I ♥ Female Directors

Dear Reader,

Every year there are studies and lists and think pieces about the lack of female directors working in television and film. And hey, we love studies and lists and think pieces as much as the next gal, but the numbers are soooo depressing and the problem is soooo entrenched and unchanging that reading about it starts to feel a lot like eating your vegetables if vegetables tasted like futility which they do.

We started iheartfemaledirectors.com because we think the biggest thing missing from the conversation about female directors is some good old-fashioned gushy fandom. We will not have achieved true equality until every film school student who ever jizzed himself talking about the exploration of violence and masculinity in Fight Club has also needed a change of pants after discussing the exploration of violence and masculinity in Beau Travail.

Yes, there are historically fewer female directors than male, but there have still been hundreds (thousands?) of great ones. And new female directors are being born and dismissed every minute! So while the major studios’ scientists toil away in their under-the-lot labs, manufacturing the single perfect, hireable female director*, we’ll be swooning over the ones who have already put amazing, love letter-worthy things into the world.  

So here’s our plan: every week we’ll put up a new love letter to a female director we’re obsessed with. And look, maybe that won't solve all of sexism in Hollywood. But it might get you to watch an Agnes Varda movie, and isn't that a close second?

Love,
Annabel, Laura & Charley

 

*Criteria:
• Experienced (but also fresh!)
• Works Constantly (but is always available)
• Commanding (but not emasculating)
• Will represent the wokeness and feminism of the studio (but won’t complain about institutionalized sexism)
• Has a unique voice (but wants to direct mediocre tentpoles)
• A visionary (but takes all notes)

Dear Gina Prince-Bythewood,

Before you become all next level famous with your new Marvel gig directing Silver & Black, please allow me to thank you for being one of the best in the game. With Love & Basketball, you made one of the all time greatest movies about basketball (sorry, Hoosiers) and an even better one about love (ya burnt, Casablanca). And frankly the best movie featuring an Omar Epps/Tyra Banks pairing ever (suck it, Higher Learning). Then with The Secret Life of Bees... well, to be honest I haven't seen it, but I hope you made a boatload of cash from it. And if it allowed you to make Beyond the Lights, even better, because with Beyond the Lights you went and became a great musical director, making this beautiful movie about stardom and authenticity and also maybe Rihanna, all while getting a next level performance out of Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Oh and you reinvented the mile high club while you were at it. Thank you for showing us that can't should never be in our vocabulary. Play you for screeners of the full season of Shots Fired -- double or nothing. 

Laura

Source: https://www.iheartfemaledirectors.com/gina...