Gender inequality in entertainment

Santa Barbara International Film Festival has started! The 31st annual SBIFF kicked off at 8pm with the US premiere of THE LITTLE PRINCE at Arlington Theater, followed by the Opening Night Gala in Paseo Nuevo. As usual, I tend to seek some special films directed by women directors and I have to say I'm quite surprised this year. A fair number [...]

Women’s film festivals aim to provide a true perception of women, whether they are victorious or defeated. With an industry that is dominated by males, these film festivals have turned into a global project by, for and about women. The criteria I used to select these top film festivals are similar to those that could be used for general film festivals. [...]

I've had a chance to watch Mustang a few days ago, a directorial debut by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, which has been shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language film as the French official entry. At first I was a bit confused to why France sent a Turkish movie as their representative over Cannes winner Dheepan, but after watching the movie, the tactic [...]

Only four female directors have been nominated in the Best Director category throughout the Oscars' history. Lina Wertmuller was the first woman nominated for the 1976 film, Seven Beauties. Jane Campion was number two for the 1993 film, The Piano, Sofia Coppola is number three for the 2003 film, Lost in Translation, and number four is the only one to make [...]

Women the world over face stark disparities in health, finance, education, politics, and other arenas. Persistent gender inequality may threaten economic growth and/or social progress. At the most micro level, discrimination impedes girls and women from achieving their individual hopes and dreams. Through its Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations has championed an increase in equality for women and girls across [...]

Latest illustration of Hollywood’s gender disparity: No script by a woman  ranks among top 10 vote-getters Women accounted for only 17 percent of the screenwriters featured on the 2015 Black List, yet another alarming statistic that reflects the state of gender disparity in Hollywood. Worse, the annual survey of the industry’s best unmade movies is top-heavy with scripts by men, who [...]

If aliens were to watch the majority of films Hollywood releases each year, they could be excused for thinking that our world is mainly male, white and has a decidedly adolescent bent. Closing the gender gap — in both pay and representation — in top-level Hollywood feature films has been a growing battle cry (just ask Jennifer Lawrence, Geena Davis, Patricia [...]