Women in film made history in 2019. So why weren’t they recognized?

2019 was a banner year for women in the entertainment industry. In fact, according to a recent study by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, in 2019, 45% of studio features had female protagonists, as did 55% of indie movies. This marked an increase from 2018 when women were over twice as likely to appear in independent films compared to studio features. 

That said, the pervasive stereotypes that plague female characters writ large don’t seem to have improved much. According to the same study, 46% of female characters in films in 2019 had a known marital status compared to just 34% of male characters, and only 61% of female characters had an identifiable job compared to 73% of male characters. What’s more, only 34% of all speaking roles were female and female characters in a “major role,” which is defined by Dr. Lauzen as being “instrumental to the action of the story,” composed 37% of all roles in 2019.  

Unsurprisingly, the study found that the inclusion of a female writer and/or director made a difference in terms of a film’s on-screen female representation. In movies that featured at least one female director and/or writer, 58% of the leads were females, compared to just 30% in movies that were helmed by solely male directors and/or writers. As far as blockbusters are concerned, female characters comprised 40% of the top-grossing films, a notable increase from 31% in 2018. As Dr. Lauzen put it in a statement, “We’re seeing a wider variety of stories being told from a female perspective.” 

Female filmmakers’ inability to break the “celluloid ceiling,” as Dr. Lauzen calls it, appears to have more to do with a lack of opportunity and recognition of women in the industry than women’s ability or availability. Plenty of female directors have proven their talent and marketability in 2019 alone. Directors Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), and Lulu Wang (The Farewell) garnered sweeping critical acclaim for their projects, while Anna Boden (Captain Marvel) and Jennifer Lee (Frozen II) co-directed movies that grossed over one billion dollars. But according to a study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, in 2019, just 10.6% of the 100 highest-grossing films were headed by women; Women directed more of the top-grossing movies this past year than ever before in history.

Female filmmakers continue to be under-recognized as well. In 92 years of the Academy Awards, only five women have ever been nominated for Best Director, and only one has ever won: Kathryn Bigelow in 2009. The academy’s failure extends beyond the direction category, too. Only sixteen women have won screenwriting Oscars, three women have won for Best Score, and no woman has ever won for Best Cinematography. This year, the Oscars failed to nominate any women in the Best Director category, as did the Golden Globes. As fickle as it may seem, awards recognition is to directors’ value in the industry and, therefore, the opportunities they’re offered. It’s hard for women in film to get the reverence they deserve when the most influential voting body in film continues to ignore their work.

What’s more, of the relatively few women given the opportunity to write, direct, and star in projects, most are white. In the years spanning 2007-2019, statistics show that just 13 women of color or underrepresented racial groups directed any of the top 1300 movies in that time span. That averages out to women of color getting less than 1% of all directing jobs over nearly 13 years. Comparatively, white male directors helmed 82.5% of all directing jobs in that same time frame. That means the ratio of white men directing movies to women from underrepresented backgrounds was 92 to 1. In those 13 years, no distribution company produced more than four projects directed by women from underrepresented backgrounds. As beneficial as 2019 was for female-led films, therefore, it’s hard to consider the opportunities for female creatives as improved when access and opportunity aren’t ubiquitous for female talent across all races and ethnicities. 

Looking ahead to 2020, however, it seems the tide may continue to shift. Highly anticipated films like “Mulan,” “Birds of Prey,” “Black Widow,” “Wonder Woman 1984,” and “Eternals,” will all be directed by women, three of whom are women of color. All of these films will star women, and of the mentioned films, only “Eternals” doesn’t feature a female writer. As audience members, we can make the worth of these female filmmakers and female-centric stories known at the box office — by showing up to the movies and supporting them. As for the industry arbiters, those in a position to recognize and award these stories and creators need to do so as not to further obscure the breadth of female talent in the industry.