The monthly list at The Film Experience this time around was a lot of fun to think about, but somewhat depressing in execution: the women most in need of an honorary Oscar. Depressing not because the list isn’t a sold consensus – it very much is – but because merely working on the longlist made it unpleasantly clear that there aren’t nearly as many below-the-line women given the opportunity to build themselves an impressive career. The top 11 is dominated by actresses not because they’re the most visible and we’re lazy, but because there are so few other candidates.
And part of that was the list’s eligibility rules (editor Sarah Flack and cinematographer Ellen Kuras are, unfortunately, under 55 years old, while editors Dede Allen and Sally Menke both died in 2010, but all four were people I’d have dearly loved to include), but still, it’s as solid a wake-up call as you could need: there need to be more women in the movie industry.
Here, then, is my top 10
1. Liv Ullmann (actress, director, writer) [#1 on the TFE list]
2. Agnès Varda (director, writer) [on the TFE list]
3. Kathleen Kennedy (producer) [on the TFE list]
4. Gena Rowlands (actress) [on the TFE list]
5. Claire Denis (director, writer)
6. Doris Day (actress) [on the TFE list]
7. Setsuko Hara (actress)
8. Catherine Deneuve (actress) [on the TFE list]
9. Chantal Akerman (director, writer)
10. Elaine May (writer, director, actress)