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Despite creating sensitive, nuanced cinema year after year, women directors are missing from nominations - only Kathryn Bigelow has received it for The Hurt Locker, a film that appeals to male sensibilities.
Despite creating sensitive, nuanced cinema year after year, women directors are missing from nominations – only Kathryn Bigelow has received it for The Hurt Locker, a film that appeals to male sensibilities.
At the recently concluded Oscars 2020, Janelle Monáe kicked off her performance with ‘Hello neighbors!’ She spoke, loud and clear, of the need to celebrate the art of story-telling with all ‘those voices who are long deprived’.
Donning a bowler hat, Monáe made sure to call out the lack of nominations of female directors this year, despite the fact that some of the most phenomenal films including ‘Little Women’ and ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ were from women.
Before Monáe took on the stage, Natalie Portman stepped out on the red carpet wearing a cape embroidered with the names of female directors who were not acknowledged by the award show. Let’s look at the trailers of their movies, shall we?
The interesting bit is that Gerwig DID NOT receive a ‘Best Director’ nomination for Little Women despite the film being nominated in six categories.
The Academy has rated poorly in nominating women in the director category over years. This year was no surprise, but stood out blatantly because of the outstanding films directed by women in 2019 (and not a single name being on the list).
So, did the Oscars miss an opportunity to create history? Well, YES!
In fact, if the rules for nominations are closely observed, it may be said that they are stringent enough to not allow female directors a chance to be nominated (like having two directorial credits in the last ten years which is a rarity due to fewer opportunities).
Fact Check: Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to have won the award for ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009).
Yes, we still live in a world where parity in popular fields such as film-making/direction seems a distant dream, considering that these fields have the power to lead by example. However, Janelle Monáe and Natalie Portman are apt examples of what it means to show some sister-love and what sisterhood really means!
Closer home, the Filmfare Awards are considered the Indian counterparts of the Oscars. Women directors in Indian Cinema seemed to have received better recognition, although there is much left to be achieved.
Sai Paranjpye bagged the award for Sparsh (1985); Zoya Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2012); Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari for Bareilly Ki Barfi (2018) and Meghna Gulzar for Raazi (2019). Besides, Mira Nair, Farah Khan and Gauri Shinde found themselves in the list of nominees.
Despite all of this, it’s time the world gets ready to applaud its (not so) Little Women.
Image source: YouTube
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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