She put her mark on The Handmaid’s Tale. Now the
British director is working on Mrs America, which stars Cate Blanchett as an infamous anti-feminist. But that’s not who’s caught Asante’s eye
It’s difficult for Amma Asante to assess how far she’s come, because she just doesn’t have the relevant role models. “I haven’t had the example,” says the director, “of someone who is both black, British and female to look to, in terms of the career I’d like to have. It’s thwarted my sense of expectation.”
Still, in the decade between making her first film, 2004’s Bafta-winning A Way of Life, and her second, the 18th-century-set drama Belle, Asante became increasingly aware of male counterparts getting more chances, being more likely to be award-nominated, and consequently getting even more opportunities and even bigger budgets.