Currently Browsing: Jan Lisa Huttner
You clean up his messes, you make excuses, you do his job, and then you wake up and do it all over again.
Guest Post by Taylor Beckman
Women with brilliant comedic timing take center stage in the current Broadway hit POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. This raucously relevant play reminds us of the work required behind-the-scenes to ensure that America’s POTUS – aka the President of the United States – appears in total self-control at all times (especially on camera).… read more.
You can’t necessarily change what’s going on, no, but I can say what I think about it. I’m free to do that. And I will.
As a Black woman living in the USA, learning about my history is something that has been heavily contested. The narrative that I have learned about my ancestors is often seen as whitewashed and trauma-filled, focusing on the handful of accomplishments we have made or the trauma we have endured (and the trauma we still going through) through the remnants of slavery.… read more.
Today’s SWAN-of-the-Day is filmmaker Pearl Gluck, one of the first Jewish women to give outsiders a peek inside Ashkenazi Orthodoxy. Although we have many opportunities now – especially in streaming series like Shtisel and Unorthodox – Pearl was a courageous trail blazer.
The following is adapted from the review I wrote of her film Divan for the September 2005 issue of the World Jewish Digest:
Pearl Gluck comes from a large Hasidic family based in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.… read more.
April 24, 2022: Today is Barbra Streisand’s 80th Birthday and I have something very special to share.
From “Tzivi’s March ’09 Spotlight” in Chicago’s JUF News
Barbra Streisand’s Yentl has just been re-released in a brand new 25th anniversary DVD box set. Although much maligned over the years, Yentl is a great and heartfelt work of cinematic art, and I urge you all to watch it again with fresh eyes in celebration of Women’s History Month.… read more.
Hello, Cyberspace. I’m Jan Lisa Huttner, the “mastermind” behind the SWAN concept.
Today is the last Saturday of March, and I am thrilled to be celebrating 15 years of continuous SWAN Day programming with all of you – ensuring that Women’s History Month ends once again this year with a tribute to women artists regardless of mode and media.… read more.
Today, we celebrate the birthday of Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki!
Nadine started her career behind the camera in 2007 when she premiered her directorial debut — Caramel — at the Cannes Film Festival. Before the release of Caramel (a comedy about five Lebanese women set in a beauty salon), Nadine primarily spent her time in front of the camera (starting with a Lebanese talent show TV series as a teenager). … read more.