Jodie Foster said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible while at the Sundance Film Festival that the $1.4 billion success of “Barbie” helps prove that Hollywood no longer views women directors as too much of a risk. That wasn’t always the case, as Foster often saw women filmmakers being marginalized during her career ascent in Hollywood.
“I’ve had the beauty of being able to be in the business since the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and so on,” Foster said to Variety’s Rebecca Rubin. “The progression or bettering of our audiences translates into a kind of new thinking about who our marginalized voices are. In the old days, they saw women as a risk. Not sure why they saw us as a risk — 50% of the population! That thinking has changed now. With a big success like ‘Barbie,’ they gave Greta Gerwig, who had made two mostly independent films, they gave her the keys to the kingdom and said ‘We’re going to give you our most important child’ and all the money to support it. That’s new for women. I hope that continues.”
Foster is in Sundance as an executive producer on the short film “Alok,” directed by Alex Hedison. Foster and Hedison are married. The film is an intimate portrait of author author, poet, comedian and public speaker Alok Vaid-Menon. The short world premiered at Sundance. She said that when it comes to progression in Hollywood you have to be patient, even though it’s hard.
“This year we saw a lot of representation, which is important but it’s not enough just to see faces,” Foster said. “For Native Americans, for example, we saw a lot of representation but not a lot of centered stories. The person telling the story wasn’t the point of view. My show ‘True Detective’ takes us to the next level of talking about Native issues from a Native perspective.”
Foster currently is headlining the fourth season of HBO’s “True Detective,” titled “True Detective: Night Country.” She stars opposite boxer-turned-actor Kali Reis in a murder mystery that centers on an Indigenous Alaskan woman.
The short film “Alok” has earned a warm reception on the ground in Park City.
“I met Alok and was immediately taken by the way they express themselves,” Hedison said about her decision to tackle the movie. “The message, their extraordinary mind and heart and spirit. Right away, I asked if I could start following you with a camera. I imposed myself on you.”
Vaid-Menon said taking a chance on Hudson was easy because of her sharp eye on social media. They explained, “The proof is in the pudding. Alex takes a mean Instagram photo. It wasn’t just my opinion. I posted a photo Alex had taken and people were like, ‘This is an amazing photo.’ The audition was met with amazing success.”
