Female filmmakers are breaking out at this year's Toronto film festival, reflecting a growing worldwide trend that could soon result in a first directing Oscar for a woman.

Women still account for an estimated 10 percent of directors in Hollywood and elsewhere. Australia and New Zealand are the exception, with an unexplained, more even male-female ratio of directors.

In a sign of things to come, however, female filmmakers this week occupy some of Toronto's most coveted spots: screenings and press conferences in the first few days, when industry buyers and media are paying the most attention.

"There's a new generation of young female filmmakers emerging," said festival programmer Jane Schoettle. "And this generation is insisting on expressing itself."

Schoettle also credits in part new film technologies that have made movie-making more accessible.

"People who are disenfranchised, particularly women in socially-restricted countries, are gravitating to the medium to be heard," she said.

The Toronto film festival does not choose films to showcase based on a gender quota and there is no difference in the quality or feel of films directed by women, she noted.

But women are generally less afraid to tackle more difficult subjects "because they have less to lose," Schoettle said.

In the male-dominated movie business, she commented, "It's about financing and financing is about power and power is about clubs and it's very hard to break into the club."

"But it's starting to happen," she said. Women directors are demonstrating they "have more than their fair share of testosterone".

Female directors were first and last propelled to the front of Hollywood's awards race in 2003 when Sofia Coppola screened Lost in Translation here. Coppola is one of only three women to be nominated for a directing Oscar.

Lina Wertmuller and Jane Campion also earned the distinction, for Seven Beauties and The Piano, respectively.

None of them won.

Niki Caro's Whale Rider, Catherine Hardwicke's Thirteen, Patty Jenkins's Monster and Shari Springer Berman's American Splendor all made a strong impression that year too.

Campion is reportedly back in contention for prizes this year with Bright Star, about poet John Keats and his muse Fanny Brawne, while Caro is said to have a good shot with her latest film The Vintner's Luck.

Other women screening films at the festival this year include directors Lone Scherfig (An Education), Rebecca Miller (The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) and Leanne Pooley (The Topp Twins).

Drew Barrymore and Samantha Morton are making their directorial debuts in Toronto with Whip It and The Unloved, respectively.

And Kathryn Bigelow's Hurt Locker, which was screened last year in Toronto, has generated substantial Oscar buzz since its summer release.

Karyn Kusama's comedic horror Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox as a sexy high school girl who literally rips out men's hearts, also premiered here this week. Kusama was last in Toronto with Girl Fight in 2000.

Jennifer's Body was written by Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for her screenplay Juno in 2008.

(China Daily/AFP September 14, 2009)