Currently Browsing: Georgiana E. Presecky
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 […]
The 55th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) announced its full lineup Sept. 18, featuring 40 films directed by women. About 30 percent of the 136 films being screened at the AMC River East from Oct. 16-27 are from female filmmakers (on par with last year’s numbers). From gala presentations like Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet to festival-circuit […]
Olivia Wilde’s summer comedy Booksmart was quickly dubbed “the female Superbad” by publications like Vox and CinemaBlend after its release in May. Twitter users cited similarities between the two films, while Interview Magazine and InStyle both published articles about why the film is better than Superbad (2007). From the box office to marketing questions, the […]
Dr. Michele Meek is the author of the new book Independent Female Filmmakers: A Chronicle Through Interviews, Profiles and Manifestos. The writer, professor and director features the work of multiple directors from Martha Coolidge to Jennifer Fox in the hope of raising awareness for film-going audiences about the impact of women in film. FF2 Media […]
CNN aired a six-part series on the history of American cinema throughout July and August. Produced by Tom Hanks and Werner Herzog as an extension of their successful “Decades” series, the 12-hour docu-style series The Movies is an informative tribute to the cultural impact of cinema – and culture’s influence on the everchanging film landscape. […]
Marvel is notorious for hiring male directors for its big-budget blockbuster hits, from the Russo Brothers’ Avengers series to franchises like Thor and Spider-Man. The studio announced release dates for two new feature films from female directors at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend – Black Widow and Eternals. Though the directors were announced as attached […]
Three female directors are nominated for Emmy awards in major categories this year, of 14 nominees announced July 16. Amy Sherman-Palladino and her snappy Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel lead the Television Academy’s nominations this year with 20 Emmy nods. Sherman-Palladino made history last year as the first woman to win Emmys for both […]
Eight hundred forty-two new members were invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences July 1. According to Variety, 50 percent of the invitees are women, up one percent from last year. Many female screenwriters, editors, documentarians, actors and other categories were invited, along with 22 feature film directors who identify as […]
Out this Friday, Incredibles 2 is the 20th feature film released in the 23-year history of Pixar. The animation studio has made headlines in recent months with the exit of co-founder John Lasseter and the team behind Toy Story 4 stepping down due to perceived mistreatment of women and people of color.
You’ll read plenty of think pieces about Booksmart this week. Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut about best friends who make one last attempt to have fun before high school graduation has garnered high praise since its SXSW premiere and currently sits at 100 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its May 24 release. On a […]
The Tribeca Film Festival announced its 2019 jury members April 16. Jurors will select award-winners in 10 categories at the annual festival, which will be held April 25-May 5 in New York City. Among the 10 categories is the Nora Ephron Prize, an annual award given to “a woman who embodies the spirit and vision […]
I really wanted to love Five Feet Apart. In my head, I already did, from the cheerful trailer to the engaging promotional tour in which its very entertaining leads Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson spoke of raising awareness for cystic fibrosis, the chronic disease that plagues their characters in the film. I didn’t love […]
Twilight Bowl previews began February 8 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, from playwright Rebecca Gilman and director Erica Weiss. The powerful story follows six young women at a bowling alley in small-town Wisconsin as they contemplate their past choices and future paths. “The first time I read this play I was, first of all, blown away […]
Time’s Up and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative announced the #4PercentChallenge at Sundance Film Festival this weekend to increase the number of women directors making top-grossing films. According to research from the Inclusionists, only four percent of the 1,200 highest-grossing films from 2007 to 2018 were directed by women. “It’s time for a change – […]
Four Chicago film critics provided their thoughts about the 91st Academy Award nominations January 22. FF2 Media Contributor Pamela Powell joined WGN’s Dean Richards, WCIU’s Brandon Pope and Hollywood and Chicago’s Patrick McDonald at the CMX Cinemas in Skokie to discuss their favorite films, along with snubs and surprises. The critics unanimously agreed that Roma […]
Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards were announced early January 22. For the 87th time in Oscar history, no women are nominated for Best Director; only five women have ever been nominated in this category and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, 2010) is the only winner. No Best Picture nominees are directed by women this […]
Eight of the 15 films advancing in the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards are directed by women. Oscar voting ended January 14 and official nominees are announced January 22.
The Wife expanded to 150 theaters the weekend of January 11, following Glenn Close’s win for Best Actress at the Golden Globes. Sony Pictures Classics re-released the film after its initial August run the same weekend Close tied Lady Gaga for Best Actress at the 24th Annual Critics Choice Awards January 13. At both ceremonies, she used her speech as an opportunity to talk about celebrating women.
There were many triumphant moments for women at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, despite very few female writers and directors being represented in film categories. Many winning actresses used their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to champion female creators. On the television side, Best Actress Rachel Brosnahan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel thanked many women […]
The Writer’s Guild of America announced nominees for its annual awards January 7. Writers of 10 feature films are nominated for best screenplay, but Can You Ever Forgive Me? co-writer Nicole Holofcener is the only woman of 21 writers. The documentary screenplay category is a slight improvement, with Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth) and Dava Whisenant […]
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has once again neglected to acknowledge female filmmakers in its pool of Golden Globe nominees. For the fourth year in a row, no women are nominated for best director. Only five women have ever been nominated in this category, and Barbra Streisand is the only winner (for Yentl in 1984). […]
Ella Fairon will direct the short documentary Saving Daisy, following sexual assault survivor Daisy Coleman through treatment for her post-traumatic stress disorder. Viewers first met Coleman in the Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy, which told parallel stories about the trauma associated with sexual assault. Saving Daisy will largely focus on eye movement desensitization reprocessing, a […]
The A&E docuseries The Clinton Affair premiered November 18, the first in a six-part series reexamining the former president’s controversial affair with Monica Lewinsky. The show marks 20 years since Clinton’s impeachment process began in December 1998, in which he was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his relationship […]
Widows and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald both hit theaters November 15, with the latter earning $9.1 million on its opening night according to early Deadline reports. Both films are written by best-selling authors – Widows by Gillian Flynn and Fantastic Beasts by JK Rowling. Their screenplays are entirely original, not adapted from novels.
The Advancing Women Artists Foundation will launch A Space of Their Own, an online database of more than 600 female artists working from the 15th and 19th centuries. The illustrated online space “will become something of a virtual museum, providing the public with access to paintings that might otherwise languish in museum storage,” according to […]
Streaming service Hulu isn’t just for rewatching every new episode of The Good Place for the third time (although I highly recommend doing that). In addition to its same-day streaming of network and cable shows, premium original content like the Stephen King-inspired series Castle Rock and the award-winning phenomenon The Handmaid’s Tale, a Hulu subscription […]
There’s a lot to catch up on from the world of women in film. Recapping October’s biggest moments for female directors and characters: #IfAWomanDirected: The Twitter account for the streaming service FilmStruck prompted its followers with this tweet Oct. 22: “#ifawomandirected _______, then ________.” The hashtag quickly took off, with Twitter users looking at films […]
Though the festival is offering a variety of notable foreign films from female directors now through Oct. 21, FF2 has selected three of our favorites from France, Italy and Spain – all of which display the complex relationships between parents and their children, the past and the present.
Both winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize are the subject of recent documentaries from female filmmakers. Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are recipients of the 2018 award, according to Thursday’s announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Mukwege is a gynecologist who co-founded a treatment center in the Congo to help women in post-rape […]
The Share Her Journey rally for women in film was held Saturday morning at The Toronto International Film Festival. Share Her Journey is TIFF’s five-year commitment to increase opportunities for women to develop skills and create films through various programs.
