2022 Women's History Month

The first full-length feature film (four reels) made in India was 1913’s Raja Harischandra directed by filmmaker Dadasaheb Phalke. Phalke advertised in the local papers for actresses, but the only response he got was from prostitutes as acting was considered a disreputable occupation for women.

Pola Negri was a larger-than-life actress who constantly made headlines about her personal life, which overshadowed the real talent she displayed in her movies. The ultimate self-promoter, Negri was photographed walking her pet cheetah on the streets of Los Angeles, sporting red toenails, fur boots, and turban.

For the first time in film history, women have dominated the three most famous and the most important international film festivals in the world – Berlin, Cannes, and Venice – by earning their top awards. It’s impossible to predict whether this is the beginning of a new trend (although that is not likely), or a series of coincidences.

Who is Elena Ferrante? This has been one of the most asked questions in the “trivial pursuit” in literary circles and among her/his/their millions of readers in Italy and worldwide. Ferrante, the author of  “My Brilliant Friend” -- the quartet of novels based in Naples telling the story of a “girl friendship”  between the 1950s and the 2000s -- has become one the most famous pseudonyms ever in the history of publishing.

The Dropout, Inventing Anna, Killing Eve - what do these shows have in common? Can we pause and let that idea sink in? Why are those words uncomfortable? The answer is that society expects women to be polite, nice, considerate. They are supposed to put others first.

A panel of trailblazing Australian women in film took center stage for International Women’s Day in a panel held at the Brentwood home of Ambassador Jane Duke, Australian Consul-General to Los Angeles. The predominantly female audience gathered on the residence’s front lawn, and director Unjoo Moon (I Am Woman) led a dynamic panel including actresses Rose Byrne (Physical, Bridesmaids), Danielle Macdonald (The Tourist, Unbelievable), Charmaine Bingwa (The Good Fight), and Oscar-nominated cinematographer, Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog).

Although never a contestant on The Price is Right, the Golden Globe Nominee Nancy Meyers, a Philadelphia transplant, got her professional start on the CBS game show as a production assistant. Needless to say, though she would not win living room furniture or even a new car, Meyers’s success at spinning the big wheel would eventually take her to write and direct such seminal Hollywood hits as What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday and It’s Complicated.

Pinar Toprak: The first woman ever to score a Marvel Cinematic Universe feature film   Ever since her childhood in Turkey in the mid- ‘90s, Toprak dreamed of one day getting to compose for the big screen. She started playing the violin at five at a conservatory in Istanbul and studied music full-time through grade school, eventually making her way to America for college at 17.

Geraldine Brianne Murphy was born in 1933 in London. While the family was living in the United Kingdom due to her father’s career, her parents were both middle-class Americans.

If there was a soundtrack to Women’s History Month, one could easily fill it with songs created by the lyrical skills of Golden Globe Winner Carole Bayer Sager. Imagine a playlist made of anthemic tunes like "Come in from the Rain," Don't Cry Out Loud," “When I Need You," "Midnight Blue," "It's My Turn," "Everything Old Is New Again," “Break It to Me Gently," and "Heartlight.