Shaping Global Cultures Through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds
Bristol: Intellect (2025), 658 pp.
Contains 35 illustr., index
Introduction: https://intellect.stisonbooks.com/media/Shaping-Global-Cultures_introduction.pdf
ISBN 978-1-83595-160-6 (ebook); 978-1-83595-159-0 (hbk)
"This volume, Shaping Global Cultures through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds, tells stories of women who have worked with and within communities to bring the communities’ stories to life through screenwriting. In gathering these examples, we asked for stories that achieved some level of impact for the communities. Impact was considered across a number of indices. We wanted to show that attitudes have shifted, policies have been rewritten and the life experiences and ranges of possibility for some have changed for the better as a result of women’s work. We hope to show through our stories that film can change lives; that sharing stories matters; and that women are everywhere, using their skills in screen production for the good of many.
In her excellent book, Women in the International Film Industry: Policy Practice and Power, Susan Liddy (2020) offers ‘a wide-ranging, critical assessment of practice, policy and progress’ to establish the range and scale of gender inequality that currently exists in the world of screen production. She quotes O’Neill and Domingo (2015) to point out that social, economic and political conditions vary, and ‘combine in different ways to enable or constrain women’s agency and leadership’ in screen production (Liddy 2020: 1). In contrast, our book approaches the same problem from the opposite perspective: we seek to correlate the ‘policy, practice and power’ (Liddy 2020) with the actual work of women screenwriters. Our aim is to point out what women screenwriters, creators and filmmakers are doing in disparate corners of the world, and how their effort is positively impacting communities, shaping culture and creating change.
We argue that, despite the fact that women screenwriters are underrepresented in leadership roles in film industries worldwide, the impact of their films remains visible and palpable. We provide evidence that, as women step into the roles of screenwriter, filmmaker and collaborator, using known and emerging technologies, formats and genres under the broad scope of ‘screen production’, they raise the voices of other women and other communities. This volume shows the impact of women’s voices in creating real change for the communities whose stories are told through the topics and themes of these women’s screen works. Not least, this volume seeks to celebrate these women and their communities and bring awareness of that impact to broader communities worldwide." (Introduction, page 1)
In her excellent book, Women in the International Film Industry: Policy Practice and Power, Susan Liddy (2020) offers ‘a wide-ranging, critical assessment of practice, policy and progress’ to establish the range and scale of gender inequality that currently exists in the world of screen production. She quotes O’Neill and Domingo (2015) to point out that social, economic and political conditions vary, and ‘combine in different ways to enable or constrain women’s agency and leadership’ in screen production (Liddy 2020: 1). In contrast, our book approaches the same problem from the opposite perspective: we seek to correlate the ‘policy, practice and power’ (Liddy 2020) with the actual work of women screenwriters. Our aim is to point out what women screenwriters, creators and filmmakers are doing in disparate corners of the world, and how their effort is positively impacting communities, shaping culture and creating change.
We argue that, despite the fact that women screenwriters are underrepresented in leadership roles in film industries worldwide, the impact of their films remains visible and palpable. We provide evidence that, as women step into the roles of screenwriter, filmmaker and collaborator, using known and emerging technologies, formats and genres under the broad scope of ‘screen production’, they raise the voices of other women and other communities. This volume shows the impact of women’s voices in creating real change for the communities whose stories are told through the topics and themes of these women’s screen works. Not least, this volume seeks to celebrate these women and their communities and bring awareness of that impact to broader communities worldwide." (Introduction, page 1)
Introduction / Rose Ferrell
SECTION ONE: AFRICAN WORLDS
African Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
1. Differently abled and definitely able: Resilience and inspiration in the films and life of Zambia’s Musola Catherine Kaseketi / Elastus Mambwe
2. We aren’t all cis straight white men: Expanding depictions of autism / Karen Jeynes
3. Voicing our opinion: Challenges of female rap artists in north-west Nigeria / Ummi Muhammad Hassan
SECTION TWO: AMERICAN WORLDS
American Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
4. The first female filmmaker in Central America: Patricia Howell, on a life of defending women’s rights and pioneering national cinema in Costa Rica / Aarón Acuña Cordero
5. Marta Rodriguez: Documentary films with social impact / Sara Manuela Duque García
6. Violence and fire in Latin American women’s scripts: Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen, 2021, Mexico) and Claudia Huaiquimilla (My Brothers Dream Awake, 2021, Chile) / Juan Carlos Carrillo, Sebastian Gonzalez
7. How nice to see us alive: Memory, trauma and resistance in scripting How Nice to See You Alive (1989, Brazil) / Lara Caravalho
8. The screenwriting process of Anna Muylaert’s film The Second Mother (2015, Brazil) over 20 years: In search of a different ending for the female characters / Patricia Dourado, Mirian Tavares
SECTION THREE: ASIAN WORLDS
Asian Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
9. Afia Nathaniel and Pakistani minor cinema: The Amazon of the screen / Azam Sarwar
10. The ‘invisible’ in The Way We Are (2008, Hong Kong): The scriptwriter, the script, the everyday, and the audience / Ian Fong
11. Young-Ah Yoo’s controversial adaptation of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (2019, South Korea): A response to the South Korean #MeToo movement / Thomas Carter
SECTION FOUR: ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLDS
English-speaking Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
12. 'This is a true story': Women artists and narratives of disability in Ida Lupino’s Never Fear (1950, USA) / Gabrielle Stecher
13. How to perceive Cassie Thornton? The translation of blindness in Perception (2017, USA) / Polly Ellen Goodwin
14. Exploring homelessness in virtual reality documentary: The scripting of Rose Troche’s We Live Here (2020, USA) / Kath Dooley
15. Catherine Hill: Women who write our worlds / shaping global screen culture with Some Happy Day (2021, Australia) / Joanne Tindale
16. Rewriting Australia’s colonial mythologies: Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (2021, Australia) / Andrew James Couzens
17. Bluey worlds (2018 / 23, Australia) / Andi Spark
18. Miranda July’s Kajillionaire (2020, USA) and queer utopias / Angie Black and Anna Dzenis
19. Young women who write: Little Women (2019) / Armando Fumagalli
20. Pan-Asian storytelling for Aotearoa New Zealand screens / Ghazaleh Gol, Shuchi Kothari
SECTION FIVE: EUROPEAN WORLDS
European Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
21. Exploring war’s trauma through a feminist lens: Resilient women in the films of Jasmila Žbanić / Miriam Hernandez and Bruno Lovric
22. Desire-driven filmmaking: Celine Sciamma and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, France) / Philippa Burne and Angie Black
23. A Trial for Rape (1979, Italy): The transformative power of the female gaze / Milly Buonanno
SECTION SIX: ISLAND WORLDS
Island Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
24. Malu tatau: Rite of passage for women’s empowerment / Agapetos Aia-Fa’aleava and Vaoiva Natapu-Ponton
25. Island Time (2022): Cultural revival in the Mariana Islands / Rose Ferrell
26. Island women use screenwriting in music videos to lead the campaign for global-level climate action / Rosanne Welch
SECTION ONE: AFRICAN WORLDS
African Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
1. Differently abled and definitely able: Resilience and inspiration in the films and life of Zambia’s Musola Catherine Kaseketi / Elastus Mambwe
2. We aren’t all cis straight white men: Expanding depictions of autism / Karen Jeynes
3. Voicing our opinion: Challenges of female rap artists in north-west Nigeria / Ummi Muhammad Hassan
SECTION TWO: AMERICAN WORLDS
American Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
4. The first female filmmaker in Central America: Patricia Howell, on a life of defending women’s rights and pioneering national cinema in Costa Rica / Aarón Acuña Cordero
5. Marta Rodriguez: Documentary films with social impact / Sara Manuela Duque García
6. Violence and fire in Latin American women’s scripts: Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen, 2021, Mexico) and Claudia Huaiquimilla (My Brothers Dream Awake, 2021, Chile) / Juan Carlos Carrillo, Sebastian Gonzalez
7. How nice to see us alive: Memory, trauma and resistance in scripting How Nice to See You Alive (1989, Brazil) / Lara Caravalho
8. The screenwriting process of Anna Muylaert’s film The Second Mother (2015, Brazil) over 20 years: In search of a different ending for the female characters / Patricia Dourado, Mirian Tavares
SECTION THREE: ASIAN WORLDS
Asian Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
9. Afia Nathaniel and Pakistani minor cinema: The Amazon of the screen / Azam Sarwar
10. The ‘invisible’ in The Way We Are (2008, Hong Kong): The scriptwriter, the script, the everyday, and the audience / Ian Fong
11. Young-Ah Yoo’s controversial adaptation of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (2019, South Korea): A response to the South Korean #MeToo movement / Thomas Carter
SECTION FOUR: ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLDS
English-speaking Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
12. 'This is a true story': Women artists and narratives of disability in Ida Lupino’s Never Fear (1950, USA) / Gabrielle Stecher
13. How to perceive Cassie Thornton? The translation of blindness in Perception (2017, USA) / Polly Ellen Goodwin
14. Exploring homelessness in virtual reality documentary: The scripting of Rose Troche’s We Live Here (2020, USA) / Kath Dooley
15. Catherine Hill: Women who write our worlds / shaping global screen culture with Some Happy Day (2021, Australia) / Joanne Tindale
16. Rewriting Australia’s colonial mythologies: Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson (2021, Australia) / Andrew James Couzens
17. Bluey worlds (2018 / 23, Australia) / Andi Spark
18. Miranda July’s Kajillionaire (2020, USA) and queer utopias / Angie Black and Anna Dzenis
19. Young women who write: Little Women (2019) / Armando Fumagalli
20. Pan-Asian storytelling for Aotearoa New Zealand screens / Ghazaleh Gol, Shuchi Kothari
SECTION FIVE: EUROPEAN WORLDS
European Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
21. Exploring war’s trauma through a feminist lens: Resilient women in the films of Jasmila Žbanić / Miriam Hernandez and Bruno Lovric
22. Desire-driven filmmaking: Celine Sciamma and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, France) / Philippa Burne and Angie Black
23. A Trial for Rape (1979, Italy): The transformative power of the female gaze / Milly Buonanno
SECTION SIX: ISLAND WORLDS
Island Worlds: Section introduction / Rose Ferrell
24. Malu tatau: Rite of passage for women’s empowerment / Agapetos Aia-Fa’aleava and Vaoiva Natapu-Ponton
25. Island Time (2022): Cultural revival in the Mariana Islands / Rose Ferrell
26. Island women use screenwriting in music videos to lead the campaign for global-level climate action / Rosanne Welch
