Ninth Floor director Mina Shum: In Canada, “We’re racist but we like to apologize about our racism.” Shum discusses Canadian racism and her new documentary.
[Read more…] about TIFF15 interview: Ninth Floor director Mina Shum discusses Canadian racismIn Her Chair
Female-identifying directors reflect on their experiences making films and leading creative teams.
Kris Swanberg on Unexpected, her female-driven pregnancy film
Kris Swanberg’s Unexpected is a quiet film full of small, wonderful revelations about what women go through during pregnancy. Swanberg maintains the perspective of the female characters throughout: the men come and go, but the women are always on-screen, often dealing with pregnancy alone.
[Read more…] about Kris Swanberg on Unexpected, her female-driven pregnancy film
Director Shira Piven talks Welcome to Me, Chauncey Gardner, and finding comedic rhythms
Kristen Wiig stars, in Shira Piven’s Welcome to Me, as a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins an 86 million dollar lottery and decides to use her winnings to create her own Oprah-like talk show all about her. The Seventh Row sat down with Piven to discuss her aesthetic approach, the influence of Chauncey Gardner, and finding the music and rhythm for the film.
Advantageous director Jennifer Phang talks bringing feminist sci-fi to the screen
Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous is a feminist science fiction film for lovers of French New Wave cinema and intimate family dramas. I talked to Phang about the inspiration for the film, the film’s world-building, and feminism in science fiction.
[Read more…] about Advantageous director Jennifer Phang talks bringing feminist sci-fi to the screen
SFFS Artist-in-Residence Sally El Hosaini on writing and directing My Brother the Devil
Sally El Hosaini’s directorial debut, My Brother the Devil, is a touching and sensitive story of two Arab brothers in Hackney, London. During her sojourn in San Francisco as the San Francisco Film Society’s Artist-in-Residence, I sat down with El Hosaini to discuss her writing process, working with non-actors, her shoot, and her approach to the film’s aesthetic. Here are some of the highlights of our conversation.
[Read more…] about SFFS Artist-in-Residence Sally El Hosaini on writing and directing My Brother the Devil‘Cinema is the only art ever where you share somebody’s loneliness’ and other insights from Céline Sciamma
Writer-director Céline Sciamma discusses Girlhood, the genesis of the film, how cinema is the only art form in which you can share someone else’s loneliness, how she created the remarkable “Rihanna” scene, and how she creates the dramatic tension that makes you want to see the face of her lead.
This is a preview of our book on Céline Sciamma’s work, Portraits of resistance. Portraits of resistance is the first book ever written about Sciamma’s work. It covers all of Sciamma’s films, including Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Find out more here.
[Read more…] about ‘Cinema is the only art ever where you share somebody’s loneliness’ and other insights from Céline Sciamma