The women behind the silver screen
Tracing women’s journey in film
Hey Barbie!
When Barbie burst onto our screens in July 2023, it brought with it a new voice for female filmmakers, producers and directors worldwide.
The Barbie-mania that followed the release of this vibrant and poignant film was sensational. It wasn’t just the year’s biggest box office winner, overtaking its darker counterpart Oppenheimer, but it was also the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman.
That woman is Greta Gerwig, who is now the highest-grossing female director of all time. After just 17 days post-release, Barbie became the first live-action film in history that’s directed solely by a woman to join the global billion-dollar club.
Despite this, Greta Gerwig was snubbed by the Academy Awards of Merit by not receiving an Oscar-nomination in this year’s Best Director category.
Liza Van der Smissen, 32, is the founder of the Female Film Club, an online community and app where female filmmakers worldwide can network with each other and form connections.
Liza, based in Walthamstow, explained the impact of Barbie on women in the film industry.
Barbenheimer
After the 'Barbenheimer' craze, it is difficult not to compare these two films, even though they are clearly stark opposites.
The obvious comparison is the Oscar results, in which Nolan’s Oppenheimer took home seven prizes and was nominated in 13 categories.
In comparison, Gerwig’s Barbie was recognised in nine Oscar categories but only took home one Oscar for the Best Original Song, What Was I Made For?, performed by Billie Eilish.
However, a less obvious comparison between these two films would be what happens when you type each directors' name into Google.
If the words "Is Christopher Nolan…" are typed into Google, the options that pop up are things like: "Is Christopher Nolan a nice guy?", "Is Christopher Nolan working on a new movie?" and "Is Christopher Nolan knighted?", all of which are valid questions.
Although if the same search is done for Greta Gerwig, the questions that appear are: "Is Greta Gerwig married?", "Is Greta Gerwig a good director?" and the one that appeared the most, "Is Greta Gerwig a nepo baby?". This alone highlights the disparity between the respect and interest shown towards an esteemed male director and an accomplished female equivalent.
This is highlighted even more when looking at Nolan’s wife, Emma Thomas. Thomas is a British film producer and has produced all of the feature films directed by her husband. She was the first British woman to win the Academy Award for Best Picture which she received for Oppenheimer, and she co-founded and runs the production company Syncopy Inc. with her husband.
Despite this, when you type into Google: "Is Emma Thomas…" the top options that appear are: "Is Emma Thomas married to Christopher Nolan?", "Is Emma Thomas married?" and "Is Emma Thomas rich?". It appears that in this industry, a woman’s success is judged by her husband, her wealth, or how she made her success. This begs the question, has it always been this way?
Women in film
A brief history
It might be strange to think that in the history of filmmaking, women have been there since the very beginning. The so-called Golden Age of Hollywood is often depicted as a man's world and we never seem to hear about the women who were working behind the scenes.
However, in the early twentieth century, lots of women held significant roles as directors, producers, editors, and writers.
One collective which aims to champion the work of these individuals is Invisible Women. The group was formed by Camilla Baier and Rachel Pronger after they learnt about the work of some historic female directors and filmmakers at university. Rachel, 33, said: “If you look within the framework of early Hollywood there were a large number of female directors and women in significant creative roles in the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s.
“As the film industry formalised and became more profitable and more industrialised, it became dominated by studios and those studios became a boys club.”
Rachel explained that from the 1930s through to the 1970s there was a huge gap where women had been edged out by money and the formalisation of the industry.
During this gap, Rachel described a period of erasure when the studio system was dominated by men and so it became very hard for women to gain recognition.
Invisible Women showcases the work of several progressive and pioneering women from the industry, such as Dorothy Arzner, Ida Lupino, Lotte Reiniger, Lois Weber and Alice Guy-Blaché, who is often credited as the first person to make a narrative fiction film.
Rachel explained how Lotte Reiniger was a German animator who was credited with making the first animated feature length film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, in 1926, ten years before Walt Disney’s Snow White was released. According to Rachel, Reiniger invented techniques which were then used in Disney’s studios without accreditation, further highlighting the erasure of these women’s work.
A lot of these women’s films included feminist ideology, for example the work of Dorothy Arzner and The Consequences of Feminism, a 1906 silent film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché. Despite this, Rachel explained: "It can be a bit risky to simplify it into a kind of girl boss history of cinema.”
She said: “Lois Weber is amazing and very pioneering but she, for instance, made a film which is one of the first films about abortion and birth control.
“That sounds exciting, but when you really look at this film it is actually a white supremacist argument for how working-class women shouldn’t have too many kids, so it is not the kind of feminist message we want to spread.
“I think it is important not to simplify and flatten these women and accept that while we might find their views troubling, it doesn’t mean their role in cinema wasn’t important."
So why do we never hear about these women?
Rachel Pronger from Invisible Women explains.
“What I find really annoying about this assumption that film is a man’s world is that women were not only involved in the early film industry, but were crucial pioneers. They established techniques, broke boundaries and invented things that made film possible, and then they were edged out by the money and the formalisation of the industry.”
Rachel Pronger, Invisible Women
Where are we now?
When looking back at the history of women in film it is clear that there has been significant progress in the industry. In 2020, The New York Times reported that more women than ever before had directed major films in 2019. So this begs the question, where are we now and just how much progress has been made?
Dr Tracy Mathewson, 33, is an independent writer, director and script-consultant based in Peckham. Tracy is a member of the Female Film Club in London and has written and directed multiple award-winning shorts and short film scripts, including ORTOLAN.
Tracy is currently developing her debut feature, an action film about motorcycle racing, alongside working as a part-time lecturer in film production at UCL.
Originally from California, Tracy explained the obstacles that women wanting to produce action films might face.
She said: “The first question that people ask me, and I don’t know if people would ask this of a man, is ‘what do you know about motorcycles?’ and I say, ‘well I ride motorcycles’.
“There is a reason why, for a lot of the female indie directors, their debut features are dramas.
"It’s because it’s cheaper and studios are willing to give more money for them.
“There are reasons why it is difficult for anyone to do action, but I think there’s an expectation that women will be wanting to do drama.
"Yes, I have a drama in my back pocket, but I think it’s the high budget and then the fact that you’re a woman that makes it difficult to get into that genre.”
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Image on the set of Dr Tracy Mathewson's ORTOLAN, image by Adam Kustura
Tracy admits there has been progress for women in the industry in recent decades, explaining how lots of her students are women.
She said: “I definitely see progress and I definitely feel like huge strides have been made.
“I am actually seeing a lot of indie women directors come out with their debut features, which is great!
“I think it is a really good time to be a woman in the industry.
“It doesn’t make it easy, but I think we’re a lot more aware that there’s a need for women.
“But I also feel like it’s a good time to be a white woman in the industry, are we seeing more women of colour and even non-binary people and men of colour in that space?
“Not yet, but I think it’s definitely improving.”
What obstacles do women in the film industry face?
Another female pioneer who is navigating her way around the global film industry is Stephanie Troost.
Stephanie, 27, who is also a member of the Female Film Club, is an accomplished writer and award-winning film producer from Australia.
Now based in London, she is in the early stages of her career and has just made her second feature film, Birdeater, which premiered internationally to a sold-out crowd at South by Southwest Festival in Texas.
Talking about her introduction into the film industry, Stephanie said: “I was really lucky when I started my career, because I joined a women’s mentoring programme when I was at university which helped me in a million different ways."
Stephanie continued: “I think what is really difficult for anybody in the industry, but women in particular, is getting into the industry and getting access to film sets and getting that hands-on experience.
“I did this mentorship programme and was paired with these two amazing women who were producers in Australia and they taught me a lot and gave me a lot of guidance in what can be a pretty lonely and isolating industry.
“That really set me on a path, I owe my career to them in so many ways.
“I think that it is so important for women to have spaces, and mentors and people that they can speak to in the industry to guide them especially in their early career but just in general as well.”
What are the main issues women face in the industry?
What still needs to change?
Liza Van der Smissen from the Female Film Club believes that progress starts by shouting the names of these women over and over again.
She said: “Often, if there is a major film that is directed by a woman sometimes her name isn’t even on the poster.
“People know her films but they don’t know the director behind it.”
According to Liza, one of the core obstacles that women still face in this industry is a lack of funding and grants behind their work.
She explained: “In general, the patterns that we have seen since leading this group is that women are being talked over, they are not being taken as serious, they often ask for a smaller budget or sometimes they don’t even apply for grants because they think they won’t get them.
“This is where The Female Film Club comes in with the mindset.
"Come on ladies you need to ask for more money!”
The gender disparity in relation to money is an issue that is felt on all levels, from whether you are just starting out, or whether you are a world-famous actress like Olivia Coleman. Talking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the Oscar-winning British actress said: "I'm very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, I'd be earning a... lot more than I am.
"I know of one pay disparity which was a 12,000% difference. Do the maths."
Liza explained that in this industry, money talks, and the more money that is given to women in terms of funding and grants will result in greater progression for women.
She said: “In my experience women rise to the challenge, they really do.
“If you give a woman a chance and you believe in her, even if she might not have all the tools, she will have so many transferable skills.
“So, give women a challenge and they will rise to it!
Liza explained how in this industry, female film producers and directors will often do well at film festivals, but will progress no further once the festival has ended.
She said: "It is such a shame because they do need to be seen, and just seeing those stories being told ignites that power in women worldwide.
“Every single woman in the industry has had some bad experiences on set but equally I think every single woman has had some really great experiences on set.
“I think we just need to amplify those and keep that hope alive and create the industry that we want to thrive in.”
“Forget the audience, make what you want to see”
Sofia Coppola
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