Promising overlooked women: shining a light on female directors

by Rebecca Martin

April 20, 2021

1 min read

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Over a year ago, at Sundance 2020, pre-pandemic, Carey Mulligan spoke with Variety about how Oscar voters overlooked films with female filmmakers, meaning they did not watch these films before they cast their votes for the Best Director category. This discussion circled around her and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” premiere. I can’t help thinking that since then, going through a pandemic, #BlackLivesMatter, shining a light more on #MeToo, with shows like “I May Destroy You” and films like “TAPE”, we’ve come to a place where diverse and female stories are more important than ever. With that, I wanted to take a look back at this interview and encourage you all to watch the Oscar nominated film, the dark and twisted and profound “Promising Young Woman”.

Congratulations to Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell on your Oscar Best Director nominations. Let’s not forget the female filmmakers that were overlooked for the 2020 Oscars, pre-pandemic. A shout-out to Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Céline Sciamma (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”), Jennifer Kent (“The Nightingale”), and Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”). Watch all of these films!!!

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Rebecca Martin

Rebecca Martin is the Managing Editor of Cinema Femme magazine and the Festival Director of Cinema Femme Short Film Fest. She founded her publication in 2018 because she wanted to create a platform for female voices in the film community. She has hosted film screenings in Chicago, led virtual panel discussions, Q&As, is the Cinema Femme Short Films Director, and has covered festivals like the Chicago International Film Festival, Sundance, Tribeca, and the Bentonville Film Festival.

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