If you have a TIFF program, turn to page 449, scan the “Index to Directors,” and, among that list of hundreds, count the female names. See how little more you require than the fingers on both hands. Today women have made significant inroads into many professions historically closed to them, yet not into the realm of feature film direction. Jane Campion is an obvious exception to the rule. The New Zealander has directed an impressive body of work ranging from An Angel at My Table through The Piano to her latest, Bright Star, which has already fetched ample critical plaudits at the festival.
Naturally, as the exception, Campion has strong feelings about the rule. She reasons that fields like the law and medicine, even corporate pursuits like accounting, have opened to women because these professions all require academic certification, and universities have long been obliged to accept qualified applicants of both sexes. Film schools, she suggests, also have large numbers of female students, but once these young women are out in the movie marketplace, where no formal certification is required, they’re often confined to making short films, and far less likely than men to break through to full-length feature work.
Why? Campion’s answer is as old as it is powerful: “It’s still a boys' club, especially Hollywood.” It does seem remarkable that, to half the world’s sensibility, those club doors are still unwelcoming – not absolutely locked, but definitely shut with a heavy latch.
See also:
'I’m probably going to get into trouble here ...'
Bloodsuckers? Sam Neill has seen a few
The Coen Brothers and pirate-ese
For more TIFF coverage see TIFF 2009
