page_title: Women in film
section_title: Women's cinema
hierarchical_section_title: Women in film / Women's cinema
caption_attribution_description: English: Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine speaking at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Wonder Woman 1984", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
context_page_description: Women are involved in the film industry in all roles, including as film directors, actresses, cinematographers, film producers, film critics, and other film industry professions, though women have been underrepresented in creative positions.
  Most English-language academic study and media coverage focus on the issue in the US film industry, although inequalities also exist in other countries. This underrepresentation has been called the "celluloid ceiling", a variant on the employment discrimination term "glass ceiling".
  Women have always had a presence in film acting, but have consistently been underrepresented, and on average significantly less well paid. On the other hand, many key roles in filmmaking were for many decades done almost entirely by men, such as directors and cinematographers. In more recent times, women have made inroads and made contributions to many of these fields.
context_section_description: Women's cinema film directors and, to a lesser degree, the work of other women behind the camera such as cinematographers and screenwriters. Although the work of women film editors, costume designers, and production designers is usually not considered to be decisive enough to justify the term "women's cinema", it does have a large influence on the visual impression of any movie. Some of the most distinguished women directors have tried to avoid the association with women's cinema in the fear of marginalization and ideological controversy.
  Alice Guy-Blaché made the first narrative film La Fée aux Choux in 1896. In Sweden, Anna Hofman-Uddgren debuted as the first female film director when she produced the silent film Stockholmsfrestelser in 1911. Lois Weber was a successful film director of the silent era. Women screenwriters included Frances Marion, Anita Loos and June Mathis. In the 1920s, large banks assumed control of Hollywood production companies. Dorothy Arzner was the only woman filmmaker in this era. Germaine Dulac was a leading member of the French avant-garde film movement after World War I and Maya Deren did experimental cinema.
  Shirley Clarke was an independent American filmmaker in the 1950s. The National Film Board of Canada allowed many women to produce non-commercial films. Joyce Wieland was a Canadian experimental film maker. Early feminist films often focused on personal experiences. Wanda (1970) by Barbara Loden is a portrait of alienation. Resisting the oppression of female sexuality was one of the core goals of second wave feminism. Women's films explored female sexuality, including the films of Birgit Hein, Nelly Kaplan, Catherine Breillat and Barbara Hammer. Women film directors also documented the participation of women in anti-imperialist movements.
  Director Kathryn Bigelow works in male-dominated genres like science fiction, action, and horror. She became the first woman to win both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Directors Guild of America Award in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. Catherine Hardwicke's films have grossed a cumulative total of $551.8 million. Her most successful films are Twilight (2008) and Red Riding Hood (2011).
  Nancy Meyers has had success with her five features: The Parent Trap (1998), What Women Want (2000), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006) and It's Complicated (2009) which have amassed $1,157.2 million worldwide. Before she started her directorial career she wrote some other successful films like Private Benjamin (1980) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Baby Boom (1987) or Father of the Bride (1991).Sofia Coppola is a critically acclaimed director who has also had financial success. Her award-winning film Lost in Translation (2003) grossed over $119 million.
  Julie Taymor film Frida about revered Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was nominated for five Academy Awards, and her "1960s Beatles jukebox musical" Across the Universe won approval from both Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney. These films developed her reputation for respectful handling of the sensitive legacy of artists amongst their fans.
  Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust (1991) was the first full-length film with general theatrical release written and directed by an African American woman. Since then there have been several African women who have written, produced or directed films with national release. In 1994 Darnell Martin became the first African American woman to write and direct a film produced by a major studio when Columbia Pictures backed I Like It Like That. Nnegest Likké is the first African American woman to write, direct and act in a full-length movie released by a major studio, Phat Girlz (2006) starring Jimmy Jean-Louis and Mo'Nique.
  Patricia Cardoso was the first Latina woman to receive a Sundance Audience Award and a Student Academy Award. Cardoso's feature film Real Women Have Curves (2002) was a box office and critical success and has become a landmark of Latinx cinema. In 2019, Real Women Have Curves was selected by the Library of Congres
caption: Patty Jenkins won the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directing in Dramatic Series.
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