The World Unseen

In 1950’s South Africa, apartheid is just becoming institutionalized. Free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with Jacob her “colored” business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young traditional wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to question the rules that bind her. When Amina helps Miriam’s sister-in-law to hide from the police, a chain of events is set in motion that changes both women forever. The World Unseen is a captivating human drama, based on the highly acclaimed, multi award-winning novel by Shamim Sarif.  Opens November 7th at the Quad Theatre in NYC

I Can’t Think Straight

In the upper echelons of traditional Jordanian society, Reema and Omar, wealthy Christian Palestinians, prepare for the marriage of their eldest daughter Tala.

But back at work in London, Tala encounters Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating Tala’s best friend Ali. The women have an instant effect on each other.

Tala sees something unique in the artless, clumsy, sensitive Leyla who secretly works to become a fiction writer. And Tala’s forthright challenges to Leyla’s cultural foundations begins a journey of self-awareness for Leyla.

As the women fall in love, Tala’s own sense of duty cause her to pull away from Leyla and fly back to Jordan where the preparations for an ostentatious wedding are well under way. As family members descend and the wedding day approaches, the pressure mounts.

When Ali and Leyla’s feisty sister Zara help throw Tala and Leyla together again, Tala finds that her own preconceptions of what love can be is the final hurdle she must jump to win Leyla back.

Screening November 7th @ 9:00 pm at the Museum of Arts and Design and November 9th @ 12:00 noon at the Tribeca Theater, NYC.

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With a nod to the soulful Motown rhythms of the past and a sneer to many of the social and cultural issues that consume the public today, Coppola has crafted an album of musical sugar and spice, filled with sweet, saccharine-tinged melodies and spicy, bold commentaries.

The debut music video from Little Jackie, “The World Should Revolve Around Me” From the album “The Stoop” out NOW in the US on S-Curve Records! Click below to buy!
The Stoop

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In her first public interview since she joined McCain’s republican ticket, Sarah Palin answers questions from no-nonsense ABC anchorman Charles Gibson.

The first of three interviews scheduled, Ms. Palin came into the interview with heavy preparation from Mr. McCain’s top political and policy advisers. At times visibly nervous, at others appearing so obviously prepped that she used the exact same phrases repeatedly, Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of “anticipatory self-defense.”

Round two scheduled for tonight.

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Employer of the year
Grandmaster of fear
My blood flows satanical
Mechanical, masonical
And chemical… habitual

Always avant-garde, she IS Grace motherf*cking Jones!!

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Coming this fall is a remake of the 1939 classic, The Women, directed by Diane English and starring Jada Pinkett Smith as (oh my god) a lesbian.

The original film was based on Clare Booth Luce’s play of the same name. The film’s entire cast of more than 130 roles was female.

Set in the glamorous New York Apartments of high society, it presented an acidic and catty commentary on the pampered lives and power struggles of the various rich, bored wives and other women encountered. Throughout the film, not a single male is seen, although, definitely talked about and a central theme in their relationships.

In the 2008 version, the story centers on a group of gossipy, high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon, and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily-wedded Mary Haines (Meg Ryan) finds her marriage in trouble when shop girl Crystal Allen, (Eva Mendes) gets her hooks into Mary’s man.

Naturally, this situation becomes the hot talk amongst Mary’s catty friends, especially the scandalmonger Sylvia Fowler, (Annette Benning).Mary and Sylvia’s relationship is tested to the breaking point while their tight-knit circle of friends, including mega-mommy Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) and author Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett-Smith), all start to question their own friendships and romantic relationships as well.

While I welcome more roles for women in film and more jobs behind the scenes, isn’t it time we stopped perpetuating the same old stereotypes? The gossip, the “I can’t live without a man” syndrome, the competition?

We need more films about strong, independent women living their lives. True stories about the struggles we go through in this white patriarchal society. Hey, it could be a comedy. Or how about a full on Hollywood lesbian story FOR women, not men. Screened not at an independent film festival or back room video store, but at your local theatre. Wow, what an idea?

This year, the Oscar winner in the documentary short film category was a film called Freeheld.

A touching story about Lt. Laurel Hester, a detective from Ocean County New Jersey who struggles to transfer her pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“Freeheld” captures a quieter, personal story: that of the deep love between Laurel and Stacie as they face the reality of losing each other.Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, I never did see a theatrical release of this film. However, it will be out on DVD in August 2008. Please watch it!

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Yes, we were bombarded with eroticized images of the male torso (complete with frontal exposure). But frankly, speaking as a woman, I am tired of being left totally ignored as a lesbian spectator of this on-going saga, (in spite of a sweet scene where Carrie and Miranda were mistaken as a lesbian couple having a romantic dinner on Valentine’s Day, when they, in fact, were two jilted straight girls).

Yes, we certainly enjoyed the experience of seeing Samantha’s beautiful body clad only in strategically-placed pieces of homemade sushi, and Charlotte’s sensual shower-scene during which she was so beside herself with happiness that she, in a moment of forgetfulness, allowed Mexican tap-water to trickle into her mouth. But couldn’t there have been one moment of physical admiration – especially by the pool in the Mexican sun – between these so-called friends? The closest we came to a simple acknowledgment of one for the other’s body was when Samantha noticed the growth of Miranda’s pubic hair enough to imply that Miranda had provoked her husband’s lack of sexual interest, and that she should schedule a bikini-wax ASAP. (Meanwhile, we all know that the actress, Cynthia Nixon, who portrays Miranda, is in actuality an out lesbian, and deserves an Oscar for her acting during the sex-scenes with her on-screen husband.)

The lesbians of the Big Apple have had enough of being ignored and swept under the rug of this fantasized portrayal of “best girlfriends” in New York City. Besides, what would this series be without the fabulous haute couture of designer Patricia Field, whom the lesbians of New York proudly claim as one of our own?

posted by Nyna
Nyna is a screenwriter and film director. She lives in Paris and New York City.

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