Features
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,...
Costume dramas come in and out of style in the culture at large, but they’re always in style in my heart. This week’s picks are all series created by artists, filmmakers, and critics who...
In a media landscape that can feel impossible to get a handle on, with new releases daily across numerous platforms, the role of the critic has never been more vital for individual viewers. When...
This round of crowdfunding picks shares a focus on representing and tackling a range of intersecting social and cultural issues. They rely on humor, fantasy, and, of course, Zoom, to address the...
Queer family is an amorphous unit not quite like any other. For one thing, its permutations are endless; family could be anything from blood relatives, to acquaintances who look out for each other...
As we brace for the cool, crisp evenings and shorter days of fall, this month’s VOD and web series picks invite reflections on all types and facets of relationships. Quirky romances, friendships,...
By Tatiana McInnis and Shayna Maci Warner This month’s VOD and web series picks showcase the power of community, both in front of and behind the camera. They emphasize the strength and complexity...
By Shayna Maci Warner and Tatiana McInnis For many marginalized storytellers, the absences of their identities within the Hollywood canon can only be combatted by creating independent content....
Women filmmakers are redefining what intimacy and relationships may look like in the future — not through making tired critiques of dating apps, but rather by offering expansive interpretations...
Understanding yourself rarely comes easy. Finding out who you are — from which labels you prefer to use, to your relationship to sexuality, and your bodily autonomy — takes time, and discoveries...
Sometimes one decision can change your life forever; whether it be simply saying yes or no, deciding to go out or stay in, or making a more substantial, life-altering choice. These short films and...
Fear is a powerful force. Whether we realize it or not, the things that scare us often guide how we move through the world. As a genre, horror aims to tap into our universal fears and challenge them...
Whether we like it or not, technology has changed the world we live in. Our communication has gotten faster, but maybe less personal. And the ways we understand ourselves and the people around us...
Simply existing can be a confusing, scary, difficult endeavor. Many of us struggle with a lack of purpose, wish for better from life, or, even, know what we want but are prevented from getting it....
Countless films and television series have depicted girls and women being sexually assaulted — with varying degrees of success. Sometimes the incident isn’t even acknowledged by the show or...
Marginalized groups — such as women, people of color, and the queer community — have not always gotten the critical attention they deserve. Fortunately, each of the projects highlighted...
Whether it’s an understated coming-of-age portrayal of a biracial teenage girl beginning to recognize how her race and class impact how society treats her and others like her (“Miriam Lies”); a...
Our latest round of VOD and web series picks takes on one of the most complicated, universal, and inescapable institutions in existence: family. Whether it centers on a nontraditional path towards...
In media, women’s pain is usually used to motivate men. So there’s a real demand for nuanced portrayals of female trauma, which looks at what women are actually going through — as...
Society has unspoken expectations for everyone, especially women. We’re expected to dress in a certain way, do our hair and makeup, be less aggressive with men. Then there are expectations for...
Home is the place you’re meant to feel most comfortable. For many people, it’s with their families, their belongings, and their own space. But that isn’t always possible, particularly for those...
Sometimes there’s no better way to decompress from a long day or a stressful week than watching an episode of your favorite show. Or four. Or 10. There’s no shame in a good binge-watching...
Reproductive rights are under attack across the country. And while women throughout Hollywood are making their own efforts to defend access to safe abortion nationwide, there is still work to be done...
“Humor is just another defense against the universe,” Mel Brooks told Rolling Stone in 1978. This insight is perhaps even truer for women — we’ve often had to wield our senses...
Though change is an expected and necessary aspect of life, it can often be difficult to embrace and perhaps even harder to initiate. Transitions in jobs and relationships can stir up insecurities and...
Awards
The first round of “Made in NY” Women’s Film, TV & Theatre Fund grants have been awarded, a press release has announced. New York Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and the Mayor’s Office...
There have long been discussions surrounding the spaces women can safely and comfortably occupy in society. The rise of the Time’s Up movement, for example, has emphasized workplaces as spaces rife...
Simply existing in the world can be difficult; figuring out how to be a part of the world brings with it a whole other set of challenges. Chief among those challenges are finding where you fit in and...
Young womanhood comes with many inevitable challenges. Making friends, pleasing family, dating, career-planning: there’s a lot to figure out. Luckily, women creators are taking to the internet...
“Just be yourself” is a line offered up as advice throughout all stages of a person’s life, especially when they’re growing up. The mantra is usually proposed when someone is nervous...
News
Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC), the Canadian organization helping advance women filmmakers, has selected eight directors for its 2018 Story & Leadership program. Anna Cooley, Penny...
“Modern Hero’ has racked up millions of YouTube views, made a significant mark on social media, and won several awards. Now, thanks to FilmRise, from Julia Fisher Farbman and Cindy...
As the Trump administration continues to dehumanize transgender citizens, strip them of their rights, and dictate their identities, the ACLU and Little by Little Films are fighting back with a new...
Women are underrepresented in the media — that’s no secret. It should also come as no surprise that queer women are among the most marginalized groups on-screen. To add insult to injury,...
This month’s VOD and web series picks offer a few different takes on dating in the modern age. With the adoption of social media, smart phones, and apps, navigating the dating world in a sea of...
Although the arts industries pride themselves on being creatively enlightened, the #MeToo movement has shown they are hardly “safe” workplaces for women (or any other marginalized group)....
Our entire lives are defined by relationships. From a young age, we are taught to identify ourselves relative to someone else; daughter, sister, partner, friend. And whether these bonds are defined...
All three of the picks for this month’s VOD and web series round-up spotlight a loaded subject: mental health. Long considered taboo, mental health has finally started to be talked about more...
Almost every woman can relate to the pressure to conform or compromise oneself — the struggle to be heard and seen, valued and understood. Yet so few stories accurately or realistically...
Each of our three web series and VOD picks this month includes a scene with two women walking in nature: friends Isobel and Cam hiking and letting out primal screams in the comedic web series...
Women in charge. Women leading their communities. Women joining together to share power and resources with other women. Whether in real life or fiction, our current political and cultural moment has...
While science-fiction is usually associated with flashy VFX, aliens, spaceships, and advanced technology, the genre is incredibly varied and nuanced, and beloved by many as a means to explore complex...
As women, we know that we exist in multitudes, yet the representations that we see of ourselves in the media barely scratch the surface of our lived experiences. For so long, narratives about people...
This month we find ourselves especially inspired by the determination of women — perhaps because it’s Women’s History Month, and we’re feeling particularly conscious of the struggles...
This month’s picks are about geographical transitions and cultural clashes. In “Namaste, Bitches,” a yoga teacher moves from New York to L.A. and finds the sunny town’s yogis awfully cold and...
Join our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on women centric, directed, and written films and news. Newsletters are sent on Fridays at noon EST.