We all remember the slow-motion ballet of bullets that closed Arthur Penn’s 1967 “Bonnie and Clyde,” with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s gangster-lovers meeting their violent demise on a rural Louisiana highway. It remains one of the most grippingly awful endings to a film, and as you watch it, it feels like it goes on forever. In reality it was just sixteen seconds. More than a ... more >
INTERVIEWS
WHEN LESS IS MORE: Talking with John Lee Hancock, director of “THE HIGHWAYMEN”
The Texas-born filmmaker previously directed "The Blind Side" (2009), "The Rookie" (2002) and "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013)
"The Highwaymen" stars Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson and Kathy Bates
With “Mary Shelley,” Woman Behind Monster Directed by Woman Behind Camera
INTERVIEW with Haifaa Al Mansour
Ben Hardy, Elle Fanning and Maisie Williams
There were many films at the Tribeca Festival, many about women, and many others directed by women. “Mary Shelley,” starring Elle Fanning, is not only both, but perhaps was one of the best films at this year’s Tribeca Festival, which ended recently. As the title suggests, "Mary Shelley" tells the story of the nineteenth century-author who penned the horror classic “Frankenstein.” And in a case of ... more >
Documentary “Off Country” Lets Survivors and Opponents of Nuclear Testing Do the Talking
Documentary film as digital archive
Taylor Dunne and Eric Stewart’s forthcoming documentary “Off country” examines the devastating, still-lingering effects of atomic bomb testing on the communities around the White Sands missile range in New Mexico, the Nevada Test Site and the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado, where plutonium triggers were manufactured until its 1992 shutdown (the latter facility was studied in the galling 1982 ... more >
TRAILBLAZING WOMAN: Illeana Douglas on hosting a show on TCM and women in cinema
Musings on a changing film industry
When last year I spoke with Illeana Douglas we discussed her work highlighting the accomplishments of women behind the camera. We also talked about her involvement as executive producer of the Kino Lorber five-disc collection “Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers.” As I've discovered, Douglas is continuing her mission by hosting TCM’s annual “Trailblazing Women” series for the second year in a row. ... more >
A conversation with recipient Kristin Fairweather about Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative
New mentorship program offers clear, forward-looking vision
There is always a time when the topic of Female Directors becomes pertinent. Kathryn Bigelow winning her Oscar for “The Hurt Locker” certainly raised the subject. But that was seven years ago. Now, Patty Jenkins’s recent “Wonder Woman” success is picking up the topic. The problem seems to be continuing the trend. In an effort do just that, writer/producer Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story," ... more >
SHORT NOTICE: Jacobie Gray’s THE BEEHIVE
Gray is a filmmaker as well as an actress
Before cinema she ran auctions for Christie's in London
Short notice is Screen Comment's new column. It is exclusively devoted to short films. Australian filmmaker Jacobie Gray has directed a vivid, modern-day period piece of a relationship of the kind that Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick were famous for. “The Beehive” explores the affinity between an artist and his muse. Gray portrays the avant-garde culture of the New York art scene in the sixties ... more >
INTERVIEW, Sophie Brooks of “The Boy Downstairs
Brooks is a first-time director
[Boy Downstairs Productions]
The Tribeca Film Festival ended on Sunday and, once again, proves what a great outlet for women-made films it is. “The Boy Downstairs,” by newcomer Sophie Brooks, was one of those entertaining and smart films. I had the pleasure of speaking with Brooks about her Tribeca, and feature film debut, as both writer and director. Brooks is a graduate of the NYU Tisch School and her love for the city ... more >