarke was one of the directors breaking ground in a new style of cinema.

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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.

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Bite-sized blog post: Leah Meyerhoff

When in pre-production for her first feature film I Believe in Unicorns (2014) LEAH MEYERHOFF gathered a group of female filmmakers for a dinner party to talk about their experiences. That one night snowballed into an organization known as Film Fatales with chapters all over the country and expanding internationally.

Meyerhoff went to Berkeley High School in Northern California and got her MFA at NYU.

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ON HER WEBSITE

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Bite-sized blog post: Sarah Polley

SARAH POLLEY is a Canadian actress who made a career in independent film before directing a few shorts and attending the Canadian Film Centre’s directing program in 2001.

Her feature film directorial debut Away From Her (2006) garnered her an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her most recent film was a documentary hybrid about her family Stories We Tell (2012).

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Bite-sized blog post: Mary Harron

MARY HARRON began her career as a music journalist after studying at Oxford. Her first feature film I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) screened at Cannes Film Festival.

Harron went on to direct American Psycho (2000)which brought both her and Christian Bale into the spotlight.

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Bite-sized blog post: Nina Menkes

NINA MENKES studied film at UCLA where she first began collaborating with her sister Tinka Menkes who served as her actress and muse on several projects. As a director she has worked in all areas of production, writing, editing, working camera and sound on her projects.

Menkes’ films have been known to challenge the viewer (especially the male viewer) nonetheless films including Phantom Love (2007), The Bloody Child (1996) and Queen of Diamonds (1991) have found a home at mainstream festivals such as Sundance because of their boldness and craft. Sundance also embraced her New Media project The Crazy Female Bloody Center (2000).

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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.

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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.

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Bite-sized blog post: Amy Seimetz

AMY SEIMETZ began her career producing and directing shorts. Her first feature film Sun Don’t Shine (2008) was simultaneously released theatrically and digitally by Factory 25.

She has gone on to direct for the television series The Girlfriend Experience based on the film by Stephen Soderbergh.

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