Noteworthy Francophone Women Directors

A Sequel

By (author) Ruth A. Hottell, Janis L. Pallister

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 September 2011

Length of book:

236 pages

Publisher

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

ISBN-13: 9781611474442

Noteworthy Francophone Women Directors: A Sequel is a comprehensive guide that acts as both a teaching tool and a directory for research. The book begins following films released after the publication of Pallister and Hottell's last volume, Francophone Women Film Directors in 2005 and stops after the Cannes film festival in 2010. Unique among guides dealing with film, both for its breadth and for its exclusive attention to Francophone women throughout the world, this work foregrounds the production by nearly three hundred Francophone women filmmakers from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Latin American, Québec, even Thailand. The authors have researched film journals, followed web sites, attended film festivals and conferences, and traveled around the globe to conduct research in film libraries, and attend screenings and interviews with filmmakers. A list of film sources, an extensive bibliography, and an index of film directors and the titles of their films maximize this directory's usefulness.
This sequel by the late Pallister updates information in her Francophone Women Film Directors: A Guide (CH, Jul'05, 42-6218) and the earlier French-Speaking Women Film Directors: A Guide (CH, Jun'98, 35-5563). It is arranged in four chapters: "Feature Films (Fiction)," "Documentaries," "Shorts," and "Sources." An unannotated bibliography, a helpful feature titled "Selected World Festivals," and an index combining personal names and film titles conclude the book. Its strength, as with its predecessors, is its worldwide coverage of little-known French-speaking women film directors, along with their more famous counterparts. Directors are listed alphabetically by name within the first three chapters--an improvement over the multiple geographical listings used in previous editions. The overall structure of the guide is clearer than before. The provision of Internet and hard-to-find print citations for further research is welcome. Readers must remember to use this edition in tandem with earlier ones to get all the information provided. Summing Up: Recommended.