Description: Feminist Hollywood examines the differences between commercial cinema and counter cinema by focusing on the work of contemporary women directors who have entered Hollywood from the realm of independent filmmaking. Christina Lane compares their early documentaries or avant-garde films with their more mainstream endeavors as she explores the possibilities and limits of feminist expression within the male-dominated industry of commercial filmmaking.

Lane analyzes critical theories of genre, authorship, and gender representation in order to understand the relationship of the political contribution of women to the production of popular culture. Some of the films analyzed are Working Girls, Near Dark, Rambling Rose, Guncrazy, and Bad Girls. Lane advocates an approach to film analysis that looks for multiple ideologies and contradictory modes of representation within a single work.

Feminist Hollywood incorporates interviews with directors such as Susan Seidelman, Martha Coolidge, Kathryn Bigelow, Lizzie Borden, Darnell Martin, and Tamra Davis in an attempt to bridge the "theory gap' that often excludes women's professional experiences and makes false assumptions about how the industry operates. Lane balances these first-hand accounts with cultural theory and an understanding of the current film industry, in which the line between commercial and independent filmmaking has become blurred.

The timely and comprehensive nature of this volume will make it a welcome addition to the bookshelves of film scholars and amateur movie buffs alike.

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