Women in Film: Reckoning with Misogyny

Recent revelations about sexual harassment and abuse in the movie industry have brought issues around the treatment of women in the business to the forefront—again. None of this is new, least of all to those who have studied and/or worked in Hollywood. For this panel, the editors of Film Comment magazine have brought together a group of women who represent many facets of the industry—criticism, programming, filmmaking—to talk about these persistent and ongoing problems. Are the firings of prominent men just “optics,” or will it lead to serious changes in the media and allow women to get their voices heard? And how does this all tie in to the history of female representation on film?

Our panelists include critic Molly Haskell, author of From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies and Holding My Own in No Man’s Land: Women and Men and Films and Feminists;  Amy Taubin, contributing editor to Film Comment and Artforum; Aliza Ma, head programmer at New York’s Metrograph theater; and critic Monica Castillo of the New York Times.

For over 50 years, Film Comment has featured in-depth reviews and critical analysis of mainstream, art-house & avant-garde filmmaking from around the world.