Female Film Critics 24/375
It has been an incredible decade for animator and director Domee Shi. Beginning as a story intern at Pixar in 2011, she was promoted in April of this year to Vice President of Creative for the company where she has spent her entire professional career. She also won an Academy Award and directed a feature film along the way.
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This month, Elaine May is getting an Oscar! One of Hollywood’s funniest and most talented ladies will, at long last, receive an Honorary Academy Award for her long history of great work in the film industry. In announcing the honor, Academy president David Rubin said, “Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.” Honoring Elaine May’s work and career accomplishments will introduce a new generation to her particular sensibilities, wit, unique perspective and voice.
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While she won’t speculate on her own awards prospects, Ari Wegner recently told me how happy she is to see the way women are now being more welcomed in the field of cinematography. She hopes this will continue to increase as female DPs start to see the recognition that has eluded them for so long. She discusses both the art and science of filmmaking with such a degree of passion and poetry, that her love for the medium is contagious. She is a leader, a champion, and a gifted artist, giving the world not only beautiful images, but a sense of hope and fascination too.
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Night Raiders fictionalizes the tragic history of Indigenous people and uses it as a condemnation, but also to show survival, hope, and a way forward. Looking deeper, the film uses the specific history of atrocities against Indigenous people from around the world to vanquish the concept that cultural homogeneity and that world of complete unity of language, ideology, religion, etc, destroys society rather than strengthens it. At a time where “groupthink” and echo chambers are valued, Danis Goulet shows us there are better ways to live and work together.
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For Lauren Ridloff, the chance to perform on stage and screen and taking on a new starring role in Marvel’s Eternals, is not just an avenue for creative expression, but also gives her the space to open doors for others in the deaf community while also teaching the hearing community how to foster a more inclusive experience for everyone.
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Myth, legend, and theology come together like they never have before in Marvel’s newest entry, Eternals. Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao brings her intimate, personal style of storytelling to cinema’s most sprawling universe, introducing new characters and new ideas to the familiar franchise. Despite the action and the visual effects, there’s little to remind us that this is a Marvel movie. it serves as a curious addition to the collection and an exciting peek into the future of the franchise. It is a future more reflective of the world we live in, with grander ideas and new types of storytelling.
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On paper, blending an intimate character study with an urgent social issue drama is the kind of film that awards seasons crave. But Justin Chon’s Blue Bayou is a collection of unfinished ideas and incomplete sketches that unfortunately falls short of a satisfying film.
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Theo Park is a casting director with clout! Recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for casting Ted Lasso, the phenom freshman television series that set a record for its number of Emmy wins for the actors Park cast in the show (along with other categories), she’s shaping the population of performers who are beloved by audiences around the globe. She is unquestionably enthusiastic about her work and readily acknowledges that she’s been fortunate in finding opportunities that have brought her to the pinnacle of success.
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Kudos to Heidi Ewing who has built her laudable career and cinema catalogue by helping fascinating people to tell their stories with authenticity and grace. Whether she’s focusing on a strict religious community, the physical and financial impact of manufacturing shutdowns on an industrial city, or two men risking everything to seek the freedom to love each other, Ewing’s empathetic lens captures the humanity of her subjects, while she is always seeking new opportunities to grow and develop her own unique talents and skills.
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This month, Elaine Bogan makes her feature debut directing the animated film, Spirit Untamed. It is the culmination of years working in story development and honing her directing skills in animated television. Her first feature is also the result of a life spent dreaming and reaching for new opportunities.
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