Women and nonbinary filmmakers still face considerable obstacles for when attempting to break the glass ceiling of storytelling on the big screen.
Why is this the case? Often, the first challenges for a woman hoping to make it as a filmmaker are financial. Even today, in 2023, only a few women can work full-time as nonfiction filmmakers. It’s common for nonfiction filmmakers, male or female, to bootstrap their first and second films, dipping into personal savings and securing funding through friends and family. Not surprisingly, not as many women have this financial freedom.
For opportunities behind the camera, women and nonbinary people are passed over as editors, composers, cinematographers and writers. The hiring landscape in male-directed films is abysmal. The annual, which has annually tracked women’s employment on the 250 top-grossing films for the past 25 years, reports that in 2022, women account for just 19 percent of editors, 6 percent of composers, 4 percent of cinematographers and 12 percent of writers.
So how do we address this historic imbalance? There are no quick answers, of course. Still, the work to disrupt the white male-dominated documentary film landscape starts with addressing economic injustice, specifically helping women and nonbinary filmmakers continue to navigate barriers when having their projects funded.
That doesn’t always mean funding for a new production assistant. For some women, that may mean access to childcare or the freedom to quit a second job. On the other hand, it may mean a critical introduction to a mentor or a fellow filmmaker in a related field.
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