Lionheart (2019), directed by celebrated Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji, was Nigeria’s first ever submission for the now re-branded “International Feature Film” category for the Academy Awards. The Academy claims the film was ineligible for the prestigious nomination because it only had a combined eleven minutes of Igbo spoken in the film, and did not meet the twelve minute minimum requirement of non-English spoken dialogue. This controversy comes after the Academy announced they would update the category’s name from the previously known “Foreign Language Film” in...

When filmmaker Nicole Costa gets in touch with her old college friend, Iván Ojeda, after 17 years, she learns that the former theater director and playwright has reinvented himself. Iván now goes by Monalisa and earns a living as a sex worker on the streets of New York City. Costa’s reunion with Ojeda and introduction to Monalisa illustrates the challenges and realities of life as an undocumented, transgender immigrant dealing with sex, drugs and the pursuit of an American visa. Viewers can watch the charming...

I hate horror movies. I truly, deeply cannot stand gore and jump scares and my overactive imagination going to terrifying places. But I do like movies that are spooky and creepy, and I like movies that have feminist undercurrents even more. That’s why I love the 1996 cult classic The Craft, a movie that has become only more relevant since its release. I cannot tell you how many books about witchcraft are sent to BUST every day, and it’s pretty clear to see why. In a world where...

  The annual Margaret Mead Film Festival took place at the American Museum of Natural History last weekend from October 17 to 20. The event has taken place since 1976, and aims to celebrate a comprehensive and inclusive spectrum of work including documentary films, shorts, and other media. Its mission, according to the website, is to increase “understanding of the complexity and diversity of peoples and cultures around the world”. Margaret Mead was a famous anthropologist who worked at the American Museum of Natural History for 52 years. She was a curator for...

Paradise HillsDir. Alice WaddingtonOut October 25 Filmmaker Alice Waddington’s directorial debut stars Emma Roberts as Uma, a young woman of high social class who wakes up in a candy-colored, dystopian “paradise.” Though the aesthetics are heavenly, she quickly suspects her new home isn’t exactly idyllic. Something like a rehab center, the island is full of upper-class girls who have failed to appease their families. Uma’s fatal misstep? Her refusal to marry the cruel billionaire of her parents’ dreams. She does find a crew of unlikely comrades, though,...

Patricia Arquette is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken feminists. Here, the Oscar-winning actor opens up about finding time for activism, fighting for equal pay, and feeling for her embattled co-star Felicity Huffman Scheduling a chat with Patricia Arquette is no easy feat. Even though we are both in London, we have to do our interview by phone because the only time she has to talk is in the car as she’s being shuttled between appointments. Of course this comes as no surprise. Since her Oscar win...

  Elpida (Stella Fyrogeni) just wanted to get her doctor’s opinion on treating her symptoms of menopause. Instead, she leaves his office after an examination with every kind of pill and cream imaginable, a laundry list of side effects that are somehow delivered with a straight face, and confirmation that even when she seeks out help or advice, it won’t come in the form she wants. This opening sequence sets up Pause to be a much more darkly humorous story than it ultimately is. Elpida is trapped in a...

  JudyDirected by Rupert GooldOut September 27 Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy depicts the last year of Hollywood legend Judy Garland’s life. Broke, and without a manager or even a place to live, Garland (Renée Zellweger) agrees to perform a concert series in London during the winter of 1968. Four times divorced, she just wants to provide for her three children, all of whom are being used as pawns in a custody battle with her ex-husband Sid Luft (Rufus Sewell). But after a triumphant opening night, she’s...

Aussie actress and model Samara Weaving has become our new feminist shero with her role as protagonist Grace in the summer slasher Ready or Not. This recent theatrical release has viewers and critics alike facing something women have feared for years… the patriarchy. The film begins as the end of any fairytale, with a beautiful wedding held at the groom’s gothic family manor where we meet Grace and her handsome prince, Alex Le Domas, heir to the Le Domas gaming empire. Soon after the “I...

Britt-Marie Was HereDirected by Tuva NovotnyOut September 20       For 63-year-old Swedish housewife Britt-Marie (Pernilla August), there’s no problem that can’t be solved with baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, and some vigorous scrubbing. But when her husband of 40 years (Peter Haber) has a heart attack and his weeping mistress greets Britt-Marie at the hospital, she decides it’s time to stop cleaning up the house and start cleaning up her life. After four decades outside the workforce, Britt-Marie accepts a position coaching youth soccer in a...