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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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Women and Hollywood

Los Angeles Film Festival Announces Line Up

News
The Los Angeles Film Festival recently announced their line up. And it's great. Some of our festival favorites are screening including Lake Bell's In A World, Stacie Passon's Concussion, Short Term 12, Haifaa Al Mansour's Wadjda amongst many others. 
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • May 10, 2013 11:30 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Women Directors, Los Angeles Film Festival, Ava DuVernay, Film Festivals

The Directing Workshop for Women 2013 Showcase

Filmmaker Toolkit
On Monday night I stepped into the Directors Guild Building for the first time to attend the annual showcase for the AFI's Directing Workshop for Women  My feelings about that place are pretty negative.  My general perception is that the people who run the show over there don't give a shit about women and their careers.  I wished the people who run that place could have seen what I saw that night -- a whole program of women directed films.  Probably happens there rarely.  There was such joy in that place, and personally, it is exciting to see a whole program celebrating women directors instead of always talking about how hard things are for women directors.
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  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • May 8, 2013 11:00 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Ava DuVernay, Women Directors, AFI DWW

AFI Holds Directing Workshop for Women Showcase

News
AFI's Directing Workshop for Women program will be holding a screening of eight short films all directed by women. The films are a result of a year-long fellowship with AFI, honoring those in the 2012 AFI DWW class.
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • May 2, 2013 9:00 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Women Directors, American Film Institute, Ava DuVernay

Ava DuVernay Wins Inaugural Heineken Affinity Award at Tribeca

News
One of our favorite women directors, Ava DuVernay has had an incredible year. And the accolades for DuVernay's work, keep on rightly coming. 
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • April 24, 2013 1:00 PM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Ava DuVernay, Tribeca Film Institute, Women Directors

Middle of Nowhere and The Invisible War Win at Independent Spirit Awards

News
The Independent Spirit Awards were also held this weekend. Some of our favorite films of the past year, Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere and The Invisible War were recognized.
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • February 26, 2013 10:05 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Women Directors, Women Producers, Independent Spirit Awards, Ava DuVernay, The Invisible War

Ava DuVernay Directs Short Film 'The Door' for Miu Miu

Video
Ava DuVernay has directed a new short film for fashion label, Miu Miu. The film is the fifth in their ‘The Women's Tales’ series.
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • February 13, 2013 8:15 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Ava DuVernay, Women Directors

2012 The Year in Review

News
We took a look back on the news for women in and around Hollywood in 2012 and here are the topics we think resonated this past year.  Let us know what you think and if we missed any big news of the year. 
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  • By Melissa Silverstein and Kerensa Cadenas
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  • December 28, 2012 10:13 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Girls, Lena Dunham, Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Women Directors, Cannes Film Festival, Ava DuVernay, Middle Of Nowhere, Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty, Kristen Stewart, Twilight

Cross Post: Heroines of Cinema: An A-Z of Women in Film in 2012

Features
Since this column began in August, it has profiled a wide variety of women - fictional and real, contemporary and historic - whose achievements in film have been considered worthy of attention. Given the difficulty in characterising a single year in film, even through a specific prism such as gender, I have opted for the catalogue format of an A-Z review. Inevitably, there will be deserving omissions -- though be aware that I have attempted to chronicle the bad and the ugly as well as the good. The film industry in 2012 remains entrenched in sexist practices, a fact which is readily apparent in the following article. Nonetheless, the wide variety of compelling characters, star performances and inspiring writers, directors and other creatives listed below give plenty of reasons to cheer 2012's Heroines of Cinema.
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  • By Matthew Hammett Knott
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  • December 26, 2012 3:00 PM
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  • 2 Comments
More: Women Directors, Women Writers, Zero Dark Thirty, Ava DuVernay, Feminism, Kathryn Bigelow

Women's Film Critics Circle Name Zero Dark Thirty Best Movie of 2012, Ava DuVernay Wins Josephine Baker Award

News
The Women’s Film Critics Circle have announced their 2012 picks. And as she continues to sweep the awards circuit, Kathryn Bigelow and Zero Dark Thirty won several awards including Best Movie by a Woman. Ava DuVernay was awarded the Josephine Baker award for Middle of Nowhere. Anne Hathaway was named Best Actress for Les Miserables and Brave took the Best Animated Females award.
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • December 19, 2012 11:00 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow, Middle Of Nowhere, Ava DuVernay, Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway, Brave

Ava DuVernay's Middle of Nowhere Wins Big at The African-American Film Critics Association Awards

News
The African-American Film Critics Association announced their best of 2012 yesterday. Leading with 4 awards is Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere. Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty was chosen for Best Picture and Sally Field for Best Supporting Actress. Cicely Tyson will be receiving one of their special achievement awards for her career.
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  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • December 17, 2012 11:40 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Zero Dark Thirty, Middle Of Nowhere, Kathryn Bigelow, Ava DuVernay

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