Today's film scene has more female directors than ever before, and they have moved beyond the traditional female arena of romantic comedies, but the struggle for equality, recognition and respect still continues.
Of the roughly 13,400 members of Directors Guild of America, only about 1,000, or 7 percent, are listed as female directors. (Total female membership, which includes people on the directing team like assistant directors and unit production managers, is about 3,000 or 22 percent.)
No woman has ever won an Academy Award for best director, and only three have ever been nominated: Lena Wertmuller for 1975's "Seven Beauties," Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano" and Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation." A woman has never won the Directors Guild's top honour, either, though six have been nominated.
So what are the reasons for this ongoing weak representation?
"I don't believe that women studio executives are deliberately not seeking out (female) talent. They're all really busy—they're doing the best they can," said Jane Fleming, who is president of the organisation Women in Film and also runs her own film company.
"Hollywood is still an old boys' club and boys are bullies. ... The ultimate symbol of the film industry is a man, Oscar, clutching a sword and standing on a reel of film because he's defending his turf," said Tom O'Neil, columnist for theenvelope.com Web site. "I think that says it all."
Men's tastes in action movies, thrillers or political drama still prevail in society: "When the genders combine to go out to see a movie, the man still rules. It has to appeal to him."
Family matters play another important role, and in a director's job it seems to be especially difficult to juggle family with work.
It seems that female directors prefer working for independent companies to working for one of the majors – but it may also be that financiers feel reluctant to support a woman as the director of a large-scale project.
"Would a woman have made 'The Departed'? Maybe that's the next goal," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and longtime producer and studio executive. "Maybe women directors will be seen as able to do 'Terminator 5,' or some major action movie. Maybe that is breaking the next stereotype model.'
Culture Biz, a comprehensive comparative analysis of women in the European film industry came up with similar findings in 2005. The study was carried out by the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts). More information is available from the Culture Biz website.