Genre, Authorship and Contemporary Women Filmmakers

## Examines the significance of women’s participation in popular genres * **[Honorable Mention in the the ESSE Book Awards 2020!](https://essenglish.org/book-awards-for-2020/%22)** * Interrogates how women filmmakers participate in changing U.S. cinema cultures by tapping into the generic formulas of horror, the war movie, the Western, the costume biopic and the romantic comedy * Analyses both the different socio-cultural circumstances and the textual implications of women’s involvement in generic productions * Prompts new avenues of inquiry on the complexity and diversity of women’s impact on and participation in cinema __Genre, Authorship and Contemporary Women Filmmakers__ examines the significance of women’s contribution to genre cinema by highlighting the work of US filmmakers within and outside Hollywood – Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, Nancy Meyers and Kelly Reichardt, among others. Exploring genres as diverse as horror, the war movie, the Western, the costume biopic and the romantic comedy, Katarzyna Paszkiewicz interrogates questions of ‘genre’ authorship; the blurring of the borders between commercial and independent cinema and gendered discourses of (de)authorisation that operate within each sphere; ‘male’–‘female’ genre divisions; and the issue of authorial subversion in film and popular culture in a wider sense. With its focus on close analysis of the films themselves and the cultural and ideological meanings involved in the reception of genre texts authored by women, this book expands critical debates around women’s cinema and offers new perspectives on how contemporary filmmakers explore the aesthetic and imaginative power of genre. Examines the significance of women’s participation in popular genres (https://essenglish.org/book-awards-for-2020/%22) Honorable Mention in the the ESSE Book Awards 2020! Interrogates how women filmmakers participate in changing U.S. cinema cultures by tapping into the generic formulas of horror, the war movie, the Western, the costume biopic and the romantic comedy Analyses both the different socio-cultural circumstances and the textual implications of women’s involvement in generic productions Prompts new avenues of inquiry on the complexity and diversity of women’s impact on and participation in cinema Genre, Authorship and Contemporary Women Filmmakers examines the significance of women’s contribution to genre cinema by highlighting the work of US filmmakers within and outside Hollywood – Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, Nancy Meyers and Kelly Reichardt, among others. Exploring genres as diverse as horror, the war movie, the Western, the costume biopic and the romantic comedy, Katarzyna Paszkiewicz interrogates questions of ‘genre’ authorship; the blurring of the borders between commercial and independent cinema and gendered discourses of (de)authorisation that operate within each sphere; ‘male’–‘female’ genre divisions; and the issue of authorial subversion in film and popular culture in a wider sense. With its focus on close analysis of the films themselves and the cultural and ideological meanings involved in the reception of genre texts authored by women, this book expands critical debates around women’s cinema and offers new perspectives on how contemporary filmmakers explore the aesthetic and imaginative power of genre.

Examining the significance of women's work in popular film genres, Genre, Authorship and Contemporary Women Filmmakers sheds light on women's contribution to genre cinema through an exploration of filmmakers like Kathryn Bigelow, Diablo Cody, Sofia Coppola and Kelly Reichard. Exploring genres as diverse as horror, the war movie, the Western, the costume biopic and the romantic comedy, the book interrogates questions of authorial subversion, gendered concepts of film authorship and male/female genre divisions, as well as re-evaluating certain genres as a space worthy of feminist criticism. By offering an analysis of the films themselves and the circumstances of production and reception, this book redefines political, theoretical and commercial conceptualisations of women's cinema, and offers new perspectives on how women filmmakers explore the aesthetic and imaginative power of genre.