Friday, March 01, 2013

The Bluestocking Film Series



In light of the recent Oscar Ceremony and the short number of women behind the camera walking away with statues and the total sexist feel of the entire night, I believe this is an appropriate time to talk about The Bluestocking Film Series and The Bechdel Test.

Are you familiar with the Bechdel Test? No? Well, here is a definition:

The Bechdel test is used to identify gender bias in fiction. Commentators have noted that a great proportion of contemporary works fail to pass this threshold of representing women.

The three simple rules are:
1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man



 Still from Gitgo Productions’ Mom is Dead and I’m Broke
  
Sounds simple enough, right? But I have to confess even I have made movies that wouldn’t pass this test.
  
That's one of the reasons we need to support great grassroots film festivals like The Bluestocking Film Series. Their mission is to encourage and promote production by women filmmakers of narrative films that feature strong, complex women characters in leading and supporting roles. As part of that mission, one of our main criteria - and what makes us unique - is that submissions must not only be directed by a woman but must also "pass" The Bechdel Test.


Submit via Withoutabox


Twitter - @bluestckngfilm

Let’s make sure we support our fellow female filmmakers and let’s get out there and make some films keeping the Bechdel Test in mind.

And as a bonus, here's a list of 10 famous films that failed the test.

*Do you have a helpful resource you’d like to promote? Get in touch with me and I'll write about it. Contact me.



1 comment:

  1. I'm thinking of making the test the basis for Broad Humor's Legacy Shorts this year, especially since the origin of the "test" was a comedy routine.

    ReplyDelete