SAN DIEGO — I should have compiled this list during March for Women’s History Month, but better late than never. I’ve been doing research for the past 2 years on American Jewish women directors and wanted to share some of the films by the pioneers that you can stream at home. Although a considerable number of women directed films during the silent era, those numbers dwindled to two, Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino, between 1930 and 1960. The decline of the studio system and the political and social movements of the 60s opened up opportunities for more women directors in the next decade. Jewish women were disproportionately represented in their ranks.
Maya Deren (1917-1961): Deren is often called the mother of experimental film. Meshes in the Afternoon (1943)
Shirley Clarke, nee Brimberg, (1919-1997): Clarke was the first Jewish woman director to win an Oscar for her documentary Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World (1963). Her feature films The Connection (1961) and The Cool World (1964) employed a cinema vérité style. Here’s a brief retrospective of her career.
Stephanie Rothman (1936-present): Rothman directed exploitation films produced by Roger Corman. Feminist film critics now recognize her films for featuring strong women leads. The Velvet Vampire (1971).
Elaine May (1932-present). Already respected for her comedic and writing talent, May became the first woman director hired by a major studio in the 1970s. Although feminist critics initially criticized her portrayal of women, contemporary scholars have challenged this assessment. A New Leaf (1971 ( Amazon); The Heartbreak Kid (1972); Mikey and Nicky (1976): Hear Peter Falk recite the Kaddish. Google Play, Tubi, and YouTube. Ishtar (1987) The movie that ended her directing career until recently. Amazon, Vudu.
Joan Micklin Silver (1935-present). She deserves her title as the mother of feminist Jewish film. Hester Street and Crossing Delancey are her best known movies, but she also has made television and cable films about Jewish topics or featuring notable Jewish characters. Hester Street (1975): Fandor on Amazon. Between the Lines (1977); Crossing Delancey (1988): Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube. A Private Matter (1992); In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997).
Claudia Weill (1947-present): Like Micklin Silver, Weill went from an impressive debut independent film to making studio movies and directing television programs. Girlfriends (1978): Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu; It’s My Turn (1980) Amazon, iTunes, Vudu; A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story (1992).
Lee Grant, nee Lyova Haskell Rosenthal (ca 1925-present): Since she was a renowned actress, Lee Grant was invited to participate in the first Directing Workshop for Women run by the American Film Institute in 1975. Her first feature film was an adaptation of Tillie Olsen’s Tell Me a Riddle. She has continued to be prolific documentarian and TV filmmaker. Tell Me a Riddle (1980): Amazon, Google Play, YouTube. A Matter of Sex (1984): Amazon, DirecTV, Epix. What Sex Am I? (1985), While only a clip is available online, this remarkable documentary is one of the first about transsexuals.
Barbara Streisand (1942-present). As a celebrated singer, actress, and subsequently owner of her own production company, Streisand exercised a good deal of control over her movies by the 70s. She embarked on directing movies in the 80s Yentl (1982): Amazon, Google Play, YouTube. The Prince of Tides (1991): Amazon, Crackle, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube. The Mirror has Two Faces (1996): Amazon, Crackle, Google Play, YouTube.
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Laurie Baron, Ph.D, is professor emeritus of European History at San Diego State University; a humor columnist (in his own name and in that of his dog Elona), and is an authority on Jewish-themed movies, particularly those dealing with the Holocaust. To see an archive of his stories, please click on his byline at the top of this page. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com
Hi Laurie, I was excited to see that your piece in SDJW on Women Filmmakers featured Lee Grant. I’m just writing to say that “What Sex Am I?” is in fact available (and currently discounted) at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/whatsexami, which I think is a link in the trailer you linked too.
But more than that, you have prescient timing as we’re about to re-release the bulk of Grant’s documentary work first (starting this Friday) to the Virtual Theatres that have begun popping up (and their brick and mortar counterparts whenever they reopen) and then streaming services. She just had a 13 film retrospective (both acting and directing) at New York’s Film Forum earlier in the year that featured a number of her docs including “What Sex Am I?”
Thanks so much for thinking of her (and so many of the great directors of that generation), we’ve gotta keep the work alive.
Lio Wottring
Hope Runs High Distribution
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