BY Annie Colao
January 2023 Television Preview
Whether you’re looking for a new series to binge or awaiting the return of an existing series, January has plenty to offer. If one of your resolutions for 2023 is to practice a new language,...
Writer to Watch: Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence of “Twenties”
Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence uses writing as a means of world-building. Raised in both Washington, D.C. and Honolulu, Hawai’i in “a family of activists, critical race theorists, and freedom...
Queer Common Spaces: Podcast Picks
Find friends who don’t judge you. Find friends who understand you. Find friends who listen to you, help you grow, and commiserate with you when the future seems uncertain. All these qualities...
Self and Society: Crowdfunding Picks
There are countless ways identity can shape a person, with countless factors that shape that identity. This month’s crowdfunding projects, whether narrative fiction or documentary, explore the...
Under the Radar: The Lesbian Bar Project
When the COVID-19 shutdown stripped people away from friends and family, filmmakers Erica Rose and Elina Street began to contemplate the crucial role that community plays in our lives. Although their...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Alexis Neophytides – “Dear Thirteen”
Alexis Neophytides is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator based in New York City. Her work centers around community and how we find meaning in people and place. She is the co-creator,...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Christine Yoo – “26.2 to Life”
Christine Yoo is a director, producer, writer, a volunteer at San Quentin State Prison, and co-founder of the San Quentin Film Festival. As a producer she has worked on non-fiction series for...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Sharon “Rocky” Roggio – “1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture”
Sharon “Rocky” Roggio has been honing her expertise in film and television producing for two decades and has worked on award-winning films and series, including “House of Cards,” “Parks and...
Cinematographer to Watch: Charlotte Hornsby
New York-based cinematographer Charlotte Hornsby has been making a name for herself on the festival circuit, working on titles such as Mariama Diallo’s “Master,” a horror pic...
November 2022 Film Preview
Awards contenders are making their way to multiplexes this month. Jennifer Lawrence is eyeing a fifth Oscar nomination for “Causeway” (November 4), Lila Neugebauer’s drama about a...
Whose Lens is it Anyway?: Podcast Picks
While we’ve come a long way with on-screen representation, much of mainstream television and film fails to offer relatable, authentic representation for all. That’s the beauty of...
The Weight of Community: Crowdfunding Picks
Community can mean a host things: comfort, responsibility, representation, and identity, to name a few. The word holds undeniable power, and our communities often inform what we come to think of our...
October 2022 Television Preview
Nothing screams fall quite like creepy, unnerving entertainment — at least for Halloween lovers like us. Fortunately, October will offer plenty of chills and thrills. The month kicks off with...
Under the Radar: The “Mind Your Uterus” Podcast Looks Beyond Stereotypes to Destigmatize Abortion
Abortion is “so much more complicated than the stereotypes.” This sentiment, expressed by 2+ Abortions Worldwide founder Karen Thurston in the first episode of “Mind Your...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Chandler Levack – “I Like Movies”
Chandler Levack grew up in Burlington, Ontario, and lives in Toronto where she studied cinema at the University of Toronto and screenwriting at the Canadian Film Centre. She has directed numerous...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Rima Das – “Tora’s Husband”
Rima Das is a filmmaker from India known for making indigenous and realistic stories that explore complicated relationships, finding purpose, coming of age and life amidst nature. Her films...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Luis De Filippis – “Something You Said Last Night”
Luis De Filippis is a Canadian-Italian filmmaker whose work has played at festivals such as TIFF, Rotterdam, and Sundance, where her most recent work, “For Nonna Anna,” received a Special...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Gabriela Cowperthwaite – “The Grab”
Gabriela Cowperthwaite has been directing both documentaries and narrative films for over 20 years. She directed the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which amassed over 100 million viewers...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Lindsay MacKay – “The Swearing Jar”
Lindsay MacKay is a writer and director. MacKay is a graduate of the York University Film program and went on to get her Masters in Directing from the AFI Conservatory. Her debut feature, “Wet...
TIFF 2022 Directors: Meet Joseph Amenta – “Soft”
Joseph Amenta was born in Toronto and has an honors degree in film studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). They have directed the short films “Cherry...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Angela Wanjiku Wamai – “Shimoni” (“The Pit”)
Angela Wanjiku Wamai works as a film editor in Nairobi, Kenya. She was recently awarded best film editor by the Women in Film Awards – Kenya. In 2018 she wrote “I Had to Bury...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Carmen Jaquier – “Thunder”
Swiss film director Carmen Jaquier graduated from the Cantonal School of Art in Lausanne (ECAL) in 2011. Her graduation film, “The Girls’ Gravere,” went on to receive the Pardino...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Marie Kreutzer – “Corsage”
Marie Kreutzer has had a hand in many Austrian film productions. Her first feature film, “The Fatherless”(“Die Vaterlosen”) (2011), has been shown and awarded at numerous...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Jub Clerc – “Sweet As”
Jub Clerc is a Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman from the Kimberley in Western Austrlia. Clerc spent many years in theatre before moving into film and television, working on multiple award-winning productions....
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Liliane Mutti – “Miúcha, The Voice of Bossa Nova”
Born in Salvador, Brazil, Liliane Mutti is the founder of the Ciné Nova Bossa Association in Paris. She produces and directs films with strong political engagement, such as “Ecocide,”...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Sophie Kargman – “Susie Searches”
Sophie Kargman is a director, writer, producer, and actor based in Los Angeles. Her short film “Query,” which she also co-wrote and produced, had its world premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Tamana Ayazi – “In Her Hands”
Tamana Ayazi is a filmmaker and journalist from Afghanistan. She has a background in business, sports, and activism. She is a NatGeo explorer who uses storytelling as a tool to advocate for equality...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Amy Redford – “Roost”
Amy Redford’s career in the creative arts spans over three decades as a director, producer, and actor in film, television, music videos, and theater. “The Guitar” marked her directorial...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Bess Wohl – “Baby Ruby”
Bess Wohl is a writer, director, and playwright. In theater, her play “Grand Horizons” was nominated for a Tony Award. In film and television she has developed projects with Amazon, HBO,...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Aitch Alberto – “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”
Aitch Alberto is a writer and director born and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, the recipient of a Skowhegan Artist Residency, a Yaddo fellowship, and a Latino...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Stephanie Johnes – “Maya and the Wave”
Stephanie Johnes is a director, producer, and documentary filmmaker who gravitates toward stories of underdogs and dreamers. Her directorial debut, “Doubletime,” premiered at SXSW and Tribeca and...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Maggie Levin and Vanessa Winter – “V/H/S/99”
Maggie Levin is a filmmaker with rock ‘n’ roll roots. She served as second unit director and credit designer for Universal’s “The Black Phone,” in theaters now....
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Mary Nighy – “Alice, Darling”
Mary Nighy is a UK-based director who has directed episodes of “Industry,” a new series for HBO and Bad Wolf, and “Traces,” a new series for Red Productions. Nighy was the...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Lauren DeFilippo – “Free Money”
Lauren DeFilippo is a documentary filmmaker based in New York City. She most recently produced “Ailey” (Sundance 2021), an acclaimed feature documentary that was released in theaters...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Vera Drew – “The People’s Joker”
Vera Drew (she/her) is an accomplished LGBTQ+ director and editor who has worked in TV and film for nearly a decade. She recently directed Season 12 of Tim Heidecker’s “On Cinema at...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Selcen Ergun – “Snow and the Bear” (“Kar ve Ayı”)
Selcen Ergun is a director and screenwriter from Turkey. She began her career as an assistant director, working on many national and international productions. Her short films...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Malou Reymann – “Unruly”
Malou Reymann is a director and screenwriter who graduated from the National Film and Television School in England. Her debut feature, “A Perfectly Normal Family,” which premiered at...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: V.T. Nayani – “This Place”
V.T. Nayani is a director, producer, and writer. She is a recipient of the UN Women Yvonne M. Hebert Award for filmmakers and photographers. Most recently, she completed her residency in the...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Sinéad O’Shea – “Pray for Our Sinners”
Sinéad O’Shea is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her first feature documentary, “A Mother Brings her Son to be Shot,” premiered at CPH:DOX 2018 where it was nominated for a...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Laura Baumeister – “Daughter of Rage”
Laura Baumeister was born and raised in Nicaragua and trained at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. A sociologist as well as a filmmaker, Baumeister has directed the...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Alice Winocour – “Paris Memories”
Alice Winocour directed her first feature film in 2011, “Augustine.” It was selected for Cannes’ Critics Week and nominated for a César Award for the Best First Film. Her second...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Nisha Pahuja – “To Kill a Tiger”
Nisha Pahuja is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Toronto and Bombay. Her credits include the critically-acclaimed “Diamond Road,” “Bollywood Bound,” and “The World...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Carolina Markowicz – “Charcoal”
Carolina Markowicz is a screenwriter and director based in São Paulo, Brazil. Her short films have won many international awards and have played in more than 200 festivals worldwide including TIFF,...
TIFF 2022 Women Directors: Meet Gail Maurice – “Rosie”
Gail Maurice is a fluent Cree/Michif-speaking actor and an award-winning independent filmmaker and Arts Laureate. She is a recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Indigenous Award for Excellence in the...
September 2022 Television Preview
Whether September means returning to school or returning to work, there are a number of shows premiering that our Women and Hollywood readers are sure to devour. From documentaries and dramas to...
Choreographer to Watch: Victoria Caro of “The Kissing Booth” and “Riverdale”
At just 21 years old, Victoria Caro is already a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. She began dancing competitively at the age of seven and learned more about the world of acting through...
Under the Radar: Jacqueline Priego Speaks the Truth with “PinkSlipped”
Some content becomes more timely with age, as is the case for “PinkSlipped,” the 2018 web series created by writer, director, and actress Jacqueline Priego. With Chicago as its backdrop,...
Finally, Some Real Talk: Podcast Picks
With bad news hurtling toward us on the daily, we need an escape, and we need to be seen. When media, positive or negative, revolves around a singular demographic, it can make anyone on the margins...
August 2022 Film Preview
From horror-thrillers to coming-of-age stories, animated pics, and docs, there’s something for everyone to look forward to in August. The month starts off strong with “Mija,”...
Writer to Watch: April Shih of “Mrs. America” and “Undone”
With credits like “Mrs. America,” “You’re the Worst,” and “Undone” under her belt, April Shih has managed to strike a seamless blend of humor, drama, and...