The value of film school in the success of female filmmakers in Australia

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of film schools and government funding initiatives on the gender imbalance between male and female directors in the Australian film industry in the years 1970–2015. It traces the career trajectories of some of the first women graduates of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, such as Gillian Armstrong, Jane Campion and Jocelyn Moorhouse, who negotiated the pathways of government film financing to the commercial film industry. The exploration notes that a change in film school curricula, the rise of new film programmes within public universities, and reduced government funding impacted on the profile of female filmmakers in Australia during the 1990s to early 2000s. However, a bias towards male directors on bigger budget films and the perennial challenge of balancing a career and motherhood continue to prevail in the Australian film industry. The researcher looks at possible avenues of redress, calling on the education sector, the film industry and film bodies to provide support for women directors traversing the complex social capital required to succeed in the commercial film industry.