How many female filmmakers does it take to break a Sundance record?

For the first time in Sundance history an equal number of male and female-directed films will be vying for top prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. It's also the most women to ever compete in that category, according to the Associated Press.

The film festival announced all 16 selections (see below) on Wednesday. The group's eight female filmmakers represent the category's largest concentration of women ever, and also break a record set more than a decade ago, reports the AP.

Sundance organizers were still trolling back to the early years of the festival's 33-year history, but this January's eight competition films appears to be most ever from women and the first time the entries have been evenly split between female and male directors.

Going back to 1992, the best showing previously for female filmmakers was in 2000, when six of the 16 U.S. dramatic contenders were directed by women.

The U.S. documentary competition also has an even gender split...That's not a record, though, as women have made stronger in-roads into documentary filmmaking and have accounted for more than half of the entries in Sundance's non-fiction lineup in the past.

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