Anora

This year’s New York Film Festival boasted an impressive roster of features, with an array of talented women both behind and in front of the camera. The coveted Main Slate was stacked, with eight films directed by women and nearly as many women-centric titles directed by men. Several women directors went out on a limb, performing bold experimentations in style and genre. It is difficult to establish a theme within such a varied international festival, but in general I was taken with several women’s performances in male-directed films and by the bold choices made by many of the women directors. In either case, women are occupying center stage in a still male-dominated festival, in which the majority of the films are directed by men. It’s a promising step forward, to see so many inspiring women both in front of and behind the scenes, and one can only hope that next year will bring even more to the forefront.