A Celebration of Directors Who Happen To Be Women

"A celebration of directors who happen to be women" happened at the DGA last night. That quote came from Penelope Spheeris, who moderated this event, still cool from the Dylan screening.

Except for some funny anecdotes about how some people saw a woman on set and asked her to get some coffee (even if she was the director), there really wasn't any whining. It was a celebration of storytellers who happen to be women, something every society needs.

And not just storytellers, but vital storytellers who have entertained us with high-concept mainstream action sequences populated with A-list talent and oodles of special effects, tv storytellers who have intrigued us, and indie storytellers who have changed lives. The panel included Catherine Hardwicke, Amy Heckerling, Lesli Linka Glatter, Mimi Leder, Kasi Lemmons, Angela Robinson, Arlene Sanford, Betty Thomas, with Penelope moderating. Quite frankly, the ladies rocked the house. And it was great to see the clips and realize how much great work there is out there already by so many women directors.

The message of the evening was, "we [women directors] have the stuff that you want, and you gotta come get it." And the second message of the evening was "when you do what you wanna do then good stuff happens."

Kudos to the DGA for doing this, and thanks to the Alliance of Women Directors who made it possible for members to attend.

:: bogna ::