Red is everywhere—on the shirts, sweaters, boots, rims of eyeglasses, and necklaces—at a photo shoot for the Women in Film Festival, B.C. in a funky East Vancouver studio. It’s emblematic of the attitude of the women (and men) striving to break the glass ceiling in their industry.

In today’s postfeminist era, where men are touted as the new underclass, it’s hard to believe there are still professions that exclude women. “Whenever I see a film, I look at the credits to see how many women are in above-the-line positions—director, editor, DP [director of photography—and there are very few,” Danika Dinsmore, president of Women in Film & Television Vancouver, tells the Straight at the shoot.

The stats don’t lie: according to a 2006 report by the B.C. Institute of Film Professionals, women accounted for just 11 percent of the directors of B.C. independent features between 2002 and 2006. Dinsmore laments that while men direct all kinds of films, even “chick flicks” like Thelma & Louise, it’s virtually unheard of for women to be hired to direct a thriller, horror, or action flick.

Now in its third year, the Women in Film Festival, B.C. (www.wiffbc.com/), running from Friday (February 29) to March 8 at the Vancity Theatre, is an eclectic mix of events to empower and entertain both genders. Highlights include She’s a Boy I Knew, an award-winning feature by Gwen Haworth about her seven-year transition from a man into a woman, and Strong Coffee, a documentary by Sharron Bates on Café Femenino, an all-female northern Peruvian coffee farm, and its profound effect on the country’s machismo culture. There’s also a filmmaking contest, a writing workshop, a business seminar, and the “Kudos and Cupcakes” program, which features experimental shorts, music videos, dance, poetry, and food.

Despite breakthroughs by directors like Julia Kwan (Eve and the Fire Horse) and Sarah Polley (Away From Her), the actual percentage of women directing feature films has decreased recently. According to a study by Martha Lauzen of San Diego State University, the percentage of women directing the top 250 U.S. feature films dropped from 11 percent in 2000 to just six percent in 2007.

With so many women involved in the film industry, why are there so few of them in the director’s seat?

“A lot of women who go through school train to be writers and directors,” explains Katrin Bowen, director of Edna Brown, which is also screening at the festival. “But they’re often put into jobs like hair and makeup.”

At the same time, however, new technologies and changes in audience taste have made the industry more accessible for women. “You can get your camera and editing, you can get all this stuff for under $2,000, you can buy the equipment you need to make a film,” Dinsmore says.

But the festival is open to both genders.

“It’s not that we’re out to drive out men from the film business,” Dinsmore insists. “We just want to work together with the guys to create good movies.”