Netflix has released the trailer for director Lana Wilson’s highly anticipated Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana (available to stream on January 31, 2020). ***Updated as of 1/22/20*** Of the 65 directors in Sundance’s four competition categories, 46 percent are women. The lineup of the festival – which will run from January 23-February 3- was announced this week, […]
Since filmmaker Carol Dysinger found out that her documentary short was nominated for an Oscar last week, she’s been flown all over the country for press and screenings. For her short, “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” Dysinger spent time with Skateistan School House and Skate Park. Here, in Kabul, Afghanistan, […]
You may have already seen The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (playing in NYC until 1/23 and opening in LA on 2/21), in which case you’re probably as excited as me that I got to talk to director Alison Reid and scientist Anne Innis-Dagg in a double interview! Read on to hear a documentarian and her […]
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 […]
FF2 Media’s new “Watch at Home” columns list the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers that are newly available each week on DVD, Video On Demand &/or streaming services. Here are the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers now available at home as of 1/17/2020 (with links to FF2 Media reviews […]
The strive for equal recognition in the film industry continues in the two years following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. With the overwhelming lack of nominations for female writers and directors at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gives a bleak preview for the upcoming awards season cycle. Although 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 […]
The number of top-grossing films directed by women reached record levels in 2019, making the percentage of female film directors (in the last 13 years) … 4.8 percent. According to a January 2020 report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 10.6 percent of film directors in 2019 were women – a six percent increase from […]
The term “best” is all relative. What might be right for you may not be right for some (it’s right there in the Diff’rent Strokes theme song, guys). But even in the post #MeToo era, when the conversation about equality is becoming increasingly important, women are continuously being shut out of awards season – most […]
Black Christmas puts us into the world of the most stereotypical college imaginable, with the plucky protagonist Riley having to fight a cabal of patriarchal frat boys to save herself and her sisters. Thinking back to my own college experience, I don’t exactly find the same kind of Greek-centric world in my memories of NYU, […]
There were so many films released during the past year but the following are among the best women-directed films of 2019. Booksmart If there’s one film that I believe will still be talked about in a decade, it’s Booksmart. This is a film that re-defines what female friendship means for a new generation. Less than […]
Who was Jean Seberg? Jean Seberg was a prominent actress from 1957 to her untimely death in 1979 at the young age of 40. Her career and personal life were tumultuous, and many of her films were frankly major flops. You may remember her from Saint Joan, Otto Preminger’s rendition of Joan of Arc. Seberg […]
FF2 Media’s new “Watch at Home” columns list the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers that are newly available each week on DVD, Video On Demand &/or streaming services. Here are the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers now available at home as of 12/20/2019 (with links to FF2 Media reviews […]
J.J. Abrams seems to have a heart bigger than his film budgets. From his earliest creations in television, with Keri Russell-led Felicity and groundbreaking phenomenon Lost, Abrams seems to understand the importance of human connection. But if you thought Felicity was about Team Ben or Team Noel or if Lost was about a polar bear, […]
Co-writer/director Laura Madalinski and co-writer Kelly Haas spoke to FF2 Media about the recently released Two in the Bush: A Love Story. Two in the Bush: A Love Story focuses on a type of relationship that is rarely depicted in film: the polyamourous relationship. The film is available on Digital and VOD today. Two in […]
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 Golden Globes have been problematic for a number of years, and every year there’s a reminder that these awards are maybe not what they seem. While groups like the Critics Choice Association nominated women for Best Director and in both screenplay categories, the same cannot be said of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The […]
FF2 Media’s new “Watch at Home” columns list the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers that are newly available each week on DVD, Video On Demand &/or streaming services. Here are the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers now available at home as of 12/13/2019 (with links to FF2 Media reviews […]
Although female filmmakers were shut out of this year’s Golden Globe nominations and subsequently underrepresented in the Screen Actors Guild nominations, the Chicago Film Critics Association announced their more gender-balanced categories for the 2019 Awards Nominations. While ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Greta Gerwig leads the pack of female nominees on the CFCA […]
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 […]
Filmmaker Tara Wood recently spoke with FF2 Media over the phone about her Quentin Tarantino documentary, QT8: The First Eight. The film is currently available on Digital and VOD. QT8: The First Eight made its way to home video last week. How did you go about approaching Quentin Tarantino in order to make the film? […]
Jessica Hausner has been one of the rising Australian filmmakers for close to 20 years. In 2001, 2004 and 2014 she competed in the Cannes Un Certain Regard section with her features Lovely Rita, Hotel, and Amour Fou. This year, she moved into the Cannes Palm d’Or competition (one of two women in that part […]
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 […]
FF2 Media’s new “Watch at Home” columns list the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers that are newly available each week on DVD, Video On Demand &/or streaming services. Here are the new films written and/or directed by women filmmakers now available at home as of 12/6/2019 (with links to FF2 Media reviews […]
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 […]
