My guest today is director Laura Seay, and we are talking about her new short film, The Coupon. "A woman finds herself embroiled in a legal nightmare when her husband gives away the cutesy romantic coupon she made for him, to a stranger.  Now the stranger is on her doorstep, demanding his prize." Laura is a writer, director, actor, and stand up based in Brooklyn, NY. Her films have garnered selections from Oscar qualifying and top tier festivals, as well as online platforms including...

Today my guest is director Crystal Kwok, and we are talking about her new film, Blurring the Color Line.   BLURRING THE COLOR LINE follows director Crystal Kwok as she unpacks the history behind her grandmother’s family, who were neighborhood grocery store owners in the Black community of Augusta, Georgia during the Jim Crow era. Crystal Kwok is an award winning filmmaker who established her career in Hong Kong as an actress, writer, director, and talk show host. She won the audience choice...

Can a mom be an astronaut?  Sarah Moshman's latest film is a narrative short based on a true story about the 1st mother in space entitled UNBOUND.  UNBOUND stars Lauren Lapkus (Jurasic World, Good Girls, Orange Is The New Black) as Dr. Anna Fisher. Our conversation is funny, real, and hopeful for a more equitable perspective on women and career. Sarah is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Netflix, PBS, Good Morning America, Upworthy,...

My guest today is acclaimed author, Robyn Gigl. Robyn's debut novel, "By Way of Sorrow", is thoroughly engrossing; a must-read legal thriller.  This is the story of Erin McCabe, a trans women attorney who is defending Sharise, also a trans women, who is accused of murder.  This is an intricate plot, with a strong emotional charge. Through Erin McCabe's personal and courtroom battles, we come face to face with prejudice, and injury towards trans people. Robyn's characters are thoughtfully...

Venezuelan born, Miami raised actress Maria Corina Ramirez earned her B.F.A in Acting from New World School of the Arts. Shortly upon graduating, she took on several leading and supporting roles in theatres all across Miami in both English and Spanish. She has most recently starred in, written, and directed her debut feature film, Bridges. She previously starred in and co-wrote the Complex Network's first-ever scripted series, Grown. She has starred in two NBC-Telemundo TV series, two Cine...

Jennifer Reeder is the original Riot Grrrl, and created the films to prove it!  Jennifer is one of the most fun, intellectual, intense and passionate filmmakers I have had the pleasure of interviewing. Her films are true reflections of the inner lives of teen girls.  Jennifer Reeder constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma and coping. Her award-winning narratives are innovative and borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music videos and...

My guest today is Alyscia Cunningham.  We are talking about her new film, "I Am More Thank My Hair".  It seems like a simple statement, but it is powerful one. Our conversation is a deep look at what society thinks of as beautiful.  We touch on the messages we receive in the media on what our hair should look like, and how it is intrinsically tied to our value.  Well, no more. Alysica's film, and her book by the same name, is a rebellion, and call to action, to love ourselves beyond what...

My conversation today with @sorayagiacarrdi was nothing short of revolutionary! THIS is a call to action: start supporting women in the media, for equal and authentic representation. Behind and in front of the camera. From studios promoting women to the executive level, to movie goers, and streaming service consumers (that's you and me). Women need to tell their own stories. The numbers are there, we can see the inequities. NOW let's change that. Soraya Giaccardi is a researcher, educator,...

Katsitsionni Fox is a warm, powerful and wise woman filmmaker. What a joy and privilege it was to interview Katsitsionni. Did you know that suffragettes like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony found the inspiration for the suffragette movement from Haudenosaunee women? For over 1,000 years before women had the vote in the United States-1920 for white women and 1965 for women of color- Huaudenosaunee women had equal rights in their tribes, in every aspect, including government. The...

It's my last commentary of 2020, and my 50th episode!   Taking stock here, looking at what changed me this year, and how I changed. Hannah Gadsby's new show, Nanette, on Netflix, and Jingle Jangle! Follow me on Instagram: @dianne_wieler If you enjoy listening and like what I do, please support me on Patreon. For $3 a month you can become a patron, about the same as a cup of coffee. :)     

I am so grateful for Venida Rodman Jenkins, and the illuminating conversation we had about cultural humility and conscious consumption of the media. I have realized that white women have the power to change what we see on screen. We vote with our dollars. Which means, with every dollar we spend, we can choose to support films made by and about women of color, to ensure that their stories are told. Authenticity. There are so many ways we can seek out these films, and right now, film festivals...

My guest today is Sujata Day. Sujata’s first feature film, Definition Please, spoke right to my heart. I have bipolar disorder, and I am so glad that it is being seen in a fuller scope. In popular films, we see the extreme side of bipolar disorder. In Sujata's film, the story of Monica and her family shows the much more nuanced side of this mental illness. Sujata’s film is down-to-earth, elegant, joyous and poignant all at the same time. And in our interview we talk about how life is just...

Woo hoo!  I got the courage up to do a commentary. Good job, me.   I am going to do commentaries regularly from now on. Each episode will be about 20 minutes, and I’ll be talking about:   Something personal about me; funny family stories, and life experiences in general. A review of a film or tv show I’ve seen that week, with a female lead.  My take on current events that week.   This week I’m talking about where I’ve lived, the documentary film Miss Representation, The Geena Davis...

Sarah Megan Thomas is a champion for women's stories, and her latest film, "A Call To Spy" is the fantastic telling of 3 heroic women spies in WWII. In 1941 Winston Churchill enlisted women spies in the Special Operations Executive to conduct sabotage and build resistance. Women were not seen as threats, and were far less likely to be stopped at check points.  Working off this stereotype these women were dauntless in their efforts to thwart the march of the Nazi regime into France. I was...

In this special episode, Gangotri Garg, Mansi Goel and I are talking about how this presidency has heightened racism, and how it has effected them personally. We are talking about what is at stake collectively with Election 2020. It is imperative that we, white people, vote with our humanity. ESPECIALLY this election.   Look into our hearts. Understand that for us as white people, nothing will change if Donald Trump remains president. Nothing. For people of color, their lives are...

Wow, what a fantastic talk today with one of my favorite authors, Paula Brackston! Paula is a New York Times bestselling author and her witch series is a pure delight. Last month I finished her book, The Winter Witch and am now reading The Witch's Daughter. Paula's books are perfect for this Halloween month! In today's episode we talked about her books, including her Found Things series, and a good treat bag full of her other-worldly books. I can't wait to share this episode with you- a great...

It was my honor to talk with Myisha T. Hill today, and I am grateful for her openness, in our conversation about mental health. This was personal for both of us.  Although we have both struggled with mental illness, our experiences within the healthcare system have been very different. In today’s episode we are talking about cultural competency, diagnosis, treatment, and cultural stigmas towards mental illness. Myisha T is a mental health activist, speaker, and entrepreneur passionate about...

Peshawn Bread is a filmmaker who is going to the places we are not always willing to talk about in our daily lives, but need to. Through her new film in production, The Daily Life of Mistress Red, Peshawn is reframing how we look at sexuality and indigenous women. As a Comanche woman and a former dominatrix, Peshawn found herself in situations where racism would come into play, during sessions with her white male clients. Over time, there began a BDSM relationship where Peshawn confronted...

As you can guess, I was extremely nervous about interviewing a journalist as respected and accomplished as Astrid Martinez. But she immediately put me at ease with her down-to-earth personality and empathy, which I think are two of the qualities that make her a superlative journalist.  Astrid Martinez is an intensely insightful, 3x Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, based in Atlanta Georgia, at CBS46. She is the creator and host of entertainment/culture segment “Astrid in the ATL” at...

It was a thrill and an honor to talk with B. Monét, Director this week! In her films, B.Monét poses questions about identity, society, race, and culture. It is vital to her that under-represented people are shown in film, media, and television.   In this episode, we are talking about her most recent film, Ballet After Dark, which is a pure joy to watch. It is a magnificent celebration of the freedom from pain that dance can give. Last week I talked with the amazing Tyde-Courtney Edwards,...

This week I'm talking with Tyde-Courtney Edwards, an incredible woman, who has worked to transcend her own pain, through the healing power of dance. She has now founded her own ballet company, Ballet After Dark, to help other black women trauma survivors do the same.    Ballet After Dark is an immersive dance class and therapy program. Through social media, Tyde-Courtney received several requests to start her program worldwide, and now Ballet After Dark just launched their first...

Maebe A. Girl is the first transgender woman to hold office in the United States, and she is fierce! When Maebe decided to run for the Silverlake Community Council in California, she wanted to represent who she was, and acknowledge her whole identity.  With that, Maebe decided to run with her drag queen stage name, Maebe A. Girl.   What I loved most about my conversation with Maebe, was her irrepressible enthusiasm, and dedication to servant leadership. Her mission is to Protect. Advocate....

I am beyond excited to tell you about my fabulous guest this week, Director Lisa Donato. Lisa’s first feature film, Gossamer Folds, was just selected for Geena Davis’s Bettonville Film Festival. Gossamer Folds, set in 1986, is about ten-year-old Tate, who is uprooted and moved unwillingly to the suburbs of Kansas City. As his parent's marriage unravels, Tate finds solace in the unlikely friendships of his next-door neighbors: a retired college professor and his transgender daughter,...

My guest today is Sheba Simpson Sheba is running for New York City Council, 9th District, Harlem, where she has lived for most of her life. Sheba is here to fight for affordable housing, excellent education for children, and much needed services for seniors. Due to the skyrocketing rents in Harlem, Sheba and her family were forced to live outside of New York for seven years. As a mother of three children and a grandmother of five, Sheba knows firsthand how difficult it is to raise a family...