Directress Film Festival Showcases Female-Directed Movies
The Directress Film Festival was held in the Marquee Cinema in Union South.
From March 8 – 12 , the WUD Film Committee recognized Women’s History Month through its first Directress Film Festival, which showcased 13 female-directed movies throughout the weekend.
In 2016, only six percent of the 250 top grossing films were directed by women, a statistic that has sat largely unchanged over the past decade, according to associate director of festival programming for WUD Film Kate Zellmer.
“Women are grossly underrepresented in Hollywood, despite producing some of the most interesting and innovative content I’ve had the pleasure of seeing,” Zellmer said. “Dedicating a weekend to female directed cinema allows us to celebrate these perspectives, and expose the campus audience to films they would otherwise not have the chance to see.”
To select which shows to present during the festival, Zellmer and a WUD Film subcommittee compiled a large list of female-directed films by looking at festivals like Sundance and Tribeca for inspiration.
Across multiple weeks, the group narrowed down the list to include bigger titles like “Toni Erdmann” and “Love Witch” to entice viewers to attend other, lesser-known films to the festival too. The selected movies spanned across a large number of countries, genres and styles.
“The overall goal is to assemble a lineup that is eclectic, interesting, and offers something for everyone,” Zellmer said. “As a committee, we aim to create an open and welcome space for all of campus, and I believe our lineup is indicative of that.”
Check out the upcoming free films hosted by WUD Film at the Marquee Cinema in Union South here.
