Creating a box office miracle and gaining industry recognition, female filmmakers will take another step forward in 2023

Source: Global Times

In the upcoming year of 2023, female filmmakers will shine brightly. In Europe and the United States, from the Oscars at the beginning of the year to the Cannes Film Festival in the middle of the year, the summer file, and then to the Golden Globe nominations at the end of the year, "Instant Universe", "Falling Trial", "Barbie" ...... A series of female-led, female-focused, and female-focused works have taken a huge step forward this year, both in terms of box office appeal and artistic standards. Although the overall proportion of women – especially behind-the-scenes creators – is still not high compared to male filmmakers, this trend is reassuring, and at the same time, there is still room for women to break through and stabilize in many aspects of the film and television industry.

"She changed the situation"

Last week, the Festival de Cannes announced that the 2024 Jury in the main competition will be chaired by American director, screenwriter and actress Greta Gerwig, who will become the first American woman in the history of Cannes to hold this important role. "Greta Gerwig is a hero of our time, and she has changed the status quo in a highly regulated film industry, in an era that requires scrutiny," Cannes announced.

This high praise for Cannes has also received enthusiastic feedback from Gerwig himself: "I love films, I love to write films, I like to comment on films, and as a film lover, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of the language of cinema. I am surprised, excited and honoured to be the President of the Cannes Jury and can't wait to experience the experience. ”

Gerwig, who just turned 40 this year, is not only the youngest chairman of the Cannes jury since Italian actress Sophia Loren in 1966, but also the first American female director to hold this position, the last time a female director was chaired by a female director was Jane Campion from New Zealand in 2014. In the history of Cannes, the presidents are usually veteran filmmakers, world-recognized master directors, and honorary acting stars, and Gerwig was able to win the favor of the organizers precisely because her work "Barbie" in this year's summer file "shocked the world", and achieved unprecedented results at the box office and word of mouth, which really "changed the film industry".

On December 4, 2023 local time, in San Francisco, California, USA, Greta Gerwig attended the 2023 San Francisco International Film Festival Awards Gala. (Photo source: Visual China)

The female-written, female-themed comedy "Barbie" earned $1.4 billion at the global box office, and Gerwig also surpassed Chinese female director and actress Jia Ling to become the world's highest-grossing female director, even more dazzling than the male-dominated "Oppenheimer" in the same schedule. In the shortlist of Golden Globe Awards announced not long ago, "Barbie" led the way with 9 nominations. Gerwig's previous works "Frances Ha" as an actor, or "Lady Bird" and "Little Women" as a director and screenwriter, all reflect a unique female perspective, and at the same time create a suitable stage for Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, which can be called the culmination of current female filmmakers.

"Superheroes" in reality

Coincidentally, the Berlin Film Festival, another film festival that has a lot of weight in the world film industry, recently announced that the chairman of the jury of the main competition next year will be the African American actress Lupita Nyong'o, which is the first time in the history of the film festival that a Hollywood actress of color will hold this important position. The actress from Kenya, Africa, has not only established herself in Hollywood with her talent and hard work, but also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress ("12 Years a Slave") and gained popularity in superhero blockbusters like "Black Panther", which is enough to inspire more women of different ethnicities and cultures to enter the industry.

At the Oscars at the beginning of this year, starring Chinese actress Michelle Yeoh and telling the life and family relationship of Asian American women, "Instant Universe" won 7 awards including Best Picture, and the 61-year-old Michelle Yeoh also became the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Michelle Yeoh inspired Asian teenagers to chase their dreams bravely at the awards ceremony, telling women to never give up and not accept the definition of others, especially mothers all over the world who deserve to be thanked because they are "superheroes" in reality. After "Instant Universe" and Michelle Yeoh won the Oscars, more and more similar themes began to explore the strong, brave and persistent side of women, and promoted the emergence of female filmmakers.

"This year is a huge step forward"

Women's themes and female filmmakers are becoming so popular around the world that they are now witnessing a trend that has been dominated by men. Not only Cannes and Berlin have invited women to serve as jury chairs, but also Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stuart, and Julian Moore have held this position in previous years, and the jury led by women will also pay more attention to the works of female directors.

This year's Best Film at Cannes was awarded to French female director Justin Trier's "Falling Trial", which is also the second female director to win the Palme d'Or in three years after 2021's "Titanium". This is not because the female jury is tilted in favor of female directors, in fact, the artistic standard of "Falling Trial" has been widely recognized, including the European Film Festival at the end of the year and a number of professional awards to praise this serious work about criminal trials. "Falling Trial" and "Barbie" are one art and one business, which together proves that in the current world film industry, the works that male directors can make can also be made by female directors, and the female directors who can earn can also be earned.

New York Times columnist Manora Dalgis is optimistic about the "feminine style" of world cinema: "For the first time in history, I am optimistic about how women are doing in the film industry. Since Bigelow's Bomb Disposal won an Oscar in 2009, we are experiencing a female and cinematic upheaval, an escalation in numbers and awareness. ”

"Forbes" analyzed the Golden Globe nominations, saying, "This year is a huge step forward, after all, the last time a woman won the Best Director award was back in 1984 when Barbra Streisand was awarded." Only nine female directors have been nominated in the history of the Golden Globes, and this time two female directors have been shortlisted (Gerwig and Celine Song's "Past Lives"), which shows that Hollywood has made significant progress in being inclusive and diverse for women. ”

But while the outlook is encouraging, it doesn't mean that women filmmakers are on an equal footing with men. According to statistics, among the 250 highest-grossing films in 2022, only 24% are from female directors, only 7% are female photographers, and 21% are female screenwriters. Among the top 1,600 films at the box office from 2007 to 2022, 80% were directed by white men, only 4% were by white women, and only 1% were ethnic minority women. This year's "Barbie" has created a box office miracle, but if you want to give birth to more "big-name female directors" and "gold medal producers" like Gerwig and Robbie, who can really lead the project, attract investment, and decide the cast, it will take a period of accumulation and growth in the future.