Lime-light 'Her infinite variety' By Lubna Abdel-Aziz It was only in the last century that women were able to raise their heads from their doormat position and break the fetters binding them by patriarchal societies. Free at last, women were able to study and enter any field of learning or profession they desired. Not only have they achieved economic and social power, but they have also excelled in forbidden professions hereto exclusive to males. Broken are the barriers confining them to teaching and nursing. You find them in medicine, law, politics, business, commerce, communications, sports, army, aviation, and engineering. They are astronauts, construction workers, bus and taxi drivers, plumbers and electricians. One of the last bastions of male domination has been the film industry; until recently. While there is reason to rejoice, it is still an uphill climb, given the low percentage of female employment behind the camera. Even actresses make up only 38 per cent of film employment. In earnings, Julia Roberts became the first actress to cross the $20 million bar, previously reserved for the alpha-males. There is great irony in this state of affairs, for it was not always so. In its early infancy, the film industry had its doors wide open to women. Long before they were given the right to vote, women were thriving in film, as directors, producers, editors and writers. In Hollywood, half of all the films written between 1912 and 1925 were by women. The first woman director, and just one of the very first directors ever is Alice Guy, a French secretary. She worked for a camera equipment company and played around with the camera in her leisure time. The result was so impressive, her bosses quickly formed a film production company with Alice as head, in 1896. She had literally given birth to the French film industry. She married American cameraman Herbert Blaché, formed her own American production company and for the next four years directed several hundred films before returning to France. Several female directors followed, who began by working in front of the camera but quickly moved to writing and directing, such as Gene Gauthier in 1906 and Helen Gardner in 1912. Gardner directed 12 feature films in New York City, which together with New Jersey was the centre of the film world. Soon the warm sunshine and the blue skies of the Southern California coast beckoned. Los Angeles was a boomtown and Hollywood was one of the 40 cities established within a 35-mile radius. Its population in 1903 was 116. By 1908 the demand for film had skyrocketed and women flocked in droves to Hollywood. Lois Weber, pianist turned actress, was the most outstanding of her generation. She was: "premier woman director of the screen, author and producer of the biggest money-making features in the film business for decades". Women shone for a brief moment in time and though they continued to thrive as writers, their credits as directors started to diminish. Names like Frances Marion, Anita Loos, Adela Rogers St John wrote every genre of film from comedy to Westerns, from Tarzan to Ben Hur. But that success was short-lived too. By the end of the thirties men shoved women from behind the camera, claiming their jobs. It was the depression. Jobs were scarce and men, the major breadwinners, needed the work. Only a handful survived, like Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino. As if under a magic spell, the ladies behind the camera, went into a deep sleep for almost half a century. In Europe a similar story was unfolding and female roles were limited to acting in front of the camera. A few prevailed. In France Agnes Varda, famous for her 1962 masterpiece Cleo 5-7 was a prime example of the new wave in cinema. The Czech Republic's Vera Chytilova struggled through the years of communist rule after the release of her gem The Little Daisies. Voices of the feminist struggle for equality resonated in the works of Liliane Caviari of Italy and Martha Mezards of Hungary. The loudest voice of all was that of Lina Vertmuller, who was one of only two women in history to be nominated for an Oscar for best director. Acting was the only field where women were employed in Asia and the Middle East. Kathryn Bigelow, a new breed in film Although it lasted 50 years, their sleeping spell was broken and they woke up from their slumber to fight for their place behind the camera. Actress/ singer Barbara Streisand directed Yentl (1983). Penny Marshall directed Big (1988) and Awakenings (1990). During the last decade, ladies' films and names were popping up in international film festivals, Samira Makhmalbaf of Iran, Shebana Azmi Makdee of India, Mofeeda Tlatle of Tunis, Naomi Kwasi of Japan (Camera d'Or, 1997), and Sandra Nash'at of Egypt. With the liberalisation of women in their respective societies, fundamental changes in this male dominated field should have been noticeable. Sadly, it was not the case. While film institutes have significantly increased enrollment of aspiring women directors, employment statistics have shown that the majority choose some other field after graduation. The US leads the world in granting women equal rights, but film directing remains by and large, man's work. A recent survey reveals that only six per cent of successful films in 2001 had female directors, down from 11 per cent in 2000. After a decade of remarkable strides, the new millennium shows a reduced number of female acceptance. In a weakened economy the male species courts most jobs, claiming to be the main breadwinners. Critic Michael Mitton writes: "While I could name a few women that are film directors, none of them had reached the point where I anxiously await their next film." The Academy Awards has, in all its 75 years, only nominated two directors, Lina Vertmuller for her 1997 Seven Beauties, and New Zealander Jane Campion for her 1993 (Palme D'Or winner) The Piano. No Oscar was awarded either ladies. In Hollywood only six per cent of films are directed by women and in Europe only 3.2 per cent. Even the number of female writers has diminished from 14 per cent in 2000 to 10 per cent in 2001. Professor Martha Lauzen of San Diego University blames the worsening situation for women on economic fear in the industry. "When people are frightened they fall back on established patterns." Most women directors cannot afford to make a mistake while men directors continue to prosper after disappointing efforts. One who has escaped this gender labelling is Kathryn Bigelow. Her latest film K-19 The Widowmaker was the most expensive film ever to be directed by a woman ($90 million). Working with an all-male cast, she is praised by critics and studio heads in spite of disappointing box office receipts. Another successful action director is Mimi Leder, a protégé of Steven Spielberg who was at the helm of hits such as Deep Impact and Peacemaker. Suffragettes fighting for the right to vote suffered many setbacks, but never wavered or despaired and never gave up the fight until they reached the top of the mountain. Though they figuratively opened a whole new world to an entire generation of women, the climb is still long and rocky, and there will be no rest for women until their success is complete. In film, women have a rich and distinguished history to claim as their own and to inspire and embolden them. Was it not Margaret Thatcher who said: "If you want anything done, ask a woman!"? While men have had it easy in every domain, with all privileges handed them on silver platters throughout the centuries, women have been doers and have toiled for their place in the sun. Ultimate success is far sweeter when hard-earned, we think. Women directors are working to increase the percentages of equal opportunities in film, until they are say, 50/50. At least!
