More on Women in Film.

Film The Observer this weekend ran a couple of pieces about women in film which underscore, just as this tiff Q&A does, the huge gap between men and women in the industry. Firstly an interview with Geena Davis, who is a key example of how Hollywood treats its actresses so poorly:

At 59, Davis is familiar with the crushing silence of a phone that never rings. Women in film are, she says “definitely” discriminated against because of their age.

“I was averaging about one movie a year my whole career and that was because I’m fussy. I probably could have done more. And then in my 40s I made one movie… And I was positive it wasn’t going to happen to me because I got a lot of great parts for women. I was very fortunate to have all that stuff happen and never get typecast, so I was just cruising along thinking: ‘Well yeah, it won’t happen to me.’ It did.”

Then nine women in film talk about the sexism they've either seen or experienced themselves. Agnes Godard, cinematographer:

"I have experienced sexism at work. Most of the time it’s a refusal to do what you’ve asked, or to doubt the legitimacy of the instruction. The most illustrative thing I went through was a long time ago, in 1983, when I was a focus puller on the Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas. The director of photography (DoP) was Robby Müller and I split my role with his usual focus puller. One week Robby wasn’t there and I set the camera and did a frame. When Robby arrived, he said, “Who did this beautiful frame? It’s really good”, and the grip, who was next to me, said it was the male assistant who made it. I was just speechless – I felt invisible. I think I said something, but it was like a whisper, because I was astonished. And I was shy and quite young at the start of my career, and I didn’t feel I could complain."

Trigger warning: the comments on both articles fulfil Lewis's Law.