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Interviewing at the Galway Film Fleadh 2018
I’ll be conducting Q&As after the screenings of three films at the Galway Film Fleadh this year: Possum Wednesday, 11 July at Pálás Screen 1 – film begins at 22:00 I’ll be chatting to writer/director Matthew Holness (Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace) about his dark debut feature, and its development from short story to screen. Holiday Thursday, 12 July at Pálás Screen 1 – film begins at 20:45 I’ll be discussing this challenging feature film debut by Swedish filmmaker Isabella Eklöf (Notes from Underground). Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Saturday, 14 July at Pálás Screen 1 – film begins at 22:45 I’ll be talking to screenwriter Ed Solomon (Men in Black) about…
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bloody women
Since February is ‘Women in Horror Month‘ I thought I’d promote an excellent programme being featured in this year’s Bird’s Eye View Film Festival in the UK, called ‘Bloody Women: From Gothic to Horror‘. It’s taking place from March 8th-17th 2011 in the BFI Southbank, ICA & Southbank Centre. Bird’s Eye View is the UK’s first major women’s film festival, and has year-round activity with its First Weekenders Club, BEV Labs, touring programme and online community. The Bloody Women prorgramme includes seminal silents by women pioneering the genre, recent classic horror movies made by women, a programme of cutting-edge horror shorts by emerging women filmmakers, and a panel discussion on…
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flashback to Greece
Yesterday’s post with its emphasis on sunshine reminded me that this time last year I was in Greece as part of the first World Conference of Screenwriters. I was running the conference blog and social media, and it was a wonderful, if exhausting, few days in Athens. The above picture is of the Parthenon at dusk on the opening evening of the conference. It’s one of the cluster of ancient buildings that make up the Acropolis – which is perched on a flat-topped outcrop 150 meters above Athens. Our international group of screenwriters and Guilds representatives was extremely fortunate to get a private tour of the Acropolis just as twilight…
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women in horror: a summary of recent posts
It’s time for a summary of the reaction across the Internet to my recent posts about the lack of representation of women in the SFX horror edition. As I mentioned last week David Barnett at the The Guardian blog brought up the issue immediately, and by the end of the week UK Feminist web site The F Word was running with the story. Once I posted editor Ian Berriman’s reply to my query, the response in the comments, on Internet articles and to me personally has been anger and frustration at the lack of knowledge displayed about women’s participation in the horror industry. As Cheryl Morgan put it, it was…
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dear Alexandra
This blog post began as a reply to a comment made by horror writer and screenwriter, Alexandra Sokoloff, on my last blog entry, but got too long. It’s probably best if you read that first before continuing with this entry. I’ll wait. Back? Great. Here’s what my couple of lines morphed into: Dear Alexandra, Thank you for your note, and I appreciate your kind comments. I’m currently reading your novel The Price, as I’m engaged in a drive to read as much horror by women as possible before World Horror Convention. That means getting books from a lot of different sources, especially since women’s horror isn’t easy to come by…
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SFX responds: a long post
After a prompt from a friend I wrote to SFX on Sunday regarding my concerns about its Horror edition. Here is my email: To whom it may concern, I purchased the horror edition of SFX magazine at the weekend since I’m a fan of horror literature and media, and also write in the genre. I was surprised at the lack of representation of women in the articles in the magazine. In particular I was stunned by the “Horror’s Hidden Treasures” piece. You found the time to query 34 men for their opinions, but neglected to ask even one woman to recommend an under-rated gem in the horror field. Can you…
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SFX forgets women in horror
It’s ironic that during Women in Horror Recognition Month I have to draw attention yet again to another major publication that has a blind spot when it comes to women in horror. Five months ago I was irked when the British Fantasy Society published a collection of interviews of horror writers that omitted women. A minor Internet outrage ensued, which died down with the society’s quick and honest apology. Naïvely, I thought maybe a lesson had been learned. This month the British magazine SFX published a special edition devoted to Horror that overlooks women almost entirely. In his opening words editor Ian Berriman says: “You see, some people think horror…
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monstrous women are rarely rewarded
I’ve been meaning to write something for Women in Horror Recognition Month, which is a campaign to promote women who work within the horror genre during the month of February. I’m going to look at two films that I think deserve some attention and discussion: Ginger Snaps (2000) and Jennifer’s Body (2009). These two films serve as a useful balance, since the first is smart and thought-provoking, while the second is interesting but muddled. Ginger Snaps is based on a story by Karen Walton and John Fawcett, the screenplay was written by Walton, and directed by Fawcett. It’s a film about two sisters, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigette (Emily Perkins),…
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blogging screenwriters
I’ve been busy lately working on a new project. This coming November the frst World Conference of Screenwriters will be taking place in Athens, Greece. I’m running the official blog for the event on behalf of the Federation of Screenwriters Europe, who are co-organising the event with the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds. I’ll also be liveblogging from the conference. It’s already been a fun challenge, and I’m looking forward to travelling to Athens, a city I’ve never visited before. Although, I suspect I’ll be too busy working at the conference to sample many of the city’s phenomenal historic attractions. I would love to see the new Acropolis Museum, however.…
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get some direction, quick
Before I inflict my weekly tiny piece of prose upon the web I’ll mention a couple of items that might be of interest to some of my readers. First off while perusing the films appearing in the forthcoming Spanish and Latin American Film Season at the IFI in Dublin I noticed that on Monday May 11th it’s showing a Mexican science fiction film called Sleep Dealer. We don’t often get opportunities to see sf films from other countries in Ireland, and it looks like it will be at least entertaining. Also, I’ve posted an entry over on the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild’s Blog about a new screenwriting conference, called…
