American Honey director Andrea Arnold has expressed her “shock” at how few women are making films, and that positive discrimination in hiring may be necessary.
Speaking to the BBC, Arnold was commenting on figures released in 2015 by the Directors Guild of America, which suggested that only 6.4% of Hollywood films in 2014 and 2014 were directed by women. She said: “The figures were so small. We actively have to employ more females, perhaps we need to at this point. There are a lot of capable women out there.”
Arnold has directed four features since 2006, and received a string of awards, including an Oscar for best short film and three jury prizes at Cannes.
She added: “We’ve grown up mainly on male stories, and most of the films have been written and directed by men – and that’s only half of the human race.”
“I remember going to a women’s film festival and feeling a slight amount of trepidation, but actually it was fantastic. Some of the films made me cry because they really spoke to me.”
Arnold’s latest film American Honey, starring Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf, won the Jury prize at this year’s Cannes film festival. Out in the US, it is released in the UK on 14 October, and 3 November in Australia.
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