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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New Poster for Athena Film Festival

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Check out the new poster for The Athena Film Festival. Will you be there?

By Melissa Silverstein
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January 26, 2012 10:26 AM
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0 Comments

Women and Hollywood: How did you come up with this story?

Celine Sciamma: I had the storyline in mind for a while, as a pitch: "a little girl pretending to be a little boy". When I decided I wanted to make a second film I was looking for a very simple and catchy story, that I could write and direct very fast. I wanted to make a movie in a crazy energy, as free as possible. I thought that story would be perfect, because it's about childhood, the rush of emotions, the energy. I knew the story would benefit from the dynamic of production I was longing for. I wrote it in 3 weeks, shot it in 20 days two months later.

By Melissa Silverstein
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November 15, 2011 12:13 PM
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1 Comment

Tomboy written and directed by Celine Sciamma is literally one of my favorite movies of the year. I enjoyed every second of it. It tells the story of Laure, a girl who moves to a new town and pretends she is a boy. She has short hair, wears gender neutral summer clothing and is at an age where at first look there is hardly any indication that she is a girl. But she knows that being a boy brings a lot more freedom and much less scrutiny than being a girl so she does not hesitate to declare herself a boy.

Her parents have no idea what is going on. They are a well adjusted, loving normal family. Her little sister finds out and keeps her secret. But keeping this type of secret is not easy. Before she decides to take off her shirt to play soccer she spends time eyeing her breasts in the bathroom mirror to make sure that she has no breasts because once she starts getting breasts, she going to have to make adjustments to keep up the deception.

By Melissa Silverstein
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November 15, 2011 10:34 AM
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0 Comments