Female Gaze

     In inspiration of the last two movies, I wanted to dive more into France's relationship with female directors.  According to The Guardian, a new movement has risen similar to New Wave Cinema. The author of the article wrote that "there is nothing unusual about French women film directors."  While various famous films have been directed by women, I would have to disagree with this statement.  Women directors have been praised, but throughout history, the recognition of female directors objectively has been less than of male directors. How many people know Godard versus Varda? Apart from that, the article talks about Alice Guy, the first female director. She directed her first film in 19896 at the age of 23. She went on to direct more than 600 films for Charlie Chaplin's film company and Warner Brothers. The writer explains how many female directors chose philosophical and oppose romantic comedies. The article also says that recent female directors have "unexpectedly" been able to create a wide range of raw topics from rebelling against religion to the boring suburbs.
     In general, I found this article a little frustrating. The article overall seemed to emphasize the idea that women and men have been given the same chances to thrive in film, at least in the last twenty or thirty years. A Cannes critic Christophe Leparc wrote that "I think the French system encourages the emergence of talents, women and men alike, by its generosity and emphasis on culture as art. But in the last 30 years, it has particularly focused on helping women assert themselves within the cinema milieu.  Cinema is today as much a woman's as a man's medium." I think the mistake that many people make like Leparc is to believe that once a group of  directors who are minorities have some recognition or some successful movies, the work to improve diversity within the film industry has ended.  The fight for women filmmakers has to be something that has always moves forward.  Even though women have been showcased and supported, there will always be the need to support them because there is still a long way to go.