Helen Mirren: Calls for more female film directors

Helen Mirren: Calls for more female film directors

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren has decried the lack of female directors in the film industry.

Mirren addressed the problem as she collected a lifetime achievement award at the Karlovy Vary international film festival.

"I don't know how many female directors are presenting their films in this festival," The Guardian quotes Mirren as saying. "I very much doubt that it's 50%. Not too many, I'm sure."

"When I was making films [early in my career] there were very, very few female directors, and there were certainly no women on set, which made taking one's clothes off all the more difficult."

The veteran actress went on to praise directors such as Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow and Julie Taymor for being part of a shift in the right direction, but added that a more substantial change is needed.

"Things have moved on, but as far as I'm concerned, they haven't moved on enough," she concluded.

In her speech, Mirren also paid tribute to writer and director Nora Ephron, who passed away last week.

Dame Helen Mirren's sentiments echo those expressed last month by Meryl Streep, who criticized Hollywood studios for making expensive box office flops, and suggested that the under-representation of women could be part of the problem.