Synopses & Reviews
Until now, there hasn't been one single-volume authoritative reference work on the history of women in film, highlighting nearly every woman filmmaker from the dawn of cinema including Alice Guy (France, 1896), Chantal Akerman (Belgium), Penny Marshall (U.S.), and Sally Potter (U.K.). Every effort has been made to include every kind of woman filmmaker: commercial and mainstream, avant-garde, and minority, and to give a complete cross-section of the work of these remarkable women. Scholars and students of film, popular culture, Women's Studies, and International Studies, as well as film buffs will learn much from this work.
Review
Foster describes this excellent reference book as 'the first of its kind, not a study of one aspect of women as filmmakers, but as a dictionary of women filmmakers, working in film to create new feminist visions of beauty and transcendent power'...The alphabetically arranged entries include women from 37 countries, from 1896 to 1910 (Gene Gaunteir and Alice Guy) to the present. For each director Foster provides a brief biography, discussion of important films, brief critical comments, and a selected filmography and bibliography. The clearly written, intelligent comments lean toward feminist interpretations of many of the films...This should be an indispensable volume for film and feminist studies collections.Choice
Review
This important work compiles a significant amount of otherwise difficult-to-find information on women filmmakers working in all countries and all contexts, whether mainstream, independent, or experimental/avant-garde. The introduction, which gives generous consideration to a wide range of scholarly contributions, is an excellent synthesis of writing in English on women directors. Public and academic libraries with any interest in film will want to acquire....[W]ill appeal to all types of readers.Library Journal
Review
This is one of the most complete volumes on the topic, covering the careers of almost 200 women filmmakers, commercial and avant-garde, who created fictional narrative work (rather than documentaries). The author includes directors from around the world but admits that Western filmmakers are more often documented. She makes a serious effort to include many minority directors...A wide-ranging, up-to-date survey that should be considered by public and academic libraries.Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
Review
For scholars, students, and film enthusiasts, this work documents the important but often-overlooked contributions of women filmakers from around the world and throughout film history. Reclaiming the legacy of many early female filmmakers, the book offers a worthy contribution to women's and cinema's history. ...This well written resource is essential for scholars and students of film, popular culture, women's studies, and international studies. It will also appeal to film buffs.ARBA
Synopsis
Features the history and work of the most important women in the world of fictional narrative filmmaking--authoritative, historical, international.
About the Author
GWENDOLYN AUDREY FOSTER is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Dictionary
Selected Bibliography
Index