More Than A Magazine, A Movement
We now have a president enriching himself with cryptocurrency, so I have to wonder: Why and how did our real dollar’s value go down by 10 percent during the first six months of Trump’s term—and yet our mainstream media is not screaming at us, like the Body Snatcher’s guy: “You fools! You’re in danger! They’re after all of us!”
Today’s economic absurdities reveal just how far power will go to silence women and automate thought.
It’s tempting these dark days to dismiss the idea that any one person can make a difference. And yet, every day ordinary people fight injustice. And some days, those people persist long enough, resist long enough, that their fights rise to national prominence.
One such fight is chronicled in the new film Lilly, released in theaters this May and now available for rent. The brainchild of director Rachel Feldman, Lilly tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, “an ordinary woman who became extraordinary,” in the words of Patricia Clarkson, who portrays her in the film.
Blink Twice, now streaming, reminds it audience that not all women are allies and not all men are predators. But some get away with acts of sexual violence akin to murder.
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 new documentary Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print, celebrating the trailblazing history and enduring impact of Ms. magazine, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June and is available to stream on HBO Max beginning Wednesday, July 2, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
We are thrilled for the film’s release and the opportunity for millions more people to experience the story and legacy of the magazine. Ms. is more than a magazine—it’s a movement. And it’s crucial we continue to build an intergenerational, intersectional and diverse feminist coalition for the road ahead—because, as the film reminds us, we’re “at this crossroads moment for feminism, journalism and American values.”
Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning featured Tom Cruise’s action hero Ethan Hunt deep-sea diving through a submarine 500 feet under the sea, swimming naked in sub-zero temperatures, and sky diving in the middle of a plane duel. And yet, perhaps the most implausible fiction was… a Black woman president of the United States?!
Black male presidents in film and TV set the stage for Barrack Obama’s election. Could more depictions of Black female leaders pave the way for a Black woman president?
(This is Part 1 of a two-part series on women leaders and feminist leadership. Part 2—out Monday, June 2—continues with a public syllabus.)
It’s tempting these dark days to dismiss the idea that any one person can make a difference.
And yet, every day ordinary people fight injustice. And some days, those people persist long enough, resist long enough, that their fights rise to national prominence. One such fight is chronicled in the new film Lilly, in theaters beginning May 9. The brainchild of director Rachel Feldman, Lilly tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, “an ordinary woman who became extraordinary,” in the words of actor Patricia Clarkson, who portrays her in the film.
Unfortunately, Ledbetter didn’t live to see the film arrive in theaters. She died in October 2024 at age 86. “She was so profoundly happy to know that her legacy would extend in entertainment form,” Feldman says, “particularly so that young women would absorb the story.”
Companion starts with a dreamy tradwife fantasy and ends in a blood-soaked feminist reckoning. Writer-director Drew Hancock’s film may nod to Scream, Ex Machina and Black Mirror, but it carves out its own smart, brutal allegory for waking up from the fantasy of obedience. Sophie Thatcher’s performance anchors the story as Iris evolves from Stepford-perfect to gloriously feral, reminding us that when women start asking questions, the whole system bleeds.
With South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin’s rearview mirror, some of its most talented female filmmakers still have a long road ahead to bring their movies to public screens. Even the women who clinched premieres at one of America’s most prestigious festivals have to hustle to support their craft.
“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.
Premiering at SXSW, Uvalde Mom follows Angeli Rose Gomez, the mother who defied police inaction to save her children during the 2022 Uvalde school shooting. The documentary not only captures her heroic actions but also reveals the relentless harassment she faced from local authorities in the aftermath. Through Gomez’s story, the film exposes systemic failures, community trauma and the power of mothers who refuse to stay silent.
In OUTCRY: Alchemists of Rage, Clare Major’s powerful direction and classical-violinist-turned-punk-singer Paris Hurley’s (of Object as Subject, an LA-based art punk band) high-octane music frame this riveting 30-minute documentary on Whitney Bradshaw’s ongoing social practice project, OUTCRY.
The short film follows the photographer from her home in Chicago to D.C. for a reproductive freedom march, then to Denver for an OUTCRY exhibition, and on to Dayton, Ohio, for a scream session just prior to voting on Issue 1, which enshrined abortion rights into the Ohio Constitution.
This film is available to stream from March 14 to April 12 in the AMC + “Future of Film: Athena Rising Stars” collection.