Gendering History on Screen: Women Filmmakers and Historical Films

Movies about significant historical personalities or landmark events like war seem to be governed by a set of unspoken rules for the expression of gender. Films by female directors featuring female protagonists appear to receive particularly harsh treatment and are often criticised for being too ＂emotional＂ and incapable of expressing ＂real＂ history.

Through her examination of films from the United States, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere, Julia Erhart makes powerful connections between the representational strategies of women directors including Kathryn Bigelow, Ruth Ozeki, and Alexandra von Grote and their concerns with exploring the past through the prism of the present. She also compellingly explores how historiographical concepts like valor, memory, and resistance are uniquely re-envisioned within sub-genres including biopics, historical documentaries, Holocaust movies, and movies about the War on Terror.

Gendering History on Screen is an invaluable contribution to scholarship on historical film and women’s cinema.