Genres of Gazes between the directors of Post Nineties Mainstream and Parallel Films: A Theoretical Observation (original) (raw)

Revisiting the gaze in films by two women directors

Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, 2021

This article is an intervention in a debate within film studies over the concept of the "gaze". Under the influence of 1960s and 1970s "apparatus" theory and particularly feminist thinkers of film like Laura Mulvey, the gaze has long been considered a key

Under Construction: The Female Gaze in Women Director’s Film

Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies

Film or cinema is known as a powerful medium of communication across the world. As a result, the discussion of gender issues related to men and women in films has come up in various studies. The construction of women in the language of men in a patriarchal society results in women being seen in commercial films as neglected, omnipotent, male-dominated entities; Commodification of women is also noticeable in most cases. Because of this, it is not easy to find stories that glorify women and embody their power on the film screen. Several women filmmakers are working in the film world of Bangladesh. Therefore, it is important to see how the representation of women, women's aspirations, personal freedom, economic freedom and contribution are being highlighted in the films of domestic women producers. To find the self-identity of female characters, it is necessary to research the female gaze in films by women filmmakers. In this study the film Under Construction directed by Rubaiyat H...

Rhetorics of Feminist Screen Theory As Seen in Recent Bollywood Constructs

Bollywood is often defined as the Indian Hindi-language film industry, based in Mumbai, the term being a combination of "Bombay" and "Hollywood". Bollywood is a part of the larger cinema of India, which includes other production centers producing films in other Indian languages. According to Film Federation of India (FF/), Indian cinema is the world's largest film industry in terms of film production and Bollywood is its largest film producer. Film which is the culmination of all art forms has been a reflection of the recent trends occurring in the society and is also an important text' to look into social theories that exist through its narratives. This paper looks at the feminist narratives in recent Bollywood films based on the feminist screen theory. Renzetti and Cu"an (2003) present Bern's encu/turated lens theory which addresses several cultural assumptions concerning women 'place' and how they should look, feel, and act. The paper analyses feminist thought and action, feminist screen theory and changes in portrayal of women in cinema over time where there is also a move away from the cult of feminity in these films in the way the male and female gaze functions. The paper further discusses how gaze is used as a medium for communication and transmits information and assumptions of the society and the objects gazed upon and how identity and identification takes place in the process.

Women's Gaze and the Feminist Film Archive

Future Feminist Archive Catalogue. Contemporary Art and Feminism. 40th Anniversary of International Women's Year 2015 Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University. Editor : Jacqueline Millner, 2015

The Australian feature film renaissance and the emergence of a new ‘women’s cinema’ occurred at the same time, but the story of feminist filmmaking in Australia is less well known, and in danger of being forgotten. The mainstream film renaissance of the 1970s was concerned with nationalistic artistic longings and the desire to compete with European art films at Cannes, and Hollywood at the box office. But the emergence of a new ‘women’s cinema’ came from other more complex desires. Women had been more or less excluded from active participation in the new film movements of the 1960s and were often subject and object of the gaze, rather than active participants. In the 1970s Women’s Liberation gave voice to their discontent. But as women struggled to gain access to film-making through training courses for women, there was another struggle on the level of ‘meaning-production’ and this led to the development of a feminist critique of the language of cinema itself.

The Twenty-Year Evolution of the 'Woman's Film' in Commercial Hindi Cinema, CRITICAL COLLECTIVE (non-refereed, commissioned)

CRITICAL COLLECTIVE July, 2021

In this brief article I propound that there has been a gradual evolution of the woman's film in commercial Hindi cinema over the last two decades. It is constitutive of a steady stream of female-centered narratives designed to appeal to female audiences, a demographic that has gradually grown in importance as a consequence of the post-1997 boom in multiplex cinema, 1 and more recently, the plethora of digital streaming platforms that can be conveniently accessed by women on laptops, mobile phones and televisions without leaving their homes. The woman's film is a distinctive genre of smaller budget films about and for women invested with narrative agency; layered, textured female characterizations that are defined by their professions, skills, personalities and experiences, and not solely by their physical appearances and dancing abilities; representing multiple female perspectives that address important, often neglected or taboo, socially relevant issues. Such women-centric films may be critically acclaimed whilst usually performing modestly, or breaking even, at the box-office. Incidentally, there is a long history of the genre of the woman's film in Hollywood which was especially popular in the 1930s and 40s. Often disparagingly conflated with melodramas and referred to as 'weepies,' filmmakers such as Douglas Sirk, George Cukor, Joseph von Sternberg, and stars such as Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford have been associated with this genre. 1 In previous eras of Hindi cinema, the serious and consistent exploration of the 'woman question' was relegated to parallel or art cinema of Shyam Benegal (Ankur, Bhumika, Sardari Begum) and the middle-brow cinema of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Milli, Guddi, Anupama) and Basu Chatterjee (Rajnigandha, Kamla Ki Maut).

Women and the Male Gaze in Nollywood Films

JAFDIS, 2024

The number of women filmmakers in Nollywood is increasing compared to the 1990s when the industry was forming its roots. Through stories that reaffirm tenacity of purpose, candor, and resilience, women filmmakers draw from their experiences as members of a marginalized group to make films that contextualize the political subjugation and the sociocultural suppression of women as a category of people. By taking advantage of the broad platform that Nollywood provides, emergent female auteurs vividly represent the ongoing sexism and misogynistic overtures that women endure across space and time and, more than before, insert specific, practical feminist ideas that women could adopt to liberate themselves from the shackles of political oppression and patriarchal bondage. As a comparativist text, on the one hand, I underscore how films like Efunsetan Aniwura (2005), directed by Tunde Kelani, contextualize the patriarchal domination of influential and audacious women. On the other hand, I posit that films like Kemi Adetiba's King of Boys (2018 and Return of the King (2021) represent how women could seize and retool oppressive machinery that patriarchal

Questions for Feminist Film Studies

Gender & censorship, 2006

This paper grew out of my conviction that the current critical practice of film studies in India ought to more centrally include (a) modes of critical cultural analysis inspired by feminism, (b) theorization of gender questions and/ in their intersections with other crucial political issues of our time, and (c) investigation of film studies questions in relation to women (relating to cinematic apparatus, spectators, textual analysis, etc.). The paucity of serious feminist film criticism in our context is all the more apparent when we see the work being done in related areas such as literary studies or historiography. This is not, however, a call for the formation of a separate branch of film studies but an attempt to take stock of interventions which have already been made, and pose some further questions to be addressed. I would like to make an attempt to list out the preoccupations of a few contemporary feminist writers, and to see if there are any commonalities among them. The four writers are Shohini Ghosh, Dulali Nag, Lalita Gopalan and Patricia Uberoi, and their essays cover popular cinema in Hindi, Telugu and Bengali. While Ghosh and Gopalan examine films from the 1980s and 90s, Uberoi talks about a film from the 60s and Nag about one from the 50s

UNVEILING THE MALE GAZE IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES: DECONSTRUCTING OBJECTIFICATION AND STEREOTYPING IN HINDI CINEMA

Shodhak A Journal of Historical Research, 2023

This paper delves into the world of Bollywood movies, investigating the pervasive presence of the male gaze and its role in perpetuating objectification and gender stereotypes in both film and literature. This paper sheds light on how the male gaze operates within this context, distorting representations of women and reinforcing traditional power dynamics. Through an analysis of notable Bollywood films and literary works, the paper uncovers the subtle yet impactful ways in which women are often reduced to mere objects of desire. The study examines the mechanisms through which the male gaze functions, such as camera angles, character interactions, and narrative framing. It underscores the implications of these mechanisms on the portrayal of female characters as passive, submissive, and primarily defined by their physical attributes. Furthermore, it elucidates the perpetuation of harmful gender stereotypes, which shape audience perceptions and reinforce societal biases. The paper encapsulates the intricate interplay between the male gaze, objectification, and gender stereotyping in Bollywood movies and literature. It calls for a collective effort, involving creators, consumers, and industry stakeholders, to dismantle the male gaze and foster narratives that reflect the diverse realities of women. The research aims to unravel the layers of the male gaze and pave the way for a more inclusive and reflective cinematic journey.