Some critics have accused Anderson of writing Black women who are too sexualized, stereotypical or sidelined. However, recent interviews reveal that actors were often encouraged to go off script in order to add more authenticity to their roles. So it’s likely that many of the shades of gray used to paint these Black women as imperfect yet inspiring insurgents are derived from the Black women with whom PTA collaborates and cohabitates.

For me, the results defied history with humor and humanity.

The post Embattled, Yet Empowering: ‘One Battle After Another’ Smashes Centuries-Old Paradigm of Black Victimhood appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

The post ‘The Librarians’ Hits Theaters: Watch the Acclaimed Doc on Book Bans and Free Speech appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

By committing fully to realism, Soderbergh dismantles horror’s most familiar conventions and archetypes, leaving us with something haunting in an entirely different way. We aren’t watching the ghost terrorize a family—we are the ghost. We float through their arguments, their secrets, their loneliness, until the banality of eternity itself begins to sink in.

The result is one of the most quietly devastating haunted-house films in recent memory: a meditation on loss, dread and the slow realization that the scariest thing of all isn’t a jump scare, but grief itself.

The post Soderbergh’s ‘Presence’ Isn’t a Horror Movie—It’s a Ghost Story About Grief, Love, Redemption and Family appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

And when survivors band together, we're going to do more than just dance on your table. In the blink of an eye—we’ll turn your private island into your personal hell.

The post From Private Island to Personal Hell: ‘Blink Twice’ Shows the Power of Survivors Working Together appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

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“The streaming channels that dominate global viewership are no longer buying many smaller or risk-taking projects,” wrote Keri Putnam of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center.

“The number one challenge is fundraising,” said Anayansi Prado, director of Uvalde Mom, which premiered at SXSW and tells story of Angeli Rose Gomez made worldwide headlines during by jumping a fence during a school shooting and racing in unarmed to save her two young sons.

The post Female Filmmakers at SXSW Face a Familiar Challenge: Funding appeared first on Ms. Magazine.