Female Cinematographers Make Strides Onscreen as Guilds, Educators Work to Boost Numbers
variety.comKaren Idelson In 1997, UCLA cinematography professor William McDonald was home with his newborn daughter. As he looked into her eyes in his sleep-deprived state he began to wonder what her life would be like if she grew up and wanted to become a cinematographer.
Would she have the same opportunities as men who wanted to study cinematography? Would she be able to find work after getting a degree and experience?At the time, female cinematography students were few and far between.
Things looked similarly bleak for working female DPs during that period. McDonald thought that could change if more women had the opportunity to study and train in the field, so he set a goal of admitting 50% female students into cinematography studies each year. “The simple premise is that if you make a generational commitment — and about 25 to 30 years is a generational commitment — to flooding the market with exceedingly talented people from diverse backgrounds — in this case women — then you will make a change,” says McDonald. “The key thing is that if you flood the market, the dynamics will take care of themselves, because talent, passion and drive rise to the top.”As we arrive in 2022 — about 25 years after McDonald made that generational commitment — there are undeniably gifted female cinematographers behind many of the year’s most lauded films.
Ari Wegner’s work on “The Power of the Dog” has been nominated for an Oscar — only the second woman ever nominated for a cinematography Academy Award with Rachel Morrison being the first — and an ASC award.
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