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.

Email Melissa

Purchase In Her Voice

Blog Roll

Interview with Carice van Houten - Star of Black Butterflies

Here is a reposting of the interview I did a little less than a year ago with Carice before she took the Tribeca Film Festival by storm.

By Melissa Silverstein
|
March 1, 2012 9:26 AM
|
0 Comments

Interview with Paula van der Oest, Director of Black Butterflies (Repost)

Black Butterflies is the tumultuous life story of South African poet Ingrid Jonker who struggled desperately to gain the love of the men in her life. Her father (played by Rutger Hauer) was an official in the apartheid government who censored work like Ingrid’s and felt she was an embarrassment to him. The two of them disagreed on politics and she could never get past the fact that he was never going to agree with and support her work. She also seemed to fall in love with inappropriate men and the love of her life novelist Jack Cope (Liam Cunningham) served as a father figure/lover, and while they loved each other deeply Ingrid had many deep demons that hounded her and their relationship deteriorated. Carice Van Houten gives a very intense and penetrating portrait of a delicate and incredibly talented female artist who just had a very difficult time surviving and after one too many betrayals by her father she no longer was able to continue.

By Melissa Silverstein
|
April 26, 2011 4:00 AM
|
0 Comments

Interview with Carice Van Houten, Star of Black Butterflies

I was able to interview Carice in Amsterdam as she prepared to head to the US for the world premiere of Black Butterflies tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival. Just a brief synopsis: (contains spoiler elements of the story)

By Melissa Silverstein
|
April 23, 2011 1:24 AM
|
1 Comment

Interview with Paula Van Der Oest, Director of Black Butterflies

Black Butterflies will premiere on April 23rd at the Tribeca Film Festival. Also check out this interview with the film's star Carice van Houten.

By Melissa Silverstein
|
April 22, 2011 2:30 AM
|
0 Comments