by Andy Kozlov

About two weeks ago, I was invited by Sanele Njini to participate in a conversation with Priscilla Sithole.

A former Amakhosi cultural theatre film production trainee, Priscilla Sithole, has set up a film production training project in Bulawayo called iBhayiskopo Film Academy that targets female youths. The idea of empowering women through film was transformed into reality this year in March.

IBhayiskopo means Film/Movie. The word is township lingo for Bioscope. The word was popular during the 60’s and early 90’s in Zimbabwe.

“The technical production aspects of many films, such as shooting, editing and lighting are currently dominated by men, as women are thought not to be strong to take up such a challenging job. As for Bulawayo, there are no known female filmmakers,” Sithole told a Zimbabwean daily Newsday in an interview back in March.

“We teach them so that after finishing their training they may…

In honor of Shirley Chisholm Day, WORD is circulating the above graphic on social media. We celebrate Chisholm’s contributions to the struggle for women’s reproductive rights, health and justice, and honor her pioneering role as a woman of color in U.S. politics. Please continue to share this image widely.

WORD – Women Organized to Resist and Defend – was formed by longtime activists from a number of struggles. Our commitment to those struggles continues as we move forward in the struggle to defend women’s rights.

We are dedicated to fighting racism, sexism and anti-LGBT bigotry. We believe strongly that an injury to one is an injury to all, and our involvement in the continuing struggles of oppressed people across the United States continues.

The most recent WORD statement addresses the consequences of denying abortions to women who need them:

The life of a child is…

A big congratulations to Michelle Lia, whose film Grandma was screened at the recent Bondi Short Film Festival!

Sean is walking home to his grandmothers after seeing his friend at the park. In the meantime, Sean’s grandmother receives a letter that will potentially change her grandson’s life. She positively can’t wait until he gets home to tell him the good news. Now…when is he coming home?

Grandma was screened at this year’s Seen & Heard and since has continued on to great things! Michelle reflects on her experiences as a young producer.

For you, as producer, what was the process getting Grandma off the ground?

Back when Grandma was shot I had just graduated from film school. I was producing another short as well as working as an AD on a low budget feature. Grandma was essentially a film made among friends, so it was pretty easy to get…

ON THIS DAY in 1939, singer and actress Tina Turner was born. Turner was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the 1993 biographical film, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?.