New FF2 Contributor Eti Or reports on her time at the 7th annual Athena Film Festival, hosted by Barnard College in Manhattan from 2/9/17 thru 2/12/17. AFF'18 dates are 2/22/18 thru 2/25/18. We hope to see YOU there next year 🙂 I flew from Tel Aviv to New York recently to help my grandmother for a few…
Author: FF2-admin
Allstate increases grant for Siskel Film Center
The Allstate Corporation has given the Gene Siskel Film Center a $10,000 grant for their annual Black Harvest Film Festival, a $5,000 increase from last year. This is the third year that Allstate has given the film center and 2017 marks the BHFF's 23rd year. The grant will focus on the festival's Youth Filmmaker Program,…
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Dear Cinephiles: It's time to think about short lists for the 89th annual OscarBowl on February 26, 2017. Backlash from the 2016 Oscar snubs sparked our merit-based Make Oscars Gold campaign, a combination of #OscarsSoWhite (lack of minorities) and #StopBlueOscar (lack of women). If Oscar wants to be "gold" = merit-based, then everyone should have…
ALWAYS SHINE
Takals’s film Always Shine successfully utilizes the best elements of several genres, excellent sound design, to produce a final product that is all at once horrifying and beautiful. The story is simple: two young actresses whose friendship has been tainted by one woman’s success and the other’s lack of success. But the film is incredibly…
FYC '17: Jan Lisa Huttner
Dear AMPAS: FF2 Editor-in-Chief Jan Lisa Huttner asks you to consider these fourteen films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016) for Oscar nominations next month. (Note that this list is dated 12/1/16 & will be updated after 12/31/16.) Jan's Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (Yes! All four of these feature films…
FYC '17: Brigid Presecky
FF2 Managing Editor Brigid Presecky asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) Jack of the Red Hearts (Director Janet…
FYC '17: Jessica Perry
FF2 Associate Editor Jessica Perry asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) Hello, My Name is Doris (Writer Laura…
FYC '17: Lindsy M. Bissonnette
FF2 Associate Lindsy M. Bissonnette asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) Ghostbusters (Writer Katie Dippold) Wild Oats (Writer Claudia Myers) My…
FYC '17: Eliana Levenson
FF2 Associate Eliana Levenson asks you to consider these films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) The Edge of Seventeen (Writer/Director Kelly Fremon Craig) Equity…
FYC '17: Rachel Kastner
FF2 Intern Rachel Kastner asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) American Honey (Writer and Director Andrea Arnold) Maggie's Plan (Writer and…
FYC '17: Amelie Lasker
FF2 Intern Amelie Lasker asks you to consider these seven films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) American Honey (Writer and Director Andrea Arnold) Mia Madre (Writer Valia Santella)…
FYC '17: Georgi Presecky
FF2 Social Media Manager Georgi Presecky asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) Into the Forest (Writer/Director Patrica Rozema) Fantastic Beasts…
FYC '17: Peier Tracy Shen
FF2 Intern Peier Tracy Shen asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) American Honey (Director Andrea Arnold) Certain Women…
FYC '17: Lesley Coffin
FF2 Senior Contributor Lesley Coffin asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) The Dressmaker (Director Jocelyn Moorhouse) Queen of Katwe (Director…
FYC '17: Lisa Iannucci
FF2 Senior Contributor Lisa Iannucci asks you to consider these four films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (2) Hello, My Name is Doris (Screenwriter Laura Terruso)…
FYC '17: Nora Lee Mandel
FF2 Senior Contributor Nora Lee Mandel asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theatres in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 The Dressmaker (Director Jocelyn Moorhouse) Equity (Director Meera Menon) My…
FYC '17: Stephanie Taylor
FF2 Senior Contributor Stephanie Taylor asks you to consider these six films by women writers &/or directors (from the full list of films released in NYC theaters in 2016). Note that this list was created in November & will be updated after December 31, 2016. My Favorite Feature Films of 2016 Queen of Katwe (Director Mira Nair)…
AMERICAN PASTORAL
Ewan McGregor's new adaptation of Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel American Pastoral is a noble failure. The screenplay has a complicated structure which keeps Nathan Zuckerman (Roth's alter ego) two steps removed from his subject Seymour Levov (aka "Swede"). Thus reduced in the screenplay to a framing device, the Nathan Zuckerman character is unable to provide adequate context for a…
I WILL BE HEARD
From Editor-in-Chief Jan Lisa Huttner: FF2 Media is proud to publish this spoken word poem by Lindsy M. Bissonnette, one response by one member of our team to the 2016 Election. We now look to the future; there is much work to do! Head down. Don't make eye contact. Don't let the friction and electricity in…
Michael Moore in Trumpland
In his new film Michael Moore in Trumpland, the cinematic gadfly asks himself a really important question: "Since Hillary Clinton has always supported MY work, why have I done so little (so far) to support HER as a Presidential candidate?" Great Question, MM!!! The film ends with an exhilarating imagining of all the genuinely Progressive things a President Hillary…
GB '16: Au Contraire
If I had to pick one word to describe the Ghostbusters reboot, the word would be "disappointing." Guest Critic Elyse Thaler weighs in on GB '16 Let me be clear, as a twenty-seven year old woman who was raised to be a feminist and is currently fighting for her place in the entertainment industry I…
2 Weeks on Troll Patrol
Confessions of a Sub Admin by Dani d’Arge A few weeks ago, I had another sleepless night. Imagine that, a 54 year old widow, alone in her country home, not getting a wink – too hot, too worried about the election, with a cat trying to sleep in her face. As if writing research reports about…
Pulchronomics 2016
Booted from FOX : Roger Ailes Finally Gets his Just Desserts Special For FF2 Media By Stephanie Taylor A few years back I wrote a 3-part series for FF2 Media called Pulchronomics 101 in which I showed how physical beauty affects women in the workplace -- often determining their success or at least making the road a little easier -- using movies and cable…
AMPAS '16: Maren Ade
AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here…
AMPAS '16: Lexi Alexander
AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here…
AMPAS '16: Haifaa al-Mansour
AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here…
AMPAS '16: Ana Lily Amirpour
Ana Lily Amirpour is an Iranian-American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, most known for her feature film debut, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Self-described as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western" and starring Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Dominic Rains, Mozhan Marnò and Rome Shadanloo, the film built up significant buzz…
AMPAS '16: Katie Aselton
AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here…