A review by abuffy90
Backwards and in Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film by Alicia Malone

4.0

Thank you Alicia Malone for writing this book. I see a lot of reviews below complaining about how each section was too short or that they had heard of these women so they were bored. I appreciate that most in the latter did not rate. As a woman who has worked in the film and television industry for 14 years after dreaming of getting into it for almost the equivalent period of time, this was the first book I had ever picked up devoted solely to women in the film industry. For the period prior to 1960, not a single one of those actresses or filmmakers were so much as referenced in any of my classes in one of the best film schools in the nation despite having learned about some of the powerful men that Ms. Malone pointed out claimed the credit. In my entrance into this career path, my inspiration was powerful men who I aspired to not realizing their were women who had paved that path years before.

While I craved more detail as I read this book, especially the first half of it, the only thing that remained consistent is that this should be mandatory reading at film schools across the nation. These short tidbits could easily inspire young women to do their own research on these women and find alternate career paths that they did not know were available.

So again I cannot thank the author enough for this book. I’ll be reading her others in due time. If you are a filmmaker or aspiring to be one (whether male, female, or other) I highly recommend this book.