Looking to learn more about historic films directed by women? You’re in luck because Seeking Our Story regularly publishes articles in conjunction with our screening events. Take a look below, send your favorites off to your friends on social media and comment to let us know if you learned anything new!
Agnes Varda on IHeartFemaleDirectors.com fan letter by Samantha Shada – Published October 25th, 2017 Some good old-fashioned gushy fandom for the goddess-mother of new wave cinema.
Leni Riefenstahl & The Responsibility Of Storytellers by Samantha Shada – Published January 24th, 2017 “Riefenstahl’s films must be seen consciously both for their artistry as well as for the lessons they carry in the potency of film linguistics.”
Mary Pickford and the Feminist Foundation of Hollywood by Samantha Shada – Published July 8th, 2016 “The first American movie star and second actress ever to take home an Oscar statuette, Mary Pickford appeared in over 250 film credits spanning from the inception of the art form through the introduction of talking pictures.”
Growing Up with Catherine Hardwicke’s ‘Thirteen’ by Angela Trott – Published May 25th, 2016 “After a decade as a production designer, Hardwicke made her directorial debut in 2003 with Thirteen, an unflinching portrayal of girlhood dealing with issues such as self-harm, drug abuse, and underage sex, while never straying into clichéd or exploitative representations of its young female characters…”
Personal Filmmaking with Allison Anders’ ‘Gas Food Lodging’ by Samantha Shada – Published March 25th, 2016 “Her second film, “Gas Food Lodging” (1992) put Anders in the middle of the New American Film Movement at Sundance. Anders crafted a coming of age story as beautiful and harsh as the New Mexico desert where the film takes place…”
An Animated Life: Director Vicky Jenson by Samantha Shada – Published December 16th, 2015 “Jenson’s extensive body of work has earned countless awards, including an Academy Award, recognition from the Annies, BAFTA, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Cannes, the People’s Choice Awards and the Golden Globes…”
The Making of an Oscar Winner: Kathryn Bigelow and “Near Dark” by Lauren Byrd – Published October 23rd, 2015 “Concepts from Bigelow’s art-world days still inform her work, and she perhaps feels most at home when discussing the mechanics and intellectual interpretations of film…”
Amy Heckerling Advises How NOT to Lose Your Virginity in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ excerpt from Tara Ison – Published September 24th, 2015 “Amy Heckerling‘s extraordinary and seminal 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High taught me, at a still-virginal seventeen, the most important and cautionary lesson of all…”
Profitable Personal Films: Nicole Holofcener’s ‘Walking and Talking by Liz Manashil – Published August 28th, 2015 “Holofcener’s directorial debut, Walking and Talking, almost never existed, and that kills me…
Directing the Summer Blockbuster: Mimi Leder’s ‘Deep Impact’ by Lauren Byrd – Published July 31st, 2015 “Growing up, Leder remembers their house always being filled with costumes and props for her father’s films. Her mother would cook for his film crews, and sometimes they would even sleep at the house…”
Hollywood’s First Contract Director: Dorothy Arzner’s ‘Dance, Girl, Dance’ by Samantha Shada – Published April 21st, 2015 “After cutting over fifty films for the studio, Arzner threatened to leave Paramount for Columbia unless offered a directing opportunity. In 1927 Paramount made Arzner the only woman director on contract with any Hollywood studio…”
Marguerite Duras Stages a Lurid Funeral for Colonialism in ‘India Song’ by Rachel Holzman and Marcy Boyle – Published February 27th, 2015 “Marguerite Duras (1914-1996), the prolific author, playwright, political troublemaker, and filmmaker, was born in Vietnam to French emigrant parents…”
Mary Harron’s Misunderstood Cult Classic ‘American Psycho’ by Samantha Shada – Published January 30th, 2015 “Harron’s sophomore feature, American Psycho, debuted at Sundance in 2000. Critics at the festival quickly turned against the story’s violence and treatment of women…”
The Art of Pioneering Animator Lotte Reiniger by Heidi Honeycutt – Published December 16th, 2014 “Blessed from an early age with a strange affinity for cutting shadow-puppet silhouettes, Reiniger parlayed her imagination and talent into a filmmaking career and established the sub-genre of silhouette animated film…”
The Psychology of Fear in Ida Lupino’s ‘The Hitch-Hiker’ excerpt from Heidi Honeycutt – Published October 22nd, 2014 “In the 1950s, Lupino was the first American woman to direct a film noir, a post-WWII genre of crime dramas and psychological thrillers that depicted anti-heroes, desperate people, and criminals in complex and sociopathic storylines that were a result of en masse post-war trauma.”
Living Comedy with Elaine May’s ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ by Samantha Shada – Published September 23rd, 2014 “Elaine May traveled and told stories on the Yiddish theater circuit even before she was born…”
Going Back to School with Martha Coolidge’s ‘Valley Girl’ by Samantha Shada – Published August 28th, 2014 “Coolidge served as the first woman president of the Directors Guild of America starting in 2002…”
Celebrating Woman Directors with a Look Back at Jane Campion’s ‘The Piano’ by Samantha Shada – Published July 18th, 2014 “She returned to Cannes in 1993 with The Piano and walked away sharing the Palme d’Or – the first, and so far the only, woman to ever win the top award at the festival…”
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