Women and Hollywood

Melissa Silverstein is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood, one of the most respected sites for issues related to women and film as well as other areas of pop culture. Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity across the entertainment industry.

She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Athena Film Festival. The 4th annual festival will take place from February 6-9, 2014 at Barnard College in NYC.

Melissa recently published the first book from Women and Hollywood, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, which is a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on the site.

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Blog Roll

Cross Post: On Sex, Disability, and Helen Hunt in 'The Sessions'

Features

I hadn’t heard of Mark O’Brien before I saw The Sessions. I only knew that the film starred John Hawkes (of Deadwood, Winter’s Bone, and Martha Marcy May Marlene fame) and Helen Hunt, who I’ve always admired because of her role as the rebellious, dance-obsessed Lynne Stone in the 1985 film Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I was seven years old when I saw that shit, and I’d now consider it one of my first introductions to (somewhat problematic) pop culture feminism. I refuse to let go of it. Also, Helen Hunt was in Twister, a movie about storm chasers who say stuff like, “It’s coming! It’s headed right for us!” and “Debris! We got debris!” Oh yeah, and she won that Best Actress Oscar for As Good As It Gets in 1997.

By Stephanie Rogers
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December 18, 2012 11:54 AM
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1 Comment

Features

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter released their annual Actress Roundtable issue. This year the list was all white and included Sally Field, Anne Hathaway, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Helen Hunt, Amy Adams and Rachel Weisz all participated. Surprising omissions were Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain (which could have been because of their schedules.) We took the time to listen to the entire hour that was posted and found the roundtable banter between the actresses to be lively and warm. They discussed a wide range of topics including passion projects to terrible directors and addressed their admiration for one another’s work. (Let the fawning begin)

By Melissa Silverstein and Kerensa Cadenas
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November 28, 2012 12:35 PM
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9 Comments

Soul Surfer

Soul Surfer tells the true story of professional surfer Bethany Hamilton who was attacked by a shark as she was surfing on a regular day when she was a teenager. The shark took her arm but did not take her spirit and this film shows the remarkable resilience of this young woman. She got through her ordeal with her family and her faith (which plays a big part in the film) and she figured out a way to follow her dream and become a professional surfer even though she had one arm.

By Melissa Silverstein
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April 7, 2011 2:55 AM
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1 Comment