Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Ashly Covington
Amy Adrion surveys the current state of gender bias in Hollywood filmmaking.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
Sundance Program Description:
It’s 2018 – the necessity of discussions surrounding women filmmakers and Hollywood’s gender bias should have diminished by now. But within the first few moments of HALF THE PICTURE, it is abundantly clear that discrimination against women filmmakers remains a highly relevant story. This is a fundamental civil rights issue: women in the industry are not offered equal opportunities as compared to their male counterparts.
Gender-parity experts and academics discuss Hollywood’s dismal employment practices, and these conversations are woven between interviews with a wealth of prominent women directors (including Kasi Lemmons, Catherine Hardwicke, Penelope Spheeris, Ava DuVernay, and many others), telling their stories of breaking into a male-centered business. They confirm the double standards that still exist while eloquently outlining their career paths, their struggles, and their hopes for the future. First-time director Amy Adrion smartly deals with the inherent sexism in the industry and considers many of the stereotypes and biases that have prevented women from rising through the ranks. Amid the current political climate and recent cascade of sexual harassment allegations, the time to listen and act is now.
Some Background:
Director/Producer:
This is Adrion’s feature directorial debut. She is a past recipient of a DGA Student Film Award, and was a Women In Film/Sundance Institute fellow.
Producer:
Harris is SVP of development at Gunpowder & Sky. He was previously at MTV(other), where he produced Sundance narrative short MYRNA THE MONSTER (2015).
Editor:
This is Hackett’s first Sundance credit.
Why You Should Watch:
In a time of increasing visibility and candor about the unfair treatment of women in society, Adrion assembles an impressive slate of participants to provide valuable, insider insight about the continuing challenges to achieving gender parity in the old boy’s club of Hollywood.
For Sundance screening dates and times, click the film title in the first paragraph.
what (not) to doc 