Women Direct the Podcast

For all the bored people, the lonely people, the non-celebrants: it's a non-denominational winter spectacular issue of the podcast!

Julia Empey, co-host of the podcast The Royal Diaries Unlocking History, joins me for a bonus episode where we discuss Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette. We dig into Coppola's career, the way Marie Antoinette (the movie) was misunderstood and under appreciated in its time, and talk about the sumptuous visuals that make this film a standout (did you know that Kirsten Dunst wears 52 different costumes in this film? Julia did!)

Women Direct the podcast is going on hiatus, but not before I answer your questions!

I nerd out with a very special mystery guest and name drop enough films to keep you occupied during the hiatus. What are you waiting for? Start watching!

Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem dir. Ronit Elkabetz & Shlomi Elkabetz

The Governess dir. Sandra Goldbacher

Clip dir. Maja Milos

Seven Beauties dir. Lina Wertmüller

The Fits dir. Anna Rose Holmer 

Vamps dir. Amy Heckerling 

Romola Garai

Ellen Von Unwerth

Sophie Muller 

Nikyatu Jusu 

Mariama Diallo

Chloé Zhao

Dee Rees

Dorota Kobiela

The Piano dir. Jane Campion

Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola

The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Lady Bird dir. Greta Gerwig

Children of a Lesser God dir. Randa Haines

Winter's Bone dir. Debra Granik

35 shot of Rum dir. Claire Denis

Beau Travail dir. Claire Denis

White Material dir. Claire Denis 

We Need To Talk about Kevin dir. Lynne Ramsay

You Were Never Really Here dir. Lynne Ramsay

Wendy & Lucy dir. Kelly Reichardt

River of Grass dir. Kelly Reichardt

The Rider dir. Chloé Zhao

Toni Erdmann dir. Maren Ade 

Zama dir. Lucrecia Martel

The Headless Woman dir. Lucrecia Martel

Fish Tank dir. Andrea Arnold

The Mourning Forest dir. Naomi Kawase

Girlhood dir. Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire dir. Céline Sciamma 

Marie Antoinette dir. Sofia Coppola  

The Virgin Suicides dir. Sofia Coppola  

Pariah dir. Dee Rees

Mudbound dir. Dee Rees

Dance Girl Dance dir. Dorothy Arzner  

Cléo de 5 à 7 dir. Agnès Varda

La Pointe-Courte dir. Agnès Varda

Daisies dir. Vera Chytilová

The Ascent dir. Larisa Shepitko

My Brilliant Career dir. Gillian Armstrong

The Heartbreak Kid dir. Elaine May 

Hester Street dir. Joan Micklin Silver

Crossing Delancy dir. Joan Micklin Silver

Portrait of Jason dir. Shirley Clarke  

The Connection dir. Shirley Clarke

Jeanne Dielman dir. Chantal Akerman

The Hitch-hiker dir. Ida Lupino

Outrage dir. Ida Lupino

Wanda dir. Barbara Loden

Emma Autumn de Wilde

Zero Dark Thirty dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Victoria Mahoney

Ava Duvernay

Mulan dir. Niki Caro

Marya is back!

I'm joined by Marya E. Gates to talk about one of our favourite films, Jane Campion's 2009 masterpiece Bright Star. We talk about Campion's enduring legacy, the undervaluing of women's artistry, cats, crying over movies and how Campion skillfully draws my sympathy in an unexpected direction.

Follow Marya @OldFilmsFlicker on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr and on her website cinema-fanatic.com

Caitlin of the podcast Her Head in Films joins me for a discussion on class, race and French director Houda Benyamina's 2016 film Divines (available through Netflix).

Follow Caitlin on Her Head in Films on all platforms!

The brilliant and incredible multi-hyphenate Anna Biller joins me for a discussion on her two feature films Viva and The Love Witch. She shares the surprising inspiration behind her style, the years of work she puts into her films, and the importance of knowing your craft.

Follow Anna on Twitter: twitter.com/missannabiller

I'm joined by critic & essayist Angelica Jade Bastién to talk about Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 surfer crime thriller Point Break.

We talk about Angelica Jade's love of Keanu Reeves, his long track record of working with women directors, our feelings about Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit, Point Break and how Black Lives Matter is making us reconsider some of our favourite films.

Movies discussed this episode:

Moonlight dir. Barry Jenkins*

John Wick: Chapter 2 dir. Chad Stahelski*

Point Break dir. Kathryn Bigelow

The Matrix dir. Lilly Wachowski & Lana Wachowski

Bram Stoker's Dracula dir. Francis Ford Coppola* 

My Own Private Idaho dir. Gus Van Sant*

Permanent Record dir. Marisa Silver

Hester Street dir. Joan Micklin Silver 

Crossing Delancey dir. Joan Micklin Silver

Always Be My Maybe dir. Nahnatchka Khan

To the Bone dir. Marti Noxon

The Bad Batch dir. Ana Lily Amirpour 

A Girl Walks Home At Night dir. Ana Lily Amirpour

Frozen River dir. Courtney Hunt

The Whole Truth dir. Courtney Hunt

Detroit dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Near Dark dir. Kathryn Bigelow

The Loveless dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Strange Days dir. Kathryn Bigelow

The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow

The Land of Steady Habits dir. Nicole Holofcener

A League of Her Own dir. Penny Marshall

Tank Girl dir. Rachel Talalay 

The Poker House dir. Lori Petty

Destroyer dir. Karyn Kusama  

Clemency dir. Chinonye Chukwu

*Directed by men

A non-spoilery conversation with writer and director Jessica Swale about her directorial debut Summerland AKA the movie where Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw play girlfriends (yes, the romantic kind of girlfriends). 

We talk about her career transition from dance, to theatre, to film, the importance of un-white-washing history and the joy of writing unlikeable heroines.

Follow Jessica on Twitter @jswale and on Instagram @jessicaswale

Summerland is out in theatres and on VOD now!

I talk to artist and curator Jenny Lam about the art of curation and how the pandemic forced her to move her curated exhibit Slaysian online.

See Slaysian here: http://www.artistsonthelam.com/slaysian

We also talk about Nancy Meyers' 1998 classic The Parent Trap and whether we'd rather be quarantining in an elegant mansion in London or a spacious vineyard in Napa Valley, as well as how adulthood made us reconsider Meredith Blake's role as the villain and our thoughts on what a The Parent Trap sequel should look like.

I talk to Diana Drumm, who runs the Twitter account @FemaleCritics, about the importance of women in criticism, hunting down rare movies and our mutual love of Gurinder Chadha's delightful 2002 classic Bend It Like Beckham.

We also dig into the persistent rumour that a first draft of the script contained a romance between Jess and Jules.

Writer and director Channing Godfrey Peoples talks to me about her debut feature film Miss Juneteenth.

The film stars Nicole Beharie as a Texan mother and former Miss Juneteenth pageant winner eager to have her teenage daughter reclaim her former title. Available on demand now!

Follow Channing on Instagram & Twitter @cgpeoples