| Women's Cinema |
Article Index for Women's |
Website Links For Womens |
Information AboutWomen's Cinema |
|
SILENT FILMS Alice Guy-Blaché made the very first feature film ''La fée aux choux'' in 1896. More then 300 films followed. She worked in France and the U.S.. Lois Weber was among the most successful film directors of the silent era. Actresses like Lillian Gish , Mary Pickford , and others were the stars. CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD In the twenties large banks had assured control on Hollywood production companies. Production supervisors began to standardize film making. The introduction of sound demanded new investments which further increased the control of the banks. In 1929 Hollywood accepted a list of taboos which was later to become the Hays Code. Any unconventional film maker had a hard time. Women film makers could afford economic failures even less. Dorothy Arzner was the only women film maker to survive in this unfriendly environment. She did so by downplaying her lesbian identity and by producing well made but formally rather conventional films. Nevertheless she succeeded to smuggle some feminist elements into her films. EXPERIMENTAL AND AVANT-GARDE CINEMA Germaine Dulac was a leading member of the French Avantgarde film movement after World War I , and Maya Deren 's visionary films belong to the classics of experimental cinema. Shirley Clarke was a leading figure of the independent American film scene in New York in the fifties. Her work is unusual, insofar as she directed outstanding experimental and feature films as well as documentaries. Joyce Wieland was a Canadian Experimental Film maker. The National Film Board Of Canada allowed many women to produce non-commercial animation films. In Europe women artists like Valie Export where among the first to explore the artistic and political potential of Video s. IMPACT OF SECOND-WAVE FEMINISM In the late sixties, when the Second Wave of Feminism started the New Left was at its height. Both movements strongly opposed the 'dominant cinema', i.e. Hollywood and male European bourgeois auteur cinema. Hollywood was accused of furthering oppression by disseminating sexist, racist and imperialist stereotypes. Women participated in mixed new collectives like Newsreel , but they also formed their own film groups. Early feminist films often focused on personal experiences. A first masterpiece was Wanda by Barbara Loden , one of the most poignant portraits of alienation ever made. REPRESENTING SEXUALITY Resisting the oppression of female sexuality was one of the core goals of Second Wave Feminism. , Sado-masochism ) or showing 'normal' heterosexuality from a woman's point of view. Birgit Hein , Elfi Mikesch , Nelly Kaplan , Catherine Breillat and Barbara Hammer are some of the directors to be remembered. RESISTING VIOLENCE AND VIOLENT RESISTANCE Resting patriarchal violence has always been a key concern of Second Wave Feminism. Consequently many feminists of the second wave have taken part in the peace movements of the eighties, as had their foremothers in the older pacifist movements. Nevertheless the patriarchal cliché of the 'peaceable' woman needed to be criticized. Women film directors documented the participation of women in anti-imperialist resistance movements. In their Kali films Birgit and Wilhelm Hein assembled found footage from 'trivial' genres, the only domain of cinema in which the portrayal of aggressive women was allowed. AFRO-AMERICAN Julie Dash 's Daughters Of The Dust in 1992 was the first full-length film with general theatrical release by an African American woman. A long history of films by African American Women had preceded this achievement. Neema Barnette ("Civil Brand"), Julie Dash ("Funny KValentines"), Maya Angelou ("Down in the Delta"), Kasi Lemmons ("Eve's Bayou"), Cheryl Dunye ("My Baby's Daddy"), Stephanie Allain ("Biker Boyz"), Dianne Houston ("City of Angels") are among them. AFRICAN The first African woman film director to gain international recognition was the Senegalese ethnologist Safi Faye with a film about the village in which she was born (Letter from the village, 1975). Other African women filmmakers include Sarah Maldoror , Anne Mungai , Fanta Régina Nacro . ASIAN Before 1980 it had been virtually impossible for a woman in India to become a film maker. Now Mira Nair , Aparna Sen , Vijaya Metah , Sai Paranjpye , Kalpapana Lajmi , Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chadha are among the best known indian women film makers. The portrayal of female sexuality, especially lesbian, is still very controversial in India. In Japan for a long time Kinuyo Tanaka was the only woman to make feature films. She was able to do this against fierce resistance because she enjoyed a status as star actress. Using genre conventions her films showed women "with a humorous affection rare in Japanese cinema of the period" (Philip Kemp). LATIN AMERICAN Marta Rodriguez is a Columbian documentary film maker. EUROPEAN Elvira Notari was a pioneer of Italian cinema. During the "golden age" of "Classical" French cinema Jacqueline Audry was the only woman to direct commercial movies. In 1959 writer Marguerite Duras wrote the script for Alain Resnais ' Hiroshima Mon Amour . She turned to directing with ''La Musica'' in 1966. Among the best known French women film makers are Agnes Varda , Claire Denis , Nelly Kaplan . The work of many more French women directors is rarely screened outside France. German woman filmmaker Helke Sander was also one of the pioneers of the feminist movement. Other prominent women film makers include Margarethe Von Trotta and Helma Sanders-Brahms . In Hungary Marta Meszaros has been making important films for decades. Sally Potter is a prominent British feminist film maker. British filmmaker Ngozi Onwurah explores the legacies of colonialism. (RE-)ENTERING THE MAINSTREAM? Since the beginning of sound cinema, with very few exceptions, the films of women had been absent from mainstream cinema fore more then half a century. Sometimes actresses enjoying a star status turned to directing (like Barbra Streisand ). '' Thelma & Louise '' and '' The Color Purple '' showed the acceptability of feminist themes – when the director was a man. These films turned out to be rather isolated incidents whereas blatantly sexist films like '' Basic Instinct '' continue to be Box office hits. Kathryn Bigelow works in male-dominated genres like science fiction, action and horror. Dörris Dörrie landed a box office hit with her satire ''Men''. Italian Lina Wertmüller has directed a great number of popular films on the war of the sexes, with various artistic success. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books
Journals
FILMS (SMALL SELECTION)
|
|
|