SOCIAL CLIMES / THE OSCARS : WOMEN IN FILM : Above and Beyond the ‘Backlash’

Forget about limousines, gourmet pizzas and Italian tuxedos. There were none at this event. It was more fitting that pioneering feminist Betty Friedan was seated front and center before the large TV at Women in Film’s first Academy Awards viewing party, held Monday night at the Beverly Hills Country Club.

Although Friedan spoke of Hollywood’s rampant “backlash”--the new ‘90s buzzword--against strong women characters, particularly career women, she whooped and applauded along with everyone else when “Thelma & Louise” stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis appeared. “The unexpected selling power of some of these movies, like ‘Thelma & Louise’ and ‘Fried Green Tomatoes,’ about two women buddies, shows there is power to transcend the backlash,” Friedan said, adding, “These movies can save some of these bankrupt movie studios.”

Women in Film, a nonprofit professional organization, held the party “to empower women on the most important night in Hollywood,” said entertainment attorney Emily Card, who chaired the event.

Women editors, directors, production designers, writers, script supervisors and actresses populated the party.

“When I was making pictures, a woman director was not considered, and women were not part of the crew, except for ‘script girl,’ no matter what the age,” said actress Evelyn Keyes, who appeared in “Gone With the Wind.”

Kaja Fehr, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985 for film editing for “Prizzi’s Honor,” said she wants to direct. “Cinematography is a man’s club, and that’s just starting to open up, and directing is opening up even more, but it’s still hard for a woman to break through,” she said.

“Poltergeist director Tobe Hooper, who attended with his fiancee, film editor Rita Bartlett, agreed. “I think it’s time for women to express their point of view rather than have men second-guess their view,” he said.

“A strong female character is a rarity,” said actress Christine Lahti.

Women in Film recognized several members who had either won or had been nominated for Academy Awards in the past, including Lahti, Fehr, actress Lesley Ann Warren, producer-director Ilene Landis, producer-director Sue Marx, documentarian Vivienne Verdon-Roe, screenwriter Pamela Wallace and visual-effects specialist Suzanne Benson.