ALL POSTS
On the Road
I am heading to Bucharest, Romania to be on the jury of the Romania International Film Festival. Will check in with reports from there.
Guest Post: 10 Things I Have Learned Having Our Film CONNECTED In Theaters by Tiffany Shlain
1. CUTTING YOUR OWN TRAILERDon’t try this. Very dangerous. When you are running at full speed to complete your film on your way to your premiere, don’t fool yourself that you have the perspective...
A Snow White Who Kicks Ass
Here is a cool shot of Kristen Stewart from Snow White and the Huntsman. She looks like she is ready to kick some serious butt. New ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ pics: Kristen Stewart’s on a...
The Bridesmaids Effect
Can one successful film about women really change Hollywood’s mind about women? Could it be that Bridesmaids is really the movie to usher in a new era of change where the films that came before...
Roman Polanski In Our Faces Again
I don’t know why I feel obsessed by this story, but I am. In some ways I feel it is my feminist duty to remind people every time this guy gets the adoring press he always does that he is...
Melissa McCarthy Covers The Hollywood Reporter
This brings a very big smile to my face. Fresh off her Emmy win, McCarthy will host SNL this weekend. This is really her moment. But it’s not like it will be downhill for her. I think she is still...
Interview with Agnieszka Holland — Director of In Darkness
I was able to interview the Academy Award winning director (Europa Europa) Agnieszka Holland in Toronto at the debut of her new film about the Holocaust, In Darkness. In Darkness is Poland’s entry...
Guest Post: Retro-sexism: What’s the Allure? by Emilie Spiegel and Sarah Bloodsworth
This fall’s crop of new TV series includes The Playboy Club and Pan Am, two shows set in 1960s, both centering on young women doing “glamorous” jobs and allegedly redefining what it meant to be...
Check out a Scene from Butter
Film will be released on October 21 https://medium.com/media/e0e72930738a8cfa77aa1f7d385ff052/href
Why Being Visible Matters
Who knew aside from folks on the inner world of documentary film that Ken Burns had an equal partner on his most recent epic documentary series? Not me. But it seems that he has a female partner...
Book Excerpt: Where Have All the Girl Bands Gone by Courtney E. Smith
In junior high I joined the school band because I wanted to play the drums. I had several years of piano lessons under my belt, which made me qualified to play instruments like the marimba or...
Trailer Watch: Joyful Noise
Film Will Open in January https://medium.com/media/4d27489cc07caf17804240a953eb5868/href
First Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Magazine Cover
Here’s David Fincher’s take on Lisbeth: There were discussions early on where people were like, She’s a superhero!’ And you go, ‘No, she’s not. Superheroes live in a world of good and...
Pink Ribbons, Inc. — Directed by Léa Pool
Next week starts the annual pinkification of cancer — breast cancer awareness month. Now I don’t want to take anything away from any woman who is figuring out a way to fight and survive this...
Variety’s Women’s Impact Report — 2011
Variety had a luncheon last week where they honored over 30 women for their impact on the business and included two pieces on how Sweden and Norway are working on getting more women directors (they...
Shonda Rhimes Is Still at the Top of Her Game
I know that at times Grey’s Anatomy seems like a tortured soap opera. But I also know that I would take that soap opera any day over some of the other crap on TV, and that is because Shonda Rhimes...
Trailer Watch: One for the Money
Opens next January. She gave up Grey’s Anatomy for this.
Moneyball Producer Rachael Horovitz: A Lesson in Perseverance
In 2009, after years of work and days before production was scheduled to begin, the plug was pulled on Moneyball which at that time was supposed to be directed by Steven Soderbergh and to star Brad...
Patty Jenkins in Talk to Direct Thor 2
Even if this doesn’t come to pass, the fact that a woman, a director like Patty Jenkins who is best known for directing the shit out of Charlize Theron in Monster and for directing the pilot of The...
Women, War and Peace Debuts on PBS October 11
This week in NY was the annual opening of the UN General Assembly where heads of states make their speeches. Seeing all these dudes stand up at the podium while the world is a total mess one thing is...
New Poster for The Iron Lady Debuts
Things are getting interesting. Check out this poster that launched on Yahoo yesterday.
Good News: Many Films Directed by Women are Being Submitted for Academy Awards for Foreign Films
Something good is going on this year and I’ve been watching it for the last couple of weeks. The news is that many countries have submitted films directed by women for Academy Award consideration...
Hot Trailer: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Now this is more like what I was expecting. Mara actually looks and sounds quite good as Lisbeth. Thoughts?
Toronto Review: Hysteria
One of the most vivid memories I have of my college learning experience is a class I took on Women in American History. I remember reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper and Kate...
Trailer Watch: Wuthering Heights Directed by Andrea Arnold
Films got picked up by Oscilloscope for a 2012 release.
Where Do We Go Now? Wins Audience Award at Toronto Festival
Where Do We Go Now? written and directed by Nadine Labaki was the first film I saw in Toronto. As I wrote last week, it’s a strong symbol of women sick and tired of the men fighting over nothing...
Emmy Winners
Thought that Jane Lynch did great. She’s so funny. Other exciting moments: When Melissa McCarthy won best actress in a comedy — the woman has had a great year and it is so spectacular to...
Interview with Tatiana von Fürstenberg and Francesca Gregorini Directors of Tanner Hall
Women and Hollywood: How is your coming of age story different from others we have previously seen? Francesca Gregorini: We tried to make an artful, poetic film about teens. One that values...
New Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Poster?
I saw this on the site Female First. Could this be the new poster?
TIFF: The Lady — The Story of Aung San Suu Kyi
(Update: The Lady is opening today for one week in LA for an Oscar qualifying run. It will open early next year here in the US. I also have been told that about 30 minutes has been shaved...
TIFF: Interview with Malgoska Szumowska — Director of Elles
Elles tells the story of a journalist — Juliette Binoche — who interviews two young female students about their lives as prostitutes. This is bound to be a controversial film because for...
Trailer Watch: Breaking Dawn — Part 1
Some Deals for Women Directors at Toronto
Here are some of the deals that women directors scored here in Toronto: Wuthering Heights directed by Andrea Arnold will be released by Oscilloscope in North America in 2012. Lynn Shelton writing...
DGA Stats on Directing TV Show A White Male Dominated World
The DGA released a report this week on who directs TV shows and the news is abominably bad for women and people of color. Of the 2,600 episodes analyzed of scripted series for the 2010–2011 season...
Sisters in Crisis: Your Sister’s Sister and Union Square
My time in Toronto was spent trying to seek out as many women directed films as I could. Two of my favorites from the past week are films about sisters. First up was Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s...
Laugh Out Loud Bridesmaids Blooper Reel
I loved seeing Jill Clayburgh h/t Jezebel
Interview with Nadine Labaki — Director of Where Do We Go Now?
Women and Hollywood: Congratulations. I read your film is going to represent Lebanon in the Oscars. How does that feel? Nadine Labaki: It feels great. I don’t know what will happen afterwards, but...
Guest Post: From Hollywood to Bon Temps, and Nary a Feminist In Sight…by Emilie Spiegel
Sunday night’s HBO lineup included both the series finale of Entourage and the season 4 finale of True Blood — two vastly different shows, herein considered together not only because they...
Poster Premiere: Oka! — Directed by Lavinia Currier
Here is the poster for the new film Oka! directed by Lavinia Currier. The film opens in LA on October 14. Here’s the description of the film from the press materials: OKA! tells the story of an...
Toronto Day 5 — It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
It’s Day 5 and I just feel like I’ve gotten my groove on. I think I’ve seen 10 movies and I have one more today. Power watching films is a skill, and I haven’t yet developed those chops....
Toronto Film Fest Day Four: Seen and Heard
I think they should change the name of this festival to the Toronto Carb Fest because that it all there is to eat here. Remembering 9–11Flowers in front of the US Consulate Here’s a quote from a...
Guest Post: Why I Write and the Top 10 Things Men Have Said in Pitch Meetings By Dani Faith Leonard
I write because I am a woman, and I am a woman because I write. Obviously, I write because I feel like I have stories that I must tell, but when I write, I discover my opinions about things. I form...
TIFF: Wuthering Heights Directed by Andrea Arnold and In Darkness Directed by Agnieszka Holland
There is no denying that Andrea Arnold is one of the most interesting and provocative directors working today. If you haven’t seen her first two films Red Road and Fish Tank you have missed two...
TIFF- Albert Nobbs
It was so great to see Glenn Close back on the big screen in Albert Nobbs. It’s been too long. She, like many other actresses of her generation, have found TV to be the place where she can play...
Toronto Day 3- We Need to Talk About Kevin and Think of Me
I woke up thinking about Tilda Swinton’s blank face from We Need to Talk About Kevin. It is amazing how much expressiveness there can be in a blank stare. The movie directed bravely by Lynne Ramsey...
Images from Day 2
I’m going to try and take some pictures to help supplement my writings. Picture 1 The lines of folks waiting to get in at the Lightbox Picture 2 Nadine Labaki — writer and director of Where...
Toronto Film Festival — Day 2
The thing that I’ve gotten from this festival so far is that this is a festival really about buying and selling. The cool thing for me is to look at all the great European films for sale and try...
Trailer Watch: Connected — Directed by Tiffany Shlain
Film opens September 16
Toronto Film Festival — Day 1
It didn’t look like I was going to make it this morning because the day started with a monsoon and my flight out of NY was cancelled which of course I wasn’t notified about until I was at the...
A Film That Is Making a Difference — The Whistleblower
A couple of months ago I participated in a Q&A with Amy Kaufman one of the producers of The Whistleblower. I asked her if the people at the UN had seen the film and her reply was that she...
Heading to the Toronto Film Fest.
I’m on my way to the Toronto Film Festival. I will be filing posts from there over the next week. Following my tweets @melsil to keep up with all the fun at the festival.