Interviews
Listen: Women and Hollywood Podcast #19: ‘The Armor of Light’ Director Abigail Disney
In “The Armor of Light,” documentarian Abigail Disney journeys to the belly of conservative America to try and understand how you can be “pro-life” and pro-gun. She tracks Reverend Rob...
Producer Mehret Mandefro on How Her Bride-Abduction Drama ‘Difret’ Shows that Change Can Happen
In “Difret,” 14-year-old Hirut (Tizita Hagere) is kidnapped while walking home from school and forced into marriage by an older man she doesn’t know — and who’s willing to do whatever...
Reed Morano on ‘Meadowland,’ Working with Olivia Wilde and Motherhood Discrimination
When cinematographer Reed Morano was invited to join the prestigious American Society of Cinematography (ASC) in 2013, she became their youngest-ever member. The revered director of photography...
Women & Hollywood Podcast #17: ‘Suffragette’ Director Sarah Gavron
Women and Hollywood spoke with director Sarah Gavron about her new film “Suffragette,” which we endorse with the utmost enthusiasm and appreciation. Written by Abi Morgan, the historical drama...
Director Leslee Udwin Discusses Censored ‘India’s Daughter’ and the “Disease” of Global Rape Culture
Leslee Udwin is a British filmmaker and human rights activist. Most recently, she has written, directed and produced the critically acclaimed documentary “India’s Daughter” — a film that...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Micah Magee — ‘Petting Zoo’
In addition to making films, Micah Magee has worked as managing and programming director of Austin’s Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, pirate-radio programmer and print journalist. In...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Natalie Cristiani — ‘Nicola Costantino: The Artefacta’
Natalie Cristiani graduated from Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia in Rome as a Film Editor in 2002. From 2002 she has worked as a film editor with various talented young directors, including...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bispuri — ‘Sworn Virgin’
Laura Bispuri’s 2010 short film “Passing Time” won Italy’s David di Donatello Award. “Sworn Virgin” is her first feature film. (Variety) “Sworn Virgin” will premiere at the 2015 BFI...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Miranda Pennell — ‘The Host’
Miranda Pennell originally trained in contemporary dance and later studied visual anthropology. Pennell’s video work until 2007 explored different forms of collective performance and has been...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mabel Cheung — ‘A Tale of Three Cities’
Mabel Cheung is an award-winning director and producer. Her debut feature, “The Illegal Immigrant” (1985), won her the Best Director Prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards and a Special Jury Award...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Johanna Schwartz — ‘They Will Have to Kill Us First: Malian Music in Exile’
Johanna Schwartz is an award-winning, American-born, UK-based filmmaker. Working across the world — with a particular focus on Africa — she has produced and directed films for...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Turner — ‘Public House’
Sarah Turner is an artist, filmmaker, writer, curator and academic. Her feature films include “Ecology” (2007), “Perestroika” (2009) and “Perestroika: Reconstructed.” Turner’s short...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Hanna Polak — ‘Something Better to Come’
Hanna Polak is an Oscar-nominated director. She has worked on various movies as producer, director, cinematographer and still photographer. In 2002, she was awarded Best Producer of Documentary and...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Paz Fábrega — ‘Viaje’
Paz Fábrega is an award-winning director who has studied at the University of Costa Rica, the Colegio Universitario de Alajuela and the London Film School. Her filmography includes the short...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari — ‘The New Classmate’
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari spent 16 years in the advertising agency Leo Burnett telling stories for the biggest brands in India and South East Asia. “The New Classmate” is her first feature film....
Director Afia Nathaniel Talks ‘Dukhtar,’ Pakistan’s Oscar Submission About Fleeing Child Marriage
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Svetla Tsotsorkova — ‘Thirst’
Svetla Tsotsorkova graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2004. Since then, she has been working mainly as a producer and actress. Her first short film...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Evangelia Kranioti — ‘Exotica, Erotica, Etc.’
Evangelia Kranioti is a Greek-born visual artist based in France. She is the 2015 recipient of the Special jury Prize and the Elie Saab Prize at the 30th Hyères Fashion and Photography festival,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Olivia Wyatt — ‘Sailing A Sinking Sea’
Olivia Wyatt is a filmmaker and photographer based in Los Angeles. She is a member of the Sublime Frequencies film and music collective. Her first feature, “Staring Into the Sun,” is about...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Małgorzata Szumowska — ‘Body’
Małgorzata Szumowska is one of Poland’s most prominent Polish filmmakers and covers a broad spectrum of filmmaking duties, from screenwriting and producing to documentary and narrative-film...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Christina Comencini — ‘Latin Lover’
Cristina Comencini began her career as a screenwriter, with co-writing credits for “Il matrimonio di Caterina” (1982), “Quattro storie di donne” (1986) and “Buon Natale… Buon anno”...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Laura Citarella — ‘Dog Lady’
Laura Citarella is a member of the production company El Pampero Cine, along with Mariano Llinás, Alejo Moguillansky and Agustín Mendilaharzu. In 2006 she won the Historias breves 5 contest and in...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Maya Newell — ‘Gayby Baby’
Maya Newell is an Australian filmmaker with a focus on directing documentaries. Her award-winning short “Two” screened at festivals internationally and she was awarded Best New Documentary...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Gavron — ‘Suffragette’
Sarah Gavron’s feature film debut was “Brick Lane,” which earned her a BAFTA nomination, a BIFA nomination and The Alfred Dunhill Talent Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Prior to this,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lyric R. Cabral — ‘(T)ERROR’
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker committed to reporting stories seldom seen in mainstream media. Her documentary work has been supported by artist grants from the BBC,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sara Blecher — ‘Ayanda’
Sara Blecher is a co-founder of CINGA, a South African-based production company that has made a number of award-winning features, documentaries and drama series. An honors graduate of NYU, Blecher...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Karyn Kusama — ‘The Invitation’
Karyn Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, “Girlfight,” in 1999. The film won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It went on...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mor Loushy — ‘Censored Voices’
Mor Loushy graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2007 and has been working as a freelancer ever since. Her debut film, “Israel Ltd.,” world-premiered at International...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Ondi Timoner — ‘BRAND: A Second Coming’
Director and producer Ondi Timoner won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice — for “Dig!” (2004), about the collision of art and commerce through the story of two bands, and “We Live in...
‘Addicted to Fresno’ Director Jamie Babbit on Hiding Pregnancies and Embracing Diversity
There’s been a lot of talk lately about Judy Greer’s summer of tiny, thankless roles, in which she plays characters designed to be instantly forgettable in “Tomorrowland,” “Entourage,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Elaine Constantine — ‘Northern Soul’
Elaine Constantine was born in Bury, England. She was first assistant to British fashion photographer Nick Knight before becoming a regular photographic contributor to Vogue, W and The Face. She has...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Julie Delpy — ‘Lolo’
Julie Deply was born in Paris. She is an accomplished actor, having appeared in such films as “Before Sunrise,” “Broken Flowers” and “Waking Life.” She has previously written, directed...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anne Èmond — ‘Our Loved Ones’
Anne Èmond is a Montreal-based filmmaker. She has written and directed many short films, including “Naissances” and “Sophie Lavoie.” Her first feature, “Nuit #1,” earned Émond the...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors — Meet Fabienne Berthaud — ‘Sky’
Fabienne Berthaud was born in Gap, France, and is an actor, photographer, novelist and filmmaker. She co-directed the short “Noël en famille.” Her debut feature, “Frankie,” played at TIFF...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anna Boden — ‘Mississippi Grind’
Anna Boden was born in Berkeley, California. She co-directed with Ryan Fleck the short “Have You Seen This Man” and the documentary “Young Rebels” and co-wrote the feature “Half Nelson.”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Elisabeth Scharang — ‘Jack’
Elisabeth Scharang was born in Austria. She worked as a journalist and radio broadcaster before directing the documentaries “Normale Zeiten,” “Octopusalarm,” “My Dear Republic” and...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anne Sewitsky — ‘Homesick’
Anne Sewitsky studied at the Norwegian Film School and has directed episodes of the series “Himmelbla,” “Norwegian Cozy” and “Helt perfekt.” Her debut feature, “Happy, Happy,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Katherine Monk — ‘Rock the Box’
Katherine Monk is a film critic and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. Formally the national movie critic for Postmedia News, Monk is a regular contributor to CBC Radio, Global Television and Corus...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lucile Hadžihalilovic — ‘Evolution’
Lucile Hadžihalilovic was born in Lyons, France, and studied filmmaking at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques in Paris. She has worked as an editor, frequently collaborating with...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Jocelyn Moorhouse — ‘The Dressmaker’
Jocelyn Moorhouse was born in Melbourne, Australia, and graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. She has previously directed the features “Proof,” “How to Make an...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Danae Elon — ‘P.S. Jerusalem’
Upon graduating from high school, Danae Elon spent two years in compulsory military service as a non-commissioned officer to the United Nation forces in the area. At age 21, Elon left Israel to...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Meghna Gulzar — ‘Guilty’
Meghna Gulzar is a Mumbai-based film writer and director. She began her career as chief assistant director to Saeed Akhtar Mirza on the National Award-winning Hindi feature film “Naseem” before...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lorene Scafaria — ‘The Meddler’
Lorene Scafaria was born in New Jersey. She is a writer, actor, director and recording artist. She wrote the screenplay for “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” directed episodes of “New...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Corsini — ‘Summertime’
Catherine Corsini grew up in Seineet-Marne, France. She moved to Paris to pursue acting before becoming a filmmaker. Her numerous features as writer-director include “Poker,” “Les Amoureux,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Maris Curran — ‘Five Nights in Maine’
Maris Curran received a B.A. from Smith College and an M.F.A. from the Art Institute of Chicago. She directed the short “Margarita.” “Five Nights in Maine” is her first feature. (Press...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Alexandra-Therese Keining — ‘Girls Lost’
Alexandra-Therese Keining was born in Lomma, Sweden, and is based in Stockholm. A writer, director and novelist, her feature films are “Hot Dog” and “Kiss Me,” which was a Breakthrough...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mai Masri — ‘3000 Nights’
Mai Masri is a Palestinian director who studied film at University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Her features include “Under the Rubble” and “Wild Flowers: Women...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Hardwicke — ‘Miss You Already’
Catherine Hardwicke was born in McAllen, Texas. She worked as a production designer on numerous films, including “Tank Girl,” “Three Kings” and “Laurel Canyon.” Her previous directing...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Leena Yadav — ‘Parched’
Leena Yadav was born in Mhow, India. She began her career as an editor on commercials and an assistant director for television. She made her directorial debut with “Shabd,” followed by “Teen...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sanna Lenken — ‘My Skinny Sister’
Sanna Lenken was born in Gothenberg, Sweden, and studied directing at the Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm. She has directed two seasons of the series “Double Life” and the short film...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Patricia Rozema — ‘Into the Forest’
Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema’s first feature, “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing,” won the Prix de la Jeunesse and was runner-up for the Camera d’Or at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival....