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Female Filmmaker Friday Podcast: Episode 5 – Kasi Lemmons
This week writer Angelica Jade Bastien joins me to talk about the work of filmmaker Kasi Lemmons.
Movie Quote of the Day – Black Nativity, 2013 (dir. Kasi Lemmons)
Reverend Cornell Cobbs: Lord, bless this food to our use and us to Thy service. And make us ever mindful of the needs of others for Christ’s sake. Lord Jesus, today we are mindful of the needs of this youth, our grandson, whom Thou, in Thy infinite wisdom, has sent to us. And be he troubled and in need of guidance, or simply a belt to hold his loose-fitting pants up.
Movie Quote of the Day – Talk To Me, 2007 (dir. Kasi Lemmons)
Petey Greene (over the P.A.): Yo, I was reading my court papers the other day, y’all. They say, “Ralph Waldo ‘Petey’ Greene versus the United States of America.” I say, “Goddamn! No wonder I’m up in this motherfucker!” So I’m gonna dedicate this next one to my baby. Man, she gonna be up here in a minute, and this gal, Lord have mercy, she’s fine as frog’s hair, yeah. So while this is playing, I want y’all to think about the one y’all love. And I’m talking about the one sends you them pictures, man, not the cat in the next bunk.
Milo Hughes: [laughs]
Dewey Hughes: I guess you’re pretty hard up for entertainment around here.
Milo Hughes: Yeah, man. This is prison.
A Year With Women: 103 Essential Films By Female Filmmakers
Find out more about A Year With Women here.
Lately I’ve become more and more frustrated with the various “best ever” lists that have been released because they rarely feature films by women, or if they do it’s usually one or two films. I think this is more a reflection of those who are polled for these kinds of lists, as well as a compounding of history on itself. For so long films by men have made up the bulk of the film canon and I think people are afraid to add new films to these revered lists. I also think many people haven’t seen very many films by women, or if they have it’s always the same handful of films. In an attempt to create a better, more inclusive list of great films by women, I polled over 500 critics, filmmakers, bloggers, historians, professors and casual film viewers, asking them to tell me what films directed (or co-directed) by women are essential viewing. Some people only responded with as little as five votes, others submitted hundreds of films. In the end, I received over 7,000 votes for 1,100+ different films. After tallying up this data, with ties factored in, I then had a list of 103 essential films directed by women.
Movie Quote of the Day – Eve’s Bayou, 1997 (dir. Kasi Lemmons)
Mozelle Batiste Delacroix: Life is filled with goodbyes, Eve, a million goodbyes, and it hurts every time. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve lost so much, I have to find new things to lose. All I know is, there must be a divine point to it all, and it’s just over my head, that when we die, it will all come clear and we’ll say, “So that was the damn point.” And sometimes, I think there’s no point at all, and maybe that’s the point. All I know is most people’s lives are a great disappointment to them and no one leaves this earth without feeling terrible pain. And if there is no divine explanation at the end of it all, well. . .that’s sad.
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