Other women who should have won Best Director

by Cláudio Alves

At this year's Oscar ceremony, Chloé Zhao became only the second woman in Academy history to conquer the Best Director prize. The second one in 93 years. She follows in the steps of Kathryn Bigelow, whose Hurt Locker, like Nomadland, also won the Best Picture trophy. As a longtime proponent of the importance of women directors in film history, I rejoice at this result. However, the victory is bittersweet, a reminder of the chronic lack of recognition for these filmmakers. Many other women have deserved to win the Best Director Oscar across the years…

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The Linkhouse

• Film Doctor ten notes on the beginning of Psycho (1960)
• The Guardian we love hero Abigail Disney who continues to fight the good fight against the company that makes her one of the 1% - she's now criticizing Disney for laying off workers while protecting executive bonuses of more than 1 billion dollars:

That’d pay for three months’ salary to frontline workers,. And it’s going to people who have already been collecting egregious bonuses for years. Dividends aren’t all bad, given the number of fixed-income folks who rely on them. But still 80% of shares are owned by the wealthiest 10%. Pay the people who make the magic happen with respect and dignity they have more than earned from you. This company must do better.”

"Curated" tv binges, Ghibli backgrounds for your zoom sessions, a sad cut from The Lighthouse, and a new ageist threat for film and tv production after the jump...

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Review: Joaquin Phoenix in "You Were Never Really Here"

by Seán McGovern

As the credits begin to roll on Lynne Ramsey's visceral and intense film, I felt an odd feeling of relief that Joaquin Phoenix did not win an Oscar for playing Johnny Cash. In the years since, Phoenix has eschewed the mainstream and become a full-blown movie-star weirdo. His raw performance in You Were Never Really Here isn't just told his line-readings but also his back muscles, feet, scars and posture. A role for the classical leading man, this is not.

Ramsey's first film since 2011 is a singular assault. It's quite possible that you hated We Need to Talk About Kevin, which took the parental horrors of Lionel Shriver's novel and intellectualised them at a remove. But Ramsey has a knack for distance, creating a particular style of alienation that works perfectly for the story of a traumatized hired-gun...

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"You Were Never Really Here" First Look!

Chris here. Can you believe the wait for the next Lynne Ramsay film is almost over? We've only had to wait a mere six years this time after the the nine year gap between Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk About Kevin, so maybe we shouldn't complain. But this film is a promising return: Ramsay worked on You Were Never Really Here until the last minute before its Cannes debut, landing both a Best Actor trophy for Joaquin Pheonix and a tie for Best Screenplay (shared with The Killing of a Sacred Deer). And don't expect any dampened intensity from the auteur - Pheonix stars as a vigilante hitman tasked to rescue a young girl from a human trafficking circle.

The film is absent from the fall festival circuit and Amazon has yet to announce a release date, which likely spells out a slightly further wait and spring stateside release. No worry for our European readers as the film will open in a few countries this fall, and we've got a new trailer to go with it. Phoenix is pretty thrilling even in just this brief glimpse, but the trailer also hints at a pulsing score from Jonny Greenwood and gorgeous visuals from director of photography Thomas Townend. Take a look at the bloody and brutal NSFW trailer (fair warning - those who've seen the film say the trailer uses a lot of footage from the climax of the film) and rejoice Ramsay's return!

TIFF Launches $3m Campaign for Female Filmmakers

by Seán McGovern

Connie Nielsen on set with "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins.

Instead of just lamenting the lack of female filmmakers helming projects today, TIFF is spearheading a $3m campaign to put more female talent behind the camera. Female directors accounted for just 7% of the highest grossing films worldwide in 2016. And that figure is down on the equally dismal 9% in 2015.

Dubbed "Share Her Journey", the campaign will include a three-month residency for female filmmakers, educational resources and gender diversity panels that aim to guide new and talented filmmakers into the industry...

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