Amy Adrion’s new documentary rounds up 40 film-makers, including Ava DuVernay and Lena Dunham, to talk about systemic undermining of women in Hollywood
Here are words that film executives use to describe their ideal director: a general. A captain. A fighter. Someone in the trenches. They’re describing GI Joe, and until recently, 93% of the directors they hired fit that masculine mold. Women didn’t, so – consciously and subconsciously – female directors weren’t imagined as being hardy enough to helm a big blockbuster. The stereotype has been tough to shatter. Yet, the movies are an art form stitched together from creativity, empathy and connection. “What we need is a communicator who can lead,” says film-maker Karyn Kusama in Amy Adrion’s inquisitive documentary, Half the Picture, which screens this weekend at the Sundance London. “This isn’t a war.”
It isn’t. But it has been as the women of Hollywood have publicly waged a battle for fair hiring practices, with a boost from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the ACLU who led separate investigations into the drastic gender disparity in 2013 and 2015, which culminated in official government letters informing the studios they must correct the imbalance or risk lawsuits. Two months into the EEOC inquiry, Adrion started filming Half the Picture, interviewing over 40 female film-makers, and her feisty documentary feels like getting the inside scoop.
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