[Commlist] Cfp: Women Filmmakers and New Feminist Cinemas in France, Great Britain, and the USA in the 21st Century

*International Conference *

*Women Filmmakers and New Feminist Cinemas in France, Great Britain, and 
the USA in the 21st Century *

*21-22-23 October 2026, Université Toulouse 2 Jean-Jaurès, France*

This conference proposes to examine how women filmmakers have engaged 
with feminism within the evolving cultural landscape of the early 21st 
century—a period marked by shifting feminist discourses culminating in 
the #MeToo movement, and by the increasing visibility and multiplicity 
of a variety of feminist discourses operating within what Sarah 
Banet-Weiser terms an “economy of visibility” (2018, 2). The Weinstein 
scandal and the revelations that followed drew global attention to the 
persistence of systemic inequalities and institutionalized violence 
within the film, television, and entertainment industry, exposing not 
only pervasive abuse but also the longstanding marginalization of women 
on screen and, perhaps, even more so, behind the camera. While this 
heightened awareness has led to growing participation by women and some 
high-profile successes, it has not dismantled the structural barriers 
that continue to limit equitable access and representation.

While focusing on transnational and comparative perspectives within 
British, French and US cinema, the conference aims to examine how women 
filmmakers are reshaping cinematic forms and audiovisual languages, and 
contributing to the evolution of feminist filmmaking practices across 
both mainstream and independent spheres, encompassing narrative, 
documentary, and experimental approaches.

The question *“What qualifies as a “feminist” film or series 
today?”* raises a whole series of problems related to the criteria used 
to define the word “feminism” in the mid-2020s: Can a film or television 
series be deemed feminist solely on the basis of its most obvious 
features: the representation and characterization of women? In other 
words, is the Bechdel test enough? Does it necessarily imply the 
presence of women in key positions with an explicitly militant stance? 
Or might its feminism also be embedded in its narrative structure, 
aesthetic choices, cinematography, appropriation of genres through a 
strategy of “gender bending/genre blending” (Badley 2016, 127)? Must 
feminist cinema necessarily revise the canons (Rich 1971, Johnston 1973, 
Mulvey 1975, Doane, Mellencamp and Williams 1984, de Lauretis 1987, 
hooks 1992) and subvert “the hegemony of visuality” (Mirzoeff, 2001)? Or 
can it offer alternatives to Hollywood representations without resorting 
to subversion, operating instead “within a potentially positive 
appropriative and generative framework of interpretation”, rather than 
falling into “the widespread fallacy of subversion” (Harrod and 
Paszkiewicz, 2018, 26)? Do feminist discourses shift across different 
audiovisual forms and sectors—television, streaming, the major studios, 
big budget productions, the independent, experimental, documentary, or 
animation sectors? For example, how does the episodic structure of TV 
series (Lotz, 73) influence feminist content differently than feature 
films? What is the situation in experimental cinema which has 
historically marginalized women (Blaetz, 2007, 3)? Conversely, what 
about the documentary sector which has offered more space for female 
innovation and presence (French, 2021, 10)?

Another important question concerns the relationship between these 
productions and feminist film theories. Pursuing the lines of inquiry 
developed by Radner and Stringer (2011), Maury and Roche (2020), as well 
as Charlery and Maury (forthcoming), to what extent does feminist film 
scholarship influence the practices of women filmmakers? In the US 
context, many filmmakers (Kathryn Bigelow, Julie Dash, Debra Granik, 
Patty Jenkins, Karyn Kusama, Jennifer Lee, Kasi Lemmons Dee Rees, Kelly 
Reichardt, Chloe Zhao…) have engaged with feminist film theories during 
their academic training, and their films often embody a form of “theory 
in practice.” Is this equally the case in British and especially French 
academia which has long shown resistance to feminist, gender, and queer 
studies? Is that to say that women filmmakers try to assert their 
authorial voice? If so, do they adopt or subvert formal and thematic 
tropes from male-dominated traditions like the French New Wave—such as 
reflexivity, autobiography, or portrayals of artistic creation—to 
express feminist authorship?

Beyond tracing the feminist content of women-helmed works, production, 
promotion and distribution play key roles in the identification of 
“feminist” works, as Patricia White has demonstrated (2015). Equally 
important is the role of reception (film criticism but also fan and 
general audience responses), as the ways films are viewed, analyzed, 
theorized, discussed, and taught depend on the socio-political context; 
as Janet Staiger (forthcoming) has argued, films and filmmakers cannot 
be labeled as “feminist” once and for all because the term “feminism” 
itself is dynamic—shaped by shifting agendas, evolving social contexts, 
and changing audience perceptions. Thus, it is necessary to consider how 
feminist filmmaking might be understood in a constantly evolving 
cultural landscape.

Answering these questions requires considering the changing priorities 
of feminist movements, which raises a second key question:* What’s “new” 
in feminist cinemas?* We wish to reflect on whether the past two decades 
have brought a clear evolution in the ways women make films. This 
includes examining whether activist movements of the 21st 
century—especially those that have recentered debates around the 
politics of intimacy (Froidevaux-Metterie, 2020)—signal a break from 
previous decades and generations, or to what extent they revive 
essentialist forms of feminism in popular culture (Banet-Weiser, 2018). 
This revival reignites debates around identity, solidarity, and 
sisterhood, which Florynce Kennedy once critiqued as the “sisterhood 
mystique,” fostering new feminist alliances, and further complicating 
what is understood as postfeminism.**What is the place of 
constructivism, intersectional feminism, and black feminism in this 
cultural landscape? And what is the role of #MeToo in this shifting 
epistemology? Has it created a meaningful before-and-after moment in 
film culture? Is it a relevant landmark or should we heed Karen Boyle’s 
(2023) caution against allowing #MeToo to become “an origin story for 
contemporary activism against sexual harassment and assault”? Are women 
filmmakers reviving old forms of feminisms, or are they cultivating new 
forms of hybrid audiovisual feminism that seek, successfully or not, to 
“include everyone” (Charlery and Maury)?

Additionally, contemporary modes of distribution and broadcasting—such 
as social media, streaming platforms, intermedial forms, fandoms, and 
promotional content—have increased opportunities and visibility for 
women filmmakers in the last two decades. At the same time, the number 
of festivals dedicated to women filmmakers has flourished, and general 
film festivals such as Cannes have made some efforts to grant women more 
visibility. Nevertheless, one can wonder if the existing plethora of 
film festivals is enough to offer real opportunities to women or if 
self-production and distribution remain the standard, especially for 
minority women. Thus, the role of film festivals in creating new forms 
of feminist cinema across Britain, France, and the US needs to be 
interrogated.

*Is there such a thing as “New Feminist Cinemas”? *There are many limits 
to the success of women filmmakers that may call into question the 
existence of new feminist cinemas. First, in spite of the individual 
achievements of some women filmmakers and their newly gained visibility, 
they remain a minority in the cinema and television industries. As 
Katarzyna Paszkiewicz among others argues (2018), celebrating the 
individual achievements of female filmmakers reinforces the narratives 
of female progress, symptomatic of a neoliberal and postfeminist 
climate, and hides the fact that the glass ceiling remains firmly in 
place for most female directors. In particular, the concept of the film 
auteur, rooted in the patriarchal context of 1950s France, has been 
critiqued for its sexist (Sellier 2024, 9-10), essentialist (Mayne 1990, 
90) foundations, and for obscuring the collective nature of filmmaking 
(Paszkiewicz, 261; Sellier, 11-12; White, 32–33). Given these critiques, 
can it still serve feminist film analysis today? Or, is it necessary, as 
Sue Thornham (2012) suggests, to reclaim authorship when a woman’s 
cinematic “signature” challenges male-defined norms of universality? 
Authorship also varies across national contexts. How do differing 
understandings in France, the UK, and the US shape the ways women make, 
produce, distribute, and receive films?

In the end, does “new” feminist cinema even mean anything? Should it be 
limited to women-helmed productions that explicitly represent feminism? 
Indeed, we may wonder if such films and series adopt an actual militant 
stance or if feminism has just become a trend, a fashion, a glamourized 
phenomenon in the neo-liberal postfeminist context. Conversely, what can 
we make of the ambivalence, or even rejection, that some women 
filmmakers express toward the label “feminist”?

Proposals (including a 300-word abstract, a short bibliography and a 
biographical blurb) that endeavor to tackle these questions are to be 
sent to the conference website by *1 March 2026*.

url: https://femme2.sciencesconf.org <https://femme2.sciencesconf.org/>

You will need to create an account before submitting your proposal.

Contact: (cristelle.maury /at/ univ-tlse2.fr)

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