The Dominance Of Female Directors In 2020's Successful Films

Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros)

JAKARTA - In the midst of a difficult situation due to the onslaught of COVID-19, the film industry is not completely extinct.

A study from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, San Diego State University mentions that many female directors are making major films in 2020. This study was supervised by Dr. Martha Lauzen, director of Study of Women.

In 2020, the number of female directors increased to 16 percent compared to previous years, such as 13 percent in 2019 and 4 percent in 2018. As a result, the work of female directors positively dominates the competitive sphere.

Compared to men, this figure is not that big. Even the growth was slow. During the industry's 20 years, the percentage of female directors who directed the 250 highest grossing films in the United States was only 4 percent from 2018 to the next.

The campaign to encourage an increasing number of female directors continues to echo in Hollywood. However, this development did not fully occur. It's just that, an increase of 16 percent last year, is pretty good.

Reaching Positive Response

Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) became the first female-directed film to hit theaters last year. Aired in February, Birds of Prey reached the box office with a total revenue of 201 million US dollars.

This film features the central character Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie. Birds of Prey is the writer's way of presenting Harley Quinn's story in a personal way alongside his image as a Joker partner.

Unfortunately, the interest in the presence of female directors in films has stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Yes, the pandemic affected the screening of the films The Eternals by Chloe Zhao and Black Widow from Cate Shortland.

Even though these two Marvel Studios films are the most eagerly awaited films. Not only is it a new generation of superhero Avengers, but it is also an arena for showing the abilities of female directors.

The film directed by Niki Caro was also delayed before Disney finally chose to broadcast it through the Disney + platform for an additional fee.

Then, despite having to postpone the screening of The Eternals, this year Chloe Zhao broadcast Nomadland. The film competed in a number of festivals such as Toronto, Venice, San Diego, and others.

The film Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand, received a favorable response among critics. Aggregator review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 97 percent rating. Nomadland tells the story of a woman named Fern (Frances McDormand) who goes on a journey hawking life as a traveler in a van.

If Nomadland is popular on the festival track, in the major part there is Patty Jenkins who managed to make Wonder Woman 1984 appear in theaters and also through the streaming service HBO Max. This film won 118 million US dollars worldwide.

Congratulations to Chloé Zhao for winning Best Director from @LAFilmCritics for Nomadland! #LAFCA #NMDLND https://t.co/bnqgTOQMo1

- Nomadland (@nomadlandfilm) December 21, 2020

Increase in the number of female editors, screenwriters and producers

Still from the Study of Women in Television and Film, the increase in female directors contributed to the increase in female writers, producers and editors working in the film industry.

Judging from the list of 100 highest grossing films, only about 28 percent of female producers and 21 percent of executive producers are involved in it.

The study also found that a woman director would recruit other women to work behind the scenes.

Most female editors worked for 39 percent of films with female directors and 18 percent of men. Likewise, female composers worked for 13 percent of female directors and 4 percent of male directors.

But despite that, most films (67 percent) are still reluctant to employ zero to four women behind the scenes. On the contrary, the production house chooses to recruit 10 or more men as director, writer, and other positions.

A non-profit organization, Women in Film, which is aware of this imbalance, continues to voice the bias system in the film industry that must be changed. Salary inequality and discrimination in ability, social strata and race are of concern to organizations. They are different from Study of Women in Television and Film but both share the same vision of women in the film industry.