Women Directors

[Johann]

With some recent chat about Jane "Piano" Campion, I thought a post on the ladies who impacted the screen was in order.

I'm prone to believe that Jim Morrison was right when he said "cinema was created by men for the consolation of men".

Here's the short list of great female directors:



Leni Riefenstahl (Olympia)
Agnes Varda (Vagabond)
Agnieszka Holland (Total Eclipse)
Julie Taymor (Titus)
Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties)
Claire Denis (Chocolat)
Ida Lupino (The Bigamist)
Margarethe von Trotta (Rosa Luxembourg)
Sally Potter (Orlando)
Diane Kurys (Entre Nous)
Antonia Bird (Priest)
Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose)
Mimi Leder (Deep Impact)
Marleen Gorris (Antonia's Line)
Gillian Armstrong (Little Women)
Joyce Bunuel (Dirty Dishes)
Deepa Mehta (Earth)
Nancy Savoca (Dogfight)
Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days)
Maya Deren (The Living Gods of Haiti)
and
Penny Marshall (A League of Their Own)

Yes, I realize there are scores more, but these ladies make a case for better cinema (is it because they squat when they pee?)

I'm aware of Sofia Coppola, Barbra Streisand, Jodie Foster, Callie Khouri, and all the other "circumstantial" female filmmakers, but they don't make the "great" cut for me- only Penny Marshall has broken that TV curse that Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard and Rob Reiner destroyed. I really like Penny's movies.

There is one "star turned director" who impressed me greatly, but I doubt she'll make any more films: Anjelica Huston's Bastard out of Carolina. Great film.

[oscar jubis]

The most innovative, even revolutionary female director in cinema history is conspicuously absent from the list. The Belgian director has been poking holes at narrative structure, confounding and challenging audiences, tinkering with genre conventions, etc. for over 30 years. She's barely over 50!

Check out:
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
LES RENDEVOUS D'ANNA
JE, TU, IL, ELLE
FROM THE OTHER SIDE
THE 80s
NIGHT AND DAY
D'EST
TOUTE UNE NUIT

[HorseradishTree]

Don't forget Penelope Spheeris, director of the poignant and in-depth Decline of Western Civilization . What a nice little doc about the late 70s LA punk scene and its influence on the then modern youth. Only see this if you're willing to listen to quite a bit of grainy, bizarre and loud music.

[oscar jubis]

Oh, yeah...the auteur who brought us Wayne's World and The Beverly Hillbillies...

[Johann]

I deliberately left Chantal off the list just to see if anyone would notice. I didn't wait long! I also left someone else important off the list. Anyone know who? (I'm trying to facillitate discussion).

Penelope Spheeris is an odd bird. I don't quite know what to make of her. I enjoyed The Beverly Hillbillies. Lily Tomlin is a riot.


Anybody have thoughts on Maya Deren?

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
I also left someone else important off the list. Anyone know who?

CATHERINE BREILLAT from France:36 Fillette, Romance, Fat Girl

MARIA LUISA BEMBERG from Argentina:Camila, Yo,la peor de todas, I don't want to talk about it

VERA CHYTILOVA from Czech Republic:Daisies, Tainted Horseplay, The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun

CLARA LAW from China:Autumn Moon, Reincarnation of a Golden Lotus, Temptation of a Monk

SAMIRA MAKHMALBAF from Iran:The Apple, Blackboards, At Five in the Afternoon

And based on my response to her two features, I like Sofia Coppola more than half of those on Johann's list. And she's just getting started. Samira is also making all her shots and she's even younger. I hear Sadie Bening is an excellent avant-garde director but I haven't seen her work. Many say she's the new Maya Deren, but of course I have no opinion.

[HorseradishTree]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
Oh, yeah...the auteur who brought us Wayne's World and The Beverly Hillbillies...

Haha, touche, my good man, touche.

It's surprising, as I honestly can't remember many other women directors that haven't been mentioned yet.

Oh well, I'll find another thread to deface.

[Johann]

Vera Chytilova was the woman in mind- congrats oscar!
You know more about film than I give you credit for....

Now, Breillat I forgot about. Shame on me. 36 Fillette is incredible, and Fat Girl was very good.

Bemberg, Law, Bening and Makhmalbaf are new names to me. Should I be embarassed? Why should I see their work?

[oscar jubis]

You're a good sport, H.T.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
Bemberg, Law, Bening and Makhmalbaf are new names to me. Should I be embarassed? Why should I see their work?

Even though she's by far the youngest listed (23), I am surprised SAMIRA MAKHMALBAF is a new name to you. She is the daughter of Moshen, the director of Kandahar, Gabbeh, The Silence and Cyclist, in which we see Samira at age 8.
Her own films belong within the tradition of humanist Iranian films perched at the border between documentary and fictional films. Her first film THE APPLE is about a man who keeps his blind wife and daughters locked inside the house and the efforts of a social worker to change things. It won awards at the Locarno and London Film Festivals. BLACKBOARDS is about itinerant teachers that serve the mountainous region between Iran and Iraq. It won at Cannes, where her more recent film AT 5 P.M. received two awards. She also directed the opening segment of the film 11'09"01 SEPTEMBER 11. It's about an Iranian teacher trying to explain the terrorist attack to 5 year-old Afghan refugees living in camps just inside Iran.

MARIA LUISA BEMBERG directed her first film at age 58. Being a poetry lover, you may like I,THE WORST OF ALL, about Juana Ines de la Cruz, the Mexican 17th century nun whose romantic poems to a viceroy's wife got her in a bit of trouble with the catholic church. Bemberg's CAMILA is a better film about a woman in love with a priest than the recent El Crimen del Padre Amaro. Her last film was I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT in which Marcello Mastroiani plays an Italian who moves to Argentina in the 1930s and falls in love with a young dwarf.

CLARA LAW is an accomplished director from the Hong Kong "second wave"(Kar-Wai, Stanley Kwan,etc) whose primary concerns are geographical dislocation, immigration, cultural identity and the Chinese diaspora. Check out AUTUMN MOON, FLOATING LIFE, THE GODESS OF 1967 if this sounds interesting. She's also directed some well-received genre films such as REINCARNATION OF A GOLDEN LOTUS and TEMPTATION OF A MONK.

SADIE BENING directs avant-garde video shorts. I haven't seen any of them. Her FLAT IS BEAUTIFUL is supposed to be a masterpiece.

[Johann]

Great info. I have seen Kandahar, but I didn't make the connection between father and daughter. I guess I have some more films to see...

Bemberg has got me perked up. A film on de la Cruz? How come I've never heard of it? Some films slip through the cracks...
Camilla is a film I may have seen, but I don't recall. Videomatica here I come...

I'll keep an eye out for Sadie Bening and Clara Law's stuff.

Thanks again for this valuable info oscar!

[oscar jubis]

It's a pleasure to be able to reciprocate your frequent contributions to my knowledge and enjoyment of cinema during the past year.

I want to add the name of MIRA NAIR to the list of outstanding female directors. The Indian born Nair has directed several wonderful movies including Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding and one segment of 11'09"01. It's based on the true story of a young Pakistani-American who was investigated by the FBI for suspected ties to extremist groups, following the terrorist attack on the WT Center.