Women Make Film

A few years ago, I discovered a documentary filmmaker named Mark Cousins, whose first film at TIFF, "The Story of Film", made a case that many of the innovations we have grown to recognize in film occurred outside the Hollywood studio system. His approach was engaging and that film was one of the highlights of that year.

"Women Make Film" is a timely appreciation of the role that women directors have played in the development of cinema. It shows the same wealth of content of his earlier film but, rather than use a chronological approach, he structures the discussions around elements of film like opening sequences, establishing characters and relationships, camera approaches and other ideas. The intent is for the final product to run about 16 hours in total — we were able to see the first four hours.

Each idea is illustrated through the use of a plethora of film clips, some from well-known films and directors but most from the international arena. It was tied together through the narration of Tilda Swindon (later sections will use other narrators) and linking sequences of journeys (the subtitle for the film calls it a "new road movie").

The four hours flew by and I saw a few clips that suggest some avenues for future viewing. It was great.