ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

female filmmakers

Interviews 

SYLVIA CAMINER chats FOLLOW HER, Horror and Social Media Storytelling – Interview by Nadine Whitney

Nadine Whitney , , , ,

Sylvia Caminer is an Emmy winning television director and documentary maker. Turning her talents to directing the social media horror satire Follow Her has seen Sylvia move into a genre that frees many women directors and writers to examine society and inherent sexism. Follow Her blends horror, thriller, comedy, and social commentary with ease and purpose and is definitely a film you should like and subscribe to. In this interview, Caminer discusses what attracted her to the horror genre and to this project in particular.

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Festivals 

Vancouver International Women In Film Festival 2023 – Jennifer Green Previews

Jennifer Green , , , , ,

The Vancouver International Women in Film Festival (VIWFF) is returning to an in-person event this year for its 18th annual edition at the VIFF Centre in the British Columbian city March 7-11. The festival, organized around International Women’s Day on March 8, will also run online from March 12-25. Some 37 films from 14 countries will compete for a line-up of awards, running alongside a sidebar short film competition. Of the 19 films from home base Canada, 9 are from local British Columbia filmmakers.

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Festivals 

Whistler Film Festival 2022: Female Filmmaker Wrap – Rachel West reports

Rachel West , , , , ,

“Addressing the imbalance of representation in the screen industry has been a mandate of the Whistler Film Festival for many years,” Festival Director Angela Heck says. “Our advocacy for gender parity has expanded to reflect our overall commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. There is much work to do as we continue to cultivate and champion underrepresented communities in our programs, our stories and in the Canadian media industry at large.”

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EDA Awards Festivals News 

AWFJ EDA Awards @ Whistler Film Fest 2022: Nominees and Jurors – Jennifer Merin reports

Jennifer Merin , ,

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists and Whistler Film Festival are proud to announce the nominees for two AWFJ EDA Awards to be presented at the 2022 festival. This is the tenth consecutive year of the partnership between Whistler Film Festival and AWFJ to honor films directed by women. Whistler Film Festival nominates films for consideration. Juries are comprised of AWFJ members. The winners will be announced at this year’s virtual awards ceremony.

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Festivals News 

Whistler Film Festival: Women in the Director’s Chair 2022 – Jennifer Merin reports

Jennifer Merin , , , , , , , ,

Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting women filmmakers and developing their projects. Among its successful programs, WIDC IS partnering with Whistler film Festival for the ninth year to present its In the Director’s Chair Story & Leadership program, an intensive mentorship that benefits eight mid-career and non-binary filmmakers from across Canada and representing Canada’s diverse population. The filmmakers selected for the 2022 program will attend this year’s Whistler Film Festival (taking place November 30 through December 4 and online until January 2, 2023), participating in the WFF Industry Immersion program.

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Reviews 

BROADWAY RISING – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , ,

Amy Rice’s documentary film Broadway Rising follows Broadway’s fight from shutdown to reopening with stories from cast members , crew, and the thousands of creatives who carry an entire industry on their shoulders. Broadway Rising pulls back the curtain on all the people who inspire storytelling in its most glorious form. We rely on the audience for equal care when they come to the theatre. If a theater asks you to wear a mask, please listen. As Lin-Manuel Miranda says in the film, “We are like Tinkerbell. We need applause to live.” The show must go on. Let us entertain you.

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Commentaries 

Suzanne Bauman (1945-2022): A Life in Film – Profile by Marilyn Ferdinand

Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) , , , ,

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists mourns the passing of Suzanne Bauman, a producer, director, and writer of more than 80 documentary and feature films, as well as a teacher of documentary filmmaking. Bauman succumbed to cancer on January 2, 2022, surrounded by family in her home in Wrightwood, California.

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Festivals 

Women @ New York Film Fest 2021 – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

Margaret Barton-Fumo , , ,

The 59th edition of the New York Film Festival runs from September 24 – October 10, 2021. According to our rough calculations, over a third of the features in this year’s NYFF were directed by women, which include nearly half of the films in the “Currents” slate, which emphasizes “new and innovative forms and voices” within contemporary cinemas, and 40% of the “Revivals.” Nine of the features in the coveted “Main Slate” were directed by women, many of them highly anticipated releases. Here’s a rundown…

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Festivals Interviews 

MICKEY SUMNER on WITH/in, iPhone filmmaking and Trudie Styler – Jennifer Merin interviews

Jennifer Merin , , , , , , ,

Mickey Sumner’s I’m Listening was shot in response to Maven Screen Media’s WITH/IN short film initiative for Tribeca Film Festival 2021. The directive was simple: Using an iPhone and whatever’s easily at your disposal, shoot a short film dealing with quarantine life in 2020. It’s not as if there wasn’t a surplus of storytelling angles, themes and emotions available, considering how much everyone’s lives changed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Festivals 

Female Filmmakers at SXSW 2021 Preview – Valerie Kalfrin reports

Valerie Kalfrin , , ,

Although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic prevents filmmakers and audiences from gathering in person, SXSW Online spotlights 75 feature films, including about 40 from women directors. Its special events include a keynote address from political leader and bestselling author Stacey Abrams in conversation with bestselling author N.K. Jemisin. The online pivot revives the film, tech, and music festival, which shuttered its doors in 2020 for the first time in 34 years because of health concerns about COVID-19. This year’s lineup promises a “fantastic treasure trove of programming … that everyone can access on their laptops, phones, and TVs,” Janet Pierson, the festival’s director of film, has said.

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