Reading List
Marya E. Gates
Film Critic and Author
Marya E. Gates writes about film for RogerEbert.com and elsewhere, and published Cinema Her Way, a book of interviews with women directors. Her particular subject is the women who were central to the film industry before the histories were written without them, and her reading list is effectively a syllabus for that argument: early Hollywood screenwriters, the Universal directors of the 1910s, and filmmakers documenting their own work.
Archive
by Sofia Coppola · 2023 · Nonfiction
“It's composed of image collages, annotated script excerpts, behind-the-scenes photographs, and ephemera that contribute to and express her creative vision.” — via Article
Bright Star
Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
by John Keats · 2009 · Poetry
“It collects the pair's love letters and the poems by Keats that were inspired by their great love.” — via Article
Desperately Seeking Something
A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls
by Susan Seidelman · 2024 · Memoir
“She details how she went from the suburbs of Philadelphia to New York City to becoming one of Hollywood's most distinctive directors.” — via Article
Daughters of the Dust
The Making of an African American Woman's Film
by Julie Dash · 1991 · Nonfiction
“this book includes the script, an enlightening dialogue between Dash and Bell Hooks, as well as the story behind the film” — via Article
Universal Women
Filmmaking and Institutional Change in Early Hollywood
by Mark Garrett Cooper · 2010 · History
“Cooper shows how they became directors, then suggests what may have led to the decline in their ranks in the 1920s.” — via Article
Without Lying Down
Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood
by Cari Beauchamp · 1998 · Biography
“This essential text focuses on the life of pioneering screenwriter Frances Marion, once the highest-paid professional in her field, while seamlessly weaving in the careers of other women in early Hollywood, including stars Marie Dressler and Mary Pickford.” — via Article