It now emerges that more women were working at every level in the first 20 years of the film industry in the USA than at any point since. Early pioneers, such as Alice Guy Blache, directed hundreds of films, invented techniques, ran businesses and set up distribution but with the rise of the male-dominated studio system, their significant contribution to the dawn of the movies has long been forgotten.
With chapters on the writers, directors, producers, stars, film editors, designers and camera women of the silent era this book acknowledges and celebrates the many talented women who were significantly involved in the rise of the industry and explains why the coming of the talkies and big business led to the inequality which exists today. Voted the best book published about silent cinema in THE SILENT LONDON POLL OF 2016 #1 Amazon Best Seller: Silent Film Named one of the Best Film Books of the Year by Huffington Post Covers the hidden history of cinema's diverse beginnings including American, European and African-American female filmmakers, cinematographers, editors, critics and screenwriters. With a never-before published interview with legendary director Dorothy Arzner. Essential reading for students of film studies, media, culture and gender/women studies. Taps into the current debate about discrimination within the media and creative industries. Concludes with a chapter by activist and film director Maria Giese, who instigated the Civil Liberties investigation into sexism in Hollywood, on the current status of women behind the camera in Hollywood today.
Industry Reviews
"What is perhaps most compelling about Silent Women is its documentation of the sheer graft and willpower behind these pioneering women's work. Favouring historicity over critical theory, it does that most noble task of telling the stories that need to be told.." - Lara Williams, London Review of Books; "You may come to this spry slice of film history prepared to celebrate a handful of women who helped shape the movies in their blinking infancy. The surprise of the essays collected here is their sheer volume in every corner of a business apparently better able to accommodate female talent then than now.." - Danny Leigh, Financial Times; "Silent Women, in uncovering a diverse range of female voices from the past, offers a variety of present voices... On this evidence, the relative diversity of the industry's past should shame it into taking action in the future." - Pamela Hutchinson, Sight & Sound; "Silent Women is a book that needed to be written, and it will raise the consciousness of most readers who haven't made a study of the subject of just how male-orientated the history of cinema has been. It's a fascinating journey into the untold history of a largely lost era of film.." - Greg Jameson, Entertainment Focus; ". . . a lively collection, opening up an increasingly vibrant field, which promises to raise a diversity of questions for viewers, makers and teachers of film about women's role world-wide in the emergence of cinema.." - Christine Gledhill; "This book is inspirational reading for any woman who dreams to express her vision through film in any direction this industry takes us. Only by understanding our past can we embrace our greatest future.." - Gayle Nachlis, Senior Director of Education, Women In Film Los Angeles; "This book shows how women's voices were heard and helped create the golden age of silent cinema, how those voices were almost eradicated by the male-dominated film industry, and perhaps points the way to an all-inclusive future for global cinema.." - Paul Duncan, Film Historian; "Inspirational and informative, Silent Women will challenge many people's ideas about the beginnings of film history. This fascinating book roams widely across the era and the diverse achievements and voices of women in the film industry. These are the stories of pioneers, trailblazers and collaborators - hugely enjoyable to read and vitally important to publish." - Pamela Hutchinson, Silent London; "A timely and urgently needed collection of essays by a definitive group of scholars on the subject, Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema utilizes the time-honored feminist concept of the silence and voicelessness at the heart of female oppression as its central motivation. The essays in this collection demonstrate how the film industry kept women from certain opportunities in the early years, but also provided them a particular agency to make their marks outside more traditional boundaries. A must-read!" - Lisa Stein Haven, author of Syd Chaplin: A Biography (2010) and editor of Charlie Chaplin A Comedian Sees the World (2014); "This book confirms what an exciting time it is for women's cinema history. Every chapter opens tantalising new windows into the fascinating but forgotten or overlooked lives and careers of women working in the early film industry. Every page begs the question - how on earth did these amazing women vanish from history in the first place? I defy anyone interested in cinema history not to find this valuable compendium a must-read. It's also a call to arms for more research into women's contribution and an affirmation of just how rewarding the detective work can be." - Laraine Porter, Senior Lecturer in Film, De Montfort University and Co-Artistic Director of British Silent Film Festival; "In a climate in which the equality that exists within film has become an increasingly visible focus of debate, Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema offers a timely reminder of the historical contribution women have made to the medium. An authoritative and illuminating work, it also lends a pervasive voice to the argument that discrimination and not talent is the barrier to so few women occupying the most prominent roles within the industry." - Jason Wood, Artistic Director of Film at HOME, Author and Visiting Professor at MMU; "Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema is an inspiring and refreshing set of well written essays on a subject often forgotten, discussing the fabulous variety of women in film over the years. A must for any fan of cinema/film, or anyone that has an interest in women's history.." - Hayley Foster da Silva, The F-Word; "A long overdue compendium of insightful essays highlighting the oft-forgotten women and the vital roles they played in both the birth of cinema and its evolution. I was amazed to discover just how crucially they were involved from not just in front of the camera but in producing, directing, editing and much, much more. An essential read." Neil McGlone - The Criterion Collection; "Silent Women honors the women in cinema who actively paved the way for future women in this industry, and brought attention to the issue of gender bias in media, a problem we are still fighting today." - Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
