Stories of women in the film industry, onscreen and off, and interviews with Ava DuVernay, America Ferrera, Geena Davis, Octavia Spencer, and more.
 
Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels . . .
 
One of the first people to ever pick up a motion picture camera was a woman—as was the first screenwriter to win two Academy Awards, the inventor of the boom microphone, and the first person to be credited with the title Film Editor. From Hollywood’s earliest days, women have been revolutionizing, innovating, and shaping how we make movies. Yet their stories are rarely shared.
 
In Backwards and in Heels, film reporter and author of The Female Gaze Alicia Malone tells the history of women in film through stories about incredible ladies who made their mark throughout each era of Hollywood, from the first women directors, to the iconic movie stars, to present-day activists. These inspiring stories also highlight the specific obstacles women have had to face. Backwards and in Heels combines research and exclusive interviews with influential women and men working in Hollywood today, such as Geena Davis, J.J. Abrams, Ava DuVernay, Octavia Spencer, America Ferrera, Paul Feig, Todd Fisher, and many more, as well as film professors, historians, and experts.