Moviefone Editorial

Author: Marya Gates

Female Filmmakers in Focus: director Elza Kephart discusses ‘Slaxx,’ plus a look at ‘Traveling Pants 2’

Welcome to Female Filmmakers in Focus, where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week. This week features the horror film ‘Slaxx,’ an interview with the film’s co-writer and director Elza Kephart, and pairing with another film about magical pants: Sanaa Hamri’s ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2’

‘Slaxx’ (2021) – Co-written and directed by Elza Kephart

Director/co-writer Elza Kephart on the set of ‘Slaxx’

‘Slaxx’ follows wide-eyed teenager Libby (Romane Denis) on her first shift at supposedly eco-friendly fashion boutique Canadian Cotton Clothiers or CCC. Stuck working a night shift on the eve of the launch of a new product – super shaper jeans that shift to fit anybody type, Libby learns what we all learn on her first job: work sucks. Co-workers can be jerks, managers egotistical, PR girls cold, company policy absurd. However, as the night progresses she quickly learns that the evil that lurks behind corporations may be even more sinister. With campy gore reminiscent of Italian Giallo slasher films, ‘Slaxx’ is filled with terrific horror set pieces and an ending shot you won’t long forget.
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Read on for an interview with ‘Slaxx’ director/co-writer Elza Kephart

Inspired by films like ‘Star Wars’, ‘Back To The Future’, and Italian horror films of the 60’s and 70s, Elza Kephart started writing scripts when she was a teenager. After graduating from film school at Emerson College, Kephart worked on the sets of American films shot in Montreal. She made her feature film directorial debut with 2004’s ‘Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love.’

Moviefone: Why did you decide to tell a story about the dark side of fast fashion?

Elza Kephart: I’ve always been really fascinated and repulsed at how corporations manipulate and convince us to buy things that we don’t really need. It wasn’t always about fast fashion. It’s been about body creams to dolls to Cheetos. It was a general hatred of corporate brainwashing that’s been with me for many years. My co-writer Patricia Gomez worked in retail, so when we came up with the idea for ‘Slaxx’ we decided the right setting for it was a retail store. I did research into fast fashion and when I realized how horrific it actually was, it seemed like a natural fit for a horror film.

MF: Did you always think you’d be a horror filmmaker?

EK: I’ve always loved horror. I’ve always liked darkness. I started reading Agatha Christie when I was young and my friends were reading The Babysitter’s Club. To me, if there wasn’t a death in what I was reading, I wasn’t interested. So I’ve always just really loved the genre. I loved Anne Rice and Chistopher Pike and all that stuff. Making horror films came about after college. I didn’t think I was necessarily going to make horror films, but then Patricia and I decided to make a zombie movie together as a joke, which became my first feature. I did visual research to prep myself for that film ‘Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love’, which was a 1960s-set B-movie. As I started to watch all these films again, I had been going to Fantasia (a horror film festival in Montreal) since I was young, I realized this is what I loved. I love these dark weird, disturbing tales. These were the kinds of stories I wanted to tell.

MF: What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

EK: A couple of things: First, I hope people enjoy it as a gory insane horror film. I want people to laugh and to be entertained, to watch killer pants come to life! Second, I hope people come to think about their consumption habits, that instead of buying something new, they first ask themselves if they really need it, and if they do, whether they can buy it second hand, repurpose or trade it. And if they can’t, then to try as much as possible to buy from companies that are ethical. I think we’ve been brainwashed by corporations to buy without thinking so it’s really important for people to realise that they have real power in not buying, in not giving in to the lure of buying things we don’t need. Choosing not to buy can become a political act! It’s crucial that, because of the looming climate and ecological crises fueled in part by over production and over consumption, we must rethink our relationship to consuming if we are to survive as a species.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) – directed by Sanaa Hamri and written by Elizabeth Chandler

(L to R) America Ferrara, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, Sanaa Hamri, and Alexis Bledel on the set of ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2’

Moroccan-American filmmaker Sanaa Hamri cut her teeth directing music videos for icons like Prince, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Lenny Kravitz, and Christina Aguilera. Her feature films include ‘Something New’ stars Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker, ‘Just Wright’ starring Queen Latifah and Common. She’s also directed countless episodes of television, including more than a dozen episodes of ‘Empire.’

If you want more pants that miraculously fit any body type try ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.’ A direct sequel to the first film directed by Ken Kwapis and written by Delia Ephron Elizabeth Chandler, both are adaptations of books by Ann Brashares. They follow four friends – Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Carmen (America Ferrera), Bridget (Blake Lively) and Lena (Alexis Bledel) as childhood friends who come of age apart from each other. The first film in the franchise follows their first summer apart ever, the second follows them the summer after college. Over the course of the films, the magical pants don’t murder anyone, but rather give these girls confidence to grow into the women they’re destined to become, while also reminded them they’ll always have each other when things get rough.
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March 27, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: ‘Phobias’ directors Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, & Jess Varley

Welcome to Female Filmmakers in Focus, where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week. This week features the horror anthology film ‘Phobias,’ plus an interview with three of the film’s directors: Jess Varley, Maritte Lee Go, Camilla Belle.

Phobias (2021) – directed by Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, Joe Sill, Chris von Hoffmann, and Jess Varley

(L to R) Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, & Jess Varley, three of the directors of ‘Phobias’

Have you ever heard of the fear of weapons? Or the fear of imperfection? Or the fear of driving? Well, after finishing the new horror anthology you’ll know all about those fears and more. Each phobia is directed by one director, tied together with a frame story about a crazed government official who is trying to weaponize their fears. Some segments of ‘Phobias’ tackle timely subjects like anti-Asian sentiment, immigration raids, and PTSD, while others explore more typical horror subjects like home invasions, hauntings, and murder. The diverse cast is filled with character actors like Hana Mae Lee (‘Pitch Perfect’), Steve Park (‘Fargo,’ ‘Do The Right Thing’), Rushi Kota (‘Grey’s Anatomy), and Macy Gray (‘The Paperboy’) who are given roles that really show their range. Each filmmaker used a lot of the same crew, so there is a visual cohesion to the film, with the frame narrative setting it firmly in schlock B-film territory (this is a good thing). At turns terrifying, insightful, and mordantly funny, ‘Phobias’ should be a blast for fans of the genre.
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Read on for our interview with the directors of three of the five segments in the ‘Phobias’

Jess Varley attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has worked as writer-director-producer-actress for over a decade. Maritte Lee Go attended USC and has directed and produced over a dozen short films. Camilla Belle started her career as an actress making her feature film debut in Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘A Little Princess.’ This is Belle’s first credit as a director.

Moviefone: How did you each get involved in the project?

Jess Varley: After talking to [production company] Radio Silence (‘Ready or Not’, ‘V/H/S’) about doing an anthology movie and possibly centering it around phobias. Maritte and I had already worked together, and she produced a short film of mine. She’s just always been an incredible filmmaker and champion that I’ve looked to, so she was an obvious choice. As were Chris (von Hoffmann) and Joe (Sill). We very fortunately got linked up with Camilla (Belle) and were just so excited to have her on board being a huge fan of her work for so many years. I was thrilled to collect all of my favorite people and get to learn from all of them throughout the process.

Maritte Lee Go: I’ve been producing with Eric B. Fleischman for many years. We went to USC together. We put a list of ideas out there and phobias is the one that stuck. Radio Silence was on board. After that we were writing our individual ideas and got into production.

Camilla Belle: From my end, like Jess had said, I was the newbie to this crew. I came in later, but everyone was extremely welcoming. At that point everyone had already picked their phobias and I think everyone’s scripts were almost done at that point. I had to rush my process a bit to get it done on time with everyone else. Everyone was very positive and welcoming.

MF: How did you choose your phobia?

JV: Especially I think for Maritte, Camilla and I, our segments are definitely real reflections of real phobias that we have. My segment is Atelophobia, which is the fear of imperfection. So I tried to explore the darker sides of perfectionism and body image stuff that so many people can relate to. When I was first embarking I was hoping it was not too personal just to me. I always find that if it’s something that you’re really passionate about, and that you really believe in, it’s amazing to see that translate to audience members and other people. There’s always going to be nuggets in there that people can relate to.

MLG: For mine, this was based on something I experienced one night dropping my ex-boyfriend off at the LAX airport. He left the car and as soon as he did I felt something sitting in my backseat. It was like this really cold air. I felt needles on the back of my neck. I never felt anything like that before, and I was really afraid, and I kept looking back, and I didn’t see anything. So I hopped on the 405 North trying to ignore it. I had a brand-new car and the car started acting on its own. The headlights were flashing. It was speeding up and slowing down. The channels started changing. I was terrified. I was like “Oh my god, get out of my car. Get out of my car, whatever you are.” I thought I was going to die – it was going 60, 70 miles an hour in crazy traffic. Finally, I was able to pull the car over, and I was crying like, “please, please get out of my car.” I finally felt it leave. The presence was not there anymore. I wasn’t cold. I didn’t feel the needles anymore. I left but it totally traumatized me. Every time I get in my car at night I’m constantly checking the back seat. I’m always afraid that something might be there. So that’s what inspired Vehophobia.

CB: With mine, once I settled on this one [Hoplophobia], I wouldn’t say I have a debilitating fear of weapons, or firearms, but I am not a fan to put it lightly. The story developed from the psychological aspects of trauma. That’s what really fascinated me, PTSD and dealing with trauma and how if it goes untreated what it can lead to. I’m always very much drawn to families and family dynamics. The idea of a son not only having the role of a son, but also somewhat being the parent and the caretaker of their parent. That really fascinated me.

MF: What do you hope people come away from your segment feeling?

CB: I think with mine, it’s having compassion for others. We might not know what others are going through. It’s more about coming out of it with some sort of compassion. I think even in discussing the short with people they asked, “What’s going to happen to the son? What’s going to happen to her and what’s his life going to be?” I hope their relationship touches people and that those questions are in their mind and more than anything compassion.

MLG: You can’t bury secrets forever. The dark deeds that you’ve done will come back to you and I believe that everything is seen in the supernatural world and it will come back to you in one way or another.
Jess: My hope is that certainly that anyone experiencing, whether it’s the fear of not being enough or comparing yourself to someone else, or that you are lacking in some way, I just hope that this segment helps people feel less alone.

MF: Can you each recommend one film directed by a woman that you suggest readers should seek out?

JV: I would love to highlight Veronika Franz, who co-directed ‘Goodnight Mommy’ and ‘The Lodge’. ‘Goodnight Mommy’ was a huge inspiration for Atelophobia. It’s got this great twist at the end and also deals with body dysmorphia topics as well. I’m obsessed with this movie. Totally worth a watch.

MLG: One of my favorite, favorite directors is Jane Campion, who did ‘The Piano’ and ‘Top of the Lake.’ I just think she is incredible. She has this way of capturing very grounded performances that feel like you are peeking in on something that is happening. She’s incredible at getting the most vulnerable moments out of actors. There’s no question that these people are living these lives there is so much authenticity in them. I’m a big fan of hers.

CB: I’ve also always been a huge fan of her work, but ‘The Piano’ – my mom and I went to go see it in the theater, and I was really young at the time. I’ll never forget because I think my mom didn’t realize Harvey Keitel was going to be naked with full-frontal nudity. She went to go cover my eyes, and yet I still have the image of Harvey Keitel full-frontal in my mind.

MLG: That’s amazing.

CB: A film I’ve seen more recently, during this awards season, is Brazil’s submission – my mom is from Brazil – so I’m always trying to support the filmmakers there. The director’s name is Bárbara Paz, and she directed a documentary, the first film she directed, about Hector Babenco. It’s called ‘Babenco: Tell Me When I Die.’ He’s one of the most lauded Brazilian filmmakers and was her husband. She depicts his life while he’s dying. It’s an extremely lyrical doc. I haven’t seen one really like that before. It’s so personal because she’s filming her husband’s final days. She didn’t want to make it like a filmography; she wanted to tell the story of him as a man, and for people to know him as an artist and as a husband and partner. He was very inspirational for her in becoming a filmmaker. It’s a very deeply personal doc that was special and heavy, but very special. I want to give her a shout-out.
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March 19, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Cinematographer Julia Swain on shooting Natasha Kermani’s ‘Lucky’ & watching Céline Sciamma’s ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’

Welcome to Female Filmmakers in Focus, where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week. This week’s new movie is Natasha Kermani’s new horror film ‘Lucky,’ and we have an interview with the film’s cinematographer Julia Swain. Swain also gave us this week’s recommended older film: Céline Sciamma’s ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire.’

Lucky (2021) – directed by Natasha Kermani, written by Brea Grant

Cinematographer Julia Swain and director Natasha Kermani on the set of ‘Lucky’

Iranian-American filmmaker Natasha Kermani has worked in film television, commercials, and more. Her feature film debut, sci-fi drama ‘Imitation Girl’ premiered at FrightFest 2017. Her second feature ‘Lucky’ premiered to positive reviews at the SXSW film festival in 2020. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Film Fatales, a non profit that serves as an inclusive community of hundreds of women and non-binary directors and advocates for parity in the film industry.

Written by and starring Brea Grant and directed by Natasha Kermani, ‘Lucky’ follows self-help author May (Grant) who finds herself stuck in an unusual situation: every night her suburban home is attacked by a faceless assailant. May is shaken after she and her husband Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh) seem to injure him, only for the attacker to disappear. Their marital bliss then cracks as Ted admits that he has been aware of this nightly threat for a long time. Upset by May’s reaction, Ted takes off, leaving May to face this attacker on her own, night after night. Finding little help in friends, family, or even the police, May slowly realizes this is a battle she must face alone. Anchored by Grant’s strong performance, ‘Lucky’ not only tackles literal violence against women, but also shines a light on the microaggressions that women face every day – including our own failures to help each other when things get particularly rough. ‘Lucky’ is available on Shudder.

Cinematographer Julia Swain has an MFA from UCLA and has been in love with shooting films since she was a kid, using her father’s VHS camera. She spoke a bit about her work in the industry at large and on ‘Lucky’ in particular.

Moviefone: Did you have any mentors in the industry?
Julia Swain: I had a really good mentor who stuck with me: Johnny Simmons, ASC. He taught at UCLA an advanced cinematography class, and he has sort of helped guide me through my career. He is someone I can ask questions about anything and everything. Others like Quyen Tran (‘Palm Springs’) and Natasha Braier (‘Honey Boy’) have also been so generous with their knowledge and allowed me to also watch them work.

MF: How did you first get involved with ‘Lucky’?
JS: ‘Lucky’ was brought to me by Natasha (Kermani). Natasha and I had done short form projects together like commercials. We really wanted to do something narrative, so she brought me in to meet the producers and Brea (Grant) and give my thoughts on the script visually. I pitched my interpretation and we hit it off.

MF: What were your visual references on the film?
JS: We really tried to create something of our own and not go after the “look” of another film. We knew we’d have a lot of darkness and wanted really wonderful color contrast, which I think we achieved. There was some of ‘Drive’ in our decks as well as Natasha Braier’s ‘The Neon Demon,’ (whose) photography which I would say is another very surreal film that inspired me to push color-wise. It was really without direct reference though that we sought to identify darkness and how dark is dark for ‘Lucky’? The photographic arc of ‘Lucky’ progresses as the film gets crazier and crazier.

MF: Can you speak a bit about how lens choices affect the visual language of a project?
JS: It’s super important as it’s how the audience perceives the world. For ‘Lucky’ we tested different lenses to try to find what felt right for this. We ended up with a Panavision T series anamorphics. They hold a lot of character, but they don’t distort the image in any weird way that would call attention to itself or distract the audience. So they’re clean, but they have a lot of character and beautiful color and the way the sources flare on screen is really beautiful. We knew we wanted to shoot anamorphic because it really isolates May in the frame and has this larger-than-life cinematic feel. You have a shallower depth of field but a greater field of view than spherical, so you can see more of the world but really isolate your focus in certain frames. ‘Lucky’ was a small movie, so being able to photograph in interesting ways and be in the same location a lot of days and being able to work around a room, these lenses really helped us do that. We could really leverage what we had in front of the lens.

MF: How did you shoot the extensive night sequences?
JS: I don’t know if shooting night is any cinematographer’s favorite thing on a budget. There’s a creative conversation that goes on just as with anything else though. What is moonlight? What color is moonlight? How hard is the moonlight? Is there moonlight at all? Are there light sources from the house lighting up the interior? These are all conversations that you have going into a project that has this much night. Leaning into a stylized moonlight fit the aesthetic and the tone of the film in general. We see every room at night and so doing something that was pitch black or so much streetlight or porch light wouldn’t have felt right. We built a huge rig that actually extended off the roof of the house. We were able to spread the moonlight in a way that covered a larger surface area using daylight units. Inside to supplement, we added soft ambient light where necessary.

MF: What is a film directed by a woman or that had a woman cinematographer that you would suggest readers seek out?
JS: A good one would be ‘Portrait of a Lady On Fire.’ Céline Sciamma directed it and Claire Mathon shot it. What’s great about that film is that it had very beautiful but what I like to call ‘quiet’ cinematography. It didn’t draw attention to itself but fit the narrative. Without it being super stylized or over the top, it was still received so well. I watched it after being exposed to all the public praise and usually that can ruin a film for you. They talk up a film, and you go in and watch it, and it doesn’t hold up to the hype that it had. But it did. So to have heard of ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ and then go watch it and see how the camera’s very quiet, it’s very observant, it’s just letting the story play out, was really refreshing. It’s true to itself in its photography and that is the kind of cinematography we should be talking about.
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) – written and directed by Céline Sciamma

(L to R) Actors Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel and writer/director Céline Sciamma on the set of ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’

Debuting at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, Céline Sciamma’s fourth feature film ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ won the Queer Palm and Sciamma took home the Best Screenplay award. Starring Noémie Merlant as painter Marianne and Adèle Haenel as her subject Héloïse, the film explores forbidden love, desire, and the struggles of women in France at the end of the eighteenth century. Claire Mathon won Best Cinematography at the César Awards for her work on the film. ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ is available on Hulu.
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March 12, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Amy Poehler’s ‘Moxie’ & Tanya Hamilton’s ‘Night Catches Us’

Welcome to Female Filmmakers in Focus, where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week. This week features ‘Moxie,’ a new film from Amy Poehler, and ‘Night Catches Us,’ an older film from Tanya Hamilton.

Moxie (2021) – directed by Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler (2nd from left) and the cast of ‘Moxie’

Mostly known for her work in front of the camera, Amy Poehler stepped behind the camera in 2019 to direct the ensemble comedy ‘Wine Country.” When asked what advice she’d give to other women who may be hesitating to start directing she said, “Do it even if you don’t think you’re ready… a lot of women wait until they think they’re really really ready for something. And I’ve worked with a lot of guys who aren’t ready for what they’re doing.” In the early 1990s, Poehler studied acting and improv at Chicago’s Second City and ImprovOlympic before co-founding the improvisational-comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade and cutting her teeth as a writer and performer on Saturday Night Live. Along with her extensive writing and acting credits, she has also served as an executive producer for many female-led shows including Difficult People, Russian Doll, Broad City, and Parks and Recreation. Her latest directorial effort ‘Moxie’ debuted on Netflix this week. Up next, Poehler is in the midst of filming a documentary about the romantic and creative partnership of comedy legends Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz.

For her second feature film as a director, Poehler has moved into the young adult genre with an adaptation of the novel Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu. The result is a poignant coming-of-age dramedy starring Hadley Robinson as Vivian, a shy teenage girl who finds inspiration in her mother’s rebellious teenage past. Poehler plays her mother, Lisa, who in the early 90s was active in the Riot Grrrl subculture. Vivian and best friend Claudia (Lauren Tsai) are happy to just keep their heads down and coast through her senior year of high school until new girl Lisa (Alycia Pascual-Peña) opens their eyes to their complacency in the victimization of other girls. When Vivian finds her mother’s old feminist zines, she decides to strike back against the rampant sexist culture at her high school. The zine – titled Moxie – criticizes the casual misogyny of the boys at her school and even ousts a sexual predator in the making. Vivian and Claudia’s relationship is strained as Vivian moves further out of her shell, and even tests the waters of dating, but ultimately the girls find strength in each other and learn the might of a united voice. Get your sharpie out, draw some hearts and stars on your hands, power up Netflix, and you might just learn a thing or two about grrrl power.
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Night Catches Us (2010) – written and directed by Tanya Hamilton

(L to R) ‘Night Catches Us’ stars Anthony Mackie & Kerry Washington and director Tanya Hamilton

Born and raised in Jamaica, Tanya Hamilton came to the United States to study filmmaking at Cooper Union and Columbia University. Her short film ‘The Killers’ won an award at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival, and she then spent the next decade developing her feature film debut ‘Night Catches Us.’ That period drama about Black Panthers debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best First Feature that same year at the Independent Spirit Awards. In the decade since the film’s release, she has directed quite a television episodes, including ‘Queen Sugar,’ ‘Black Lighting,’ ‘The Deuce,’ and ‘The Chi.’ Hamilton’s work is rooted where the personal and political collide. As she told the Washington Post, “I am interested in making films that have social and political relevance.”

‘Night Catches Us’ was written over a ten-year period and was inspired by the story of Carol Lawson-Green, a close friend of Hamilton’s mother. In 1965, Lawson-Green took part in a student-organized protest at the White House to address the treatment of Black people in Selma, Alabama. Her involvement in the protest led to a six-month jail sentence for a crime normally punished by a simple fine. Hamilton became interested in exploring the interpersonal dynamics of the protest movements during this era and the inequality of the justice system. Set in Philadelphia in 1976, ‘Night Catches Us’ follows former Black Panther Marcus (Anthony Mackie), returning home for the first time since his incarceration. He reconnects with Patricia (Kerry Washington), whose husband’s death he may or may not have caused. Sparks fly immediately, and it’s clear there’s something more to their story, as Patricia’s daughter Iris (Jamara Griffin) slowly learns. The film is buoyed by strong performances from Mackie and Washington (whose chemistry is hot, hot, hot) as well as an unsettling supporting turn from Wendell Pierce as a crooked cop. Shot on location and featuring a soul-stirring score by Philadelphia natives The Roots, ‘Night Catches Us’ finds the universal in the situation, while feeling distinctly of a certain time and place. Hamilton’s film doesn’t offer easy answers or a happy ending, a bit like life itself. ‘Night Catches Us’ is available on Amazon Prime.
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March 5, 2021
7 Riot Grrrl Films to Watch After ‘Moxie’

Following her 2019’s feature directorial debut ‘Wine Country’, Amy Poehler has returned behind the camera with ‘Moxie’, an adaptation of the novel by Jennifer Mathieu. ‘Moxie’ follows shy 16-year-old Vivian (Hadley Robinson) as she starts to question the terrible behavior of the teenage boys in her high school. Inspired by new girl Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña), Vivian finds her inner rebel girl making zines like her riot grrrl loving mom (Poehler), and leads her school in a revolution, girl style.

Those in the know will have noticed the many references to the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill above (and will find even more in the film), but for the rest of you, here’s a short primer. Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement founded in the early 1990s in Olympia, Washington. The subculture combined feminism, punk, and politics, and expressed itself via homemade zines, VHS tape exchanges, and more. Prominent bands featured in the subculture included Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, Huggy Bear, and Sleater-Kinney. If you want to learn more about this era seek out Sara Marcus’s book ‘Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution.’

In the spirit of Vivian finding inspiration in riot grrrl culture, here are a few films that would pair nicely with ‘Moxie.’

Smithereens, 1982 (dir. Susan Seidelman)

Susan Berman in ‘Smithereens’

Directed by Sunsan Seidelman (‘Desperately Seeking Susan’), written by Ron Nyswaner (‘Philadelphia’) and featuring a score by The Feelies, ‘Smithereens’ follows a narcissistic young woman named Wren who moves to New York City from New Jersey in search of fame in the punk subculture scene, only to discover it has mostly moved to Los Angeles. Wren is unapologetically herself in everything she does, from the way she dresses to her self-centered ambitions. Also of note: this was the first American independent film invited to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, 1982 (dir. Lou Adler)

Diane Lane in ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains’

Written by Nancy Dowd (Slap Shot, Coming Home) and directed by record producer, manager, multi-hyphenate Lou Adler, ‘Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains’ follows three teenage girls (Diane Lane, Laura Dern, and Marin Kanter) who start a punk band and go on tour. While the film struggled in theaters, it found a cult following on television and is often cited as an influence on the female-fronted punk bands that formed during the riot grrrl era.
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Tank Girl, 1995 (dir. Rachel Talalay)

Lori Petty and Naomi Watts in ‘Tank Girl’

Based on the post-apocalyptic comic series of the same name created by Jamie Hewlett and written by Alan Martin, Rachel Talalay’s ‘Tank Girl’ stars Lori Petty as the titular heroine Tank Girl and Naomi Watts as Jet Girl. Stridently feminist, the film tackles anti-establishment themes, embraces female sexuality, and generally just kicks ass. The soundtrack was put together by Hole lead singer Courtney Love, whose beef with Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna was widely reported, but its vibe still fits in the canon.
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Not Bad For A Girl, 1995 (dir. Lisa Rose Apramian)

Babes in Toyland’s Kat Bjelland in ‘Not Bad for a Girl’

Directed by Lisa Rose Apramian, this documentary offers an inside look at the women musicians working in grunge and riot grrrl in the 1990s. Partially funded by Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, bands interviewed include Hole, L7, Lunachicks, Babes in Toyland, Joan Jett, Calamity Jane, Bulimia Banquet, The Mudwimin, Silverfish, 7 Year Bitch, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill. Along with interviews, ‘Not Bad For A Girl,’ features clips from live performances, and even footage of the very first Riot Grrl Convention.

Editor’s note: This doc can be hard to find, but if you come across it, it’s essential viewing.
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Foxfire, 1996 (dir. Annette Haywood-Carter)

Angelina Jolie in ‘Foxfire’

Based on the novel by ‘Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang” by Joyce Carol Oates, this adaptation updates the novel’s 1950s setting to the 1990s and moves the location from upstate New York to the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. The film features a breakout performance from Angelina Jolie, whose outsider Margaret “Legs” Sadovsky convinces fellow teen girls (Hedy Burress, Jenny Lewis, Jenny Shimizu, and Sarah Rosenberg) to stand up to sexual harassment in their school and abuse at home. The film explores riot grrrl themes like the power that can be found in girl groups, explorations of sexuality, and embracing your creativity.
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Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore, 1997 (dir. Sarah Jacobson)

Lisa Gerstein in ‘Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore’

Sarah Jacobson was known as the queen of underground film. Her first film ‘I Was a Teenage Serial Killer’ was made with practically no budget, centered female rage in a new and groundbreaking way, and embodied the DIY spirit of the era. Tamra Davis (‘CB4,’ ‘Billy Madison’) helped finance Jacobson’s second feature ‘Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore,’ which follows the titular Mary Jane as she takes control of her sexual maturation. A precursor to the 2000s Mumblecore movement, Jacobson’s film features mostly non-professional actors and explores coming-of-age tropes like female desire, friendship dynamics, etc. but in a frank, naturalistic way.
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The Punk Singer, 2013 (dir. Sini Anderson)

Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna in ‘The Punk Singer’

Sini Anderson’s documentary ‘The Punk Singer’ follows the life of Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna using new interviews and archival footage of live performances. The film traces Hanna’s life and artistic career from her time as a spoken word poet, her riot grrrl zines, the formation of Bikini Kill, and her later work with Le Tigre, and her diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease. Through her portrait of Hanna, Anderson examines the rocky history of riot grrrl, sexism in the music and medical industries, the complexities of stardom, and the strength women can find within themselves and in each other.
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‘Moxie’ is now playing on Netflix.

March 3, 2021
10 Women Who Deserve Best Director Nominations at the Oscars

On March 15th the nominations for the 93rd annual Academy Awards will be announced. In the near-century long history of the Oscars, only five women have been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller for ‘Seven Beauties,’ Jane Campion for ‘The Piano,’ Sofia Coppola for ‘Lost in Translation,’ Kathryn Bigelow for ‘The Hurt Locker,’ and Greta Gerwig for ‘Lady Bird.’ Of those five women, the only winner was Kathryn Bigelow – and that was a decade ago! This year, the Golden Globes made history by nominating three women for Best Director, bringing the total nominated at that ceremony to a whopping eight. With Chloé Zhao being the first woman to win since Barbra Streisand took home the award for 1983’s ‘Yentl.’ These stats are not low because there haven’t been deserving women that directed movies. These stats are a symptom of a systematic bias that has been under investigation by the ACLU and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and studied by scholars like The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. But you don’t need data and lawsuits to know women are equally as deserving of these accolades as their male peers. You just need to watch their films.

This year three women have seen their films nominated by numerous awards bodies: Chloé Zhao, Emerald Fennell, and Regina King. But their films are not the only films worthy of being feted this year. In fact, the Academy could fill both their five Best Director slots and ten Best Picture slots completely with films directed by women this year. Let’s take a look at the contenders, shall we?

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Director/writer/editor Chloé Zhao on the set of ‘Nomadland’

The most awarded film of the year, Chloé Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ is this year’s frontrunner for both best director and best picture, especially after Zhao’s historic win at the Golden Globes. The film is led by a powerful, yet understated performance from Frances McDormand, but also features spirited turns from non professional actors as well. Over the past decade Zhao films have captured the spirit of the contemporary American West like few filmmakers before her. With ‘Nomadland’ she also taps into our country’s current economic disparities with a deft and compassionate hand.
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Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Carey Mulligan, writer/director Emerald Fennell, & Laverne Cox on the set of ‘Promising Young Woman’

One of the most divisive films of the year, Emerald Fennell’s ‘Promising Young Woman’ deconstructs the idea of ‘nice guys’ and the subtleties of rape culture. Fennell uses a bold candy-colored palette and pop-song infused soundtrack to create a stark contrast between the visuals of the film and its themes. Pointed casting of TV boyfriends of yore to as would-be rapists, and Carey Mulligan’s fierce performance as Cassie, a woman whose trauma manifests in extreme behavior, demonstrates Fennell’s skill as a director of actors.
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Regina King – One Night In Miami…

Aldis Hodge and director Regina King on the set of ‘One Night in Miami…’

An Oscar-winning actress herself, Regina King has directed episodes of television for almost a decade and with her feature film debut ‘One Night In Miami…’, proven herself to be one of the great multi-hyphenates in the business. Although based on a stage play by Kemp Powers, King crafts scenes that are anything but stagey. With her cast playing icons Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke, King brings out emotional depth from her actors Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr., that bring their performances beyond mere impersonations. You feel as though everyone bared their soul making this film.
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Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Director/writer Eliza Hittman on the set of ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’

Premiering at Sundance and playing at the Berlin Film Festival, Eliza Hittman’s third feature film ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ was one of the last films to hit theaters before the pandemic shuttered many. The drama, which has become one of the years most awards films, follows teen cousins as Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and Skylar (Talia Ryder) as they make the trek from rural Pennsylvania to New York City in order to receive an abortion. Shot in a neo-realistic style, Hittman throws one obstacle after another at her protagonists without the film ever feeling heavy headed or preachy. It’s tough the way life is tough, yet through it all she lets Autumn and Skylar feel little moments of joy in each other’s company.
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Kitty Green – The Assistant

Director/writer Kitty Green on the set of ‘The Assistant’

Debuting at the Telluride Film Festival in 2019 and landing in theaters last January, Kitty Green’s The Assistant tackles the #MeToo movement within the entertainment industry. Green presents an incisive take on the banality of the evil that lurks within its walls by following the titular assistant, played with impressive restraint by Julia Garner, through one terrible day at work. The abuse depicted within the film is found in microaggressions, in complacency, in bureaucracy. As the day ends, the viewer is left wondering how anyone can wade through all that muck just to make a film, yet it also leaves us as breathless as only a great film can. Green forces us to see the cost behind it all and question our own roles within this broken system.
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Kelly Reichardt – First Cow

Director/writer Kelly Reichardt on the set of ‘First Cow’

Like Zhao, Kelly Reichardt has spent much of her filmmaking career telling stories of the American West. One character in the film states they can taste London in the oily cake he eats, just as the viewer can feel the Pacific Northwest in this film. Set in 1820, when the PNW was mostly populated by fur trappers and military men, ‘First Cow’ follows the close bond formed by a cook named Cookie (John Magaro) and a Chinese immigrant named King-Lu (Orion Lee). Like she’s done in many of her films, Reichardt uses this setting to explore the more tender sides of masculinity. As the two build their baking business – with milk stolen from the titular cow – their ambitions threaten to disrupt their domestic bliss. Reichardt’s deft critiques on capitalism and class, slowly dismantle the myth of the American Dream, even at its nascency.
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Isabel Sandoval – Lingua Franca

Director/writer/producer/editor/star Isabel Sandoval in ‘Lingua Franca.’

Not only did Isabel Sandvoval write and direct ‘Lingua Franca,’ she also produced, edited, and played the lead role. The film takes a deeply empathetic look at immigration from the point of view of a trans woman who works as a care-giver for an eldery woman in Brooklyn. Sandvoval has a delicate touch to her storytelling, bringing out warm, subtle performances from her cast. Both intimate and understated, the viewer feels as though they’ve only glimpsed a small piece of a much larger picture, and as the film ends you wish you could linger in this world for just a little bit longer.
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Autumn de Wilde – Emma.

(L to R) Amber Anderson, Tanya Reynolds, Josh O’Connor, writer/director Autumn de Wilde, and Johnny Flynn on the set of ‘Emma.’

There are many things to praise about Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of ‘Emma.’ The director’s detailed historical research shines in the art direction and costume design. She gets delightful performances from up-and-comers Anya Taylor-Joy and Johnny Flynn (who have delectable chemistry), and a hilarious supporting turn from Bill Nighy. But what really sets de Wilde’s Jane Austen adaptation above the rest is the way in which she manages to capture the vicious humor of Austen’s prose. There is an acidity to this Emma, which makes her character’s arc all the more triumphant and the film itself so thrilling to watch.
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Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth

Writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples on the set of ‘Miss Juneteenth’

Inspired in part by writer-director Channing Godfrey Peoples’ own youth celebrating Juneteenth and attending Miss Juneteenth pageants, her feature film debut premiered to near universal acclaim last summer. Led by lived-in performances from Nicole Beharie, for which she received the Gotham Award for Best Actress, ‘Miss Juneteenth’ navigates well-worn mother-daughter story beats with freshness and vigour. Shooting the film on location in Fort Worth, Texas, Peoples creates a real sense of place and economic position for her characters, and her personal connection to the subject and setting adds a palpable warmth.
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Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version

Director/writer/star Radha Blank on the set of ‘The Forty-Year-Old Version’

After debuting at Sundance and winning the U.S. Dramatic Competition Directing Award, The Forty-Year-Old Version was a labor of love for Radha Blank, who not only wrote and directed the film, but also stars in the lead role. Loosely based on her own life, the film follows Radha as she hits forty and comes to terms with not living up to the promise of once being featured on 30 under 30 list. Radha takes her frustrations out through her alter ego: a rapper called RadhaMUSprime. Blank mines her own life and artistic struggles with humour and wisdom. She also addresses racial bias in the industry both through scenes in the film, but also in her choice to make the film in luminous B&W – not for financial reasons, but to evoke the art films she as a filmmaker loves.
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That’s just a small sampling of the great films directed by women from last year. Here’s a few more that could easily be swapped in: Alice Wu’s ‘The Half of It’, Agnieszka Holland’s ‘Charlatan’, Julia Hart’s ‘I’m Your Woman’, Miranda July’s ‘Kajillionaire’, Josephine Decker’s ‘Shirley’, Maite Alberdi’s ‘The Mole Agent,’ Gina Prince-Bythewood’s ‘The Old Guard,’ Shannon Murphy’s ‘Babyteeth’, Kirsten Johnson’s ‘Dick Johnson Is Dead’, Déa Kulumbegashvili’s ‘Beginning’, Garrett Bradley’s ‘Time’, Naomi Kawase’s ‘True Mothers’, Cathy Yan’s ‘Birds of Prey,’ and Lili Horvát’s ‘Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time’.

There really is no shortage of exceptional films directed by women and after 93 years of the Oscars mostly shutting them out, enough is enough.

March 1, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Shatara Michelle Ford’s ‘Test Pattern’ and Stella Meghie’s ‘The Photograph’

Welcome to this week’s edition of Female Filmmakers in Focus, a column where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week.

Shatara Michelle Ford on the set of ‘Test Pattern’

Shatara Michelle Ford has written and directed a handful of shorts over the last decade. In 2016, she worked as James Gray’s assistant during the filming of ‘Lost City of Z’ and her script ‘Queen Elizabeth’ was on the 2017 Black List of the best unproduced screenplays. Self-financed, and shot over just a few weeks in Austin and Los Angeles, her feature film debut ‘Test Pattern’ first premiered at Blackstar Film Festival in 2019. It also played several festivals before being acquired by Kino Lorber and released just this February. Proof that although sometimes it can take a while great films will eventually find their way to audiences.

Currently available in virtual cinemas via Kino Marquee, writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford’s ‘Test Pattern’ begins when Renesha (a star-making performance from Brittany S. Hall) and Evan (Will Brill) first meet at an Austin bar. We then see them bump into each other at a grocery store, go on their first date, and eventually move in together. The rest of the film follows the aftermath of one fateful girls’ night out, as Renesha meets up with a friend at a bar, and they’re both immediately hit on by some newly-rich tech bros. What starts as casual conversation and mild flirtation slowly devolves into the men drugging both women, and finally ends with Renesha being assaulted. The second half of the film follows Evan’s determination to get Renesha a rape kit, despite the labyrinthine Texas medical and legal system. Ford intercuts this journey with flashbacks to moments of tension from their relationship, revealing holes in their seemingly idyllic relationship. ‘Test Pattern’ examines not just the broken medical system in Texas, but also toxic masculinity, the murky waters of consent, and the power dynamics in interracial couples – especially between Black women and white men. Rarely are debut filmmakers this deft at tackling so many complex issues at once, but with ‘Test Pattern,’ Shatara Michelle Ford’s vision is clear, as are her skills to realize it with exacting precision.
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The Photograph (2020) – written and directed by Stella Meghie

Lakeith Stanfield, Issa Rae, and Stella Meghie on the set of ‘The Photograph’

Born to Jamaican immigrant parents in Toronto, Stella Meghie quit a job in the fashion industry to learn the art of screenwriting at University of Westminster in England. She has since directed four feature films, three of which she also wrote. Her debut film ‘Jean of the Joneses’ premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2016 and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. She was then hired by Warner Bros. to direct ‘Everything, Everything’, an adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s popular YA novel of the same name starring Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson. Her third film ‘The Weekend’ premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Although it received mostly positive critical acclaim, it did not get a very wide distribution. After the release of her fourth film ‘The Photograph’ last year it was announced that she will be helming a Whitney Houston biopic entitled ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’ Meghie’s films simultaneously explore familial and romantic relationship dynamics and how they often intersect in ways we cannot predict or control.

Starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield, ‘The Photograph’ is a romantic drama inspired by Meghie’s grandmother, who reconnected with a daughter she hadn’t seen in over thirty years. The film begins with Michael (Stanfield), a journalist working on a story about life in the Delta post-Hurricane Katrina, interviewing a man named Isaac (Rob Morgan). After seeing the striking photograph of a woman in Isaac’s house, Michael decides he wants to learn more about her story. Discovering she is a photographer named Christina Eames, he seeks out her daughter Mae (Issa Rae) who works as aan museum curator in New York City. Sparks fly immediately between Michael and Mae, their encounters straddling the line between professional and personal. As their relationship blossoms, the film cuts back and forth in time revealing how Christina (Chanté Adams) and Isaac (played in flashbacks by Y’lan Noel) knew each other and what led to their eventual split. While Mae learns more about her mother’s secrets, she questions everything she thought she knew about her family, her relationship with the man she thought was her father (Courtney B. Vance), and about the complicated nature of love itself. If you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned soapy romance, grab some tissues, because Meghie’s film more than delivers. ‘The Photograph’ is available on HBOMax.
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February 26, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Chloé Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ & Angelina Jolie’s ‘By the Sea’

Welcome to this week’s edition of Female Filmmakers in Focus, a column where you will find a recommendation for films directed by women to seek out each week.

Nomadland (2020) – directed by Chloé Zhao

Frances McDormand & Chloé Zhao on the set of ‘Nomadland’

With the wide release of her third film ‘Nomadland’ into theaters on Hulu this weekend, writer-director Chloé Zhao is only just beginning. Born in Beijing, China, Zhao attended primary schools in England and Los Angeles. She received a degree in political science at Mount Holyoke before enrolling in film school at NYU – where Spike Lee was one of her teachers – and where she met her creative partner, cinematographer Joshua James Richards, who has shot her first three films. Deciding to set her thesis film in Devils Lake, North Dakota because she liked the name she discovered the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which inspired her first two films ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ and ‘The Rider,’ both of which opened to critical acclaim. ‘Nomadland’ has positioned Zhao as a frontrunner at the Oscars this year, and she will be following it up with the Marvel film ‘Eternals,’ slated for release in November 2021.

Based on the book by Jessica Bruder, star Frances McDormand originally optioned Nomadland and was so impressed by Zhao’s film ‘The Rider’ that she approached her to write and direct the film. The result is an emotionally rich, painfully relevant film about the waning days of the American Dream. Set in 2011, McDormand plays Fern, a woman reaching retirement age during the Great Recession who has lost her home after her husband passes and the company town they had lived in together shuts down. Fern begins to live in a van, travelling across the country working seasonal jobs. Like Zhao’s first two films, many of the cast are non-professional actors – subjects of the nonfiction book – with a standout performance from a woman named Swankie. Nomadland examines the importance of interpersonal relationships, the siren’s call of personal freedom, our dependence on capitalism, and the harsh realities of aging in a country that doesn’t seem to care about its older population.
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By the Sea (2015) – directed by Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie on the set of ‘By the Sea’

We are now heading into our fourth decade of Angelina Jolie as a public figure, and as those decades changed, she grew as an artist. Getting her start acting in short films directed by her brother while he attended USC film school, she quickly began starring in iconic music videos like Lenny Kravitz’s “Stand by My Woman” (1991), The Lemonheads’s “It’s About Time” (1993), and Meat Loaf’s “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through” (1993). Her career trajectory started with cult hits like as ‘Hackers’ and ‘Foxfire’, then award-winning television films like ‘George Wallace’ and ‘Gia.’ Then came her Oscar-winning turn in ‘Girl, Interrupted’, blockbusters like ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith,’ and ‘Salt,’ and critically acclaimed dramas like ‘A Mighty Heart’ and ‘Changeling’. In the last decade Angelina Jolie has also come into her own as an accomplished writer-director, with four very different films under her belt: the Bosnian War drama ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, a biopic of Olympian and WWII vet Louis “Louie” Zamperini ‘Unbroken’, the 1960s psychological romance drama ‘By The Sea’, and Cambodian Civil War drama ‘First They Killed My Father’.

Of her directorial filmography, By The Sea was likely her most high-profile in that it was the only one of her films in which she and then-partner Brad Pitt both appeared. And yet this film is also her most misunderstood. Written off as a vanity project by many, the film has a small, but passionate fan base, with at least two masterful close-reads by film writers Kim Morgan and Angelica Jade-Bastien. With shades of 60s filmmakers like Antonioni, Bergman, Polanski, and Losey, ‘By The Sea’ follows writer Roland (Pitt) and his wife Vanessa (Jolie) as they set up camp in a coastal hotel, so he can finish his latest book. In the tradition of the great relationship dramas like ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ and ‘La Notte,’ there’s a storm at the heart of this relationship. They may be beautiful people, but anger, malice, resentment, and self-loathing are simmering beneath their façades. All the hallmarks of complicated romance! When Roland and Vanessa begin a voyeuristic fascination with a honeymooning younger couple (Melvil Poupaud and Mélanie Laurent), the tensions in their fraught relationship start to boil over. Sleek and glossy on the surface, with gorgeous cinematography by Christian Berger, a lush score from Gabriel Yared, and to die for costumes by Ellen Mirojnick, at its core the film is melancholic and even unsettling, examining ideas of gaze, fidelity and possession, grief and even vanity itself. Jolie is at the top of her game, both in terms of her performance and her artistry as a filmmaker. ‘By The Sea’ is currently streaming on Netflix.
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February 19, 2021
Movie References in The Weeknd’s After Hours You Never Noticed

Since the November 2019 release of the music video “Heartless,” The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye a noted cinephile who has cited David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese as inspirations in the past, has crafted a deep cinematic narrative throughout the video elements of his fourth album After Hours. Along with the lyrical and visual narratives of the album itself, which tracks a man dubbed The Weeknd through a bad break-up, a hard look at his hedonistic lifestyle, and in the end some wistful wisdom as he starts to maybe group up a bit, the videos and live appearances to promote the album are also chock full of cinematic references. Take the title itself: After Hours evokes late night clubs, but from a cinematic point of view it immediately brings up visions of Martin Scorsese’s 1985 cult classic of the same name about a word processor named Paul who takes a late night trip to SoHo in New York City and can’t seem to ever get himself back home.

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘After Hours’ (right)

Much like Paul, the videos find a man dubbed The Character (played of course by The Weeknd) in an endless journey through the darker parts of himself – and through a myriad of film references.

“HEARTLESS”

“Heartless” (left) and ‘Casino’ (right)

The Weeknd debuted his now signature red suit in the video for “Heartless,” directed by Anton Tammi, which itself is a reference to a suit worn by Robert De Niro in Scorsese’s 1995 film ‘Casino’. The video, shot in Las Vegas, features The Character and a friend (played by Metro Boomin) as they gallivant around Sin City, stumbling in a drug-induced haze like Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in Terry Gilliam’s 1998 adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He even worked this stumble into his performance at the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show.

“BLINDING LIGHTS”

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘Blade Runner’ (right)

The video for his next single “Blinding Lights,” also directed by Tammi, there are even more film references. We see The Character steal a car and head back to Los Angeles, where, among other things, he dances in the 2nd Street Tunnel. This landmark of Los Angeles has been featured in countless films, including Ridley Scott’s 1982 film ‘Blade Runner.’ An adaptation of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (side note: the author is also referenced in the lyrics of “Snow Child,” with the line “give her Phillip K Dick”), the film is set in Los Angeles in November 2019 – the same month the video was released – and references to it will show up in a later video.

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘The Dark Knight’ (right)

Much has been made of The Weeknd’s dancing throughout the promotion of After Hours being reminiscent of Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker,’ but in fact these videos are peppered with references to many cinematic Jokers, including the moment in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight,’ where Heath Ledger gleefully hangs his head outside a stolen police car he’s driving.

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘Blue Velvet’ (right)

Much of the vibe throughout the music videos and live performances for After Hours have a Lynchian feel to them and in “Blinding Lights,” there is a direct reference to David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet,’ where Dennis Hopper’s psychopath Frank Booth watches tormented torch singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) croon the titular song. In “Blinding Lights,” The Character is mesmerized by the musical stylings of an unnamed singer played by Miki Hamano, whose voice literally lifts him off the ground.

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘Twin Peaks’ (right)

We even get another hint of the Red Room from ‘Twin Peaks;’ in fact much of the eerie instrumental music that accompanies The Weeknd in the moments between videos and throughout the ‘After Hours’ short film have an Angelo Badalamenti vibe to them.

“Blinding Lights” (left) and ‘Joker’ (right)

Perhaps the most obvious reference in the video is his dancing, sometimes in the 2nd Street Tunnel, sometimes elsewhere throughout downtown Los Angeles, appears to be directly lifted from Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker as he dances to Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2” as he makes his way to make his late night debut in Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker.’

AFTER HOURS short film

‘After Hours’ (left) and ‘The King of Comedy’ (right)

The After Hours short film, again directed by Tammi, takes place shortly after The Weeknd’s performance of “Blinding Lights” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The video begins as his set ends, The Character grinning like Rupert Pupkin at the end of Martin Scorese’s ‘The King of Comedy’ – itself a huge influence of Todd Phillips’s ‘Joker.’

‘After Hours’ (left) and ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ (right)

Tesfaye has stated influences on the short film also include Adrian Lyne’s psychological horror film ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ which includes a scene where Tim Robbins is menaced by unknown forces in an empty subway station, Roman Polanki’s ‘Chinatown’ (the bandage on his nose), Claire Deni’s ‘Trouble Every Day,’ Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, and Brian De Palma’s ‘Dressed to Kill.’

“IN YOUR EYES”

“In Your Eyes” (left) and ‘Dial M for Murder’ (right)

The video with possibly the most film references is “In Your Eyes,” in which The Character wordlessly stalks a young blonde woman à la Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween.’ The horror movie infused video has nods to everything from Wes Craven’s ‘Scream’ to Dario Argento’s Suspiria to Alfred Hitchcock. At one point the woman takes refuge in a phone booth – à la ‘The Birds’ – and dials for help. Tammi, uses an ultra close-up of the keys, an homage to ‘Dial M For Murder,’ in which Hitchcock blonde Grace Kelly’s husband Ray Milland has hired someone to murder her.

“In Your Eyes” (left) and ‘The Terminator’ (right)

The woman then flees to a club titled After Hours – which uses the exact same lightbulb font as the Tech Noir club in James Cameron’s ‘Terminator,’ an idea that came early in the creative ideation for the video.

“TOO LATE”

“Too Late” (left) and ‘The Neon Demon’ (right)

The horror vibes continue in the video for “Too Late”, directed by Cliqua. After being decapitated at the end of the previous video, The Character’s head is found by two models on the side of the road. The world they inhabit feels akin to Nicholas Winding Refn’s psychological horror film ‘The Neon Demon,’ where the Los Angeles modeling scene is depicted as so bleak the models are literally eating each other alive. Tesfaye is a noted friend of director Refn.

“Too Late” (left) and ‘American Psycho’ (right)

When the two discover that the head belongs to The Weeknd, they concoct a nefarious plan to bring him back to life. Laying newspapers on their floor and donning clear plastic rain gear à la Mary Harron’s adaption of Bret Easton Ellis’s yuppie black comedy American Psycho, the girls lure an unsuspecting male stripper (Ken XY) to their home in order to murder him and place The Character’s head on his body. Spooky.

“SAVE YOUR TEARS”

“Save Your Tears” (left) and ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (right)

In the most recent video, “Save Your Tears” again directed by Cliqua, The Character is now performing for a masked crowd straight out of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’ After appearing at the American Music Awards with a fully bandaged face like the models, his face has now clearly been marred by plastic surgery (looking quite a bit like Jocelyn Wildenstein aka the Tiger Woman of NYC).

“Save Your Tears” (left) and ‘Batman’ (right)

As the video ends, there is one last Joker reference – this time with Jack Nicholson’s iteration. In the climax of Tim Burton’s ‘Batman,’ he pulls a gun on himself after forcing Vicki Vale (Kim Basigner) to dance with him. Like Nicholson’s Joker, when he pulls the trigger there’s no bullet; The Character’s gun shoots confetti, just like the Joker’s gun pops out a flag.

Since these are just a few of the many references found throughout the music videos for After Hours (and in fact most of his music videos going back a decade), it’s only a matter of time before The Weeknd makes a feature film himself, or at least drops a link to his Letterboxd profile.

February 16, 2021
Female Filmmakers in Focus: Robin Wright’s ‘Land’ & Zeinabu irene Davis’s ‘Compensation’

Welcome to Female Filmmakers in Focus, a new column where I’ll be recommending films directed by women to watch. Women directors only accounted for 16% of the top 100 grossing films of 2020, but that doesn’t mean that women directed only 16% of all the films released last year; the key phrase in this study is “top grossing.”

As a viewer, one way to help increase these numbers is to simply watch more films directed by women! They do exist, and I’m here to help you find them. Each week I’ll highlight one new release (in theaters/on premium VOD/streaming) and one old release (from the streaming catalog, an online rental, etc.) that I think is worth your time. I’ll also share a little about the women who made these films. I once spent an entire year watching nothing but films directed by women, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what is out there, and what continues to be released each week. Hopefully with this guide you’ll discover some new (or new-to-you) favorite filmmakers.

Land (2021) – directed by Robin Wright

Director Robin Wright and cinematographer Bobby Bukowski on the set of ‘Land’

This week Robin Wright (Wonder Woman) makes her feature directorial debut with the wilderness drama Land. Wright began her career as an actress, debuting in 1986’s ‘Hollywood Vice Squad’ (directed by Penelope Spheeris), before breaking out in Rob Reiner’s classic ‘The Princess Bride’. She has received numerous accolades for her work in front of the camera, including for her performances in Forrest Gump and House of Cards, and also directed several episodes of the latter.

Land, which had its debut last month at the Sundance Film Festival, was shot over 29 days in the Canadian wilderness and stars Wright as Edee, a depressed woman who, after experiencing a great trauma, moves to a cabin on a remote mountain. Her attempt to isolate herself as a way to move past her grief takes a disastrous turn after most of her food is eaten by a bear that breaks into her cabin, and she almost freezes to death during a blizzard. Eventually she is discovered by a hunter, played to with subtle warmth by Demián Bichir (‘The Hateful Eight’, ‘The Midnight Sky’) and the two form a bond that helps them both feel alive again. While a lesser film might have pushed the drama into a romantic space, this film’s action remains steadfastly in the realm of platonic friendship and the strength that can be found in that kind of camaraderie, something that is still all too rarely explored. Wright and Bichir’s compelling performances, as well as stunning cinematography by Bobby Bukowski, make Land a worthwhile journey from the numbness of loss to the joys of finding peace within.
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Compensation (1999) – directed by Zeinabu irene Davis

Michelle A. Banks in Zeinabu irene Davis’s ‘Compensation’

Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel, this romantic drama was shot in the summer of 1993 on location in Chicago and eventually played at 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Part of the movement of independent Black filmmakers known as the L.A. Rebellion, Zeinabu irene Davis received an MFA in Film and Video Production from UCLA in 1989 and made several short films before starting work on her first feature. The work of L.A. Rebellion filmmakers like Davis and Julie Dash (whose 1991 film ‘Daughters of the Dust’ was the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to have general theatrical release in the United States) have inspired countless contemporary filmmakers like Ava DuVernay and Beyoncé.

Compensation follows two parallel love stories – one in 1906 and one in 1993 – between a deaf woman and a hearing man. In each story the couples (played by Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks in dual roles) must learn to communicate with each other, both in terms of their own actual languages, but also in the manner in which they communicate their needs and feelings for each other in a way that each can understand. Shot in black and white, the film uses unique creative ways to showcase these communication issues, mixing silent film style intertitles and subtitles over American Sign Language. A beautiful film about the power of communication and human connection, ‘Compensation’ is perfect for those looking for something to hit the spot during this socially distanced Valentine’s Day weekend.
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February 12, 2021