Things are supposed to be easier for female narrative directors in the indie world, but that just often isn’t the case.
Peter Knegt published a list of the 25 top-earning indie productions of the year so far, and only two — Amma Asante’s Belle and Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child — have made the cut.
A few other female-led movies — Ida, Under the Skin, Gloria, and The Immigrant — drew arthouse audiences to theaters. Four more romances with female co-leads hopefully satisfied moviegoers looking for something different.
Knegt notes that the list “only includes North American grosses for specialty films — indie, foreign and/or documentary — that opened in limited release (initially under 500 screens) in 2014 and were released by an independent distributor or a studio specialty division.”
Here’s the women-centric parts of the list:
Female-Directed with Female Lead
5. Belle (Fox Searchlight) — $10,645,039
16. Obvious Child (A24) — $2,895,901
Male-Directed with Female Lead
13. Ida (Music Box) — $3,551,006
18. Under The Skin (A24) — $2,605,039
23. Gloria (Roadside Attractions) — $2,107,925
24. The Immigrant (The Weinstein Company) — $2,025,328
Male-Directed with Male-Female Co-Lead
4. Begin Again (The Weinstein Company) — $13,755,573
21. Le Week-end (Music Box) — $2,225,098
22. Words and Pictures (Roadside Attractions) — $2,140,906
25. Only Lovers Left Alive (Sony Pictures Classics) — $1,841,122
See the complete list here.
