The Female Gaze in Documentary Film: An International Perspective - Paperback

by Lisa French (Author)

The Female Gaze in Documentary Film - an International Perspective makes a timely contribution to the recent rise in interest in the status, presence, achievements and issues for women in contemporary screen industries. It examines the works, contributions and participation of female documentary directors globally. The central preoccupation of the book is to consider what might constitute a 'female gaze', an inquiry that has had a long history in filmmaking, film theory and women's art. It fills a gap in the literature which to date has not substantially examined the work of female documentary directors. Moreover, research on sex, gender and the gaze has infrequently been the subject of scholarship on documentary film, particularly in comparison to narrative film or television drama. A distinctive feature of the book is that it is based on interviews with significant female documentarians from Europe, Asia and North America.

Back Jacket

The Female Gaze in Documentary Film - an International Perspective makes a timely contribution to the significant rise in interest in recent times in the status, presence, achievements and issues for women in contemporary screen industries. It examines the works, contributions and participation of female documentary directors globally. The central preoccupation of the book is to consider what might constitute a 'female gaze', an inquiry that has had a long history in filmmaking, film theory and women's art. It fills a gap in the literature which to date has not substantially examined the work of female documentary directors. Moreover, research on sex, gender and the gaze has been relatively infrequently the subject of scholarship on documentary film, particularly in comparison to narrative film or television drama. A distinctive feature of the book is that it is based on interviews with significant female documentarians from Europe, Asia and North America.

"This book will make a fabulous contribution to the field. It will have currency amongst a burgeoning generation of scholars, including undergraduates and postgraduates who are interested in the questions of aesthetics, politics and mechanics of female documentary filmmaking. It will also find an audience with scholars interested in the growing field of film festival studies. It draws on a set of interviews conducted and facilitated at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival and attends to the function of the female gaze and its attendant qualities in relation to several other festivals. It will be a "go-to" resource in film studies."

- Deane Williams, Monash University, Australia

Author Biography

Lisa French is Dean of RMIT University's School of Media and Communication and Professor of Screen and Media. She has published extensively on women in film, produced documentaries, is co-chair of a UNESCO 19 global university research network on media, gender and ICTs, and is a member of Screen Australia's Gender Matters Taskforce.