Why Not a Woman Director?

I don't think that women should be restricted to directing only chick flicks or films about women, but looking at the film landscape and the pathetic number of films directed by women, it boggles my mind when a film like the upcoming romantic drama (thanks for the fix) Nights at Rodanthe turns out to be directed by a gay man with no previous film experience. Couldn't this film have been the perfect opportunity for a female director maybe like Martha Coolidge (who directed The Prince and Me) with experience dealing with relationship movies.

I intend no offense to George C. Wolfe -- a man known best for his theatrical directing (Angels in America- one of the best things I've ever seen) and for running the Public Theatre. He is a genius. But for a man not known for lightness is a strange choice for directing this Diane Lane-Richard Gere romantic comedy.

How does a man who has never directed a film before (he has directed Lackawanna Blues on HBO) get this gig when the many women who have experience in this genre continue to get passed over?

George C. Wolfe's big-screen debut is 'Nights in Rodanthe' (LA Times)

photo: Michael Tackett