The EWA network, or European Women’s Audiovisual Network, has initiated a campaign to emphasize the importance of women in film and to help ensure that some great film projects are started in Europe, with female directors and producers.  The EWA is collecting 1 minute videos by women in film about why they love and participate in the field.  They kicked this project off in February with Isabel Coixet, the well-regarded spanish director who is heading the project, described on the EWA Website as “Isabel Coixet’s Challenge.”

We spoke with Saoirse Ronan in advance of her latest film release, Violet & Daisy, co-starring Alexis Bledel and James Gandolfini. We already showed you what her thoughts were on being Joss Whedon’s “prototype” for Scarlet Witch in The Avengers 2 but Violet & Daisy is based in a world without superheroes, though it’s more than meets the eye. The Mary Sue held a special screening of the film for our readers recently, who got to see first hand just what the story about two hitwomen actually entailed. Read what Ronan had to tell us about her experience working on Violet & Daisy, her role, and her tendency toward strong women characters. 

In a discussion with The Daily Beast, celebrated feminist (or not; your mileage may vary) and god among superhero movie directors Joss Whedon was asked why he thinks there are so few female superheroes who have made the jump to film. I would like to cosign his entire response.

As the only female head of a major studio, Amy Pascal knows her stuff when it comes to the industry. So when she says of female directors that “the whole system is geared for them to fail,” maybe she knows what she’s talking about. Just maybe.

Note the sarcasm, please; I just wanted to get ahead of any mansplainers who might want to say things like “But I was in a directing class once and most of my fellow students were men, so maybe there aren’t that many women who wan’t to direct!”

On Conan O’Brien last night J.J. Abrams was asked about the recent controversy over a moment of contrived near-nudity in Star Trek Into Darkness. And I actually respect Abrams’ response: he says that his intention was to do a quick joke in the midst of a bunch of action, but says “I don’t think I quite edited the scene in the right way,” and of those that felt the scene was exploitative “I can also see their point of view.” There are ways that the scene could have been directed or edited in a way that actually made it appear that Carol Marcus’ reaction to Kirk being a supercreep shamed or cowed him in, well, any way. If Abrams felt this scene was really the “balance” to a brief scene of Kirk post-coitus with two alien women, where his nudity before the opposite sex is a product of his sexual prowess, not something that he has just expressed a clear desire to avoid, I just wish he’d executed that better.

Abrams also shared a few seconds of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s character taking a shower, which was not included in the final cut of the movie. And since Cumberbatch is kind of a rising nerd property now (particularly among women), that clip is getting spread around quite widely, touted as the end to the argument. And I’d like to, just for a moment, talk about what this clip isn’t: it isn’t evidence that men and women’s bodies are treated equally in the movie.

“I copped to the fact that we should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress. We also had Kirk shirtless in underpants in both movies. Do not want to make light of something that some construe as mysogenistic. What I’m saying is I hear you, I take responsibility and will be more mindful in the future. Also, I need to learn how to spell ‘misogynistic.’” - Star Trek Into Darkness writer Damon Lindelof in a string of four tweets sent out roughly a half hour after we posted his lackluster answer as to why actress Alice Eve was made to strip down in the film for no reason.

It’s nice to see Lindelof comment on the complaints at all, and we hope he really is more mindful of these types of things in the future but we must point out – having half naked actors in a sex scene does not equal the treatment Eve received. Again, it’s all about context and Dr. Carol Marcus was put on display with none. What do you think of Lindelof’s apology?

(via tipster commenter Eric)

Previously in Star Trek

“Why is Alice Eve in her underwear, gratuitously and unnecessarily, without any real effort made as to why in God’s name she would undress in that circumstance? Well there’s a very good answer for that. But I’m not telling you what it is. Because… uh… MYSTERY?” - Star Trek Into Darkness writer Damon Lindelof writing probably the most idiotic thing he could write in a letter to MTV.

They had asked, “I feel like I have to start with the biggest mystery/conversation that’s surrounded the film from the get go. Why is Alice Eve in her underwear at one point?”

Because, well, that is an incredibly relavent question to ask.

I mentioned it briefly in my non-TMS review but really, I could have gone on for pages about it. Eve’s character of Dr. Carol Marcus was touted to have incredible intelligence, though instead of allowing her to use it to effect the plot, she was used as the most blatant eye-candy I’ve seen in a long time. We see this kind of thing a lot in Hollywood, sure, but the scene in question was akin to an actor holding up and verbally speaking the name of a can of Coca-Cola during a scene about cats or general surgery. And for a writer to respond to serious criticism in such a flippant manner is disappointing to say the least. Not to mention what he said when asked about a rumored shirtless scene for Benedict Cumberbatch’s character:

CinemaCon in Las Vegas saw many Hollywood films previewed the past few days but it’s a women in film panel that was most revealing. 

In advance of Doctor Who‘s return to our TVs this weekend, The Guardian has an excellent article on how the show hasn’t aired an episode written by a woman since 2008. That’s 60 episodes, not-a-one of which was written by a woman. Even before then, Who‘s only had one female writer, Helen Raynor, since the dawn of the New Who era. And the number of episodes in season seven written by a women is, you guessed it, zero.

Doctor Who, I’m disappointed in you.

Listen, Star Trek Into Darkness. I don’t need all of your promo stills to be epic and lens flare-y. But this legitimately looks like Benedict Cumberbatch glaring at a photographer who snapped him coming out of a store that sells slightly weird coats. You can do better. (I kid, I kid. I love weird promo pics, even ones that are just weird-boring. The reigning champ for weird publicity photos is still this one from The Eagle, if you’re curious.) Visit The Daily Blam for a second pic of Kirk and Spock looking equally srs bsns.