Women have been making movies since the inception of the format. As one of filmmaking’s pioneers, Alice Guy-Blaché was the first noted female director, who explored the possibilities of narrative fiction in its infancy. In the decades to follow, we saw artists like Lois Weber, Dorothy Davenport, Tressie Souders, Penelope Spheeris, Penny Marshall, and Kathryn Bigelow blaze the trail for female filmmakers.
Still, the playing field was hardly level. A gross disparity between the number of working male and female directors producing major Hollywood content is still apparent today. The good news: we are finally closing the gap. Today, female directors are being given more opportunity to tell stories, and the outdated assumption that being a director was a male pursuit is given no credence.
As with most instances of traditionally marginalized people being given opportunities in storytelling, the industry has opened its eyes to the fact that more diverse perspectives and experiences usually lead to a fresh and exciting project. Women have fought hard to find themselves in the director’s chair, and now that they are commonly in control of productions, they are able to set the narrative and use their voices on a grand scale. For this year’s Women’s History Month, we want to point out three of the amazing female directors who are taking control of Hollywood’s storytelling machine, using it to articulate their vision and their lived perspectives.
Jane Campion
That’s Dame Jane Campion to you! The New Zealand-born director, screenwriter, and producer has the honor of being the first female filmmaker to receive the prestigious Palme d’Or award for her 1993 feature The Piano. That film also won Campion an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Her work has been highly praised by critics around the world, with subject matter often gravitating toward themes of feminine sexual power and gender politics. While many have described her films as feminist works, others decry the categorization, as it tends to minimize the truly astounding depth of her films. Most recently, she has been making waves with her latest film, The Power of the Dog.
Chloé Zhao
Coming from the world of independent films, Zhao has quickly made a name for herself as a crossover artist who can work with budgets of any size. After her debut feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival (earning a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature), the director went on to find enormous success with 2020’s Nomadland, which earned her a variety of Best Director and Best Picture awards at the Oscars, DGA Awards, and Golden Globes. Most recently, she brought her eye for picturesque landscapes and full-scope photography to Marvel Studios’ Eternals. After Kathryn Bigelow, she’s the second woman (and the first woman of color) to win the Best Director Oscar.
Gina Prince-Bythewood
After years in TV writers’ rooms, Prince-Bythewood developed her first feature, 2000’s Love & Basketball, at the Sundance Institute’s directing and writing lab. Based on her childhood and young adult experiences, the film won Best Film at the Black Reel Awards, Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards, and grossed $27.7 million worldwide. She went on to direct The Secret Life of Bees, an adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s best-seller, for Fox Searchlight. In 2021, Prince-Bythewood became Co-Chair of the Directors Guild of America African American Steering Committee (AASC), where she works to address the needs of the Guild’s African American members.