Where are the female film directors?
Summary of story from the Montreal Gazette, 10.3.11
Women make up almost half of the students in Canadian film schools, but their talent seems to be missing from the industry.
A study released this week showed that in Quebec a disproportionately small number of films were directed by women.
The study, called Still Pioneers – Career Paths of Quebec Feature Film Directors, found that of the 40 films made in Quebec in 2010 only four had female directors at the helm.
These numbers fit with an historical trend – of the 700-900 films made in the province before 2007, only 100 were directed by women.
Of the 48 female directors from that group only four had made more than four films. Over half of them made only one, a testament to the challenge of making a living as a woman and film director.
The numbers paint a bleak picture, but the cause is hard to determine.
“Women say they don’t know how to pinpoint the problem. They’re scared of being labelled feminists. There’s a myth of equality, but we’re not there yet,” said one of the researchers, Anna Lupien.
I sometimes wonder if women worry about more about survival, and so are less likely to pursue insecure and risky careers such as film directing. Just a guess, anyone else have any ideas?