BlackmanVision Film Production

As we move further into the 21st Century in the Western world and as the Western World criticizes the Muslim countries for their backward attitudes to women. I wonder if we should not be looking closer to home re our exclusion of women from key roles as shapers in the imagination of our “progressive” culture. If we say we are advanced in terms of gender relations how do we show this?

By paying women the same as men for equal work? No. Men still earn 17.5% more than women

By respecting a woman’s right to say no? Er no Domestic violence is up by 41.2% and rape by 24.7%.

So even though Western women are not literally getting stoned in the streets for some minor misdemeanour there are other covert ways of keeping women in their place.

Which brings me back to film and filmmaking. Cinema is a way for people to get lost in a fantasy world. A way to experience life through others eyes, a way of reviewing history, or a way of re-learning our cultures. Film is accessible and visual so has a far reach because any person who has functioning vision or hearing can participate in the magic that is cinema.

But whose world are we re-visioning? It would seem to me that what has crept up on us all, is a view of the world through Eurocentric male eyes. This is somehow being presented to us via mainstream cinema as benign, neutral, and universal entertainment. Meaning that although the themes represented are universal to all humans – love, betrayal, greed, power etc these stories are projected to us through the lens that is instrument of the white male gaze.

What we are being shown in wonderful close up is men’s lives, men’s stories.  It is so blatant that even when a White male vision is transported on to an Indian story as in Slumdog Millionaire there is no comment on the erasing through the non-mention of  the contribution of the Asian female co-director Loveleen Tandan. This somehow leaves a nasty memory of cinema from back in the day when in certain movies the white actresses singing voice was actually provided by non credited African American singers like Etta Moten. Plus ca change?

Is it that women are just really bad at directing great films which is why their names rarely come up for directing awards? Are they really crap at writing screenplays? I am referring to films that the majority of us have easy access to and will have no barriers to viewing.  There is not a single female name in any of directing and writing categories for the BAFTAs.  Would Jane Austen have gotten a film break in 21st Century Britain? The statistics do not look encouraging.

The Oscars are marginally better with Screenplay nominations for Courtney Hunt for Frozen River and for Documentary, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath for The Betrayal. So is the lesson here that if you are a budding female filmmaker you need to write and direct your own film or stick to docos documentary or  move to the USA? Or be a one off like Phyllida Lloyd and Catherine Johnson the director and writer of Mamma Mia the most successful film in the UK with a  nomination for the Best Motion Picture in the Golden Globes.

Women are 50% of the global population. When is this going to be reflected in filmmaking?

Tags: BAFTA, Catherine Johnson, Courtney Hunt, Etta Moten, Frozen River, Golden Globe Award, Golden Globes, Jane Austen, Loveleen Tandan, Mamma Mia, Phyllida Lloyd, Slumdog Millionaire, The Betrayal, The Oscars

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Women Directors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.