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Author Topic: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists  (Read 53617 times)

FifthCityMuse

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #140 on: October 30, 2010, 11:23:32 PM »
I don't necessarily want to push people to include women just because they're women. I could just as loudly make the same comments about queer directors, or black directors.

I harp on it because this is the environment to do it. This forum is not full of casual filmgoers. Everyone here is passionate about film, and keen to further explore what cinema is and discover greatness, and personally, I think the compiling of a top 100 directors of all time is the perfect time to say hold up, why aren't we watching more by female directors?

I'm just as guilty, let's be clear. I'm only gonna be able to have three or four on the list without resorting to tokenism, which I wouldn't. But I'm planning to do something about that soon. Complacency is only gonna see us continue to make lists of dead white men.

Personally, what gets me is that I love Agnes Varda. To spoil it, she's gonna be at the very top of my list. And yeah, it's only this year that I've really seen any of her films, but seeing her so largely ignored upsets me, because she's so clearly great. MT, I'm sure you feel the same way about Satyajit Ray around here (who I'll admit to only having seen one film by).

And it's not like women aren't doing good work. Varda is clearly doing phenomenal stuff. I think Denis is too, although I know she doesn't always work for everyone. Chantal Akerman is one I'd love to explore more by. Same with a whole host of others. And like I said, I could be just as up about queer directors. Where's Gregg Araki (who will make my list, but I totally understand why he won't make most)?

smirnoff

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #141 on: October 30, 2010, 11:28:40 PM »
I'm sure the number of films I watch that are directed by women is proportional to the number of women directing films.

Bondo

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #142 on: October 31, 2010, 12:09:23 AM »
I feel I have to look at this thread once a month just to remind myself which directors I need to be seeking out more from. It's one thing if I simply am not liking their films but another if I'm not even watching them.

I do feel like the fact that the names that are generally thrown around like Varda (who I need to try something from), Akerman, Denis (I hated 35 Shots of Rum), etc are mixtures non-contemporary and art-house. If there is one thing my list is, it is contemporary and relatively mainstream. Partly due to what I've been exposed to (that I try to broaden every month) and part is my film preferences. There isn't a lot to choose from in terms of mainstream female directors with expansive filmographies. Bigelow is one of the more notable examples (and then some of the Nancy Meyers, Nora Ephron ilk).

MartinTeller

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #143 on: October 31, 2010, 12:15:56 AM »
I'm sure the number of films I watch that are directed by women is proportional to the number of women directing films.

Exactly.  I doubt anyone here is specifically avoiding women directors.  They're just aren't that many of them.  

FCM: Not everyone is as passionate about Varda as you, deal with it.  Like you said, you only discovered her this year so you shouldn't really get all pissy about everyone else not worshipping her.  You've got the fanaticism of a recent convert... but I've been guilty of that too sometimes, so I understand. But no, I don't get upset when people haven't seen much Satyajit Ray (who I only discovered 7 years ago).  He's not a mainstream director and his films aren't easily obtained.  I do get upset that I can't get decent DVDs of his films and have to resort to cheap imports, though (c'mon Criterion....)

As for queer directors, I've got Tsai, Almodovar and Weerasethakul all in my top 25.

(oh, and from what I've seen, there are a handful of "casual filmgoers" on this forum.  I won't name names though :) )

MartinTeller

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #144 on: October 31, 2010, 12:19:02 AM »
I feel I have to look at this thread once a month just to remind myself which directors I need to be seeking out more from.

Oh man, I forgot that Niki Caro followed up the lovely Whale Rider with the godawful North Country.  This is another reason I don't have a lot of women in my top 100... so many of them seem to ruin their own careers.

Bondo

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #145 on: October 31, 2010, 12:21:53 AM »
North Country and not Whale Rider is the primary reason she made my list, though I did like both. To think I held off on North Country for so long because I was holding Monster against Charlize Theron.

(oh, and from what I've seen, there are a handful of "casual filmgoers" on this forum.  I won't name names though :) )

Is that "casual" filmgoer or "casual film" goer. Because one probably doesn't watch a lot of movies, the other may watch a lot of movies, just not pretentious crap :D

As to queer cinema...John Cameron Mitchell and Gus Van Sant are the two that jump out but then I don't know the sexual orientation of all the directors off the top of my head (my top 50 bands/artists list would be overrun by lesbians). Ethnic minority representation is a little trickier. I have plenty of non-white people, but they aren't minorities in the film industry that they are a product of.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2010, 12:41:22 AM by Bondo »

flieger

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #146 on: October 31, 2010, 12:29:32 AM »
Howard Hawks liked women. Does that count?

Verite

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #147 on: October 31, 2010, 12:33:15 AM »
Exactly.  I doubt anyone here is specifically avoiding women directors.  They're just aren't that many of them.

In a theatrical distribution and/or mainstream studio financing context, you're correct.  But overall, there are lots of women making films that make the indie, festival, or arthouse circuits or are available on VHS or DVD (a lot are available on Netflix, for example).  Places like Women Make Movies make some festival / tv titles available for home purchase.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #148 on: October 31, 2010, 02:16:38 PM »
Some of us just watch movies to watch movies. I don't care or know whether the director is a man or a woman 98% of the time.

Senor Javi

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Re: Filmspotters' Top 100 Directors 2010: FYC and Your Lists
« Reply #149 on: October 31, 2010, 05:30:58 PM »
Some of us just watch movies to watch movies. I don't care or know whether the director is a man or a woman 98% of the time.

Exactly. I seek out movies that I think that I will enjoy, not to satisfy a novelty quota. If I see a movie by a female director it's because I was interested in the movie, not because of the gender of a production member. There will be no women directors on my list simply because there is no woman director that I have seen a sufficient number of films by of a high enough quality to be considered. Take Kelly Reichardt for example. She did Wendy and Lucy, which I think is a pretty extraordinary film, and if she did (and I saw) five films of Wendy and Lucy-quality, she would be high on my list. Unfortunately, she only has three features to her credit and the other two don't really interest me and neither was particularly warmly received.

Take Kathryn Bigelow as another example. I've seen two films by her - The Hurt Locker and Strange Days. Now, while I loved The Hurt Locker, I found Strange Days to be almost shockingly awful. Knowing that she has a good amount of credits, I look through her filmography and I can't say I'm particularly excited by Blue Steel or K-19: The Widowermaker. She would have to have several more Hurt Lockers up her sleeve (and no more Strange Days) for me to consider her.

Even moving into more acclaimed female directors, I'm not too thrilled at this point. The one woman that seems to have the best chance at cracking my list (according to the acclaim on this board) is Agnès Varda, and even she doesn't really get me going. The only film by her that I've seen is Cléo from 5 to 7 and I was rather unimpressed by it. Not that I thought it was bad, it was just OK. Looking through her filmography, the only two movies that I'm interested in irrespective of her being a woman are The Gleaners & I and Vagabond. Even if I really liked those movies she wouldn't make my list due to too much competition from old dead white guys (whom I enjoy for reasons that have nothing to do with them being old, dead, white, and/or guys). The Gleaners & I and Vagabond could potentially capture my imagination and make me want to see more Varda films, but if they are only as good as Cléo from 5 to 7, that won't happen.  :-\

Incidentally, the whole thing is absurd. The female factor doesn't (or shouldn't) count for more than the "gay" factor or the "black" factor or any other novelty factor that should have nothing to do with why anyone watches anything. It is a pretty funny thought that much of the flake in this thread (and around the board) is about the lack of female representation and not something altogether different, because it shouldn't count for more than anything else. Someone could make the case that the concentration on female directors is distracting from the "real" issue of the underepresentation of Indian or Czechoslovakian or Hungarian cinema and filmmakers. How many people are skipping over Marketa Lazarová so that they can see Whip It and what does it matter?
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