If I were female, Maya Deren would be my heroine for all time. Scratch that, the pioneer’s legacy in the film world is a landmark of inspiration and adoration for all, regardless of gender, of occupation, of time. Deren’s imprint on the history of cinema is likely too vast and layered to do it justice […]
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I recently began writing my first screenplay. My story, which centers on a male protagonist, is not only something I love to tell, but I’ve never had more fun writing anything in my life… that was, until I started developing the main female protagonist. I approached her first scene-stealing moment filled with excitement, but almost […]
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Well, the four other members of the jury and I debated over the eight short films in the ten categories as described in the prior post – and here are the announcements. The two big winners were Anna Kerrigan, who wrote and directed Hot Seat, and Minhal Baig, writer- director of Hala (Baig also had After […]
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To close this magnificent #FemmeFilmFest I have assembled a small jury of film-lovers to honor a select few of these outstanding new short films. There are 5 of us in the jury, who will contest on the official selection and come to a (very difficult) decision as the top merit in each of the 10 […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Ten Program — Sunday 10th September 2017 And there we have it. The final day of the Femme Filmmakers Festival has arrived – too soon, like a brilliant holiday that is almost over. These female filmmakers and their movies have thrilled me during these ten days – and I know […]
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Agnès Varda. A name synonymous with a film revolution still, astonishingly, under-recognized. A name that reminds us of rich, fluent, and oh-so varied cinema. Stayed tuned for the remainder of the Femme Filmmakers Festival, Vagabond closes the the whole affair Sunday. Anyway, I’m only rippling the surface with the following links, but click away all […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Nine Program — Saturday 9th September 2017 Well here we are at the penultimate of the Femme Filmmakers Festival, and I won’t lie, I am pretty broken up about it. But that wont halt my enthusiasm and excitement for these female filmmakers. It is, of course, Directors’ Weekend too, and […]
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A representation of reality with which too few of us are familiar, Rachel Israel’s Keep the Change is a beautiful, earnest depiction of blossoming love. In miniature format, and with an unconventional choice in protagonists, Israel crafts an emotional sculpture on the screen, not merely a flat rendering of romantic tropes but a complex, surprising […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Eight Program — Friday 8th September 2017 Day Eight of the Femme Filmmakers Festival sees the first day of the Directors’ Weekend with three films from the legendary Agnès Varda. Two features coming Saturday and Sunday, and a 30 minute short coming today. Don’t forget you can hit the links […]
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There’s an earnest, smart filmmaking brain in the young head of Billimarie Robinson, whose diverse short films over the years have perhaps allowed her to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders through creative expression. When we first interacted a couple of years ago, having seen and reviewed Corrugated Hearts, I swore to myself […]
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A single travel writer undergoes a personal conflict on an unexpectedly extended stay in Barcelona in Alex Burunova’s Lonely Planet. A young American woman long estranged from her home country, and from any close source of immediate human affection, engages in a romantic encounter with a disarming local – they are of similar age and […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Seven Program — Thursday 7th September 2017 Women’s rights are the direct subject of one of the feature films coming in Day Seven of the Femme Filmmakers Festival. And a smart, young filmmaker has two short films in the selection, and we had a hefty chat about many aspects of […]
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Talented 24 year-old filmmaker Sofija Sztepanov appears to have a humble yet dynamic perspective on her corner of the film world. There is also an excitement about the Femme Filmmakers Festival from her, as we discuss, in a thankfully encouraging manner, the online format of film watching and publicity. It doesn’t take long, by definition, to […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Six Program — Wednesday 6th September 2017 Welcome to the second half of the Femme Filmmakers Festival. Day Six has a mixed bag of tricks once again of the short and feature variety. We venture to New Zealand and France for the feature films, women directors with a gentle, loving, […]
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This four-minute portrait of the filmmaker’s mother combines the texture of 1970s-color-saturated found footage with an oddly avant-garde structure. The editing rhythms are distinctly recognizable for anyone who has watched 70s home movies; the Kodak would often linger and jerk-pan for about twenty seconds, then (because the film ran out, because only so much could […]
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Femme Filmmakers Festival — Day Five Program — Tuesday 5th September 2017 Among the recommended shorts and features on Day Five of the Femme Filmmakers Festival, we take a trip to Brazil for one of the most under-rated movies of the last decade. As we approach the half-way point of the #FemmeFilmFest, why not share […]
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Sofia Coppola’s latest feature, The Beguiled, carries the theme of loneliness, which was present in her previous work like The Virgin Suicides and Lost In Translation, due to the physical isolation that the main characters feel. However, what makes The Beguiled far different from those two films is how it serves as a pastiche of […]
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Welcome to Day Four of the Femme Filmmakers Festival, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Today’s showings include a brand new retro-comedy-horror, a documentary on a Middle-East singing contest, as well as the oldest film at the festival. One female filmmaker has the honor of having 2 of her short films in the […]
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Beautifully filmed, A Million Miles Away is an ensemble film that delivers with so much intimacy and thought in spite of the many cast members. Whether these characters, primarily a bunch of teenage girls and their substitute teacher, wear their hearts on their sleeves or not, emotional resonance is clearly skin-deep. Writer and director of […]
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Originally published over at On The Screen Reviews Before Hollywood discovered the benefit of locking their doors when leaving town, a group of gutsy, celebrity-obsessed high schoolers ransacked the homes of Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, and Lindsey Lohan…to name a few. And they posted their designer booty on Facebook feeling the temporary fulfillment […]
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