Latest news with #womenInFilm
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘We've got this idea that you've got to have it all worked out': Kristin Davis on New York, nightclubs and being Charlotte
EXCLUSIVE: Filming in towering heels and a mini dress in a New York City nightclub felt like a homecoming for Kristin Davis. There was a time, of course, when shooting inside one of Manhattan's 'it' bars was a typical day a work for the actor during her six-season TV run (and two films) playing the prim and proper Charlotte York on Sex and the City. Now, as Charlotte, Davis has made her return to a nightclub – this time, on the show's spin-off, And Just Like That… 'Charlotte needs to be more competitive with her younger co-workers – and she tries to keep up with them and goes out at night,' Davis tells Stellar. 'Oh my gosh, it was so funny on the page, and really funny at the shoot because it was very much like the earlier days of Sex and the City. 'I was like, wow, we used to do this [going out] all the time!' Sporting oversized reading glasses, a white Dolce & Gabbana shirt with power shoulders that wouldn't look out of place in Charlotte's wardrobe and with her hair in loose curls, the 60-year-old is speaking to Stellar on Zoom from New York. The mother-of-two has spent most of her career portraying the ultimate New Yorker – and is part of franchise that has been credited for challenging Hollywood's representation of women on and off screen. 'I hope that it's shifting the narrative,' Davis says, of AJLT's depiction of women in their 50s. 'It's hard sometimes when you're in it to be sure about what the impact is or isn't, you know? 'We're helping each other have a louder voice and talking about the fact that we're still here, our lives are still going on. 'And I think if our show can be a part of that, we are here for it.' Davis points to the characters of Charlotte, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) – and newer additions Seema (Sarita Choudhury) and Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker) – for showing the reality of being a modern woman. 'Why should these characters be perfect? We've got this idea that you've got to have it all worked out. 'Don't we all struggle in life? You never know what the right choice is! This is life. I wish there were more women characters [in Hollywood] like us that could live and search for who they are. 'I continually ask myself, 'what do I really want?' It's rare to find [scripts] where women are able to really search and have options. They are pigeonholed in terms of wife, mother, girlfriend, single.' It's a sentiment shared by Davis' co-star, Nixon. 'Miranda was all about work and she was dating a lot of men, and having a lot of sex with essentially strangers – that has not been my experience,' Nixon tells Stellar. 'She was so cynical, and I am not cynical, I am a very optimistic person. 'I feel like I did, as I sort of got older, I gained some confidence from her outspokenness.' Davis pays tribute to her close friendships with Parker and Nixon, with the trio having worked together for nearly three decades since Sex and the City premiered in 1998. 'I'm a single mum, so my [friendships] are super, super important,' Davis says. 'Life is changing really quickly for all of us, it's hard to keep up. That's the challenge – can you stay open and curious and loving?' With every season of AJLT comes rumours of return appearances from past characters (the return of Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, in the second season broke the internet). So who would Davis like to see make an appearance? Her answer: Charlotte's ex-husband, Trey MacDougal (played by Kyle MacLachlan). 'I feel like there could be many scenarios where it [Trey's return] could work,' Davis says. 'I feel like in New York, you do run into people from your past pretty frequently. 'It would totally make sense that Trey and Charlotte would be at the same events or at the same restaurants. 'I don't know if that would be enough for them to explore their relationship but it would be fun to do it, if we could?' The third season on And Just Like That... premieres in Australia on Friday, May 30, on Max. New episodes are released weekly. Read the full interview with Kristin Davis inside today's Stellar, via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).
Wall Street Journal
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Nouvelles Femmes' Review: The New Wave's Female Face
A French actress tries to describe the pain of her first love to her Japanese paramour as they drink themselves into a stupor on a night out in the city of Hiroshima. A mannishly dressed woman races two men across a footbridge, beating them handily. Three hip young people out at a Paris cafe—again, two men and a female friend—get up to dance, and the big-eyed, beautiful woman is the one that you can't stop looking at. The striking women in these three scenes—Emmanuelle Riva in 'Hiroshima, Mon Amour' (1959), Jeanne Moreau in 'Jules and Jim' (1962) and Anna Karina in 'Band of Outsiders' (1964)—are among the figures explored by Ericka Knudson in 'Nouvelles Femmes,' her study of the women of the French New Wave. This revolutionary movement in cinema was spearheaded by a loosely associated group of filmmakers, including Alain Resnais, François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, many of whom began making films in the late 1950s and early '60s. They believed the seismic changes of their postwar moment required a fresh visual language for the movies. Their films threw away anything that seemed studio-bound or tastefully literary in favor of open air, real streets and modern characters. No aspect of mid-20th century French culture, Ms. Knudson argues, was changing more rapidly than the lives of women—in particular their sex lives and their ability to consider topics, such as birth control and abortion, that had only recently been off limits. Though nearly all of the New Wave directors were men, much of the intrigue, warmth and vitality of their films comes through the women they cast. 'While many of the actresses have reached cult status because of their beauty or iconic roles,' Ms. Knudson writes, 'their contributions, on screen and off, have not necessarily taken center stage.' Ms. Knudson, a film scholar who teaches at Northeastern University, aims to remedy this 'imbalance' by looking at the actresses both as artists and as real women living through the changes their movies were depicting. The French New Wave was a sprawling movement with a vague endpoint that Ms. Knudson doesn't specify, and it had many participants. Thus the book's loose construction feels appropriate, even though the lack of an index is infuriating. Rather than strict chronology, Ms. Knudson uses the actresses themselves as the organizing principle, through chapters that link them to their impact.
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Nicole Kidman opens up about career and her big public pledge during candid chat in Cannes
IN CANNES Nicole Kidman has opened up about fulfilling a vow she made eight years ago and revealed the roles she's keen to take on next during a wide-ranging and candid chat in Cannes. The Australian actress appeared as a guest speaker for Kering's Women in Motion series, which was run in tandem with the annual film festival. Back in 2017, Kidman publicly pledged to work with a female director every 18 months in a bid to help uplift women in the industry. At the time, women had directed only 4% of the top-grossing films of the year. In 2024, that number was a little over 13%, but that 'still seems incredibly low', Kidman - dressed in a leather Balenciaga jacket and black jeans - admitted. The Nine Perfect Strangers star has personally worked with 27 women in the eight years since her vow. 'I was going to make it possible,' Kidman said. 'I was at a point where we had a discussion where there was such a disparity in terms of the choice. You'd go, 'Could a woman direct this?' 'And there wasn't a number of names where you could even consider people. They'd say it was someone's first time and you didn't want to risk it. 'I had to start to say this is how I am doing it. This is what I am doing. 'We will take the risk and we are going to mentor and support and help and then really protect. Because part of it is protecting and surrounding the women with almost like a force field of protection and support so they can do their best work. At the same time, it's giving them the opportunity where they feel like this isn't the only chance. A lot of it is like, 'OK, you get one shot.'' Despite her fierce support of female directors, Kidman firmly ruled out walking the well-worn path of actors trying their hand behind the camera. 'I find it incredibly fulfilling supporting filmmakers in a producer capacity. It's beautiful being an actor and saying, 'I'm in your hands and shape me and do with me what you will.' I enjoy the intimacy of the work. The intimacy is what keeps me coming back. It's salvation for me.' From Practical Magic to Big Little Lies to The Undoing, Kidman has well and truly shown off her range over the years. So what's next? 'I'm looking to experiment,' she said. 'I don't want to be contained. I don't want to be safe.' Kidman then addressed ageism in the industry, especially in regard to female actors. 'You get to a certain age and maybe you had made a great film in your 20s that got lauded and then suddenly you're in your 40s and you haven't followed it up or made choices that didn't succeed,' Kidman said. 'But you're like, 'I'm not over! Please still keep believing in me and investing in me.' That is important too, resisting ageism. There's the emerging talents and then the ones that are still going who have a wealth of knowledge and experience and have somehow been cast out or are not the cool person. 'It's about going, 'No, you actually can have a second or third chapter.'' Kidman was later honoured with an award at the Women in Motion gala held in Cannes on Sunday night.
Reuters
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
Nicole Kidman champions gender equality at star-studded Cannes party
CANNES, France, May 18 (Reuters) - Australian actor Nicole Kidman vowed to keep pushing for gender equality in cinema at an exclusive party attended by celebrities like popstar Charli XCX and Irish actor Paul Mescal on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. "I'm just an advocate and want to continue to keep moving forward with that, with my pledge from 2017, so it ain't over," said the Oscar-winning actor at the Women in Motion dinner at Cannes, part of a program set up by luxury group Kering in 2015. Kidman, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in "The Hours" in 2002, has worked with many of the leading male directors of her generation, but she pledged in 2017 to shoot with a female director every 18 months. She told journalists in the French Riviera resort town earlier on Sunday that in the eight years since, she's worked with 27 female directors, including projects in development. "Part of it is protecting and surrounding the women with almost like a force field of protection and support," she said. Other stars at the dinner included Dakota Johnson and Julianne Moore as well as Patrick Schwarzenegger of "The White Lotus." Director Guillermo del Toro was also in attendance. Brazilian director Marianna Brennand received the initiative's emerging talent award, which includes a grant of 50,000 euros ($55,920.00) to work on a second feature project. "If you look at the numbers, unfortunately, the numbers, they don't change," said French director Coralie Fargeat, whose Demi Moore-led body horror hit "The Substance" found widespread success after premiering at Cannes last year. "We really need to keep making huge changes and not cosmetic changes," she said. According to Women in Motion organisers, the share of women directors increased to only 13.6% from 7.5% among the top 100 box office films in the United States between 2015 and 2024. Seven out of the 22 films in competition this year were made by women, including an entry from Julia Ducournau, one of only three women to have ever won the Palme d'Or top prize. ($1 = 0.8941 euros)
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
India's forgotten actor who lost her legacy to caste oppression
At a time when women's participation in the film industry was frowned upon, a young woman dared to dream differently. In 1920s pre-independence India, PK Rosy became the first female lead in Malayalam-language cinema, in what is now the southern state of Kerala. She starred in a movie called Vigathakumaran, or The Lost Child, in the 1920s. But instead of being remembered as a pioneer, her story was buried - erased by caste discrimination and social backlash. Rosy belonged to a lower-caste community and faced intense criticism for portraying an upper-caste woman in Vigathakumaran. Almost a hundred years later, there is no surviving evidence of Rosy's role. The film's reel was destroyed and the cast and crew have all died. Only a few pictures of the film from a contested press release dated October 1930 survive, along with an unverified black-and-white photo popularised by local newspapers as Rosy's only portrait. Even a Google Doodle celebrating her 120th birthday used an illustration similar to the woman in the photograph. But Rosy's nephew and others who have researched her life told the BBC that they could not conclusively say that it is her in the picture. PK Rosy was born as Rajamma in the early 1900s in the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore, now Kerala. She belonged to a family of grass cutters from the Pulaya community, part of the Dalits, who are at the bottom of India's harsh caste hierarchy and have been historically oppressed. "People from the Pulaya community were considered slave labour and auctioned off with land," says Malavika Binny, a professor of history at Kannur University. "They were considered the 'lowliest'. They were flogged, raped, tied to trees and set on fire for any so-called transgressions," she adds. Despite the dire social challenges, Rosy chose to dream differently. She was supported by her uncle, who was a theatre artist himself, and with his help Rosy entered the field of entertainment. "There are few available facts about Rosy's life, but it is known that she was popular for her performances in local plays," says Vinu Abraham, the author of The Lost Heroine, a novel based on Rosy's life. While her acting skills earned admiration, it was rare for a Dalit woman to take up acting at the time. "She was likely aware of the fact that this was a new arena and making herself visible was important," says Prof Binny. She soon became a well-known figure in local theatre circles and her talent caught the eye of director JC Daniel, who was then searching for a lead actor for his film - a character named Sarojini. Daniel was aware of Rosy's caste identity and chose to cast her in the role. "She was paid five rupees a day for 10 days of filming," said Mr Abraham. "This was a substantial amount of money in the 1920s." On the day of the film's premiere, Rosy and her family were barred from attending the screening. They were stopped because they were Dalits, Rosy's nephew Biju Govindan says. And so began a chain of events that pushed Rosy out of the public eye and her home. "The crowd that came to watch the movie were provoked by two things: Rosy playing an upper-caste woman and the hero picking a flower from her hair and kissing it in one scene," said Mr Abraham. "They started throwing rocks at the screen and chased Daniel away," he added. There are differing accounts of the extent of the damage to the theatre but what is clear is the toll the incident took on both Rosy and Daniel. Daniel had spent a lot of money to establish a studio and gather resources to produce the film, and was heavily debt-ridden. Facing immense social and financial pressure, the director, who is now widely regarded as the father of Malayalam cinema, never made another film. Rosy fled her hometown after an angry mob set her house on fire. She cut all ties with her family to avoid being recognised and never spoke publicly about her past. She rebuilt her life by marrying an upper-caste man and took the name Rajammal. She lived the rest of her life in obscurity in the town of Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, Mr Abraham says. Her children refused to accept that PK Rosy, the Dalit actor, was their mother, Rosy's nephew Mr Govindan says. "Her children were born with an upper-caste Kesavan Pillai's identity. They chose their father's seed over their mother's womb," he says. "We, her family, are part of PK Rosy's Dalit identity before the film's release," he said. "In the space they inhabit, caste restricts them from accepting their Dalit heritage. That is their reality and our family has no place in it." In 2013, a Malayalam TV channel tracked down Rosy's daughter Padma, who was living in financial strain somewhere in Tamil Nadu. She told them that she did not know much about her mother's life before her marriage but that she did not act after that. The BBC made attempts to contact Rosy's children, but their relatives said they were not comfortable with the attention. Prof Binny says that the erasure of Rosy's legacy shows how deeply caste-based trauma can run. "It can be so intense that it shapes or defines the rest of one's life," she says, adding that she is glad Rosy eventually found a safe space. In recent years, Dalit filmmakers and activists have sought to reclaim Rosy's legacy. Influential Tamil director Pa Ranjith has launched a yearly film festival in her name which celebrates Dalit cinema. A film society and foundation have also been established. But there is still a haunting sense that while Rosy was ultimately saved, it was at the cost of her passion and identity. "Rosy prioritised survival over art and, as a result, never tried to speak publicly or reclaim her lost identity. That's not her failure - it's society's," says Mr Govindan. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
