Review by Choice Review
Most of the 17 essays in this collection emanate from a 2011 conference by the same title, held at the University of Sunderland, UK, under the auspices of the Women's Film and Television History Network (WFTHN). A few essays deal with well-known figures from film history--Alice Guy, Natalie Kalmus, Kathryn Bigelow--but the majority aim at bringing less-known women into the light. Some of the entries are more speculative than substantive, but most are interesting and informative. This reviewer particularly liked the contributions by Rashmi Sawhney, who writes on women making film in some of India's minority languages; Canan Balan and Eylem Atakav, both of whom write on women in Turkish film; Karina Aveyard, who looks at women filmmakers in rural Australia; Giuliana Muscio, who examines American women screenwriters of the 1920s; and Kay Armatage, who presents an eye-opening discussion of Barbara Willis Sweete, who directs many of the Live from the Met broadcasts. But this reviewer's favorite essay is Luke McKernan's piece on Mary Murillo: it is a model of how to research the life of someone who was not only little known but also moved about from country to country. The WFTHN plans another conference in 2016. Good news. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --William A. Vincent, Michigan State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
