Currently Browsing: Georgiana E. Presecky
A rebellious daughter playing football, a Pakistani son of immigrants obsessed with the music of Bruce Springsteen and the final British Viceroy of India. These are characters at the heart of filmmaker Gurinder Chada’s extensive filmography, dating back to her 1993 debut, Bhaji on the Beach. The award-winning director has not only helmed 11 feature […]
Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video March 20, Blow the Man Down is a stylish and suspenseful drama from writer-director team Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy. The 90-minute feature is a sinister and eerie tale about the dark connections between women in this seemingly bleak but memorable small town. During the dreary winter […]
Twenty films from female filmmakers received perfect scores from the FF2 Media team during 2019. To receive a perfect score from our team, a film must pass the Bechdel-Wallace test and feature a female writer or director – 220 films matching the latter criteria were released theatrically in Manhattan last year. The following films are […]
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the all-female team of film critics at FF2 Media were assigned to write about their favorite female artists. Mine is Nancy Meyers. ****************************** The name “Nancy Meyers” has become synonymous with stunning production design and dynamic roles for women of all ages. She was the first woman to direct […]
March is Women’s History Month, in which we celebrate International Women’s Day and International SWAN Day in support of women artists. The “golden age of documentary” has opened doors for female filmmakers by providing them with opportunities to tell women’s stories through compelling and true narratives. Many fascinating and well-crafted documentaries are also available to […]
The 23rd Chicago European Union Film Festival (CEUFF) will run March 6 – April 2 at the Gene Siskel Film Center. More than 40 films from 28 EU nations will screen over the four-week festival, which remains the largest showcase in North America for EU cinema. Of 47 features, 15 are directed by women – […]
The 18th annual Female Eye Film Festival will honor American filmmaker Deborah Kampmeier with the Best in the Biz Award and a retrospective of her work, including Virgin (2003), Split (2016) and the world premiere of Tape (2019). Held in recognition of International Women’s Day (IWD), from March 5 to March 8, 2020 at Toronto’s […]
Angel or Spike? Jess or Logan? Dawson or Pacey? The love triangle trope that made the WB network famous in the late 1990s is alive and well on Netflix – specifically in the smash hit To All the Boys franchise, adapted from Jenny Han’s best-selling novels. Long-awaited sequel To All the Boys: P.S. I Still […]
Miranda Tapsell co-writes and stars in director Wayne Blair’s Top End Wedding, a warm-hearted romantic comedy with an entirely original spirit. The offbeat humor and family heart of this story make it a memorable addition to the genre, along with a delightful cast. Tapsell plays Lauren Ford, an overworked attorney who recently became engaged to […]
There is a poignant moment about halfway through Lone Scherfig’s 10th feature film, The Kindness of Strangers, in theaters Feb. 14. Clara (Zoe Kazan) is at the end of her rope after escaping an abusive husband in upstate New York. She’s been wandering the streets of Manhattan with her two sons, looking for food, stealing […]
Documentary directors Nanette Burstein and Lana Wilson discussed the premieres of their films onstage with The Atlantic’s Megan Garber at the Sundance Film Festival Monday, Jan. 27. Both women helm documentaries about the complicated and multi-faceted lives of female public figures. Wilson premiered Taylor Swift: Miss Americana on the festival’s opening night. The film will […]
From directors Bert and Bertie and screenwriter Lucy Alibar comes the sweet and smart comedy Troop Zero, streaming on Amazon Prime Video January 17. This delightful feature not only celebrates originality as a theme for its memorable characters, but also sends a message to the audience about the value of completely original stories – especially […]
If the story told by this year’s Oscar nominations were an original screenplay, Academy members likely wouldn’t vote for its stale, predictable and entirely unoriginal narrative. Actually, the “same old” narrative probably wouldn’t matter all that much. As long as a man directs it. Nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards were announced Monday by the […]
Women make up about 30 percent of nominees being recognized by the Writers Guild of America for writing feature films in 2019. Of 23 total nominated screenwriters on 15 films, seven are women. Five of 10 writers nominated for Original Screenplay are female: 1917 co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Booksmart writers Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna […]
The 77th Golden Globe Awards were held Jan. 5 in Los Angeles, featuring a dismally male-dominant slate of nominees from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. On the film side, no women screenwriters or directors were nominated. Only one of the 10 films nominated for Best Motion Picture is written by a woman: the category’s winner […]
Several critics groups in major U.S. cities are honoring the work of female filmmakers in the lead-up to the Academy Awards in February. Most critics groups announce nominees and winners in December, before nationally-broadcast ceremonies in January: the Golden Globe Awards Jan. 5 and the Critics Choice Awards Jan. 12, followed by the guilds of […]
The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) announced award winners in 19 categories Dec. 14. Chosen from a refreshingly-diverse list of nominees, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women leads the pack with four wins alongside Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. Gerwig won Best Adapted Screenplay for her faithful version of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel. Her brilliantly-executed nonlinear […]
The Library of Congress National Film Registry announced Wednesday the 25 films selected for historic preservation this year. Movies like Amadeus, Clerks, Old Yeller and Purple Rain were chosen from 5,200 entries because of their “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance.” A record 28 percent of films on the list are directed by women – seven […]
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the 77th Golden Globe Awards early Dec. 9. No women are nominated for Best Director or Best Screenplay, despite buzz surrounding films like A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Farewell, Hustlers and Little Women. All four films were recognized with acting nods for Tom Hanks, […]
Late in the story of Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters, first published in 1868, old friends Theodore Laurence and Josephine March are reunited after being separated by years and continents. “‘How good it sounds to hear you call me Teddy,’” Alcott writes. “‘No one ever calls me that but you,’” and Laurie sat down with […]
The National Board of Review announced its picks for best movies of 2019 Dec. 3, the first of many organizations who will roll out their awards season winners throughout the month of December. Very few awards went to female filmmakers, the most notable being Melina Matsoukas winning Best Directorial Debut for Queen & Slim, her […]
The 29th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were held Dec. 2, featuring a myriad of female winners. This kickoff to awards season featured not only tributes to legendary women in film Ava DuVernay and Laura Dern, but a number of awards for female filmmakers for their outstanding achievement in 2019. The Mustang director Laure de […]
It’s a beautiful day at the box office for women in film. Three of the five movies dominating late-November ticket sales are directed by women. Frozen 2 won Thanksgiving weekend, earning more than $85 million domestically. The film directed by Jennifer Lee has already broken box office records, opening at #1 in all markets November […]
The Film Independent Spirit Award nominees were announced Nov. 21, featuring several nominations for women in film. Voted on exclusively by Film Independent members, the awards will be held February 8, broadcast on IFC. Two films directed by women are nominated for Best Feature: The Farewell (Lulu Wang) and Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu). Alfre Woodard is […]
159 documentaries were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar contention. 55 are directed by women. AMPAS will announce a documentary shortlist of 15 finalists Dec. 16. Both the Directors Guild of America and the Academy have a history of recognizing gender parity for women in the documentary category, despite […]
The 17th Annual Female Eye Festival (FeFF) began Nov. 7, featuring more than 75 films directed by women. Running through Nov. 10 at the ScotiaBank Theatre in Toronto, the festival is a proud showcase for “so many talented women, most of whom are writers, directors and producers,” according to FeFF Founder and Executive Director Leslie […]
The wonderful world of Disney isn’t so wonderful for female directors. Streaming service Disney+ will launch Nov. 12. Users can stream hundreds of Disney titles dating back to 1940, including new original content, for $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. Of the more than 500 films that will be featured on Disney+, only 36 […]
Apple TV+ launches Nov. 1, featuring a diverse lineup of content from female directors. The first all-original video subscription service will be available on the Apple TV app in more than 100 countries at the price of $4.99 per month. “With Apple TV+, we are presenting all-original stories from the best, brightest and most creative […]
Several film festivals in the U.S. are doing their part to support women in film in the coming months. Though events like Rom Com Fest in Los Angeles and 51Fest in New York City were held this summer to present the worthy work of female filmmakers, cities including Boston and Chicago are also showing dozens […]
The Architecture & Design Film Festival will run Oct. 16-20 at Cinépolis Chelsea in New York City. The 11th year of the nation’s largest film festival devoted to architecture and design will feature eight films directed by women. With 19 films screening, about 42 percent of the lineup is from female filmmakers. Alysa Nahmias’ The […]
