Are womens’ voices in film more powerful than 60 years ago?

Abstract

As a 50-something British actress and screenwriter living in Los Angeles, I’ve seen both the glitter and the grime of Hollywood. My first job when I washed up on the shores of this movie capital eight years ago garnered me my own trailer at Paramount Studios and a Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) card and, although it has not been exactly smooth sailing since, I believe that there are more opportunities for women in film than ever before. In fact, looking at this year’s crop of awards season contenders, it would be hard to deny that women in film are in a better position than they have ever been. Front runners included Blue Jasmine (a female-driven drama starring Cate Blanchett); Gravity (in which Sandra Bullock shared equal billing with George Clooney); August; Osage County (with strong roles for Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts); American Hustle (gritty characters for Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence); Saving Mr Banks (Emma Thompson as Mary Poppins creator PL Travers taking on the Disney machine); and Philomena (starring Judi Dench as a mother looking for her stolen child).