FF2 Media - Page 2 of 27 - female artists + female audience

Director Clermont-Tonnerre makes room for second chances in ‘The Mustang’

By Pamela Powell

Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre creates “The Mustang,” a revelatory film about a hopeless, isolated incarcerated man (Mattias Shoenaerts) who enters into a horse training rehabilitation program. Gorgeously shot, this evocative and soulful film delves into our penal system as it draws parallel lines between all creatures. Premiering at Sundance Film Festival, “The Mustang” is now playing…

Women filmmakers best of the fest at 2019 SXSW

By Danielle Solzman

The 2019 SXSW Film Festival has come and gone and there was a nice crop of films directed or written by women during this year's festival. As is the typical case, I could not see everything that I wanted to during this year's festival. This just speaks to how much of a monster that SXSW…

Julia's Athena '19

By Julia Lasker

I kicked off Athena with a ‘Panel on Filmmaking’ with Julia Hart, writer and director of Fast Color, which had aired at the festival the evening before. Not only was Hart effortlessly witty and intelligent, it felt like she spoke to my soul. She introduced the concept of “uncentering” yourself as the director—in other words,…

Anika's Athena '19

By Anika Guttormson

On the five-o’clock train to Barnard College I sat, ecstatically scrolling through the Athena Film Festival’s website to pick out which films screenings I wanted to see. This may make me look bad but despite being a junior film student I have admittedly never been to a film festival before. I had no idea walking…

Watch at Home: ‘And Then There Was Eve’ & more from female filmmakers

By Danielle Solzman

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 1/25/2019 (with links to FF2 Media reviews…

‘Five Feet Apart’ and the disturbing sick teenager trend in YA fiction

By Georgiana E. Presecky

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…

'I'm Not Here' director Michelle Schumacher defines own success

By Lesley Coffin

Broadway actress Michelle Schumacher’s been busy building her multi-hyphenated resume. Starting her career on the stage as an actress-dancer-singer, she began perusing filmmaking after marrying and starting a family with fellow actor J.K. Simmons. She studied writing, editing, producing, and directing at UCLA, and now has a second feature film in release, I’m Not Here.…

Dayna's Athena ‘19

By Dayna Hagewood

As a disclaimer, this was my first Athena Film Festival. I have worked at a local film festival in New Jersey for the past three years, so I thought I knew what I was signed up for. I had no idea that there would be such a powerful sense of community surrounding the wonderful program…

Katusha's Athena '19

By Katusha Jin

Athena Film Festival 2019 began its run on Thursday, February 28th. On this chilly Thursday evening, my sister and I promptly headed to the Miller Theatre for the opening film of the festival—Fast Color. The auditorium was buzzing with excitement, waiting for the first film to begin. I hadn’t looked at the program prior to…

SXSW Grand Jury winner ‘Alice’ questions concepts of marriage, motherhood

By Pamela Powell

*Updated for March 12, 2019: "Alice" wins SXSW Narrative Feature Competition Award-winning writer and director Josephine Mackerras’ first feature film, “Alice,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival recently. Living around the world, this NYU educated filmmaker delves deeply into how one woman, a wife and mother, reacts to her husband’s double life, leaving them in debt…

Chicago European Union Film Festival to screen 22 films by women directors

By Brigid K. Presecky

The Gene Siskel Film Center will present the 22nd Annual Chicago European Union Film Festival from March 8 through April 4, with 22 films directed by women (more than one-third of the films screened). The festival will present 60 premieres from 28 European Union nations, making it the largest EU cinema showcase in North America.…

Judith Godrèche tackles stereotypes by re-writing the script

By Lesley Coffin

Judith Godrèche has appeared in more than 30 films since beginning her acting career at just 14 in France. Along with her many roles in French films, she became familiar to American audiences in the film The Man in the Iron Mask, Stoker and The Overnight. But since 2010, she’s started focusing on opportunities behind the…

My Dream Comes True: An Oscars “Cinderella” story

By Nikoleta Morales

My dream has always been to go to the Oscars and walk the red carpet. This February, my dream came true - I was accepted to attend and cover the Oscars for the first time in FF2 Media’s history. When I arrived in Hollywood, the streets were packed with gift shops, small restaurants, tourists and…

Watch at Home: 'Discarnate' & more from female filmmakers

By Danielle Solzman

Mandie Fletcher's 'Patrick' offers a classic story of a girl and her dog

By Lesley Coffin

Fans of British television comedy no doubt knows the name Mandie Fletcher, or at least a lot of her work. From directing episodes of Black-Adder, Desmond, and Hamish MacBeth, she’s been directing for television for over 25 years. However, it was her work on Absolutely Fabulous that led her first film, the follow up feature…

Asian Pop-up Cinema founder talks male-dominated cultural norms

By Stephanie A. Taylor

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…

Watch at Home: ‘Border’ & more from female filmmakers

By Danielle Solzman

Intern Farah Elattar - FF2 Media

By Farah Elattar

As an intern at FF2 Media, since January of 2018, I watch films written and/or directed by women every week and write reviews about them.

Women Supporting Women: FF2 Media Backstage at Oscars

By Nikoleta Morales

Women won a record of 15 Oscars this year at the 91st Academy Awards, which makes history for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. FF2 Media contributor Nikoleta Morales was backstage in the press room, hearing first-hand how the female winners continue to support other women and spoke about a much-needed change. Read…

Oscars ‘19: Omission of women still a glaring reality

By Angela Stern

Oh, Oscar. Women in film have all had a crush on that guy for a very long time. Did the 2019 Oscars mark a seismic shift in the entertainment world for women? I mean, after all, when a short film about menstruation, produced by two women, wins the coveted prize, have we finally made it?…

'To the Stars' among best of the fest from female filmmakers

By Danielle Solzman

Now that the 2019 Sundance Film Festival has ended, I've had some time to sit down and reflect on the many films that this year's festival had to offer. In terms of women-directed or women-written films, the festival had so much to offer. Even taking the indie episodics into account, there are some very talented…

Lina Wertmuller's 'Seven Beauties' and other female Oscar winners

By Jarrod Emerson

Note: This is the second part of a six-part series on the five women who have been nominated for Best Director by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) The history of the five women nominated for Best Director Oscars begins with the 1975 film Seven Beauties, written and directed by Italian auteur…

Academy maintains 'disturbing lack of recognition' for female talent

By Jarrod Emerson

In the 89-year-history of the Oscars, only five women have ever been nominated for Best Director, and. . . only one woman has ever won. While recent high-profile nominees like Sofia Coppola—or the one winner in the case of Kathryn Bigelow—have gained attention, not enough films by women have been elevated to smash that celluloid ceiling.…

Columbia College Chicago showcases 'Where the Future Came From'

By Stephanie A. Taylor

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.…

New romantic comedy festival to debut in LA

By Pamela Powell

Nothing says romance more than Valentine’s Day...except for maybe a good romantic comedy! Thanks to the efforts of Miraya Berke, the first ever Rom Com Fest will be taking place on June 20-23 in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent (251 S. Main St.) to not only celebrate rom-coms, but to shed a new light…

Watch at Home: ‘Wine Country’ & more from female filmmakers

‘Charlie Says’ offers feminist light on notorious Manson murders

Chicago Critics Film Festival celebrates women directors

Director Clermont-Tonnerre makes room for second chances in ‘The Mustang’

Women filmmakers best of the fest at 2019 SXSW

Julia's Athena '19

Anika's Athena '19

Watch at Home: ‘And Then There Was Eve’ & more from female filmmakers

‘Five Feet Apart’ and the disturbing sick teenager trend in YA fiction

'I'm Not Here' director Michelle Schumacher defines own success

Dayna's Athena ‘19

Katusha's Athena '19

SXSW Grand Jury winner ‘Alice’ questions concepts of marriage, motherhood

Chicago European Union Film Festival to screen 22 films by women directors

Judith Godrèche tackles stereotypes by re-writing the script

My Dream Comes True: An Oscars “Cinderella” story

Watch at Home: 'Discarnate' & more from female filmmakers

Mandie Fletcher's 'Patrick' offers a classic story of a girl and her dog

Asian Pop-up Cinema founder talks male-dominated cultural norms

Watch at Home: ‘Border’ & more from female filmmakers

Intern Farah Elattar - FF2 Media

Women Supporting Women: FF2 Media Backstage at Oscars

Oscars ‘19: Omission of women still a glaring reality

'To the Stars' among best of the fest from female filmmakers

Lina Wertmuller's 'Seven Beauties' and other female Oscar winners

Academy maintains 'disturbing lack of recognition' for female talent

Columbia College Chicago showcases 'Where the Future Came From'

New romantic comedy festival to debut in LA

Watch at Home: ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ & more from female filmmakers

Watch at Home: ‘The Wife’ & more from female filmmakers

Watch at Home: ‘The Favourite’ & more from female filmmakers

Living with the consequences of rape today in short film 'Lullaby' (Part 2)

Living with the consequences of rape today in short film 'Lullaby' (Part 1)