WOMEN MAKE FILM: A NEW ROAD MOVIE THROUGH CINEMA (2018)
Running Time: 840 mins. Rating: 3 Stars/5 Stars
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Mark Cousins
Genre: Documentary
Country: UK
Language: English
Distributor: Cohen Media Group
Doctoral thesis filmmaking.
An exciting premise for a documentary, the discovery of long forgotten women filmmakers starting with Alice Guy-Blache up through Nell Shipman onward to Wendy Toye and dozens of other international directors unknown inside and outside of their own countries today. The downside is the filmmaker approaches the subject matter as if he has to pad out a doctoral thesis by hammering multiple square pegs into round holes to make a point. The inclusion of a number of over-rated current women filmmakers lessens the strength of this film.
Best way to watch this film is to pre-record it and pause when you discover a filmmaker you want to deep dive into. The filmmaker has put screen grabs up on his website so you can find the films that are of interest. The downside is most of the films, if they’re even on IMDb do not have current rights holders listed. Hopefully Cohen Media Group, The Criterion Collection, Turner Classic Movies and Kanopy who have teamed up to release this documentary across multiple platforms in the US will also track down the rights holders and release many of the films referenced.
If you like this recommendations: That’s Entertainment, Hollywood, Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood