Chock-full of fascinating photographs and colorful directives, GIRL DIRECTOR is an instruction manual, history lesson, scrapbook, and celebration of women and film rolled into one. Director and cinephile Andrea Richards all but hands the reader a camera as she raucously paves the way for young women to make their own films. Sharing tales of the coolest femme filmmakers from history and recounting advice from the best women directors now in the business, Richards explains step by step how anyone can make a film using a standard video camera. Covering such topics as screenwriting, storyboards, set design, editing, distribution, Claymation, music videos, film festivals, and the digital revolution, GIRL DIRECTOR is a must-have handbook for the aspiring auteur of any age.A guide to do-it-yourself filmmaking from a female perspective, featuring accessible expert advice and a hip history of women in film.A must-have reference (and an excellent gift) for tweens, teens, adults, or anyone interested in making movies.Includes specifics on the who, what, where, and how of making low-budget videos and films.

Quart here extends her previous writings on what she terms `the best narrative cinema: women-centered cinema' and feminist filmmaking. Quart addresses American, Western European, and Eastern European directors, closing with Third World examples. Arguing that independent filmmaking best serves the quest for a woman's voice and vision, Quart chronicles the survival of women directors. She traces a heritage of women directors inside the Hollywood system and beyond. . . . This excellent study . . . [is] recommended for undergraduates in film and women's studies. Choice The current level of activity among women directors is unequalled in the history of feature films. This unprecedented study examines major contemporary women directors of narrative feature film--their themes, their art, and the circumstances under which they work. Quart contends that women are creating a film language and film sensibility that are unique, strong, and--until now--unexplored. Her discussion centers on the ties between women directors, rather than on a survey of women who direct films. Beginning with the antecedents to today's burgeoning number of women directors, the study progresses to American women directors. Subsequent chapters focus on womenn directors in Western Europe and Eastern Europe, with some attention as well to Asia and Latin America.

This unique book will help directors improve their work

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. The Dictionary covers the careers of nearly 200 women filmmakers, giving vital statistics where available, listings of films directed by these women, and selected bibliographies for further reading. This is a one-volume, one-stop resource, a comprehensive, up-to-date guide that is absolutely essential for any course offering an overview or survey of women's cinema. It offers not only all available statistics, but critical evaluations of the filmmakers' work as well. In order to keep the length manageable, this volume focuses on women who direct fictional narrative films, with occasional forays into the area of the documentary and is limited to film production rather than video production.

Provides wisdom and quotes on the everyday trials and struggles young women women face in the modern world, offering them tips for dealing with relationships, sex, employment, friends, family, and more.

Never before has so much popular culture been produced about what it means to be a girl in today's society. From the first appearance of Nancy Drew in 1930, to Seventeen magazine in 1944 to the emergence of Bratz dolls in 2001, girl culture has been increasingly linked to popular culture and an escalating of commodities directed towards girls of all ages. Editors Claudia A. Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh investigate the increasingly complex relationships, struggles, obsessions, and idols of American tween and teen girls who are growing up faster today than ever before. From pre-school to high school and beyond, Girl Culture tackles numerous hot-button issues, including the recent barrage of advertising geared toward very young girls emphasizing sexuality and extreme thinness. Nothing is off-limits: body image, peer pressure, cliques, gangs, and plastic surgery are among the over 250 in-depth entries highlighted. Comprehensive in its coverage of the twenty and twenty-first century trendsetters, fashion, literature, film, in-group rituals and hot-button issues that shape—and are shaped by—girl culture, this two-volume resource offers a wealth of information to help students, educators, and interested readers better understand the ongoing interplay between girls and mainstream culture.