ARCHIVE
Our playlists are curated, unique collections of some of the best female-centric films available for viewing. A diverse mix of narrative, short-form, documentary, feature and everything in between, each playlist explores a different central topic or theme to fulfill any interest you may have.
PLAYLIST:
THE FILMS THAT MADE 2022
A look back at the past year in film reveals a striking quantity of excellent women-made and/or led features. For us, what made 2022 particularly impressive is the diversity of these stories not solely in gender representation, but also in race, nationality, genre, tone, subject matter, and time period.
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PLAYLIST:
ETHNICITY & RACE WITHIN THE MOVEMENT
In a society that is not only sexist but also deeply racist, women of color face distinct and intense sets of oppression. Their fight helps liberate society at many different levels, something that white women have often failed to do.
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PLAYLIST:
FIGHTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Women experience violence at extreme rates in many areas of global society including the United States. From the courtroom to the streets, women around the world are working to protect themselves and each other.
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PLAYLIST:
MUSIC, ARTS, SPORTS, PERFORMING ARTS
Men have historically dominated institutions hosting and creating opportunities for public performance including sports, music, art. Women have been intentionally and unintentionally excluded and demeaned. All that is changing, thanks to badass women who refuse to put aside their passions for the sake of anyone’s comfort.
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PLAYLIST:
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Everyone deserves the right to safe, accessible options when facing decisions about their own bodies. Yet this concept is constantly challenged by social and legal obstacles. Today, with the federal law Roe vs. Wade being renegotiated, the fight for autonomy remains high-stakes.
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PLAYLIST:
LGBTQ+ WITHIN THE MOVEMENT
Women of all shapes, colors, and bodies have been on the front lines of the LGBTQ+ movement since its beginning. Until each of us is free to love whomsoever we please and express ourselves to our heart’s content, none of us are.
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PLAYLIST:
EDUCATION = FREEDOM
If knowledge is power, education is key to women’s liberation. The women and stories highlighted here represent the fight across the world to provide women access to the tools needed in building their freedom.
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PLAYLIST:
ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION
Providing for yourself is a fundamental need. Work, wages, decision-making power-- women have been fighting for equality in these fields for decades. And the struggle is nowhere near finished.
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PLAYLIST:
BE YOUR OWN MAINSTREAM
BY ALEXIS JENKINS
It is one of my objectives to be in the position to empower young girls and women who look like me to reassure them that they are capable of achieving, learning, and becoming just about anything they set their minds to, regardless of the discouraging voices in the background telling them they cannot, that they should not, and/or that they could never be.
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INTERVIEW:
LORI LAKIN HUTCHERSON
Alexis Jenkins, a freshman at Emory University in Atlanta, curated our back-to-school playlist on Black Women & Education and spoke with Lori about her role as a writer on HIDDEN FIGURES.
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FEATURED FILM:
HOMECOMING BY BEYONCE KNOWLES
We thought this would be a fun film to shed some light on what a great college experience can be as women make important decisions about their futures.
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PLAYLIST:
FAMILY, FAMILIARITY, NEUROSES, HOME BY SOLIA CATES
The films featured in this playlist highlight the people and places that we call home, and offer an unrelenting look at the ways in which women’s many ties - to home, to family, to society - bind us to a whole.
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INTERVIEW:
REBECCA CARPENTER
Beck Carpenter is a Visual Artist, Director, Educator, and the Founder of WomenDo. In addition to being a Clio and Golden Telly award winning director, Carpenter's long form work has been critically acclaimed nationally and internationally. She sits down with Solia Cates, Editor-In-Chief of WomenDo, to discuss inspiration, mentorship, and the emotional impact of women’s stories.
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FEATURED FILM:
THE FAREWELL
May’s “Last Friday” Film is The Farewell, Lulu Wang’s family drama-wrapped-in-comedy that was pulled from the events of her real life. The film, much like its characters, brilliantly walks the tightrope between gut-wrenching sentiment and humor of the absurd.
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PLAYLIST:
MISS BREADWINNER
BY SOLIA CATES
Strapped by economic hardship, the women of these films attempt to erase the boundaries of their ability as the world has defined it and push towards a new, more brilliant future. The films here explore the inextricable bond between women’s money and their independence, and suggest the importance of passing down success through generations.
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FEATURED FILM:
GENERATIONAL WEALTH
We thought this would be a fun film to shed some light on what a great college experience can be as women make important decisions about their futures.
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FEATURED PODCAST:
NO FILM SCHOOL: MISS JUNETEENTH WRITER/DIRECTOR SHOWS US HOW TO BEAT THE ODDS
In this podcast, writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples and producer Neil Creque Williams discuss their personal connection to this mesmerizing feature debut. While the story is fictional, it is rooted in personal and historical truth. Located in Fort Worth, Peoples’ hometown, the films’ titular event comes from the real-life pageant that she attended throughout her youth.
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PLAYLIST:
PIONEERS IN SPORTS
BY SOLIA CATES
With movies from all around the globe, this playlist calls attention to the context, circumstances, and figures that redraw the limits of possibility. From a team of college rowers demanding better facility conditions, to a community of young female skaters in Kabul, to an unparalleled champion shown in a new light, these are the stories of disruptive female athletes whose resilience paves the way towards revolutionizing their sports…
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INTERVIEW:
CAMI ARBOLES
Cami Arboles is a pole dancer, yoga instructor, and movement expert based in Los Angeles. A Yale ‘20 graduate, her aspirations to move to New York and pursue live performance were curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic; she quickly turned to pole dancing both as a creative, athletic outlet, and as a spiritual practice
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
ON SPORTS BRAS
Behind every groundbreaking woman in sports, there is a support system; and on every groundbreaking woman in sports, there is a supportive sports bra. This fantastic contraption allows her to do what she does best (what’s not to love!), which is why this month we’re highlighting the three female inventors who created it. Here is an interview with the inventors of the sports bra: Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller, and Polly Palmer Smith, courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
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INTERVIEW:
LYNNE SACHS
Lynne Sachs is a Brooklyn-based experimental filmmaker of over 40 films whose work blends elements of collage, essay, documentary, poetry, and performance. Her work has been recognized and supported by the Guggenheim Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation and Sundance Film Festival, among many others.
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
THE NEW WOMAN BEHIND THE CAMERA
Our August films all focus on the female gaze, or rather the varied and unique perspectives of the female protagonists who drive these stories. However, it is not just the gaze in front of the camera which interests us, it’s also how these perspectives are, quite literally, being framed.
FEATURED ARTICLE:
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
There is no question that women’s paid work has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Between February 2020 and February 2021, the National Women’s Law Center reported that over 2.3 million women left the labor force, whereas comparatively, 1.8 million men left the labor force in the same period.
INTERVIEW:
ELLE JOHNSON
Writer and showrunner Elle Johnson has worked in television for over twenty years. Her critically acclaimed 2020 Netflix series ‘Self Made: Based on the Life of Madame CJ Walker’ follows the first female African-American millionaire, who built an empire with her haircare products. We sat down with Elle to discuss her inspirations, the making of Self Made, and how the television industry has evolved over the course of her career.
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PLAYLIST:
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
BY SOLIA CATES
Through a decades-long fight to be seen not only as viable, but valuable employees, businesspeople, and leaders in the workforce, women have long sought the opportunity to work alongside men …
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PLAYLIST:
IDENTITY, TRANSFORMATION & NEW LIFE
The New Year brings with it the hope of an auspicious beginning. Resolutions have been made, routines have been planned, and goals for the coming months have been ambitiously put into place …
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INTERVIEW:
PRESENT COMPANY: REBECCA HALL
Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut sees the adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 book Passing, an intimately-drawn portrait of two estranged friends whose chance reconnection leads to the revelation of a fiercely-kept secret, and ushers in both of their undoings. The protagonist is Irene, a private, polite Black woman struggling to fulfill her mounting expectations as a mother and the wife of a successful doctor.
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FEATURED FILM:
PASSING
Two African American women who can “pass” as white choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York in an exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression.
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PLAYLIST:
ON LOVE
From iconic romantic comedies to arthouse favorites and even gut-wrenching documentaries, this month’s films explore expressions of love, in its various forms …
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INTERVIEW:
VULTURE’S INTERVIEW WITH CÉLINE SCIAMMA
There is much to be said about Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma’s 18th-century French love story, however nothing that can be said better than by the filmmakers themselves. In a conversation with Rachel Handler for Vulture, Sciamma, along with stars Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant, discuss their intentions in making the film, as well as the films’ impact following its release.
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
NEW TIME: ART AND FEMINISMS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Our August films all focus on the female gaze, or rather the varied and unique perspectives of the female protagonists who drive these stories. However, it is not just the gaze in front of the camera which interests us, it’s also how these perspectives are, quite literally, being framed.
FEATURED FILM:
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
February’s last Friday film is Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Set in eighteenth century France, this film tells the gripping and emotional story of Héloïse, a young woman on the precipice of an arranged marriage, and Marianne, the artist enlisted to paint her wedding portrait.
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INTERVIEW:
METROGRAPH’S INTERVIEW WITH MADELINE ANDERSON
The interview highlighted this month features Madeline Anderson, pioneering documentarian and director of Integration Report 1 and the critically acclaimed I Am Somebody …
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
HOW WHITE FEMINISM THREW ITS BLACK COUNTERPART UNDER BUS BUS
In a slight twist, this month has begun with our interview instead of our playlist. Why? We were struck by Joan Morgan’s review of Kyla Schuller’s recent book The Trouble with White Women: A Counter-History of Feminism, which gave way to immediate fascination with the book itself.
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FEATURED FILM:
INTEGRATION REPORT 1
The featured film this month is Madeline Anderson’s Integration Report 1.
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PLAYLIST:
LEADING THROUGH CRISIS
What does it take to lead a nation? To inspire, inform, and protect a society from the ills that threaten to disrupt it?
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INTERVIEW:
STANFORD BUSINESS: MALA YOUSAFAZAI ON HOW EVERYONE CAN INSPIRE CHANGE
What does it take to lead during times of crisis? This is the question that the films this month seek to answer. Who better to learn from than Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who began her career in activism at age ten …
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
RESEARCH: WOMEN ARE BETTER LEADERS DURING CRISIS BY HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
The films highlighted this month follow extraordinary women leading through crises, both private and widespread. In these films, we find protagonists who must challenge traditional norms in order to attain leadership, and then to manage their role and responsibilities once they’ve achieved it …
FEATURED FILM:
HE NAMED ME MALALA
Our Friday Film for April is ‘He Named Me Malala’, Davis Guggenheim’s impeccable 2015 documentary feature which chronicles the life of Malala Yousafzai.
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PLAYLIST:
PREGNANCY, BIRTH AND THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE
This month, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision guaranteeing women’s federal constitutional protection of abortion rights...
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
THE NEW YORKER: POLITICS AND MORE
THE LAST ABORITION CLININC IN MISSISSIPPI
Maisie Crow’s profound documentary Jackson explores the only remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, the Women’s Health Organization …
PLAYLIST:
OUTRAGE TO IMPACT: REVOLUTIONS THAT CHANGED SOCIETY
In America, we have long seen public protests create pathways, bringing outrage into changes ...
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INTERVIEW:
The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith: Never Rarely Sometimes Always Q&A - Eliza Hittman
Watching this month’s films, we can begin to see the scope of women’s health and healthcare as it is portrayed on-screen. …
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
WOMEN IN REVOLUTION
As women’s rights have eroded at the start of this millennium, we have seen female activists rise to the forefront of the media, demanding political action to restore freedoms that have been put at risk, or reversed. …
PLAYLIST:
SUMMER BODIES
Summer brings with it the excitement of long days, easy warm nights, and sun-soaked afternoons laid out at a park, or the beach, if you’re lucky and have access to a nearby coast ...
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LAST FRIDAY:
THE JANES
The Jane Collective was an underground group of women who provided safe access to abortion in Chicago before the procedure became legal in 1973. ...
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PLAYLIST:
SEX WORK
Lizzie Borden’s 1986 sophomore feature Working Girls became a landmark film for its nonjudgmental approach to the topic of sex work which had previously been highly stigmatized, presented through the lens of forced labor, or gone almost entirely unexplored ...
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FEATURED ARTICLE:
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO DECRIMINALIZE SEX WORK
In looking at sex work through the lens of labor, we became curious about conversations surrounding decriminalization …
LAST FRIDAY:
WORKING GIRLS
Lizzie Borden’s 1987 feature Working Girls depicts one day in the life of a prostitute working at a Manhattan brothel …
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PLAYLIST:
OCTOBER
This month’s playlist turns the horror genre inside out. Throughout their long history, horror films have been carried in large part by the anguish and vulnerability of their female characters.
FEATURED ARTICLE:
ON FEMALE RAGE
“I Used to Insist I Didn’t Get Angry. Not Anymore.” Leslie Jamison for the New York Times. 2018 …
PLAYLIST:
THE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
This month’s focus is on the "directorial debut.” A filmmaker’s first feature crucially positions a director, introducing their creative voice to audiences and critics alike …
PLAYLIST:
THE FILMS THAT MADE 2022
A look back at the past year in film reveals a striking quantity of excellent women-made and/or led features …