It was a big week in terms of legendary-actors-turned-film-festival-pioneers-named-Bob-celebrating-their-birthdays (but what week doesn’t have a couple of those?). Both Robert De Niro (you know him from Raging Bull and the Tribeca Film Festival) and Robert Redford (of The Sting and Sundance Film Festival fame) blew out some birthday candles and set our social media ablaze with adoration. Turns out the Bobs are fan favorites among our Facebook and Twitter crowds.
But enough about those old white dudes! This week was all about the ladies. From actresses (Sandra Bullock, Kristen Stewart, Elisabeth Moss) to filmmakers (Anne Hubbell, Hannah Fidell, Gail Harvey) to coalitions (the Film Fatales Collective, the Sundance Female Filmmakers Initiative), women in film made the news in full force this week. Take a look below at This Week’s Good Reads: Girls Rule, Boys Drool Edition.
Good Reads for the week of August 17, 2015
Experienced Female Filmmakers Making Waves (via Jane Applegate for The Huffington Post)
Inside the production company intent on only making movies from female directors.
Summer 2015 films put real women above Manic Pixie Dream Girls (via Anne T. Donahue for The Guardian)
How fully-formed female characters are outshining the stereotypes that preceded them.
How To Make It In Hollywood While Also Being Female (via Hannah Fidell for Elle)
The 6 Years director on being a “female filmmaker” (or a female who filmmakes).
Why Kristen Stewart Is Hollywood’s Most Sincere Starlet (via Anya Jaremko-Greenwold for Movie Mezzanine)
Why it’s time to take the tabloid-target more seriously.
Even Sandra Bullock Can’t Find Decent Roles For Women (via Scott Mendelson for Forbes)
This lack of opportunity is more horrifying than All About Steve.
The Film Fatales Collective Trains a Lens on Gender Inequality (via John Anderson for The New York Times)
A group of female filmmakers are doing things their own way to get their voices heard.
Elisabeth Moss on Saying Goodbye to Mad Men and the Ballsiest Role of Her Career
(via Marlow Stern for The Daily Beast)
Moss on finding great parts in the indie film world (plus, she learns what a “meme” is).
In case you were ignoring us (aka blatant self-promotion):
Industry Interview: Caroline Libresco, Director of Women at Sundance
We talked to one of the architects of the Female Filmmakers Initiative Resource Map.
New Releases
Movies from our list of August Movie Picks out this week:
- American Ultra (Lionsgate)
- Being Evel (Gravitas Ventures)
- Slow Learners (Sundance Selects)
A video worth watching
Gail Harvey on the real job of a director.
How ’bout you? Read anything good this week?
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If you’re an independent filmmaker or know of an independent film-related topic we should write about, email blogadmin@sagindie.org for consideration.