As March arrives, so does another Academy Awards season. Yet, the dawn of 2024 brings with it a contentious debate, highlighting the prevailing dominance of males in the "best director" category. But this narrative is as old as time itself, in 96 years of Academy Awards, only three women won it, they are Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion with 8 nominees. Though, it should have been 10 with "Slumdog Millionaire"(2009) and "City of God"(2004), both had female directors who were omitted in the awards. Let's delve into herstories from the very beginning.
In the early days of cinema, films lacked the profound historical and cultural significance they hold today; instead, their primary allure lay in their commercial appeal. Moreover, these early films were crafted from nitrate, a highly flammable material, resulting in significant losses over time.
During the silent era, not only did the silver screen remain silent, but so too did the contributions of women behind the camera. Despite their invaluable role in shaping the evolution of cinematic language and other roles. Many women were compelled to use male pseudonyms to garner recognition or sometimes not signed. Many of their contributions were erased in fire incidents.
Since 1970s, there has been a transnational rediscovery through studies revealing numbers of women in varied roles in the big five Hollywood studios between 1910 and 1920. However, with the studio system, when Hollywood studios control all aspects of their film productions, the moment where movies started to be a lucrative business and industrialize, women lost this space. Not only in Hollywood, but this phenomenon was also worldwide, from one corner to another, from Russia to Mexico. Their rights were a sliver of the light in the horizon.
Thanks to this initiative, names like Alice-Guy-Blaché and Lois Weber are becoming familiar. Not only them, but also Adriana and Dolores Ehlers, Emilia Saleny, Maria Celestini, Angelica Garcia de Garcia Mansila, Rosa Cono de Vera, Rosario Rodriguez de la Sena, Mimi Derba, Sequeyro, Germaine Dulac, and Elvira Notari, among many others.
The spotlight tonight goes to Cleo de Verberena (Jacyra Martins da Silveira). She was the first woman to recognize herself and to be recognized as a film director in Brazil. She moved from a small city in the state of São Paulo to the capital after the death of her father, to live with some of her siblings who already lived there. The 1920s in Brazil were a time of transition. Its economy relied on coffee, which was the country's main export product and a significant source of revenue. It even influenced Brazilian politics and society. This period known as the 'Coffee with Milk Republic,' referring to the political influence exerted by the coffee elites of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Not only that, but also a rising elite class that benefited from industrialization and the epicentre of immigrants, especially Italians, former slaves, and their descendants.
Downtown São Paulo bustled with movie theatres, shops selling musical instruments, bookstores, theatres, high-end fashion studios, and confectioneries. Exclusive neighbourhoods emerged to accommodate the affluent, while automobiles mingled with electric trams on the streets. The cityscape transformed with the complete installation of electricity in 1930, making the streets safer. One of Cleo’s pastimes was the cinema, which also sparked her curiosity to know the 'brain' behind the cameras.
In this concrete jungle is where Cleo finds her husband, and they had one child. Her husband went to the capital to study medicine. By the time they met, he had given up his ambition and was trying unsuccessfully to become a businessman. The couple shared a common passion for cinema. He came from an important family in a small town, and after the death of a relative, he inherited a great amount of money. The couple decided to use this inheritance to start filmmaking.
Together, they opened EPICA-FILM, a production company headquartered in a prestigious building in Praça da Sé. Additionally, they rented a residence in the upscale neighbourhood of Santa Cecília, where they constructed a small studio in the rear and outfitted it with equipment imported from France for their enterprise. They also adopted stage names based on Hollywood stars. Their debut was in 1931 with “O Mistério do Dominó Preto,” with her in the leading role as well. However, it resulted in more of a financial loss than a profit. The distribution of national films was difficult, as exhibitors often gave preference to titles that generated profit, such as foreign films. The couple even moved to Rio de Janeiro; at the time it was the capital to distribute the film.
In 1935, Cleo became a widow prematurely. In the 1940s, she remarried a Chilean diplomat with whom she lived in Rio de Janeiro, England, and Chile. Her daughter-in-law said that Cleo did not talk about her past in film. Verbera died in São Paulo at the age of 68.
Her story remains relatively unknown in Brazilian culture, much like many others mentioned earlier at their respective hometowns. However, these female directors made significant contributions to filmmaking. Notari influenced none other than the prestigious Italian neorealism movement. Together, these pioneering female directors paved the way for a generation of female filmmakers. In the present day, women from diverse backgrounds still experience the consequences of this exclusion, but their stories have been recovered and shared.
Last but not least, the Academy Awards are not the only ones with poor representation; the Golden Globes, for instance, have only honoured nine female directors. It's worth mentioning that there are many other prestigious movie awards and festivals that do value female directors. Like the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 24th with Juliana Rojas winning the best director category.
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