FEMale Filmmakers and Feminism in the MEdia

About the Project

The Female Filmmakers and Feminism in the Media (FEMME) project was born in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which revealed persistent gender inequalities in the film and television industries and renewed research into feminist film theories. The accrued visibility of female directors, screenwriters, and producers (e.g., award winners Sarah Polley, Chloe Zhao, Julia Ducournau, and Justine Triet, among others) leads FEMME researchers to question whether their success testifies to deep structural transformations in the film and television industries.

This project aims to assess the impact of female filmmaking on gender politics on and behind the screen through a comparative approach to national cinemas from the US, the UK, and France. Does the presence of women behind the camera contribute to changing gender representations on screen? Do female directors and screenwriters draw on contemporary feminist discourses and theories in their works and in their careers? Are their films visible and rewarded at film festivals? Is the success of women’s films reflective of deep structural change in an industry that has historically been dominated by men?

The project draws on a multi-disciplinary methodology (aesthetics, cultural studies, economics, history, sociology) to examine the cultural, aesthetic, and political changes (or lack of them) that women filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers introduce in the media industry and in film aesthetics. The main ambitions are to stimulate research on women in film and television, to engage in dialogue with industry players in order to advance the cause of gender equality, and to promote feminist reflection through opening up public debates with audiences around films (e.g., screenings with invited female directors, productions of educational short-film, etc.).

This ANR project is the result of previous collaborations between academics at national (Delphine Letort, Université du Mans; David Roche and Chloé Delaporte, Université de Montpellier-Paul Valéry 3; Cristelle Maury, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès) and international (Fiona Handyside, Mary Harrod, Katarzyna Paszkiewicz) levels, as well as with director Bouchera Azzouz (president of Ateliers du féminisme populaire). FEMME combines fundamental research with societal action through collaborative projects with secondary schools (notably the Collège Costa-Gavras cinema program Le Mans) and cinemas (Les Cinéastes in Le Mans), among many others.

In addition to the books and articles published as part of a theoretical reflection on the interactions between feminism and cinema/television, the project will endeavor to address the relations of domination linked to gender through filmic productions made possible by collaboration between academics, directors, students and pupils.