The Private Life of a Cat
Maya Deren was a fringe filmmaker who existed far outside the Hollywood machine, but she often borrowed its tactics to promote herself and her movies.
You, Too, Can Screen an Experimental Film
In the 1960s and '70s, where and how a film was shown was often as important as the work itself.
The D-I-Y Origins of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead’s production story reads like a means to an end: a rag-tag group of creatives makes a movie on nothing to get noticed.
Fake News: A Media Literacy Reading List
Compiled by graduate students in a 2016 course on “Activism and Digital Culture,” at University of Southern California.
Doris Day Changed Us Forever
What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
Why Cupid Rules Valentine’s Day
The rascally cherub has been part of Valentine's Day lore since Chaucer’s time.
McCarthyism at the Oscars
As José Ferrer was being handed his Oscar—making him the first Latino actor to win—he was being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The Theatrical Magic of The Christmas Angel
The silent film director Georges Melies made a unique and wonderful Christmas film by borrowing the theatrical techniques of French “feeries.”
Selling Slashers to Teen Girls
The heroines of 1970s and 80s teen horror movies were traditionally feminine, tough, and sexually confident.