By Betty Kaklamanidou. This patriarchal structure operates like a ‘fixer,’ a sophisticated, centuries-old system that protects male supremacy by eliminating the names of women who achieved greatness, leaving behind a male-centric narrative.” This spring semester my two elective courses focus on the history of Greek cinema, specifically the work of […]
Seventeen Now Isn’t What It Was: Durga Chew-Bose on Bonjour Tristesse (2024)
By Jonathan Monovich. I think going into anything with a deep respect for what came before is the best you can do.” –Durga Chew-Bose “Whatever happened to the teenage dream?” It’s a question attributed to a Marc Bolan song, though its sentiment remains eternal. Time fleets, as does youth, and […]
Pacing and Place: Désirée Nosbusch on Poison (2024)
By Yun-hua Chen. The key was having the courage not to rush the pacing. People tried to convince me otherwise—they said it was too slow, that it took too long for the characters to meet. But I stood my ground.” –Désirée Nosbusch With over 30 years of experience as an […]
What the 80s Mean in Czechoslovakia: Alexandra Makarova on Perla
By Ali Moosavi. It was clear for us that we wanted to have an observer’s perspective so that it feels like I am invisible and standing with the camera and looking at these people.” –Alexandra Makarova One of the films showing at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival is Perla by […]
Architects of Their Own Stories – The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women’s Filmmaking
A Book Review by Dávid Szőke. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas reveals the potential of contemporary filmmaking to challenge conventional cultural narratives about the witch, offering these figures greater space where they are no longer just passive objects of our anxieties but architects of their own stories.” The figure of the witch as […]
A Rich Space for Personal Expression – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women’s Filmmaking
By Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo. Hopefully the book will be part of a broader shift towards more focused, deeper critical dives into the nitty gritty of women’s horror filmmaking now that the field has been broadly solidified with incredible foundational texts….” Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ career offers a rich tapestry of interests […]
The Rhythm of Real Life: Michał Chmielewski on Roving Woman
By Savina Petkova. I think in the long take, we observe the rhythm of real life…. if we would cut between different emotional states, it would be artificial.” It would be reductive to call Roving Woman, the debut feature by Polish filmmaker Michał Chmielewski simply a road movie. That it […]
Clawing the Surface: Mary Dauterman’s Booger
By William Blick. A visceral metaphor for grief in an impressive low-budget indie debut…..” Mary Dauterman’s first feature length film, Booger, comes across as a cinematic exercise of sorts, i.e., a visceral metaphor for grief in an impressive low-budget indie debut. Not quite gory or suspenseful enough to satisfy the hardcore/ […]
Escape from Their Golden Cages: Filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub on Mond (Moon)
By Yun-hua Chen. That’s why I chose MMA fights and combat sports. It’s all about being in a cage. Women’s MMA fights have this expectation that they must look sexy, and it’s about this strange desire of Sarah’s to return to the cage. Meanwhile, the girls in the film want […]
The Substance is a Documentary
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. As far as emotional fidelity is concerned, The Substance is a documentary. No other film I have ever seen so perfectly captures my subjective experience of the culturally enforced dissociation that happens en masse when, as a woman, your body starts to age.” I recently turned 50. […]