Agnes Varda: I was so saddened to hear about the passing of legendary filmmaker, documentarian and cinephile Agnes Varda. Indiewire offers up a list of where to watch eight of her best films.
Ravenal Grant: Congratulations to directors Lydia Dean Pilcher and Suzanne Guacci, both recipients of this year’s NYWIFT Ravenal Feature Film Foundation Grant. We are grateful to Cornelia Ravenal, who expanded the grant this year to two prizes, giving even more opportunities to elevate women directors over 40.
Amy Poehler: Actor, writer and comedian Amy Poehler makes her directorial debut with Netflix’s Wine Country, and explains why we need more films about women in their 40’s and 50’s (I agree!).
Cynthia Lopez
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READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Lorena R. Valencia
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READ MORENYWIFT at DOC NYC: In Conversation with Elivia Shaw
NYWIFT Member Elivia Shaw is a producer and co-editor of the fascinating new documentary How to Have an American Baby, which just make its New York Premiere at DOC NYC 2023. The film is a a nuanced, behind-the-scenes look into the booming shadow economy catering to pregnant Chinese tourists who travel to America to give birth in order to obtain U.S. citizenship for their babies. Told through a series of observational vignettes, and with extraordinary access to the maternity hotel industry and their clients, the film outlines the invisible contours of the underground birth tourism industry and its unexpected actors in the U.S. and China, while probing deeply into the lives of several protagonists caught up in the phenomenon. What results is an intimate and compassionate portrait of women’s reproductive journeys, family, traditions, and capitalist desires. Shaw spoke to us about her collaboration with director Leslie Tai and the unique joys and challenges of the project.
READ MORENYWIFT at DOC NYC: In Conversation with Emily Sheskin
NYWIFT Member Emily Sheskin’s return to DOC NYC 2023 is particularly meaningful. In 2017, she attended the festival with her short film Girl Boxer, about a 10-year-old champion female boxer and her adoring father. Six years later, Sheskin returns with a feature-length film following the same family, now facing an entirely new set of challenges. In Jesszilla, New Jersey’s own Jesselyn Silva, a three-time national boxing champion, is on her way to superstardom, dominating the junior ranks at the age of 15. With her every step of the way is her father, Pedro, a single parent who helps her navigate coaches, training schedules, and the angst of teenage life. When a devastating diagnosis threatens the father-daughter tandem, the pair turn to each other to fight their greatest opponent yet: cancer. Director and Executive Producer Emily Sheskin spoke to us about her unique journey following this family.
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