WMC News & Features
August 29, 2011 | Emily Wilson |
Arts and culture
"Higher Ground"—Vera Farmiga Takes Control
Using what she has learned from colleagues, Vera Farmiga, Oscar nominee for "Up in the Air," directs and stars in a film that explores spirituality. Arts reporter Emily Wilson talks to her about the project.
WMC News & Features
"Gloria: In Her Own Words"—Notes from a Young Feminist
Our twenty-something commentator appreciates the HBO documentary, but also wishes for a deeper treatment of WMC Cofounder Gloria Steinem's philosophy and activism.
WMC News & Features
Many Roads to Their Truth—The Topp Twins
In what singer-songwriter Billy Bragg calls their "anarchist variety act," the Topp Twins expand their loyal following beyond New Zealand's borders.
WMC News & Features
April 29, 2011 | Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova |
International
Russia’s Image of Woman—In a Country of Extremes
The filmmaker of a documentary about three women in a Siberian prison and a yearly May Day beauty pageant writes about the changing roles and images of women in Russia.
WMC News & Features
April 25, 2011 Arts and culture
Hollywood Gender Gap Persists in 100 Top-Grossing 2008 Films
A new study from researchers at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism shows that females remain less visible and less valued than males in top feature films—both in front of and behind the camera.
WMC News & Features
"Made in India": Outsourcing Surrogate Motherhood
Without judging the parties involved, two Brooklyn documentarians present an award winning story of those most vulnerable in what has become a global industry.
WMC News & Features
Getting Real About Reel Employment
Hollywood bigwigs don't want to hear it, but Martha Lauzen's figures do not lie: a few high-profile successes, however welcome, belie the stagnant status of women in the film industry. Here she suggests strategies for change.
WMC News & Features
Celebrating Reel Women: The First Annual Athena Film Festival
Two advocates for women in film launch a cultural institution in New York City.
WMC News & Features
Documenting Late-Term Abortion
Journalist Catherine Epstein talks to two documentarians about their film on late-term abortion and their motives for creating it.
WMC News & Features
Out of the Ash Cloud: An Al Jazeera Festival Premiere
An American filmmaker reflects on screening her documentary on Muslim women religious leaders at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival in Qatar.
WMC News & Features
June 03, 2010 | Melissa Silverstein |
Arts and culture
The Lilly Awards Honor Women in Theatre
Preempting the male bastion that dominates the Tony Awards, supporters of women playwrights took matters into their own hands, as Women and Hollywood blogger Melissa Silverstein explains.
WMC News & Features
“The Heretics”: Women of the Heresies Collective
The author interviews the maker of a documentary that captures a prolific period of feminist art, focusing on the collective as, according to the film web site, “a microcosm of the larger international women’s movement, in which thousands of small, private groups of women met together in forms unique to their own settings.”
WMC News & Features
Women’s History Spotlight: Jeannette Rankin
Director Kamala Lopez’s film tells the story of the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, one who bridged the suffrage, civil liberties, anti-war and women’s movements of 20th century America.
WMC News & Features
A Transformative Oscar Moment?
Women & Hollywood’s blogger here assesses the implications of a historic win for Kathryn Bigelow.
WMC News & Features
Benazir Bhutto: Uncensored and Unfettered
As a Pakistani American, the author has come to understand Benazir Bhutto over the years in different contexts. So she was surprised to discover fresh insights in a new documentary about the slain charismatic leader.
WMC News & Features
Hollywood's Niche for Black Actresses
As a few African American women are celebrated during this award season, pop culture commentator Courtney Young asks how many Hollywood doors are actually open.
WMC News & Features
Precious Star Claims the Spotlight
With the confidence of a seasoned performer, Gabourey Sidibe portrays a particular character with universal appeal. The movie, based on a Sapphire novel, opens in limited release on Friday.
WMC News & Features
February 13, 2009 | Melissa Silverstein |
Arts and culture
Frozen River: Oscar's 2009 Cinderella Story
A small budget movie breaks every conventional rule for success, and its writer and director, Courtney Hunt, is riding high—whether or not her film wins awards next week.
WMC News & Features
Keeping Hold of Your Vision—the Making of Hounddog
One of the dirty secrets of the film business is that it takes women directors a long time to get their films made. The Women, which opened recently, took Diane English 14 years to bring to the screen; other examples include Tamara Jenkins award-winning The Savagesand Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss, which took 10 years each. Writer/director Deborah Kampmeier joins this illustrious club with her own decade long trek to see her filmHounddog starring Dakota Fanning finally released in theatres.
WMC News & Features
September 05, 2008 | Carol Jenkins |
Arts and culture
Firaaq or “The Quest”—A Woman Filmmaker at Telluride
If you have had the exquisite pleasure of seeing the films Earth and Fire ( the last of the trilogy is Water) by the genius Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, then you know the celebrated actress Nandita Das. Now Das has followed in the footsteps of Mehta, described as “Canada's most internationally renowned woman filmmaker," by directing her first feature.
WMC News & Features
Women Film Critics: An Endangered Species?
Mainstream media paid scant attention to Martha Lauzen's "Thumbs Down: Representation of Women Film Critics in the Top 100 U.S. Daily Newspapers" when the report was published on July 28 by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ), although the posting was supported by simultaneous distribution to 500 entertainment media and movie industry A-listers.
WMC News & Features
Have You Seen a Woman Director Lately?
It's that time of the year again when most of Hollywood and the New York film world decamp to cold Park City, Utah, to feast on the latest indie fare at the Sundance Film Festival. This year seems a...
WMC News & Features
Persepolis—Iranian Feminist as Subversive
It's been a very difficult fall at the box office for political films, especially for those about the Iraq war. But the most interesting political film this fall comes from the most unlikely source—...
WMC News & Features
A Modest Proposal . . .
. . . to the Young Man on the Plane from Los Angeles to Seattle who said of the movie that most passengers—male and female—voted to watch, “I don’t watch chick flicks!”
So what exactly is a “chick...
WMC News & Features
May 31, 2007 | Melissa Silverstein |
Arts and culture
Guild Finds No Progress for Hollywood Women Writers
Ever read the credits of your favorite TV show or movie? Chances are it was written by a man. A recent report from the Writer’s Guild of America West, “Whose Stories Are We Telling?” shows us why. T...