The 25th annual Black Harvest Film Festival will run from August 3-29 with 60 films, including 27 directed by women (an increase from last year’s festival when there were only 17 female filmmakers). Two years ago, I interviewed Nancy Buirski, director of The Rape of Recy Taylor. The documentary was about a Black woman who…
Author: Stephanie A. Taylor
Female directors are best of the fest at CEUFF
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s Chicago European Film Festival will run from March 8 to April 4. Of the 60 films featured, 22 were directed by women. A huge deal, considering last year there were only 10 films directed by female directors of 61 films. During the 2017 CEUFF, I saw Cézanne and I (Cézanne…
Asian Pop-up Cinema founder talks male-dominated cultural norms
Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema Season 8 Program announced its 16 films for its festival, scheduled for March 12 to April 24. The semi-annual festival will showcase 23 filmmakers (four are women) and will run at the AMC River East in Chicago. The four films directed by women include: Ten Years (Akiyo Fujimura): Five directors share…
Columbia College Chicago showcases 'Where the Future Came From'
Columbia College Chicago Glass Curtain Gallery showcased the Where the Future Came From exhibit on February 12, featuring the president of the Chicago Women's History Center, Mary Ann Johnson, as guest speaker. Johnson shared excerpts of interviews from female artists who were members of the Artemisia Gallery (now closed), a feminist collective founded in 1973.…
Chicago International Film Festival screens best from Vietnam, Dominican Republic
Continue to support more female filmmakers by attending Ash Mayfair’s The Third Wife (Vietnam), Natalia Cabral’s film Miriam Lies (Dominican Republic, Spain), Laura Bispuri’s film Daughter of Mine (Italy) and Sudabeh Mortezai’s film Joy (Austria). For more information on the CIFF, please visit their site.
CIFF this week: ‘Olympia’ and ‘Core of the World’ part of Women in Cinema
In part one of FF2 Media’s “Best of the Fest” coverage for the 54th Annual Chicago International Film Festival, we covered several interesting films directed by women. CIFF will run through October 21 at the AMC River East Theater. Support female filmmakers by attending the festival and screening McKenzie Chinn’s Olympia (United States) and Natalya…
Women directors screen compelling stories at CIFF
The 54th annual Chicago International Film Festival began October 10 and will run through October 21 at the AMC River East Theater. There are 5,596 films from 135 countries - 38 of those films are directed by women.
Thai director tells her story as ‘Sad Beauty’ makes Midwest premiere
Thai actress-turned-filmmaker Bongkod Bencharongkul debuts her first feature film, Sad Beauty, in Chicago on Wednesday, September 26 at AMC River East. Included in this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City in July, is now making its way to the Midwest. Click HERE to…
Co-directors Mary McCallum and Meleisha Edwards screen ‘SingleVille’ at BHFF
SingleVille, a comedy about the ups and downs of being single and the bond of sisterhood, will be screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center as a part of the Black Harvest FIlm Festival at the on August 24 and 25.
Roberta Jones screens 'Animator' at BHFF: 'I came into this field at an age when some people think about retiring'
Novice filmmaker Roberta Jones has a new feature film, Animator, a cross between live-action and animation that tells the story of a man who can draw the future - deciding the fate of others and his own. Animator is part of the 24th annual Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center and…
Women filmmakers a highlight at Siskel Center's Black Harvest Film Festival
The Gene Siskel Film Center is hosting their 24th annual Black Harvest Film Festival (BHFF) which runs from August 4 through August 30. This festival shows shorts, features and documentaries from indie filmmakers about people of African descent, both nationally and internationally.
Nilja Mu‘min talks directing first feature film ‘Jinn’
Along with her mother, a teenage girl converts to Islam and is faced with many twists and turns about her self discovery. Mu’min talked to FF2 Media about how the film came about, the decision behind the title and advice to aspiring female filmmakers of color. The film is showing at the Gene Siskel Film…
Siskel Center readies for 24th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s 24th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival will begin Saturday August 4 and run through Thursday August 30 in Chicago.
Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel’s films showcased at Siskel Center
Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center showcased the work of Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel from April 20 to May 1, screening her first three features in a film series, “The Salta Trilogy” (a nod to her Salta origins, a hilly northern province of Argentina).
‘The Judge’ director Erika Cohn documents first female judge in Palestinian court
Erika Cohn’s new documentary, The Judge, is about the first female judge of a Palestinian Shari’a court in the West Bank.
'Murder in the Woods' an all-Latino labor of love
“It’s an all-American movie.” The film was a labor of love and, as Iga puts it, it all started by writing the movie down on a napkin.
Women filmmakers versatile at 2018 Chicago European Union Film Festival
Gene Siskel Film Center’s 18th annual European Union Film Festival, the largest showcase for the European Union nations in North America, began March 9 and will end April 5.
Siskel Center receives increased Allstate grant for Black Harvest Film Festival
The Allstate Corporation has granted the Gene Siskel Film Center $18,000 for the 24th annual Black Harvest Film Festival, the largest and longest-running Black Film festival in the Midwest.
Newsradio anchor Felicia Middlebrooks talks Oscar panel, production company
Felicia Middlebrooks, co-anchor of Morning Drive Program on Chicago’s WBBM Newsradio 780, moderated the Gene Siskel Film Center’s annual Oscars Nominations Panel on January 23.
Siskel Center director talks 'Hollywood on State' fundraiser, Oscar predictions
Gene Siskel Film Center’s Executive Director Jean de St Aubin is set to kick of their Oscar party fundraiser (Hollywood on State) on March 4th.
FF2 Media critic Pam Powell predicts 'tight race' Oscars
Contributor Pamela Powell represented FF2 Media at the Oscars Nominations Panel hosted by the Gene Siskel Film Center. Powell discusses her Oscars predictions and shared her thoughts.
Mixed reactions to Oscar noms at Siskel Center panel
The Gene Siskel Film Center held its annual film critics reaction panel for the 90th Academy Awards Nominations Panel on Tuesday, January 23 with contributor Pamela Powell.
Petra Volpe talks 'Divine' feminism
Writer/director Volpe goes more into detail about the film, its symbolism and why she considers herself a feminist.
‘All the Queen’s Horses’ director documents largest U.S. embezzlement case
All the Queen’s Horses is a documentary about the biggest embezzlement case in American history. Rita Crundwell, a comptroller and treasurer in Dixon, Illinois (a small, predominantly white town) stole $53 million from 1983 to 2012.
Director Nancy Buirski advises ‘Look at the films that help you solve your problems’
The Rape of Recy Taylor is a poignant documentary about a Black woman who was gang raped by six white men in the South during the Jim Crow era in 1944.
'Liquid Truth' director leaves ending to interpretation
Director Carolina Jabor’s Liquid Truth (also known as Aos Teus Olhos) featured at the 53rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, tells the story of a swim instructor who is accused of inappropriate behavior with a student.
Senior Contributor Stephanie Taylor recaps CIFF "Best of the Fest"
The 53rd annual Chicago International Film Festival began Oct. 12 and will end Oct. 26 at the AMC 21 River East Theater. In total, 5,190 films were entered for consideration from 95 countries - 36 final films were directed by women. The following is my “Best of the Fest,” six films I screened and snippet-reviewed:…
Siskel Center presents sixth annual Best of Black Harvest
Gene Siskel Film Center continues to partner with the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Tribune Foundation to present the sixth annual Best of Black Harvest. Executive Director Jean de St Aubin says, “I don't think we’ve even considered not doing the Best of Black Harvest and being out in the community. I think it's…
Senior Contributor Stephanie A. Taylor
I am a Senior Contributor who writes film reviews and features. FF2 Media is important to me because I think it's imperative to remind readers that women are a part of the creative industries, particularly as filmmakers. I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Magazine Editing and Publishing. My work has been…
Roger Ailes leaves tarnished legacy
Former chairman and CEO of FOX, Roger Ailes, died May 19 of complications from a fall he suffered last week. He was 77. Ailes was known for being a political advisor for presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and is remembered as being a loving husband and father. An alleged offender of…