women directors

Just in time for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, some enterprising feminist number crunchers have come up with some cold hard facts: in all that time, only four women have been nominated for a best directing Oscar and only one, The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow, has won it. Dee Rees (who directed the award-winning lesbian film Pariah), Miranda July (director of the indie The Future), Angelina Jolie (who directed the American foreign film, In the Land of Blood and Honey), Maryan Keshavarz (director of the acclaimed Iranian lesbian film, Circumstance), and Lynne Ramsey (who directed the Tilda Swinton vehicle, We Need to Talk About Kevin).

It’s been a relatively great year for women in film, beginning with The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman to nab a best director Academy Award! Now, the Gotham Independent Film Awards, celebrating its 20th Anniversary, have honored female-helmed films with several nominations, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Next up, for better or worse depending on what you thought of the film, Lisa Cholodenko’s lesbian family drama starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, The Kids are All Right, landed two nominations as did  Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture. Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis is also nominated. 

An aspiring filmmaker has created a handy summary of Hollywood's sexism.

Lesbian filmmaker Dee Rees is poised to enter a small club of prominent queer women of color directors with Pariah, her stunning Spike Lee-produced movie about an urban teen coming of age.

I am not alone in my simmering rage about how male the Oscars are this year. And every year.

It was a pretty staid Oscar ceremony that still managed to break a lot of necessary ground!

Meet one of Hollywood's first female directors.

The 40-year-old festival, the subject of controversy in recent years, 'is coming to a time of closure,' says its founder and organizer.

I always watch the Oscars. As a devotee of the movies, I like to guess the winners, see the awards given out, hear the acceptance speeches, see what kind of politics are in play.

Sharon L. Sievers, a professor who helped start the women's studies program at California State University, Long Beach, and fought a legal battle to preserve it, has died at age 71. She helped develop the university's women's studies program over the objections of some colleagues, who thought the topic not worthy of academic inquiry. Then in 1982 a student complained that the recommended reading for one course encouraged lesbianism.

This new women’s prison comedy-drama from famed Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, which debuts July 11, is not just a fantastic female-centric series that could shift the cultural landscape of television — it could turn out to be TV’s best lesbian series ever. (Yeah, that’s right, I said it, L Word fans.)

From the hat and glove wearing founders of NOW to the hat and glove wearing women of street theatrics of WITCH (Women's International Conspiracy from Hell), the film is full of dramatic flare.

From the unsung heroes to the latest releases, here are a seven cool films that are either literally, subtextually, or metaphorically about the ladies to love ladies. To be fair, some of these haven't been released and are therefore not eligible for The Globes, but we thought we'd put them on your radar just the same!

Yvonne Welbon is someone you should know!

Looking for a life-altering experience? Board a ship by Olivia.