WOMEN BEHIND THE SCREEN: GENDER & LABOUR IN FILM - 2020/1

Module Overview

Over the past 90 years, only one woman has won the Oscar for best director and only 4 more have been nominated. Hollywood’s marginalisation of women’s authorial agency reflects a global pattern of women being shut out of the top creative jobs of director and screenwriter. Instead, women who work in film are more often found in roles that tend not to be recognised as creatively significant. Why is it that women have faced such barriers to entry and success in the world of film? Why are the roles that women typically undertake considered less important or valuable to a film’s success? Are women’s films less well-regarded critically and by audiences? Has this changed over time?

This module explores the relationship between gender and labour in film by looking at the types of roles women have played in filmmaking. That is, instead of thinking about how women are represented on screen via the characters they play, we will consider the part they play behind the camera in getting films, of all types, made. In doing this, we will be looking at, and questioning, perceptions of the types of roles women can, should and do undertake in filmmaking, both currently and in the past. We will consider the work of women who have risen to positions of prominence as writers, directors and producers in the mainstream global film industries as well as looking at the opportunities afforded to women in other arenas, such as independent and experimental film. Just as importantly, we will think about women’s ‘invisible’ labour in filmmaking, be that through low-valued, gendered jobs (such as make-up artists and secretaries) or through amateur and non-professional filmmaking activities.

As a whole, the module will question whether, and if so how, women’s creative power and agency in film has been marginalised, and the ways women have sought to overcome this.

This module is open to all students, whether or not you have previously taken any film studies modules.

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

HONESS ROE Bella (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 25

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

none

Module content

Indicative content:
• Early female film pioneers
• Women in the Classical Hollywood era
• 1970s and women in the global new waves
• Women filmmakers and film genre
• Women outside Hollywood: independent and experimental filmmakers
• Female filmmaking collectives
• Invisible labour: women below the line
• Women and amateur and non-professional filmmaking
• Feminist film theory, representation and labour
• Gender and film historiography
• Post-#MeToo: what next for women in film?

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

n/a

Assessment Strategy

Assessment Strategy
The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of women’s contribution to film, be it individual or collective, within broader contexts such as history, film history and film theory. It is also designed to allow students to explore and execute alternative methods of presenting their research and students have three options for their final assessment – a written essay, a podcast or a video essay.


Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

 Weekly participation (during teaching weeks)

 3000-word essay or 20-minute podcast + 500-word critical commentary or 15-minute video essay + 500-word critical commentary


Formative assessment and feedback

 Essay/ podcast/ video essay outline feedback
 Seminar workshops introducing alternative assessment options (podcasts and video essays)
 In-class participation in verbal analysis of films and readings

Module aims

•  To look at the different ways in which women have contributed to filmmaking across history and around the world
•  To examine women’s contribution to film in different contexts, such as mainstream film industry, independent film and amateur filmmaking
•  To critically investigate the types of roles women undertake in filmmaking, including and beyond the high-profile creative roles
•  To assess how we assign value, creative or otherwise, to the roles women undertake in filmmaking
•  To consider how film theories and concepts, such as feminist film theory and historiography, can help us explore gender, labour and film
•  To provide the opportunity for students to explore alternative modes of assessment
  

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Methods of Teaching / Learning
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:
• Give students the opportunity to explore women’s contribution to film in a variety of contexts such as mainstream filmmaking, independent film and amateur filmmaking, as well as explore the variety of roles women have undertaken in film production across history and around the world.
• Expose student to a variety of work by women filmmakers, via screenings and discussions of readings
• Develop students’ skills in critical reading (of literature and films)
• Provide preliminary guidance on alternative modes of assessment

The learning and teaching methods include:

 Seminars, film screenings and workshops

 Reading using lecturer’s guidance

 Researching and preparing final assessments

 Participating in discussion of films and readings

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELI3060

Other information

This module has a capped number and may not be available to ERASMUS and other international exchange students. Please check with the International Engagement Office email: ieo.incoming@surrey.ac.uk

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.