In this episode of the podcast, we compare two films about working mothers — Baby Boom (1987) and Proxima (2019) — to take a look at how things have or have not changed in the last thirty years.
This episode of the podcast features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Associate Editor Brett Pardy, and special guest Fiona Underhill (@FionaUnderhill).
Baby Boom (Charles Shyer, 1987), written by Nancy Meyers, follows JC Wiatt (Diane Keaton), an advertising executive obsessed with her job. When a distant relative dies, JC becomes a guardian of a 14 month old girl. Her new role causes the men in company to demote her. Forced to re-evaluate her life, JC ultimately comes out ahead.
Alice Winocour’s new film, Proxima, looks at astronaut training through a professional rather than mythic lens. Eva Green plays Sarah, an astronaut preparing for a year on the International Space Station. To do so, she has to prepare for a physically and technically demanding job, deal with the casual misogyny of the men around her, and emotionally prepare to be away from her daughter for the year.
Show notes from the podcast on Proxima and Baby Boom
- Proxima opened in Britain on July 31 and is available in Australia on VOD. A North American release is planned for the Fall.
- Baby Boom is streaming Hoopla in Canada and the USA
- Read Orla’s interview with director Alice Winocour about Proxima
- Read Alex’s interview with Winocour about her prior film, Disorder
- Watch our Lockdown Film School interview with Alice Winocour, where she discusses all her feature films, including Proxima.
- Listen to Fiona’s other podcast appearances, discussing The Romances of Normal People & On Chesil Beach and Shirley and Portraits of Female Artists
Roads to Nowhere: Kelly Reichardt’s Broken American dreams
- Purchase your copy of our newest ebook to discover how modern master Kelly Reichardt operates, and to read a series of essays about each of Reichardt’s films, which examine her thoughtful, quiet portraits of everyday lives.
- Read a free chapter from Roads To Nowhere, featuring an interview with Lily Gladstone
- Purchase your Kelly Reichardt mug
