Celluloid Ceiling

21st Century Film Directors
by Rachel Milwood

With Katherine Bigelow making history as the first woman to win an Oscar for directing, is this a new era for female filmmakers? The numbers suggest otherwise. A San Diego University study published last year states that only 9% of Hollywood directors in 2008 were women - the same figure recorded in 1998. Celluloid Ceiling seeks to redress the imbalance in the ratio of male to female film directors by exploring the most inspiring new work appearing in the UK, US and across the globe. Highlighting emerging female directors alongside recognised pioneers (eg. Bigelow, Campion, Coppola), placing all in context and examining their influences, Celluloid Ceiling offers a one-stop guide to the leading female directors of 21st century. With particular attention paid to women making films in traditionally male-dominated areas such as action movies and films featuring violence or pornography the author hopes to show all budding filmmakers that women can overcome the challenges within this industry.

Includes interviews and b/w photographs throughout.

Author

Rachel graduated in Theology from Oxford University in 1999 and then took postgraduate studies at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. Before setting up Birds-Eye-View, an organisation which promotes the work of female directors with an annual film festival at Southbank, Waterloo (as well as regular screenings and workshops throughout the UK.)

Rachel has written for The New Statesman, The Financial Times Magazine and The Guardian on women in film, and on the media representation of people with disabilities. She also writes regularly for The Guardian Arts Blog about women filmmakers. She was nominated a 'world changing' woman by The Guardian in August 2006.

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