The number of films made by women and released in the UK dropped by 6% in 2022, according to figures from female-focused film organisation Birds Eye View.
Out of the 588 titles to receive a theatrical release in the UK this year, 143, or 24%, were made by women. For a film to qualify it must be directed or co-directed and/or written or co-written (with at least 50% film credit) by women.
This figure is down 6% from 2021 when 166 titles (30%) qualified.
Birds Eye View found a significant rise in films made by Black women and women of colour, with 36 of the 128 female-directed films coming from Black women and women of colour in 2022.
This accounts for 28% of women-made titles, up from 19% in 2021, but still only reflects 6% of all theatrical releases.
However, the organisation also reported a rise in women having creative control on a project with the number of women directing solo or with another woman reaching an all-time high of 18.7% (since records began in 2017).
Of the top 100 performing titles at the UK box office in 2022, 11 titles were directed by women, with an additional two receiving co-director credits.
The best-performing title at the UK 2022 box office was Don’t Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde, and released through Warner Bros – reaching number 26 on the top 100 list. The thriller, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, received the widest opening ever for a female-directed film in the UK and grossed £9.3m*.
This is followed by Olivia Newman’s Where The Crawdads Sing at number 33, released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which took £7.7m.
The other titles in the top 100 were Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King (£3.6m), Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections (£3.4m) and Kat Coiro’s Marry Me (£2.5m).
Next on the list is The Nan Movie (£1.9m). Mary Queen Of Scots director Josie Rourke was originally attached to the project though the director credit was left vacant upon the film’s release with Rourke being listed as an executive producer instead. The comedy was written by comedian Catherine Tate, who also stars and exec produces, with Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein.
Maria Schrader’s She Said (£1.2m) follows along with Sophie Hyde’s Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (£1.1m); Frances O’Connor’s Emily (£1.1m); Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun (£0.8m); and Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies (£0.8m).
Two of the 11 female-made titles were co-directed and/or co-written with a man: Fisherman’s Friends: One And All (£3.2m) at number 52 and Encanto (£2.1m) at 63.
*All box office figures via Box Office Mojo
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