Yesterday, one of my tweet was about women filmmakers. One of our followers mentioned Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director with her low-budget film 'The Hurt Locker'. Ironically, she won against her former husband James Cameron who was in competition with no less than the 3D blockbuster 'Avatar'. Bigelow said in an interview that she thinks of herself as a filmmaker rather than a female filmmaker.

We shouldn't have to make the distinction but unfortunately, women filmmakers are still not getting as much attention as men, compared to actresses. But if they have less recognition, it is certainly not because their movies lack quality. 'The kids are all right', one of this summer's most acclaimed movie, was directed by Lisa Cholodenko. But, by often being excluded from "big budget" movies, they are rarely represented in the box office hits. The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Films has not so surprising statistics about the topic.

Why don't they get the same opportunities? Some already succeeded in making action, sports or even violent movies, some genres you might think would fit better to male directors. Remember the graphic 'American Psycho', the science-fiction 'Deep Impact', the amazing 'Big'... All directed by women. If I ask you to name a few filmmakers, what are the chances to hear some female names? To be sure it happens, here are a few to know: Nancy Meyers, Nora Ephron, Penny Marshall, Gillian Armstrong, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Amy Heckerling. I couldn't encourage you more to watch their films.

I wonder what Alice Guy, the first female filmmaker (and French!) would tell all the aspiring women filmmakers so they don't give up. Ironically, it was actually easier for her at the time as directing movies wasn't yet considered a serious business.

What are your thoughts about it? What would it take for women to get more recognition? Being able to direct big Hollywood movies? But is the success really in the box office results only?