Candidates for the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards were announced this AM & I’m still stunned.
In the Best Director category: No women directors.
In the Best Feature category: No films with women in lead roles.
In the Best Screenplay category: No women screenwriters.
In the Best International Film category: No women filmmakers.
And the Robert Altman honoree (Best Cast): Margin Call a film in which two women have minor supporting roles & 90% of the dialogue is guys talking to guys.
The only break in the testosterone flow: recognition for Brit Marling as the co-writer of Another Earth (in the Best First Screenplay category). Otherwise, a complete shut-out: no women need apply!
As of today, I’ve seen about 2/3rds of the films listed, & I just can’t believe my eyes. Fabulous films like Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (with Michelle Williams), Lynn Ramsay’s We Need to Talk about Kevin (with Tilda Swinton) & Larysa Kondracki’s The Whistleblower (with Rachel Weisz) were completely overlooked. No nominations, even for these terrific lead performances!
Instead, in the Best Feature category, we get Beginners (which had some good moments) & Drive (which was total trash).
The Spirit Awards typically offer some consolation in the award season madness & sometimes even help push “small” female-focused films like Frozen River (written & directed by Courtney Hunt), Little Miss Sunshine (co-directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris) & Winter’s Bone (directed & co-written by Debra Granik) into Oscar contention… but not this year 🙁
< insert BIG SIGH here >
