Female directors rule theaters this weekend

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

This weekend, audiences can go deep underground with Antonio Banderas to experience the plight of the trapped Chilean miners in “The 33,” sing Christmas carols with John Goodman and Diane Keaton in “Love the Coopers,” and gawk voyeuristically at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s well-heeled depressives in “By the Sea.”

The three films couldn’t be more different – an inspirational true story, a star-studded holiday dramedy, and an art house portrait of a crumbling marriage – but they have one thing in common: All were directed by women.

While it might not be the only time this has happened, it certainly isn’t a regular occurrence for Hollywood, where only a fraction of directors are women.

“It’s extraordinarily rare to have three high-profile movies being released on the same weekend all directed by women,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with box office tracker Rentrak. “You can bet every single weekend there are at least three films opening directed by men. That makes this notable.”

According to a study by the Sundance Institute and Women in Hollywood, women directed only 4.7 percent of studio films and 10 percent of independent films from 2009 to 2013. The variance of this weekend is less a sign of changing times than an illustrative coincidence, highlighting the unending challenges faced by female directors in the industry to get their films financed and distributed.

“There is a lot of consciousness being raised at the moment, but the truth is that independent films are more likely to be directed by women than studio films with big budgets — unless Angelina Jolie is involved,” said film writer Anne Thompson.

Jolie stands apart by nature of her celebrity status. Her “By the Sea” is the only film out of the three that was acquired by a big studio before production started.