Seven Women Sevens Sins: An Exceptional Collaboration of ’80s Indie Women Directors
Made as part of series for German Television (ZDF) in 1986, Seven Women Seven Sins, proved to be an exceptional collaboration of 1980’s independent #DirectedByWomen cinema. Women's Film Preservation Fund co-chair Kirsten Larvick discusses the film's relevance in advance of its screening at The Quad on September 26th and 27th, 2018.
READ MORETrailblazing Through the Decades: Ida Lupino (1950s)
British-American actress and producer Ida Lupino, got her start directing when the director of the 1949 film Not Wanted suffered a heart attack during pre-production. Lupino stepped in and shot the film guerilla style to keep the movie on budget and on schedule. Budgeted at just over $150,000, the film grossed $1 million, and Lupino’s reputation spread through Hollywood studios even though the original director retained credit.
READ MORETrailblazing through the Decades: Esther Eng (1930s)
In honor of Women's History Month, NYWIFT looks back at some of the remarkable women who have shaped the film, television and digital media industries through the decades. We kick off the series in the 1930s. Esther Eng was a film director who also worked as a writer, producer, and distributor. She had an international career, making films both in the United States and Hong Kong. She was the first woman to direct Chinese language films in the U.S.
READ MORE#SummerHours: Book to Screen…and Back Again: Wonder Woman (and Her Secret History)
What do the lie detector, women’s suffrage, bondage, polyamory, Margaret Sanger, and Family Circle magazine have in common with one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters? Find out in today's #SummerHours!
READ MOREThe Ask for Jane Filmmakers on Telling a Little-Known Story from Women’s History
When NYWIFT member Cait Johnston first heard about the Jane Collective — a real-life group of women who helped others get abortions before Roe v. Wade — at a NYWIFT screening, she knew it was a story she had to tell. She teamed up with fellow member Rachel Carey, a screenwriter and director she know through a NYC theater company called The Shelter, to create Ask for Jane, a narrative feature film that they are currently crowdfunding for on Seed&Spark.
READ MOREWomen in Film & Television History: Meet Tressie Souders, Director, Producer, Screenwriter
The story of Tressie Souders, or perhaps more accurately, the lack of details about Tressies Souders’ life and work exemplifies the need to research and rescue early film-works of women and women of color.
READ MOREWomen in Film & Television History: Meet Marion E. Wong, Film Company President, Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor, Costume Designer
During the silent film era, Marion E. Wong started the Mandarin Film Company, the first Chinese-American film company. The company’s feature film The Curse of the Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with West (1916) is credited as being the first American film made with an all-Chinese cast and company as well as one of the first films directed by a woman.
READ MOREWomen in Film & Television History: Meet Ethel Payne, Journalist & First Female African-American National Network News Commentator
Ethel Payne was known in as “the first lady of the black press” and was described by journalist Gwen Ifil as “the most influential journalist and activist most people have never heard of.”
READ MOREIna Archer, Custodian and Creator of Distinct Cinema, Picks Five Essential Films Restored by the WFPF
Experimental filmmaker and media preservationist Ina Archer picks her top five films preserved by the NYWIFT Women's Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) - each an important installment in the history of women filmmakers.
READ MOREWomen in Film & Television History: Meet Lucille Ball, Actor, Comedian, Producer
Most people are familiar with the extensive body of work that made Lucille Ball famous. I Love Lucy is one of the most popular television shows of the 1950s, and she co-starred with her husband, Desi Arnaz, for 10 years. But did you know that Ball was also a savvy business woman?
READ MOREPreserving the Cultural Legacy of Women in Film: A Conversation with Barbara Moss
In the pitch that would lead to the establishment of NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) in 1995, documentary filmmaker Barbara Moss wore white gloves and held up a 35 mm film canister. She opened it before the NYWIFT Board of Directors and pulled out a decrepit ribbon of film which then disintegrated before their eyes. “Ladies, this is what’s happening to our history,” she warned. Since then, the WFPF has preserved over 100 films. NYWIFT member Terisa Thurman talks to Moss about the fund's inception.
READ MOREWomen’s Film Preservation Fund: Protecting the Legacy for Over 20 Years
Founded 1995 by NYWIFT in conjunction with the Museum of Modern Art and spearheaded by the determination of NYWIFT member Barbara Moss, the Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) has preserved over 100 films by women. In fact, we are the only organization dedicated to preserving exclusively films made by women. Get to know the WFPF!
READ MOREWEEKLY ROUNDUP: THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, HOLLYWOOD SEXISM & WALL STREET
Erin Baiano for The New York Times History is made as Anne Pasternak becomes The Brooklyn Museum’s 1st female director. She’s baaack! Nikki Finke’s new website promises great fiction and proceeds to writers. “It’s an intense sickness.” Melissa McCarthy, Salma Hayek, Aishwarya Rai & Parker Posey discuss Hollywood’s sexism. Dear Writers, screencraft.org has screenwriting contests. Deadlines...
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