Gender Equality in Film Quotes

A woman doesn't have to direct a woman's film and a man doesn't have to direct a man's film; otherwise, where would we be?

Lately, I've been in meetings regarding a new script idea I have. A studio executive asked me to change the female lead to a male, because... 'Women don't go to movies.' Really?

I don't believe in women-centric films, but I certainly believe that we should create films that have more challenging roles for women and I definitely will have that in all my films.

It's often women who are writing leading roles for women. Most of the stuff that comes my way is not actually about women. I'm just asked to be a supporting player in a story about a man, and I, frankly, was not interested in doing that.

It was only when I saw films in my early 20s by Jane Campion, Mira Nair, Sally Potter and Kathryn Bigelow, I started to think, 'Oh, it's possible.' I dared to suggest that I wanted to train to be a film director.

I think there are so many unmaiden roles for women. I've been lucky enough to play girls with lots of different attitudes about sex. There's a couple other movies at Sundance that also show sex in a different way. That's exciting. I actually don't think women are being pigeonholed right now, and I like that. It's showing that men and women - when it comes down to it, we're animals, aren't we? I know how my next-door neighbors feel about it, and I hope they're enjoying it.

No one watches 'Taxi Driver' and says, 'Oh, it's a male-oriented film.' No one looks at nine-tenths of the films out there that are headlined by men and say, 'It's a male-oriented film.'

I feel like there are probably more films about white male friendships than almost any other types of movies.

We need to see men and women as equal partners, but it's hard to think of movies that do that. When I talk to people, they think of movies of forty-five years ago! Hepburn and Tracy!

Filmmaking is not about gender. You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men.

I've certainly seen stats that if you have a woman director or a woman screenwriter, the number of female characters goes way up.

I think that we all fantasize about that teeny tiny time in the film industry when women ruled, back in the '40s.

As an artist, I feel more strongly than ever that my job on earth is to tell the stories of the invisibles, and women have been invisible on film for a long time.

I don't see female characters as different or inferior to male characters.

I think the goal is parity: I try to be pro-woman without being anti-man, and I hope and wish that men could do the same in that when they look at the screenplay, they say, 'Wait, wait, wait - is my daughter represented here, is my wife represented here? Is my sister represented?'

It's really hard to get stories made that are about women. Not just women being obsessed with men, or supporting men. And it's really hard to get men to be a part of films that are about women in a leading role. I'm really interested in how we can adjust that.

You're allowed to make things for women on television, and there's not like... you don't have to go through the humiliation of having made something directed at women. There it's just accepted, whereas if it's a feature, it's like 'So, talk to me about chick flicks.' It's like... I don't think you want to hear my opinion about this.

We as women are always watching movies and if you want to be cool you have to identify with the man in the movie.

I've definitely gotten to work with female directors, and I feel lucky because of that. I just feel like more voices should be represented.

I think they've finally realized that women go to see movies as much as men do. Ticket sales are coming from them as well, so why not appeal to them? I think they're finding a way.