Reactions to Bigelow's Oscar were split between satisfaction and frustration as motion picture production by women remains a male-dominated industry.
"I'll celebrate women's achievements in movies when women regularly win best screenplay, best directing and best movie, not once every 82 years," Witness Productions Carole Ducharme explained in an email.
Academy Awards and Box Office Results
With her own nomination for Fifty Dead Men Walking, based on the Irish Republican Army, Ottawa-born Kari Skogland was Bigelow’s Canadian counterpart. Canadian female directors had won in the past, but Skogland’s was the first nomination for an action film. She won a Genie for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Films by women directors have hit box-office records and won multiple awards in the United States, yet Bigelow's was the first action film to break the Glass Ceiling in North America.
Citing American Nancy Meyers, Mystic Films Mary Bissel comments on Meyers’ multiple nominations and awards, yet none as best director.
Meyer was the film producer and writer for blockbusters such as Saving Private Ryan, Baby Boom, or Father of the Bride. Later, she directed Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want, and It’s Complicated, which have since become classic romantic comedies.
Although Spielberg directed Saving Private Ryan, Meyers won the Academy Award for “Best Writing of a Screenplay written directly for the screen” while Something’s Gotta Give remains the biggest blockbusters ever directed by a woman, grossing 370 millions.
Film Industry Facts and Women Filmmakers
Women represent 50.5% of the population and 44% of the students at Canadian filmmaking schools.
Participation of women directors at Canadian film festivals varies between 35 and 19 percent depending on venues.
Less than 10% of members of the Canadian Director’s Guild are women.
Women had to create their own networking with 39 film festivals in North America.
Film Production Funding
Canadian women filmmakers are eligible for public funding and tax-credits whereas Americans tend to become independent filmmakers, as Bigelow did.
Canadian filmmaking grants are provided by Telefilm and the Canadian Feature Film Fund. Free tuition for writers, directors and producers is offered by the National Screen Institute. Women in the Director’s Chair propose filmmaking workshops to engage women directors.
Yet, women filmmakers receive only 10% of funding from Canadian Television Fund, 11% from Telefilm, and 14% from SODEC. But, as Carole Ducharme points out, when she applied for funds at Telefim in 2008, she was the only woman among 40 applicants.
Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Other Issues
- In the United States, men write 70% of all reviews.
- The ratio male/female actors in films is 3/1.
- Primetime drama and comedie series are directed by Caucasian men in 85% of the cases.
- Funds are funnelled where demand is: Since men favour action films, the genre is led by men.
Canadian TV producer Kate Green notes in an email that female-staffed productions have become more common, although topics are usually female-oriented. Yet, women must often disengage because of family demands.
Outlook from Film Schools and the Motion Picture Association of America
The “electronic games generation” and its gender balance at film schools could bring new outlets for women’s creativity.
In the meantime, to raise award opportunities, women need to gain the male audience over, perhaps with films such as Philadelphia, or "with female characters with aspirations beyond romance," as suggested by the Geena Davis Institute.
Yet, statistics released by the Motion Picture Association of America show that, in 2009, women between the age of 25-39 outnumbered men as movie-goers.
In Shakespearian times, women were played by men. Today Reese Witherspoon commands up to $20 million per movie as do Brad Pitt, or Denzel Washington.
“So, get to work ladies,” Carole Ducharme says.
Marie-Claude Arnott - Marie-Claude Arnott writes about topics that interest her, from experience and with passion.
