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I'm in LA this weekend to moderate a panel on women film bloggers at the Women in Film Entertainment forum so things are light today and there will be no weekly email.

No new women centric releases. Changeling goes wide.

NY and LA see - I've Loved You So Long.

Films Remaining in Theatres
The Secret Life of Bees
Happy-Go-Lucky
Rachel Getting Married
Nights at Rodanthe
The Duchess
Trouble the Water
Mamma Mia!
The Longshots

For her honesty and optimism

The lack of good roles for older women in film or on stage is an enduring problem.
"We're not seeing much of a change from that Jane Austen view that the important thing for a woman is getting the right partner and everything is interesting up until that point," she says. "Perhaps there was some truth in Jane Austen's days about your lot being predictable after you'd gone past marrying age. Nowadays, you see a whole new interpretation of life after 45 for women but it's not reflected in the writing."

Yet she remains optimistic, confident that the pressure is building for stories that relate to the lives of those ignored by the youth-oriented, dumbed-down market with its staple diet of coming-of-age tales and frothy romance.

"I'm glad to be this age at this time," she says. "When it comes to theatre and cinema audiences, our generation likes going to the theatre - we're not sitting at home knitting. We want to go out to the cinema … there's a market for more grown-up stories about these exciting women today."

Queen for day, woman for life (Brisbane Times)
photo: Insidefoto/PR Photos

The Public Theatre in NY with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has named playwright Suzan-Lori Parks as the first recipient of the Master Writer Chair position.

From the press statement: the grant will "provide an artistic home and support for established playwrights whose work has set the standard for the highest level of achievement in theatre,"

Parks will also be a professor of dramatic writing at NYU.
Suzan-Lori Parks Named Public Theater Master Writer Chair (Playbill)

The Tribeca Institute announced the first recipients of its Sloan Awards for filmmaking. The Sloan awards focus on science topics.

Out of the five awards two are to women
Amy Redford for Face Value about actress Hedy Lamarr’s career as an inventor
Kathryn Maughan screenplay about Marie Curie A Noble Affair.

Update
Looks like there are more women involved than the story indicated- here are the additional women involved

Face Value
Gretchen Somerfeld Screenwriter

Kitty Hawk
Lucy Barzun Donnelly

The Radioactive Boy Scout
Danielle Renfrew Producer
Tribeca awards 5 film grants (Variety)

Mamma Mia has just become the highest grossing British film in the UK. (It qualifies as a British film under their crazy rules.)

Total box office take so far -- $109.9 million. Ir recently surpassed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and they think it will knock off Titanic. (how these all qualify as British films I don't know)

'Mamma' top-grossing British film in the U.K. (HR)

• Amy Adams will star in the indie drama Daughter of the Queen of Sheba. Script is by Karen Croner based on the bio of NPR correspondent Jacki Lyden, centers on how a woman uses her mother's madness and delusions to empower herself. (Variety)
  
  
• Anne Hathaway will star in the romantic comedy The Fiance playing a woman who cancels wedding plans and breaks up with her seemingly perfect fiance so she can try to figure out who she really is. Her meddling parents try to patch things up between the pair, making it impossible for her to move on. (Variety)

• Naomi Watts is in negotiations to topline "My Name Is Jody Williams," that Audrey Wells wrote and will direct. Film is the true story of Jody Williams, a strong-willed teacher working for a temporary employment agency who left her life in Washington to pursue an unlikely career in global activism. Almost a decade and a half later, Williams was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for leading an international campaign to eradicate land mines. (HR)

• Anna Paquin has been tapped to star in "The Irena Sendler Story," a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation for CBS. Paquin will play Sendler, a Polish woman credited with saving the lives of thousands of Jewish children during World War II. Sendler, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, died in May at age 98. (HR)

• Amy Pietz has been tapped for the title role in Lifetime's drama pilot "The Amazing Mrs. Novak." Based on the six-part U.K. series "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard," centers on Trish Novak (Pietz), a supermarket manager who unexpectedly becomes the governor of New Jersey. Vanessa Taylor is the project's writer-showrunner. She exec produces with Carolyn Bernstein, Jane Featherstone and Stephen Garrett. (HR)

• Rachael Taylor, Amanda Walsh and "quarterlife" star Bitsie Tulloch have landed the female leads in Washingtonienne HBO's comedy pilot from "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker. Based on the semi-autobiographical book by Jessica Cutler about the sexploits of a low-level female congressional staffer with powerful men on Capitol Hill, it revolves around the professional and personal lives of three smart, sophisticated 28-year-old girls working on the Hill. Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz penned the script for "Washingtonienne" and are exec producing with Parker, Parker's producing partner Alison Benson, Sarah Condon and Stacy Traub. (HR)

• Lifetime has lined up Cybill Shepherd and Faye Dunaway to play grandmothers in the first two of its four movie adaptations of Nora Roberts novels. Shepherd will star in "High Noon" along with Emilie de Ravin and Ivan Sergei, while Dunaway will be joined in "Midnight Bayou" by Jerry O'Connell and Lauren Stamile. (HR)
  

From the Washington Post:

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the selection of seven plays to be funded as part of its New Play Development Program. The pilot project, which is being administered by Arena Stage, is designed not only to underwrite new works already in progress but also to spot successful collaborations among artists, theaters, communities and other entities that might be used as models.

The largest grants - $90,000- went to male playwrights. Shocker. Of the five $20,000 development grants -- two-- went to women. Claudia Rankine and Aditi Brennan Kapil.

Percentage of women - 35%
NEA to Nurture 7 Varied New Plays

I've been told by a variety of people for stories I've written that the documentary world is pretty much 50/50, and that at times women directors and women's stories dominate the festivals. I'm no documentary expert but looking at the list of the feature nominees for the International Documentary Association annual awards there is nary a women's story of a female director. My biggest question is: where is Trouble the Water one of the most popular docs of the year from a critical and public perspective.

I guess people will say that the short section is dominated by women (four out of the five) but I don't think that cuts it.
Short female nominees:
"Kicks Like a Girl," directed by Jenny Mackenzie
"La Corona," directed by Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
"Smile Pinki," directed by Megan Mylan
"Tongzhi in Love," directed by Ruby Yang

The three achievement awards will also be given to men.

Women documentarians - what do you think?
"Kassim," "Wire," "Stranded," "Waltz" and "Young" Compete for IDA Honors (Indiewire)

Can you believe Roseanne premiered 20 years ago? Think we would see a woman like Roseanne on TV today? Fat and outspoken. Forget the outspoken part. Think about the fat part. She was fat, not just overweight. She was obese as was John Goodman. The kids were skinny which to me was always a bit unrealistic cause I don't really remember any shows where the girls dealt with how their mom's weight affected them.

Women on TV today are so skinny. Remember the show Less Than Perfect that ran a couple of years ago? That was supposedly a show about a "full-sized" young woman. Sara Rue was no full-sized woman -- she was like an 8 or a 10. I guess to TV, that's full-sized.

The issues that the show covered and dealt with are now just ignored or brushed under the rug. I find it amazing and pathetic that the show was NEVER nominated for an Emmy during its run.

EW gathered the cast as well as execs and creatives for a reunion (some going on the record for the first time.) The early part of the story focuses on the early controversy between Roseanne and Matt Williams who got the Writers Guild credit for creating the show much to Roseanne's disgust and wrath. She, of course, was deemed crazy and difficult (which she probably was) but she was also fighting for herself and her life. This was a depiction of her life. They threatened to fire her multiple times.

Roseanne: I was crying all the time. They said, ''Oh, we're going to fire you off the show.'' George Clooney put this sign on my door, where it said, ''Roseanne Barr.'' He took that name tag out and put ''Valerie Harper'' instead because she had just been fired off her own show [Valerie]. I will always love George for that. They were compiling this list of all the offensive things I had done to fire me.

Some issues that the show dealt with that we wouldn't see on TV today include: birth-control, PMS, getting your period, the lesbian kiss (ok- you'll see this one). I still remember what a big deal the lesbian kiss episode was. Everyone watched it.

Lecy Goranson (played Becky): I can't tell you how many women my age have said that they were watching [the birth-control episode] with their mom and then looked over at each other and were like, ''Okay, we should talk about it.''

Amy Sherman-Palladino (was a writer on the show for three seasons): They would not let you do that story today. I think that was the real amazing thing about it. Keeping true to those characters and true to life was everything. It was never about, Let's break ground! Because that's the kind of thought process that brings up bulls---, contrived stories.

Roseanne sums the legacy of the up best:

It's more relevant now than it was then. I'm very proud of its timelessness, and the fact that it has a political edge that is even more relevant now than it was then. I'm proud of the fact that it's never gone off the air for 20 years.

A Roseanne Family Reunion

6 are women? Am I dreaming. (Gotta say the women on the list are way more interesting that the guys.)

Melissa Leo- Frozen River
Viola Davis- Doubt
Kat Dennings- Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Rebecca Hall- vicky Cristina Barcelona
Taraji P. Henson- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mia Wasikowska- Defiance

Eight high profile film directors from Wim Wenders to Gus Van Sant to Jane Campion recently premiered their collaboration 8 in which each "director takes a different angle to show how poverty, climate change, lack of access to education and basic health facilities are affecting the world's needy but also those living in the rich West."

But Mira Nair's film about a Muslim woman who leaves her family for a married man caused the sponsoring UN organization UNDP to pull its support after producers refused to censor her portion on the film.

Nair reacting to the controversy

Nair, in Rome to promote "8," defended her choice, saying it was about a woman's right to express herself.

"It's a storm in a teacup frankly. It's not what the film deserved," she said.

"My film is inspired by a true story and was written by the person who lived that story. Freedom does not come neatly packaged. It comes with pain," she said.

"I also wanted to make the film because of the reaction in the West to any woman who lives under a hijab or a burqa. They are usually identified as women who have no rights and are submissive ... which is completely untrue."

Top film-makers focus on poverty, despite U.N. row (Reuters)
photo: Martin Schoeller

Today marks the beginning of a new feature here at Women & Hollywood -- Movies I Want to See. This feature will cover films that have been seen at film festivals or other finished films that don't have release dates here in the US.

The first film is Incendiary which premiered at Sundance and recently played at the London Film Festival. It stars Michelle Williams as a woman who loses her son in a London terrorist attack and is directed by Sharon Maguire who directed the first Bridget Jones' Diary.

Check out the trailer:


Sharon Maguire turns her focus to Osama bin Laden in Incendiary (The Times)

Big disappointment to me. Haven't committed to many new shows. I watched one episode of the Ex-List -- which has just been canceled by CBS-- (now I can clear the other episodes out of my DVR without guilt) and I thought it sucked. Poor Elizabeth Reaser. Could they have made her wear any skimpier clothing and act more like an idiot. The woman is talented but needs a good vehicle.

Best show of the year: FRINGE- hands down. Love this show. Watch it every week right away (which I hardly do at all) Anna Torv is awesome and I love all the mysteries and am intrigued by the "pattern."

Happy surprise: Rita Rocks- I thought Lifetime was crazy to air five shows last week while rolling out the show but I have to say that I really enjoyed the show. I watched all the episodes this weekend and love the cast chemistry especially the chemistry between star Nicole Sullivan and her husband played by Richard Ruccolo.

Shows losing their luster for me include: Lipstick Jungle, House (I am so tired of his obnoxiousness); Entourage

Shows I still looove: Cold Case, Law & Order SVU; Bones; Grey's Anatomy

Don't forget: Season Premiere of 30 Rock this Thursday night.

photo credit Nicole Sullivan: Glenn Harris/Photorazzi

Big props to playwrights Julia Jordan and Sarah Schulman for organizing women playwrights in NY to discuss sexism in the NY theatre. This evening 150 women will be holding a discussion (which I will be attending) with some of the artistic directors of the NY off-Broadway theatres to discuss how to get more women's voices on the marquees.

Contending that their male counterparts in the 2008-9 season are being produced at 14 of the largest Off Broadway institutions at four times the rate that women are (40 plays by men; 10 by women)

And bigger props to my bud playwright Theresa Rebeck for having the guts to go on the record about the sexism:

I personally don’t think playwriting is a gene on a Y chromosome,...Many of our male peers find the debate intolerable. Men in the community seem to think that everything is fine.”...Ms. Rebeck said that male friends “in the system say to me I have to keep my mouth shut; don’t be part of the problem, don’t be a whiner.”

They clearly count on women being too afraid to speak out. It takes people who have clout (like Rebeck) to take a stand. And no, that's not easy. Other women need to stand with her and support her.

Some of the genius artistic directors really showed the glass houses they live in especially Lincoln Center's Andre Bishop who made the genius statement:

Most artistic directors are men, and they don’t relate to or connect with women as much as men,” “I try to think about these things all the time, but I don’t, because I’m a pathetic mortal.

I think he is just plain pathetic and condescending.

Carole Rothman, artistic director and founder of Second Stage, who in the past was known as a stalwart supporter of female artists said:

“Is there a cultural bias against women? I don’t know,” she said, but either way, “People don’t care.”

People. Don't. Care. Wow. I believe that people don't know and that they do care once they learn about the issues. Do we really want a theatre world dominates by males voices and visions? I'm shocked at the narrowmindedness of these so-called culture leaders. These people have influence over what we see in the theatre all across the country. If they produce a show at their theatre it has a much greater chance of being produced somewhere else.

Playwright Gina Gionfriddo also went on the record:

She had been told that her characters were unlikable. “I wonder if Neil LaBute hears this,” she said of a playwright known for his corrosive depictions of human nature. She also suggested that women’s plays often do not resolve as conclusively as those by men, and that they do not follow the Aristotelian model of drama, which makes directors uncomfortable.

I find this fascinating. Women filmmakers have some of the same issues. Women and men write differently because we are different and have different experiences. Is it maybe that all the models that we think work are male models? It's not rocket science. If we want a culture to reflect ALL the participants we need to figure out a way to have ALL women's voices (not just white women) heard.

Charging Bias by Theaters, Female Playwrights to Hold Meeting (NY Times)

What is Wrong With This Picture?

How can a conversation moderated by Scott Macaulay of Filmmaker Magazine that covers "indie film past, present and future" be convened without a single woman? The participants were: Josh Braun, Matt Dentler, Ira Deutchman, Ted Hope, Lars Knudsen, and Jay Van Hoy.

Shameful!

For using her show to denounce Sarah Palin's support of a federal ban on gay marriage.

Ellen has become increasingly political recently and the folks at After Ellen explain her effectiveness:

What makes Ellen's move from famously nonpolitical to outspoken advocate so extraordinary is that she has been able to do it without becoming polarizing. No one brings up Ellen's name when mentioning activist celebrities, nor does she get the derision sometimes heaped on stars like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and even fellow out comedian Rosie O'Donnell. And I think the reason for this is simple: Ellen has spent all these years on her show being disarmingly likable. And now, quite simply, people trust her.

Hat tip- After Ellen

Check out my reviews of I've Loved You So Long starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Changeling starring Angelina Jolie.

Films Remaining in Theatres
The Secret Life of Bees
Happy-Go-Lucky (I left this accidentally off my weekly email)
Rachel Getting Married
Nights at Rodanthe
The Duchess
The Women
Trouble the Water
Mamma Mia!
The Longshots

Kristin Scott Thomas was on the cusp of Hollywood leading ladydom a little over a decade ago after her smoldering Oscar nominated performance in The English Patient. Her two subsequent mainstream American films where she was teamed with Hollywood's leading men -- Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer and Harrison Ford in Random Hearts -- were both flops artistically and commercially, so she returned to her family in her adopted France and has been working on smaller mostly European films and theatre.

But she's back on the Oscar radar with her exquisite performance in I've Loved You So Long the new film written and directed by French novelist Phillipe Claudel which opens today. She's also plays a pivotal role in the word of mouth movie of the summer the French thriller Tell No One by Guillaume Canet based on the novel by Harlan Coben. It's a wonderful thriller with great twists and turns. And she made her Broadway debut this fall as Arkadina is the spectacularly reviewed The Seagull opposite Peter Sarsgaard and I'm sure is already shortlisted for a Tony next spring. I personally felt that Sarsgaard was miscast and that the two of them had very little chemistry, but I am in the minority with this opinion.

Her new film I've Loved you So Long tells the story of a woman just released from 15 years in prison for killing her son. This is tough stuff and not a movie for the faint hearted. But it is a good movie, so good because the story of her life is seen on her face not through the words, and Scott Thomas bares herself in a way that you can't help but sympathize with her. Her performance (even though it is a foreign film) is so good that it has propelled her to the top tier of contenders for the best actress nomination.

We first see her sitting in an airport looking drab and sallow with not a stitch of makeup on. The stillness of her face sucks you in. Her much younger sister (Elsa Zylberstein) willingly takes her in after her release desperate to get to know her sister and to find out why she would kill her own child. The film is about these two women getting to know each other again, and about Juliette's (Scott Thomas) reintegration into society. As Juliette thaws after her long incarceration, color is restored to her face and to the film's palette.

The circumstances surrounding the death of her son are complicated and not totally plausible when the truth is revealed (which I don't want to give away.) But the death of her child doomed Juliette to prison no matter if she was locked up or free to roam. You see that sadness and emptiness on every frame of the film.

Here's the preview:

Here's the problem with Changeling the new Clint Eastwood film starring Angelina Jolie, actually it's one of the problems, but it's the biggest, the brightest and the reddest -- Angelina Jolie's lips. Every single person I've talked to who has seen the film -- especially the women -- the first thing out of their mouth is what a distraction her lips are. One actually said, "am I making too much of this" which I have been thinking to myself over the last couple of days. As a feminist, I really try to see beyond the looks and lips but this film made it virtually impossible because they were so big onscreen and were a total distraction. I think this has become a real problem for Angelina Jolie the actress because she seem to be getting in the way of herself.

The lips are a reflection of the tone of the film which is a male interpretation of a woman, and Jolie is the perfect person to embody that reflection. She's gorgeous and sexy, yet is always seen through the reflection of her family. This could have been a feminist story -- a woman fights back after being thrown in the nut house because she refuses to tow the party line -- but sadly the whole movie rings hollow.

Jolie plays a single mom whose son gets kidnapped. (The film is based on a true story.) When the police find a child that is clearly not her son, but kind of looks like him they convince her to take him home. She of course knows that he is not her son but the cops need a win and they do everything they can to convince her that the boy is hers even though he's shorter and his teeth don't match. But nobody listens to her and they conspire to make her come off crazy. She fights back and goes to the press and the price she pays for speaking out is being locked in the psych ward where she discovers a whole band of women just like her being held for no reason other than speaking out against the police. One of her fellow patients is the always fantastic Amy Ryan is a weird perm.

She is able to get released by the anti-police corruption crusader Gustav Briegleb played by John Malkovich and then takes on the system and fights to get the other women released. I guess that fight would be too much of a leap which brings me to the second big problem with the film -- you never get the sense of why she becomes an advocate. You understand intellectually why she does it, but it never comes through onscreen. One minute she's in the mental ward and the next minute she's standing outside as the women are released. You don't see any character development. It just doesn't work.

There was also no energy in Jolie's performance -- she yelled once and cried non-stop but it felt that she was literally wearing a straght jacket the whole time. I thought that we would get to see the Angelina of Girl Interrupted a decade ago when she got committed but that actress doesn't seem to exist anymore as far as I can see. I don't know if celebrity and the exposure has restricted her onscreen but it kind of feels like it has. Her partner, Brad Pitt seems to be able to still disappear into his roles but maybe its different for women, especially those with big lips.

I can't decide who I love more lately, Rachel Maddow or Tina Fey. Isn't so amazing that smart women are the talk of this election cycle?

Tina's going to be photographed for the cover of Vanity Fair by Annie Leibovitz - solo. Here's some great quotes from today's big USA Today piece on her.

In an industry in which a woman can be either gorgeous or funny but rarely both, she's the rare exception. Fey can star in her own American Express ads, chasing Martin Scorsese through an airport, and rock a fancy David Meister frock on the red carpet. But she's still a comedy nerd, not entirely at home in the spotlight and still most comfortable in her broken-in Dansko clogs, which she slips into on set when the camera stops rolling.

And therein perhaps lies the key to Fey's appeal. Even when she was first garnering attention for her writing on Saturday Night Live, Fey came across not as a ham, but as the smart, polite girl next door — even as she gently layered on the sarcasm and wit.

"She deals with (fame) the same way she deals with everything else. She just works harder," says Lorne Michaels, executive producer of SNL, where Fey became the show's first female head writer. "She's strong and she's smart, which is a very appealing combination. You trust her way of looking at the world. There's nothing strident about her. She knows who she is."

Here's her on last night's SNL Weekend Update Thursday with Will Ferrell playing George W. Bush.

Don't forget that next Thursday night is the premiere of 30 Rock. You can see the whole episode now on Hulu. But this show needs out support so everyone should tune in next Thursday at 9:30pm on NBC.

On the eve of the presidential election, Harrison Ford (Air Force One) was picked as the best movie president in a moviefone poll that got 1.1 million votes. The rest of the top five includes most of the leading male actors of our time: Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact); Michael Douglas (The American President); Bill Pullman (Independence Day); Kevin Kline (Dave)...you get the drift.

Of course, there are no women in the top 10 (or the top 20) probably because we've never had a woman president. The last time a woman played the president on the big screen was 1999 when Lynne Thigpen took on the role in Bicentennial Man. (Thank you Wikipedia) Most of the women who have played president on the big screen did so decades ago in movies I never heard of: Ernestine Barrier in Project Moonbase in 1953; Polly Bergen in Kisses for My President in 1964 (I have heard of this one); Sally Champlin in 2001 in The Woman Every Man Wants (huh, so never heard of this); Joan Rivers in 1987's Les Patterson Saves the World; Loretta Swit in Whoops Apocalypse in 1986; and the one we all know- Glenn Close as Acting President in Air Force One.

On TV we've done a little better with Geena Davis in Commander in Chief (I still miss this show); Patricia Wettig (Prison Break) and Patty Duke in Hail to the Chief. All of those shows lasted one season. But this winter we will see Cherry Jones as the President Allison Taylor on 24.

Counting the amount of men who have played presidents on the big screen I got around 90. Roy Schneider has played a president three times, Gene Hackman, twice, both Randy and Dennis Quaid have played presidents, as well as five African American men. On TV, men have played the president on TV 26 times.

Now that we've had a woman almost as the democratic nominee (sigh) and a woman as the republican VP nominee (yikes) will we see women as the president on the big screen?

Harrison Ford voted best movie president: poll (Reuters via Yahoo)

• Penelope Cruz -- who's appearing in two current films, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Elegy" -- will be honored as the outstanding performer of the year at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which runs Jan. 22-Feb.1. Cruz will be presented with the award at the Arlington Theatre on Jan. 31. (HR)

• Dakota Fanning will collect the Rising Star Award at the 20th Annual Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival. (Variety)

• Kristin Scott Thomas will receive Hollywood actress of the year honors from the Hollywood Film Festival. (Variety)

• New York Women in Film and Television will honor Laura Linney, Kyra Sedgwick, Nickelodeon prexy Cyma Zarghami and ad exec Linda Kaplan Thaler at its 28th annual Muse awards in NY on Dec 9. (Variety)
  

• Walden Media has purchased ``Tough Cookies,'' a script centered on life in the Girl Scouts by sisters Carley and Chelsea Steiner about a judge ordering a deadbeat dad and his rebellious daughter's friends to form a scout troop. They then use their unconventional ways to compete against snobbish rivals to win a national scout competition. (HR)
  

• Actress Charlotte Rampling will receive the lifetime achievement award for her "impressive portrayals of some of the most memorable female characters in modern cinema," at the Stockholm International Film Festival. (Macleans)

If you're not watching or as of yesterday, podcasting the show - what are you waiting for? Her show totally rocks, is so interesting and informative. What I like best is that there are not 10 different people thinking they are smarter than everyone else competing for their two minutes of airtime. I used to watch AC 360 on CNN but haven't since Rachel went on the air.

Here's some interesting facts about Maddow:
She doesn't own a TV set (but is thinking of buying one).
Her show has only been on a little over a month and she is beating Larry King in the key area of 25- to 54-year-olds.
Has increased viewership during her 9pm hour to 1.7 million from 800,000.

Go girl.
Fresh Face on Cable, Sharp Rise in Ratings (NY Times)

Direct from the folks at Madcat:

The MadCat Women’s International Film Festival was founded in 1996 to exhibit provocative and visionary works that are original in their use of the medium. MadCat is committed to showcasing women directors who challenge the use of sound and image and explore notions of visual story telling. MadCat sets itself apart from other women's festivals by curating its programs thematically and thus accepting a range of films about many different issues. By providing a dedicated exhibition venue MadCat encourages women and girls to take creative control behind the camera, increasing visibility and opportunity for women in the arts.

MadCat accepts submissions for a national touring program. The Festival curates approximately 12 programs of films and videos to tour around the country to universities, art houses, museums and microcinemas. The tour takes place each Fall.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
OVERVIEW
MadCat accepts films and video of all lengths and genres: experimental, narrative, documentary, animation, collage and whatever else you can think of. The Festival also accepts pieces produced in any year. MadCat’s only parameter is that the films and videos are directed by or co-directed by women.

Early Bird Deadline: Nov 17, 2008
Late Bird Deadline: Jan 25, 2009

Send your submission in today
ENTRY FORM: Please fill out and sign the MadCat Submission Form. A separate form is required for each film submitted. Feel free to photocopy this form or download a copy from our web site at Madcat

Please email us your full name, contact information and film title AND include a hard copy with your preview tape. You may fill in the fields in the form below and print this page from your web browser, or you may download and print a version of the form in Adobe Acrobat .pdf, or Microsoft Word.

Get to it!

Interesting piece from the Age in Australia on the opening of The Women.

There were women who cried when they watched the Sex and the City movie, and it wasn't because they couldn't afford the shoes. These same women probably flocked to see Mamma Mia!, which The New York Times called "the worst performance of Meryl Streep's career" and yet, simultaneously, gave it a positive review. (They likened it to getting drunk on cheap cocktails.) All of these women will again probably go see The Women because, hey - they're mentioned in the very title! They want to see a movie about sistahood.

They've been dubbed GFFs - girl friend flicks - and it's evident that girrrl power has never been so strong in the cinema.

I kind like this term way better than chick flick.

Quote from Diane English

"The old ideas that females have to be rivals and there's only room enough in this town for one of us - that is very old-fashioned, and it's kind of disappeared over the years as women have begun to embrace each other and form networks and comfort each other when there's a divorce or a bad breakup, and just really be there for each other and appreciate each other. I think those kinds of friendships are something very special to women, to being female. I don't think men really have those kinds of friendships as strongly as women do, so it makes sense that that is going to make its way on to the screen."

And now The Women, a remake of the 1939 cult classic that starred Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and Norma Shearer...But, like its recent predecessors, it's really about the power of a girl gang.

I think it's kind of interesting that all these films were framed in this story about women's friendship. So many of the US stories never even touched on that, or if they did it was done it was done in a negative, catty way.
Giving women the flick (The Age)

This video "Family Values" comes from Women & Hollywood readers, the Burton sisters of Five Sisters Productions.



It's produced in conjunction with Mamas for Obama

Women & Hollywood readers have been offered two Happy-Go-Lucky posters signed by director and writer Mike Leigh and star Sally Hawkins.

Answer the following three questions and you could win:
1- What actress from Secrets & Lies is now a regular on a US series and what series is she on?
2-How many Mike Leigh films did Katrin Cartlidge star in and what are the names of those films?
3- What does Vera Drake's do in secret that gets her arrested?

Please email the answers to melsil@earthlink.net and include your name and address in the email. Contest ends October 24.

Happy-Go-Lucky opens in wide release on Friday October 24th. Info on the film: Happy-Go-Lucky

This past week at the at the Middle East International Film Festival she highlighted the voices of activist women from around the world. She narrates "The Shape of Water," which is about five women from Brazil, India, Jerusalem and Senegal as they deal with the issues facing women including harassment and economic justice.

"These women represent films which have resulted in a tipping of consciousness and made a difference," Sarandon said in a panel discussion after the screening. "In the U.S. we don't have the opportunity to see these films; even English(-language) documentaries are hard to find. Festivals are a wonderful opportunity for people to see documentaries they might not normally see."

photo: Sylvan Gaboury/PR Photos

Award season is the time of year when occasionally the critics and prognosticators focus on women. Of course, their focus is always on the acting nominees. I have heard not a peep about any potential women directing nominees, but that's not surprising since a woman will probably win a directing Oscar...when we have a female president. I'm not holding my breath.

The Envelope at the LA Times took an early look at the field this year.

Aside from Melissa Leo (Frozen River) and Penelope Cruz (Elegy or Vicky Christina Barcelona)

This year, however, it is already clear that the race, for all intents and purposes, is backloaded with the most imposing and competitive list of genuine best actress possibilities in many years.

There are so many great female performances still to come this year. Here's a watch list:
Meryl Streep- Doubt
Kate Winslet- Revolutionary Road and The Reader
Angelina Jolie- Changeling
Cate Blanchett- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Nicole Kidman- Australia
Keira Knightley - The Duchess
Kate Beckinsale- Nothing but the Truth
Sally Hawkins- Happy-Go-Lucky
Emma Thompson- Last Chance Harvey
Kristin Scott Thomas- I've Loved You So Long

I started a list on the left side of the site. My list will be a bit different from the typical Oscar watchers because I will include performances from films that will not get noticed by the awards community because they just didn't get enough buzz or have the right pedigree. Keep in mind, awards are a very political business.
Hottest actress race in years heats up (LA Times)
Could this be Meryl Streep's year? (Variety)

This Amy Adams/ Emily Blunt film premiered at Sundance. Film is written by Megan Holley and directed by Christine Jeffs. Here's the description form TrailerAddict.com:

A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy Sunshine Cleaning. Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Academy Award winner Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other…specialized situations. As they climb the ranks in a very dirty job, the sisters find a true respect for one another and the closeness they have always craved finally blossoms. By building their own improbable business, Rose and Norah open the door to the joys and challenges of being there for one another—no matter what—while creating a brighter future for the entire Lorkowski family

Opens March 13th.

The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) a 14-year-old girl desperate to find a place where she can belong. For the two people who haven't read the book (I am ashamed to be included in this small group), it is 1960s South Carolina, the Voting Rights Act has just been passed, and Lily is desperate to escape from her abusive father and discover information about her mother who died when she was so little. Her journey takes her to the Boatwright sisters, three women living on their own in a glorious big pink house. These women are special. In a world rife with racism and sexism they survive and thrive through their own honey making business run by the oldest sister, August (Queen Latifah). Middle sister May (Sophie Okonedo) is stuck at age 15 when her twin sister April died, and youngest sister June (Alicia Keys) has become an activist with the NAACP. Lily finds these sisters through a picture her mother left, and as she gets to know the Boatwright sisters, and they her, they all discover they are family and belong together.

I really enjoyed this film. I loved the story, the performances and the power of the women. Here are some of the reasons to see this film: First, it's extremely well done and movingly directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood which she adapted from the novel by Sue Monk Kidd. Second, it is wonderful to see such amazing actresses in one film give such glorious performances. Queen Latifah continues to grow as an actress, and music stars Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys shine. Dakota Fanning proves that she is no longer a kid, and am excited for her continued growth as an actress. Sophie Okonedo shows she is a special actresses as May, a woman locked in adolescence. Third, it's the story of strong African American women, which is pathetically seldom seen onscreen. Lastly, it is timely. The struggle for civil rights and issues of prejudice still resonate today and are important to remember with the election less than three weeks away. And, to top it off, the director said that Sue Monk Kidd loves the film.

Film opens in approx. 1,600 theatres and needs our support. Please see it this weekend. If you are in NY, please join a group of us on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 to see the film at the AMC on 68th & Broadway. Details are here

Other Women-Centric Films in Theatres
Happy-Go-Lucky
Rachel Getting Married
Nights at Rodanthe
The Duchess
The Women: Read interview with director, Diane English
The Family That Preys
Trouble the Water (limited)

Who Does She Think She Is? is a terrific documentary that discusses the challenges, rewards and struggles of women artists in our culture. Director Pamela Tanner Boll introduces us to five women who I am convinced I would never, ever had heard about had this documentary not been made. They were all extremely interesting but the stand out is Maye Torres, a sculptor and painter based in Taos, NM. This is a woman born to create. You can see that while watching her in her studio, you can see that when she speaks, you can see that when she interacts with her amazing sons (who value their mom and her work in such an impressively sophisticated way). She could not do anything else with her life, yet she has never been valued -- either with recognition or with commissions -- as a male artist is.

It is well documented in the arts that women's work is undervalued and at times dismissed (see post from earlier this week: The Art World Doesn't Treat Women Equally) because the feminine sphere is deemed as "less than" the maculine sphere. Women artists, just like women activists, have been erased from history. This is not news, but its still interesting to see it played out in real life. Director Boll shows how these women balance their lives and their families and how these women are better artists for being mothers, and are better mothers because they can embrace their creativity. I thought it was really interesting and raised important questions about what we value in our culture and why.

Check out the trailer:


Director Pamela Tanner Boll answered some questions about the film:

Women & Hollywood: Why do you think this is an important film?

Pamela Tanner Boll: Because the "work world" still operates on an assumption that a "serious worker, serious professional" will work single-mindedly--more than forty hours a week. And this leaves no time, no energy for parenting. We say we value "mothering" yet we ask our families to cobble together sub-par child care arrangements--if both parents work full time. In the art world, this problem is compounded by the fact that art-making, often does not pay, is sometimes dismissed as a "hobby" and is considered an "extra." Art is the first program to be cut in the schools--yet art--whether storytelling, music-making, visual expression, sculpting--is what defines us as human AND, at its best, gives us a sense and a picture of what matters to us as a people. The great civilizations of the past are known to us by the art they left behind. Pots! And houses and temples and paintings.

W&H: What do you want women (and men) to learn about these women and their work?

PTB: I want men, women and children to see that art-making is a vital aspect of being human--that it adds pleasure and knits together communities. I want people to see these women doing their art and raising their children and understanding that "art" can come out of the weaving together of these roles. Our notion of the artist is often one who stands outside of society--a loner, a defiant. These women enrich the lives of everyone who experiences their art WHILE being present for their loved ones. Art comes out of their care-giving. It's a new model.

W&H: How did you come up with the idea to make a documentary like this?

PTB: The film came out of my own experience of coming back to writing and to drawing only after the birth of my first child. I'd been a poet in college, won awards, but turned my back on the blank page and its bottomless demands, feeling it would be too difficult to keep imagining new worlds. And I was terrified of becoming a bag lady--unable to support myself--so went to work on Wall Street as a commodity trader. This was the 80s and women were supposed to have "serious" careers! Then I had a baby and the unending love and huge terror I felt for him plunged me back into writing--the only way I had truly ever been able to make sense of my experience and to mark the moments of my life. I am now the mother of three nearly grown young men. Beautiful. launched. But me? Even though I wrote stories and painted and had exhibits and readings--the work was always done in the cracks of family life. And I felt guilty, torn, never in the right place...so I set out to see how other women had handled this.

W&H: How do we help make the feminine sphere more powerful in our culture?

PTB: We make the feminine sphere more powerful by refusing, as a block, as a body-- to act as though our caring, our work in the family and for the family--is not work. Men and women need to stand up together and take back their lives--80 hours of work a week does no one any good in the long run. We have to start valuing work done in the home--monetizing the labor of love.

W&H: What are the goals for your film? Will you be showing it in schools?

PTB: Goals-- I want the film to start a conversation about living a life where one's heart, mind and body are more integrated. I want the film to inspire young people to sing, to write, to paint. I want older people to see that to sing, or tell stories or to sculpt--can energize and enliven one's self and community AND that one need NOT be a "genius" or "talented" to pursue these acts. We have done ourselves a disservice by allowing only those who are "gifted" or "talented" to pursue the arts. To be expressive is human. And to express some of the experiences unique to women--is overdue.

W&H: What message do you want to send through the title- Who Does She Think She is?

PTB: How many times have I stopped myself from saying something, from writing, from sharing a new painting because "who do I think I am." I think women are still sensitive to the criticism of standing out, calling attention to oneself. The good woman puts her needs aside for the sake of others. Or she risks being called selfish. This film shows women who give themselves permission to be at the center of their own lives, to dream their dream without turning their backs on the dreams of those they love.

Film opens in NY at the Angelika Theatre today. Director Pamela Tanner Boll will be at the 5 and 7pm shows today (Friday) and tomorrow for a Q&A following the screening.
More info: Who Does She Think She Is?

The Starter Wife was a fun and trashy mini-series that aired last year and now they've brought the characters back for a new series of 13 episodes on USA. The show works because of the great chemistry between the lead characters especially the appeal of Debra Messing who has been missing from series TV since the demise of Will & Grace. She plays Molly Kagan the first wife of a Hollywood mogul who struggles to find her place after the demise of her marriage in a town where the only thing that matters is status. The amazing Judy Davis returns as Joan, one of Molly's best friends, a recovering alcoholic and Chris Diamantopoulos plays the gay guy friend (of course he's an interior designer). The series premiered last weekend (there are a lot of repeats during the week) and continues tonight at 10 on USA.

Executive Producers and screenwriters Sara Parriott & Josann McGibbon answered some questions on the series:

Women & Hollywood: Why did you decide to take such a successful mini series and turn it
into an ongoing series?

Sara & Josann: We love these characters - especially Molly. When we were asked to make this into a series we jumped on it. We knew that we had a lot of material in this premise - divorce, raising kids in a divorce, rediscovering oneself, mature dating. Basically a world we live in every day.

W&H: The cast is fantastic. I think the friendship between Molly, Joan and Rodney is much stronger in this incarnation. Was that intentional?

S&J: Not intentional but a product of knowing these characters even better. Coming into the series we already had their voices and their particular foibles down pat. How they interact and where their arguments would come from. It was a matter of exploring what we had to define in the mini-series.

W&H: How the heck did you get Judy Davis to commit to a series? It is a huge coup and she is spectacular.

S&J: I think her Emmy had a lot to do with it.

W&H: Debra Messing's character could easily have come off as a caricature of a first wife which we have seen so many times before. How hard is it to keep it out of that danger zone?

S&J: We try to make her problems every divorced woman's problems. But, of course, these problems are in a wish fulfillment world. She has to learn how to date post divorce and juggle parenting within that. She needs to find a way to make a living. Her heartbreaks are the same as any divorced mom and her fumblings at dating are every woman's. We concentrated on these things instead of revenge or "being poor" or less rich, in this case.

W&H: What message do you think the series sends to women?

S&J: There is life after divorce. You aren't just an ex-wife but a woman in your own right.

W&H: Do you think Molly is a feminist?

S&J: A refined feminist. One who must face the practical fact of having a libido and needing to make peace with an ex-husband for the sake of her child. A feminist who can compromise even as she struggles to separate herself from the "wife-of" role - to stand and even do better on her own.

photo ID: Sara Parriott (left), Josann McGibbon (right)

Hollywood does advance tracking of its films just like political campaigns do exit polls. The Secret Life of Bees opens tomorrow and the LA Times raised the question of whether white moviegoers (i.e white women) will see the movie even if they told the trackers that they were interested.

The story is very narrow and makes it seems that Bees was just being targeted at the African American market. I've seen ads everywhere and hear it constantly on NPR. I'd like to broaden the conversation and look to the successes of women's films this past summer, and films made from books for indicators just as much as the African American movies Amistad and Ray which the story cited. Look at the success of the recent romance Nights in Rodanthe which was also based on a huge best selling book that appealed to women. It made $13 million on opening weekend just a couple of weeks ago.

The Secret Life of Bees is targeted at women, not just black women. It's a women's story that should have universal appeal. We never have these kinds of conversations about men's stories which are assumed to be universal. Tracking shows that 68% of African Americans are definitely interested and only 34% of whites. Is it lower among whites because the teenage boys are not interested? I'd love to know where and how they do the tracking and how they do their sampling. Is it even split among men and women? Young and old? different ethnicities? (I'm going to look into this.)

This movie actually has all the elements to bring in a diverse group of women. It's got Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning, as well as music superstar Alicia Keyes and Oscar winner and American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson. It's a story about family, about strength and about love. It takes place on the cusp of the civil rights movement and so many of the themes are relevant to today.

Here's a quote from director Gina Prince-Bythewood

No one has ever seen this book as a black book...I am hoping that in the age of Obama, we can look at a trailer for a film and say, 'It doesn't matter who's in this, but does the story appeal to me?' "

So are we beyond race in the movies? We are with Will Smith. The man is biggest movie star in the world. I hope we are beyond race for women's films too, just like I hope we are beyond race at the voting booth. While this is a fictional film and its success or failure should give no real indication about whether some white people who say they will vote for Obama actually will, it will feel damn good if we get enough people out to the theatre this weekend to support The Secret Life of Bees. To me the most important thing to declare this weekend is that women are a viable market and that we will see stories that resonate with us and that we want Hollywood to make and release more films by and about women.

It opens in 1600 theatres across the country tomorrow.

If you're in NY, come see it with the Women & Hollywood film club on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 at the AMC on Broadway & 68th steet.

'Secret Life of Bees' is a test case for mainstream appeal (LA Times)
Will white moviegoers go see 'The Secret of Life of Bees'? (LA Times)

For producing The Secret Life of Bees, for supporting Planned Parenthood, for saying: "The country is a mess. George Bush's policies have been disastrous for the environment, Sarah Palin is awful, ...", and for being one of Hollywood's top producers.

Lauren Shuler Donner politically outspoken (Variety)
photo: Malcolm Ali/ PR Photos

For doing your part to help people see what she has to say and what she stands for. I for one hope you won't have to play her after Nov 4.

Political scientist Jerald Podair tells the New York Post: "Presidential impersonators do influence elections, and in this one, Tina Fey is well on her way to ruining Sarah Palin’s political career. In a political culture that takes its cues from popular culture, a good impersonator may be worth a million votes.

Tina Fey Blamed For Ruining Sarah Palin's Reputation (Hollyscoop)
photo: The Insider

Last week the folks at More Magazine invited me to cover their "Women in Hollywood" luncheon which is part of a day long "Reinvention Convention." They had a stellar panel including Cybill Shepherd (as moderator), S. Epatha Merkerson (Lt. Anita Van Buren from Law & Order), Polly Draper (Ellyn from Thirtysomething and the creator and Executive Producer of the Naked Brothers Band, Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Janeway from Star Trek Voyager) and Talia Balsam (Mad Men).

I really enjoyed the panel, but the problem was that some of the basic issues that effect women in Hollywood, especially film, were never touched on. So for me the panel was more like women who would love to work in films but can't because of their age and because there are no parts. They mostly all work in TV and in the theatre and that is where the work is for women.

I wish we could have addressed for the audience the importance of the lack of women's roles on the big screen and what that means for our culture, but because there was no big movie actress on the panel, there was no one to give the context.

Here are some interesting quotes from their conversation that I picked up:

Cybill Shepherd: I've been fortunate, I started in the business at the top and look like I've worked my way down.

Polly Draper: When Thirtysomething ended and I was not getting the movie parts so I wrote a part for myself. I wrote The Tic Code and it took five years to do. It's very difficult for women in Hollywood especially as they age for a variety of reasons. There aren't many roles written for women. The Naked Brothers Band was the first time I directed. Nickelodeon bought it and I am the showrunner, creator and executive producer. I am in a more powerful position.

S. Epatha Merkerson: All that has happened to me has happened in my 50s. I remember starting out and people saying you're not pretty. I've made my living as an actor. I've never lived in Hollywood, only in NY...3 years after Lackawanna Blues racked up all the awards and I went to someone with a project they said not too many people want to hear a story about an older black woman.

Kate Mulgrew: I heard you are pretty enough to be a leading lady and now in my 50s it's hard to say goodbye to that. The difficult thing for a pretty actress is to have to let go of the fact that that was ever important.

CS: The doors opened for me because of the way I looked but when I wanted to grow it was difficult.

S. Epatha: Maybe for me not going to Hollywood fortified me as a woman and an African American. I am the longest running African America on TV. Why is that?

Talia Balsam: We live in a celebrity focused world and that is harder to fight than age. They want me in my 40s to play the part of the grandmother.

PD: Movies have been made for 16 year old boys and now they are staying home on their computers. Maybe they will discover this audience of women.

S. Epatha: It is is happening on the small screen, Kyra Sedgwick and Holly Hunter. Even the Desperate Housewives. There are women heading shows on the small screen. We are questioning what is happening on the big screen.

KM: I learned something about the male demographic when I played Captain Janeway. They were quaking in their boots to put a woman in the (captain's) seat. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's about sex. I didn't want her to look like someone they wanted to have sex with. I argued the fact that I didn't want her to have any sex as the first female captain because I was not going to run the risk of walking down the path that leading ladies have taken before -- to become a sexual object. I said I'm not going to do that because if I can't win them with my command, then I'm not the actress I think I am. But they allowed it. But the first question I am asked at every event is why didn't you have a love affair with Chakotay.

CS: I'm having a new flowering in film. I've done 3 films in the last couple of months. The largest budget was $3 million and one cost $700,000. The last one I just finished I shared a bathroom with the cast and crew - I was not happy - but I loved the experience working with young people and I'm getting better parts.

Best random quote from Cybill regarding the L Word: I got to play a love scene for the first time in 20 years and it was fun. It doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman - it's just how attractive they are!

Not surprising, but certainly depressing.

Certain women, too, currently hold an enormous amount of power in the art world – but they tend to be outnumbered by their male counterparts. Lists like Art Review's Power 100, published today, show that a select few women are instrumental in making the artworld tick, but their number is underwhelming compared to the number of men: 15 women appear on the first half of this year's list, including four collectors, four gallerists, three curators, two auctioneers and two art fair organisers; seven of these 15 are paired with a man with whom they share their position.

On average per year, there is a 70/30 split in favour of men, and it gets worse in the top 10, where few if any women feature. This year MoMA associate director Kathy Halbreich is the highest-ranking woman, in at number three, and she's the first to appear on her own in the top 10 for five years.

Sadly, however, only three out of the 30 artists featured in the Power 100 are female, and these three all appear in the second half of the list, whereas five male artists appear in the first quartile alone.

Will women artists ever get the respect they deserve? (The Guardian)

For being honest about how hard it to get roles:

90 percent of the scripts she receives are written for Caucasian female characters.

"The first part of it is going into a room (for an audition) and trying to quell this stigma that people have about Asians only doing certain kinds of roles and Asians only being looked at a certain way," Quigley said. "You run into these stereotypes a lot."

She described competing for roles in Hollywood as a "battle."

"It's a struggle. You got to win roles. You really got to fight for them. When I left Asia and went to the U.S., essentially I was starting over. It's very hard. It's a lot of work," she said.

Maggie Q: Good Hollywood roles rare for Asians (AP via Seattle Times)
Anthony G. Moore/PR Photos

Anna Deavere Smith (who can now be seen on screen in Rachel Getting Married) gets back onstage in a new one woman show exploring women's relationships to justice and law.

You can't see the "Arizona Project" unless you are in Arizona as it was commissioned by the folks at Arizona State, Performances will be Nov 5,7 and 8.

More info: The Arizona Project
Deavere Smith to Raise Issues in 'Arizona' (Backstage)

The Baltimore Women's Film Festival is now in its second year. Marisa Cohen, the founder answered some questions about year two of the festival. If you are in the neighborhood head down and check it out from October 23-26. More info: Baltimore Women's Film Festival

Women & Hollywood: What has changed for the festival this year?

Marisa Cohen: This year the festival has doubled in size in that we have programmed over 100 films. Last year's festival had about 45 films. The reason the festival has increased in size so much is that we had so many great submissions of films we felt were vital and important that we literally had to increase the size and scope of the festival. This year we are extremely lucky in that over 30 filmmakers are coming to Baltimore to represent their films. We expect to have lots of great conversation and discussion about women in film. Also we hope to expedite lots of great networking and friendships among female filmmakers.

W&H: What do you hope will come out of this festival?

MC: We hope first and foremost that we can raise lots of money for the breast cancer patients at The Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center. The festival donates half of all ticket sale proceeds to the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center.

Also we want to continue the dialogue about the lack of women's industry representation in film and maybe even generate new answers and solutions. However, on the other hand we don't want the films to appeal just to feminists, we want to generate enthusiasm about female filmmakers and showcase films that appeal to everyone. The Baltimore Women's Film Festival also hopes to present a diverse selection of films by different types of filmmakers that will appeal to a wide variety of people.

W&H: Why did you feel it was important to create the Baltimore Women’s Film Festival?

MC: I had worked for film festivals before and was sick and tired of every panel discussion being full of 90% men, and older men at that. I am from Baltimore originally, so I am biased in that way and always thought it would be a great spot for a new festival. The city has an amazing arts scene and a very burgeoning and enthusiastic indie movement. Yes, the country is overloaded with film festivals at this point of course, so we can always ask "do we really need a new film festival?" However, the Baltimore/DC area was a region that can appreciate the important issues regarding the lack of women's representation in Hollywood. I felt strongly that attendees would turn out in the Maryland area to support female filmmakers.

W&H: Do you think that women filmmakers are drawn to different subject matters than male filmmakers?

MC: That is a really interesting question. We have seen a disproportionate amount of female documentary filmmakers. I was just talking to Melissa Houghton, WIFV DC's Executive Director, the other day. She astutely pointed out that is because documentary films are cheaper to make and often women just can't get the funding to make larger budget types of productions. I think that is an excellent point. With a doc films I believe its much easier overall to get up and running without a large team of supporting cast and crew crew.

However, on the other hand, I have to say that from what I have seen and heard women tend to be interested in all topics and genres of films if they can get the funding. Though there are probably likely to be less "Michael Bay-ian" films coming from women! Or maybe I am wrong about that. We just need to provide women with ample funding so we can find out that answer, don't we?

W&H: Will you elaborate further on the statement: “The Baltimore Women’s Film Festival is dedicated to and focused on seeking out cinema created by and for women”

MC: The festival seeks to present a wide variety of films created by female directors, cinematographers, writers and producers. However, technically the festival will screen films by men, we made the decision not to exclude men entirely. For example, we are screening "Patricia Baltimore" directed by a man. However, this gripping and powerful documentary is about a formerly homeless women who is out on the streets of Philadelphia using her experience to help other women who are currently homeless. Obviously a film like this is tremendously relevant to men and women. We want to showcase films regardless of the director's gender if the film is as good as this one is and we can try get it some much deserved recognition. Also the DP of this film is a women, so that is definitely a plus!

W&H: Talk about some of the films you are excited about and why?

MC: I am really excited about "Orgasmic Birth," this documentary film is by Debra Pascali-Bonaro and gives an unprecedented look into natural childbirth and explains it all in a brilliant manner. The film has to goal to "dismantles untruths about labor and birth that women have been told for generations." This is one seriously brave, bold and eye opening film.

A narrative film I am really excited about is "Vanaja" which was produced by an Indian woman named Latha Domalapalli. It is the coming of age story of a 14 year old girl in India, Roger Ebert called it one of the top 5 foreign films from last year. "Vanaja" has won countless awards so far and we are really excited to be presenting the Maryland premiere of the film.

One more film I wanted to point out is Women Behind the Camera, Alexis Krasilovsky's brilliant documentary film about female camerawomen from around the world. It follows the lives of camerawomen in Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Senegal, the United States and other countries. It took 6 years to make and includes over 50 interviews- that really blew me away. Alexis is making the trip to the festival to discuss her work and I think that her research will raise some very stimulating discussions at the festival.

Support women's films and filmmakers if you are in the Baltimore area next week
Baltimore Women's Film Festival