NYWIFT Blog

Trailblazing through the Decades: Cheryl Dunye (1990s)

Twenty years ago a young artist set out to make a documentary about women like herself: black queer filmmakers. She found nothing but homophobia and omission, and then… inspiration. The resulting film The Watermelon Woman marked Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 debut – a hybrid of autobiography, documentary, and comedy. It defies categorization and was the first feature film directed by an African American lesbian.

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Trailblazing 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.

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Terry’s Picks: Wrinkle Trailer, Doctor Who, Equality Matters

Wrinkle Trailer: I’m excited to see Ava Duvernay’s A Wrinkle in Time, the Disney adaptation of the 1963 children’s classic by Madeleine L’Engle. The film makes DuVernay the first black woman to helm a $100 million studio feature. Watch the new trailer! Doctor Who: The British cult favorite series Doctor Who announced this weekend that...

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#SummerHours Throwback Thursday (#Pride Edition): The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

NYWIFT #SummerHours offers its first Throwback Thursday - #Pride Edition! - with this sweet '90s teen rom-com.

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Heather Taylor on Crowdfunding for Pay to Stay and the Importance of Onscreen Diversity

"I want to have representation across different sexualities and different races in my films because that is the world I see when I walk down the streets of New York," says NYWIFT member Heather Taylor. Katrina Medoff sat down with Taylor to talk diversity in filmmaking (both onscreen and off) as her crowdfunding campaign for her horror short Pay to Stay draws to a close.

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Terry’s Picks: Muse Honorees Blythe Danner, Lizz Winstead, Sarah Barnett

As we look forward to this Thursday’s Muse Awards, here are some of our honorees: Blythe Danner talks to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast about her 50 year career and taking on her first leading film role at age 72 in I’ll See You in My Dreams. Lizz Winstead’s Tinder parody app Hinder, created...

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