Mark Cousins' Women Make Film

It was interesting but not THAT interesting. The purpose was to cover the art and craft of film through the work of women directors rather than to focus on unique qualities of women filmmakers or to lament that women have been shut out of directing.

Women directors, it turns out, are about the same as men. The main difference may be that they're more willing to endanger child actors. There was a Soviet woman who filmed three frightened children walking around on the roof of a high-rise apartment building. A Spanish woman directed a scene of three boys pooping in a railroad tunnel.

It's a shame there aren't more women directors, but from the viewers' end, we may not be missing much. Think of all the "chick flicks" that were directed by men. The movies directed by women, like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, American Psycho or the pro-war torture films of Kathryn Bigelow, aren't much improvement over what the men do.

 

Hollywood gets support from local, state and federal governments. They should make some demands, like employing women and minority filmmakers in proportion to the population.

Fourteen episodes, each about an hour long. Narrated by Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Adjoa Andoh, Sharmila Tagore, Kerry Fox, Thandie Newton and Debra Winger. Available on The Criterion Channel.