I previously made a presentation on Yvonne Ridley, here is some useful websites that you can read about some articles she has written:
Ms. Meyers first came onto the film scene in 1980 with the film Private Benjamin. Starring Goldie Hawn this film tells the story of a high-society woman (Hawn) who enlists in the Army after her husband dies on their wedding night. The movie earned Ms. Meyers an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and earned Ms. Hawn an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Ms. Meyers would go on to co-write and produce such movie hits as Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), and Father of the Bride Parts I and II (1991) and (1995) respectively.
Ms. Meyers made her directorial debut in 1998 with a remake of the classic comedy The Parent Trap. Starring Dennis Quaid and the late Natasha Richardson this movie was a huge hit and introduced the world to a young actress named Lindsay Lohan. Since 1998 Ms. Meyers has written and directed What Women Want starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, Something’s Gotta Give starring Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves, and The Holiday starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black.
What I most admire and enjoy about Ms. Meyers’s work is her ability to make “chick flicks” that lie outside the classic chick flick mold. In What Women Want Mel Gibson obtains the power to read women’s minds. Here the main character is a man, even though the entire concept of the movie is centered around women. Helen Hunt plays an advertising executive that we see struggle with the stereotypes of women in the corporate world. A witty and enjoyable film it showed Ms. Meyer’s ability to not only make a good movie but make a successful movie, as it was the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman.
In Something’s Gotta Give Ms. Meyers adds her charm again to an unconventional love story between Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I call it unconventional because even though it perhaps falls within the category of a chick flick, it is about two people of an older generation with a very modern twist. The film shows us that love is not only for young people, and that wittiness and charm are very desirable qualities in women of any age. Something’s Gotta Give earned Diane Keaton a Golden Globe Award and Jack Nicholson a Golden Globe nomination.
In 2006, Ms. Meyers was back again with The Holiday, another love story involving four main characters, two women and two men. While all the actors give wonderful performances, I remember being struck by the casting of Jack Black in the movie. He’s always been the goofy, funny guy and I couldn’t imagine him playing anything but that. I was pleasantly surprised by his tender performance opposite Kate Winslet. I later learned that Ms. Meyers wrote the screenplay for those four actors, meaning she had Mr. Black in her mind the entire time and therefore was confident he could play a role that was outside his normal zone. If it hasn’t already become apparent, I’m a huge fan of Ms. Meyers work and The Holiday continues to be one of my favorite movies.
All of Ms. Meyers’s movies have strong female characters, even What Women Want which has a male main character. The idea of gynocriticism can be applied to this movie as it opens up Mel Gibson’s character to “the interests and desires of women” (95). Although it’s a lighthearted and unrealistic comedy, there is still an underlying notion that women are silenced by men and that women are inferior to men. We see Helen Hunt’s character struggle with being a high-powered and driven woman in the advertising firm that she and Mel Gibson’s character work at. It is safe to say that all of Ms. Meyers characters are successful women and not bimbos who are simply looking to fall in love with Mr. Right. Diane Keaton’s character in Something’s Gotta Give is a successful playwright, and Cameron Diaz’s character in The Holiday is a successful movie trailer producer. The style of Ms. Meyers’s films is unmistakable, she imbues her stories with strong characters, witty banter and happy endings without being cliché and tacky. This style speaks to Ms. Meyers’s ability as an auteur to put a personal stamp on her films that makes them memorable and enjoyable to watch.
n as the Gullah or Geechee people. They are a community of African-Americans, around 250,000, and are descendents of slaves. In telling the story of the Gullah people, Dash is not only exposing a history that often remains untold, she also refutes the belief that African-Americans completely assimilated to the mainstream American culture. Daughters of the Dust uncovers a rich history of Gullah traditions, cuisines, and religion which reflect West African culture. The film also reflects her family history and the Gullah traditions that she witnessed and took part in as a child.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke 
In film, Taymor doesn't shy away from the challenge of transforming and translating classic stage stories for the screen. It is her training and expertise of the theater that helps her to visualize how best to accomplish the same story lines over a different medium. Taymor has translated stage works such as Oedipus Rex, The Tempest and Titus for the screen. Other endeavors in film which she is better known for include Frida and the Beatles musical Accross The Universe. As an autuer of film and theater Taymor has her own unique way of shaping and creating her vision for the story. In the article "Oh, girl: A Talk with Julie Taymor" in Subtitles to Cinema, Taymor explains her use of ideograph to create the focus of a scene. "The first thing I do when i'm creating, either for stage or for cinema, is to find the ideograph of the story. Which is; the one, simple expression that can tell everything." In the following number from Accross the Universe, Taymor says she used the ideographs of Uncle Sam and The Statue of Liberty to represent America's military operations abroad and the sacrifice made by service men.
Zana Briski was not always known for her work in film. She is best known for her work as a phtographer. In 1995 Zana Briski traveled to India and during her stay she was very much taken with the women that she encountered. It was then that she decided to document the rough lives that these women had to endured. She focused on the practices of Female Infanticide and won a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and a National Press Photographers Association Picture of the Year Award. In 1997 she went back to India where she decided to focus on Calcutta's Red Light District. She lived in the brothels for a couple of months. During this time she photographed many of the women and started to teach their kids photography. 
And that is when in 2001 she decided to pick up a film camera. The resulting outcome of this was the documentary Born Into Brothels which she co-directed with Ross Kauffman. This filmed the lives of many young children of both genders whose mothers are in the line and had broken homes. With these cameras the kids learn that they too have a point of view in the world and that they can do more than the lives they lead, and may one day have to join if nothing is done. In the film Zana works hard to explain to them why they like and dislike their photographs as well as trying to get them out of the brothels and into schools, so that they can pursue the dreams that they talk about. However she faces some problems with federal agencies when getting passports and other documents. She also has to convince some families that this is the best thing for their child, and the hardest part it seems was making the kids themselves see that this was the best for them, because all they knew was the lives they led and for some another life was a frightening thing. There were few success stories, but in those few its great to see how something like photography and the desire to photograph can change their lives.
In Bell Hooks article Making Movie Magic, her first paragraph talks about how the viewers defend the story line against her critiques; despite the viewers opinions, movies are not accurate depictions of reality, Hooks states. However, I do believe that Tina Fey has a specific way of highlighting reality in all of her work. Perhaps it's because as a comedian and a improvisational actress Fey uses everyday life experiences as her "muse". When I think of Fey's most honest work, I of course picture her skits on SNL - then, Mean Girls comes to mind. Although Mean Girls is a satirical interpretation of modern day high school relationships and cliques, there is so much truth to the story itself. Over exaggerated? Of course- but truthful. When I first saw Mean Girls, I felt relieved that I was not the only girl to have dealt with issues specific to the movie- but I also laughed. I believe that is Tina Fey's role as an auteur; her style is to take something that is serious and uncomfortable and lighten it to expose a truth.
Another example of her very honest yet satirical work; her impression of the 2008 Republican candidate, Sarah Palin. She (like the rest of the SNL cast) brought
light (and truth) to the elections by emphasizing the candidates personalities. Hooks also states that "film must be free from all imitations, of which the most dangerous is the imitation of life." I cannot not disagree more with that statement based on the fact that "movie magic" is about feeling something- if we don't feel anything because we aren't able to relate, what is the point of seeing a movie? I don't believe it's necessary to always have a happy ending but, to experience something that is real and honest is what we as movie-goers are looking for...isn't it?
Fey's career since leaving SNL in 2006 has been extremely successful. She has been involved in several movies, including Baby Mama, Ponyo, The Invention of Lying, as well as winning several awards for her hit sitcom 30 Rock. Fey was quoted saying
"When I started, improv had the biggest impact on my acting. I studied the usual acting methods at college – Stanislavsky and whatnot. But none of it really clicked for me. My problem with the traditional acting method was that I never understood what you were supposed to be thinking about when you're onstage. But at Second City, I learned that your focus should be entirely on your partner. You take what they're giving you and use it to build a scene. That opened it up for me. Suddenly it all made sense. It's about your partner. Not what you're going to say, not finding the perfect mannerisms or tics for your character, not what you're going to eat later. Improv helped to distract me from my usual stage bull**** and put my focus somewhere else so that I could stop acting. I guess that's what method acting is supposed to accomplish anyway. It distracts you so that your body and emotions can work freely. Improv is just a version of method acting that works for me."
After I read that quote, it helped me to understand her process more. She wants reality is reaction- also, as a comedian, she naturally sees things different which is clearly depicted within her works. .
As a woman, an aspiring actress and comedic writer I can't help but feel so inspired by her. She opened so many doors for woman as the first head writer on SNL and has proven time and time again that women really can make it in this man's world.
Gina Prince Bythewood's adaptation to the novel "The Secret Life of Bees's" by Sue Monk Kidd is a screenplay that takes place in the 1960's in the south where racism is still prevalent. Lily Allen a 14 year old girl who leaves home in search for redemption, healing and acceptance (Dakota Fanning) is taken in by the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo).
Bythewood's adaptation as director/writer/auteur goes beyond the stereotypes of the African American portrayal of black women in film. (Im sure Bell Hook's didn't stay up all night writing in a rage) Bythewood doesn't strive to portray an overly political message and instead focuses on creating a story that is deep, heartfelt and moving. The interplay between the maternal Queen Bee-August (Queen Latifah) and "worker bee" Fanning shows a mother figure-daughter relationship that was void in Allen's life. The story isn't about black women taking care of a white girl in the 1960's but is instead of the growth of people as individuals bound by tolerance and acceptance.
Because Bythewood writ and directed this film she had control of the way things were seen and how they were felt. The film opposes the typical examples of women in general. The Boatwright sisters manufacture and sell honey contained in bottles labeled with an image of a black virgin. Also in the film the house that the sisters lived in was pink. A pink home can symbolize the womb of which the protagonist is reborn. It also shows that women can live alone and take care of themselves; when in film have you seen a family that is run by women, without the portrayal of a man as head of household. Bythewood also chose to show some raw and graphic scenes about the harsh realities of the times. She included threats of lynching, a domestic violence scene, and a suicide. I think she chose to include these scenes not just because they showed how life was but also because she's a woman and shes proving to her audience (and critics perhaps) that just because she's a woman doesn't mean she's obliged to make "dainty" or "womanly" films. It goes to show that shes in control of what we see which correlates perfectly with the auteur theory. Bythewood's creative vision is expressed in the dialogue in which the movie is formatted.
"The Secret Life of Bee's" had tremendous feedback. Many women and men took the movie whether they read the book or not. The thing that attracted people to the film was "love". Even in saddening times love heals the soul and the heart. The audience was also satisfied that the characters weren't stereotyped because of the oppression. The movie was not a paradigm of the civil rights era and the black women being a victim of it. The Boatwright sisters triumph in dealing with daily adversities helped to perpetuate the human aspect of the film. Even with the constant threat of violence, these women carried on with their lives, worked their jobs, and raised their children. On the flip-side some critics and people have labeled this movie a waste of time. Their criticisms revolve around the acting prowess of Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys. They felt that the role was to large for them and that they were "over-emoting" to say the least. Some people also complained that puns relating to bee's and honey were dry.
I think that the critics were just uncomfortable that they weren't seeing the norm. This film fell into the "not A" category in critics eyes, because the central characters were female and black. Also we have to look at the critics themselves because they fall into the "A" category; male and white. No wonder they felt uncomfortable while watching this movie. Critic's often detract from the viewing experience by over analyzing instead of watching like a true regular movie goer would. They miss the empathy and emotion of the film and instead focus on the technical aspects of film. Nonetheless this film directed and executively produced by two black women is a step in and of itself. Released in 2008 this is not just women in film, but women IN film.
http://www.sistersincinema.com/filmmakers/index.html (Link to AA female directors)
Troy Beyer began her career in media at the tender age of four in a role on the popular children’s television show Sesame Street which just celebrated its 40th birthday on November 10th 2009. She then went on to study acting and psychobiology at City University of New York's School for the Arts. Troy’s studies paid off as she continued to wear one of her several “media hats”; acting in several roles like her regular part on the ABC prime-time Soap Opera Dynasty in 1986, as Jackie Deveraux, the daughter of Diahann Carroll's character Dominique Deveraux. She also has several movie roles under her belt; Disorderlies (1987), Weekend at Bernie's II, (1993), Eddie (1996) starring Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Altman’s The Gingerbread Man (1998) starring Kenneth Branagh and Robert Downey Jr.and John Q (2002) starring Denzel Washington. She even earned the ShoWest's Newcomer of the Year Award for her leading role in the feature Rooftops (1989). 
Not only did Troy Beyer explore acting but she also put her writing skills to use, she wrote the movie B.A.P.S starring Halle Berry of which began her interest in directing since she was unhappy with how her script had been changed during the filming process. Inspired by B.A.P.S, her directing career began with her writing and directing the screen play
