Black Herstory Month & Women Film Makers

I've been thinking a lot lately about the intersection of gender and race. With February being Black History Month (BHM), I especially found this article interesting, as it describes how BHM really mostly celebrates Black men.

Because of this, I wanted to draw a little attention to Ava DuVernay, the first Black woman to win Best Director for Dramatic Film at Sundance.



In line with this trend, 2012 marks the 80th year that the Academy Awards has failed to nominate any female film directors, which means there have only been 4 women nominated, all of them White. Out of these 4 White women, only one has ever won (Kathryn Bigelow). Can any of you even name the other 3 who were nominated?** Probably not, because unlike the male directors who get multiple nominations over many years, Hollywood (like many careers) makes continued success for a woman incredibly difficult.

So congratulations to Ava DuVernay, for not only achieving success, but for being an inspiration to all of us during this important month and the other 11 of the year. I hope she gets the support and opportunity to continue making great films and pave the path for the first woman of color to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar. In the meantime, petition your local movie theaters to bring her film Middle of Nowhere to their screens.

** Female directors nominated for Best Director in the Academy Awards: Kathryn Bigelow (2009 The Hurt Locker), Sofia Coppola (2003 Lost in Translation), Jane Campion (1993 The Piano), and Lina Wertmüller (1976 Seven Beauties)