When Diane Keaton passed away on October 11, 2025, it seemed as though the entire world immediately rose up to offer tribute, and we — at FF2 — were no different. We knew that when the next International SWAN Day rolled around on March 28, 2026, Diane Keaton would be our “American Icon.” No one could compete with her, and there was never any doubt!… read more.
Part of the joy of attending a film festival is getting to know the volunteers that keep the festival running smoothly. After watching Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, a volunteer I had befriended hurried up to me as I emerged into the lobby, asking if I needed any tissues. Worriedly, she said that many other people had cried, but none as much as I had.… read more.
Reading Ling Ma’s novel Severance (2018), I was struck by how quietly the apocalypse unfolds. There is no single dramatic moment announcing that the world has ended. Instead, the collapse appears gradually through small continuities—people setting tables, commuting to work, performing the same familiar gestures they have always performed.
March 9th marks the date of Barbie’s arrival on the toy scene in 1959, making her 67 this year. While Barbie has lived more lives than anyone could in that 67-year span of time, she remains an enduring testament that a life of exploration and enjoyment knows no age barrier.
In all her time, Barbie has had no barriers of entry at all.… read more.
Growing up, the liturgy at church was always indecipherable to me and therefore became background noise. This is mostly due to the fact that in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the liturgy is always sung in its original Old Bulgarian. As a child, I couldn’t be bothered to even try to keep up. But I’ve always been very good at talking to myself, or to someone in my head, and this someone has faded in and out of being a “God” presence.… read more.
As the New York chill lingers, many of us are still glued to our screens—scrolling for headlines, stories, or even the faintest hint of good news. Fortunately, there’s something exciting on the horizon: an upcoming program that offers a welcome break from the grind of winter—and everything else, too.
On Wednesday, March 4, at 7pm ET, the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University presents the online artist talk: “In Conversation: Judy Chicago” with the pioneering feminist artist herself, discussing her decades long career with Catherine Morris (Senior Curator for the Elizabeth A.… read more.
Four of the women who have received Nobel Prizes for Literature — Annie Ernaux, Han Kang, Doris Lessing & Toni Morrison — salute YOU today in honor of the first day of Women’s History Month!
“Annie Ernaux is a French author who writes fiction and memoir, and sometimes a little of both at once.… read more.
Mayumi Lake often finds herself in the middle of things. She was born and raised in Osaka and then moved to Chicago in the 1990s; she noted that she now has lived longer in Chicago than in Japan. She’s fascinated by historical things and new technologies. She’s an artist who has worked in several disciplines including photography, performance, sound, and sculpture. … read more.
Artist/Activist Tonika Lewis Johnson has dedicated her artistry to the geographical landscape of Chicago. Through her work, she has brought attention to the socioeconomic dimensions of “the windy city” history. Tonika emphasizes that geography deserves examination, reflection, and action in order to understand it accurately within a critical historical lens.… read more.
Multimedia artist Ebony G. Patterson uses her work and an aesthetic of adornment to explore ideas around visibility and invisibility in our postcolonial society. As a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, Ebony uses beauty to uncover the ugliness created by systemic oppression. Through texturally-rich pieces, Ebony invites viewers to engage with the sociopolitical issues embedded in the art.… read more.
I’d heard about Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective from a few separate sources when it first opened, but didn’t get the chance to see it for myself until somewhere around the tail-end of 2025, when I happened to be writing an essay on Wilfredo Lam, and took a trip over to the Museum of Modern Art to visit their (also phenomenal!)… read more.
The first time I watched Garrett Bradley’s work, I noticed how little it tried to convince me of anything. There was no rush toward explanation, no insistence on interpretation. Instead, the images asked for patience. They lingered just long enough to feel intimate, yet never so long as to feel heavy. Watching her films, I often find myself slowing down without realizing it, becoming aware of how rarely we are asked to truly sit with what we see.… read more.
Ruha Benjamin—writer and scholar—describes a “joyful responsibility” in our collective imagination. She illustrates this responsibility as a duty that we all have to unleash the power of our own imagination within the context of the social systems that oppress communities.
Ruha’s transdisciplinary work concentrates on “rethinking the assumptions we inherit, the paradigms we are taught not to question.” … read more.
Early in December (2025), I had the privilege of attending the 36th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), and my first ever film festival! I’ve spent years reading my favorite critics’ dispatches from film festivals across the world, chronicling days of surviving on nothing but countless cups of coffee, granola bars, and the high of seeing the very best of global cinema.… read more.
Whitechapel Gallery, located on Whitechapel High Street in East London, is a vibrant art space surrounded by cafes, bars, and restaurants that reflect the city’s culture. Unlike many London-based galleries that can feel cold or elitist, Whitechapel focuses on community and amplifies the voices of marginalized artists.… read more.
At the beginning of director Isa Willinger’s career, cult-followed filmmaker Kira Muratova told her: “The truth is, women make the harsher films.”
This question weighed on Isa’s mind when she set out to make her documentary No Mercy. The film draws its inspiration from Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, about whom Isa wrote the book “Kira Muratova: Cinema of Subversion” a decade ago.… read more.
In advance of tomorrow night’s announcement of the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, we’d like to stop one last time to reflect on Demi Moore’s Annus Mirabilis — year of miracles & wonder — which began on this date last year when she won the 2025 Golden Globe award Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for her earth-shaking, career-rejuvenating performance in The Substance!… read more.
2025 was the year of Lee Miller for me. She was a woman of many careers; Antony Penrose’s biography of his mother is aptly called The Lives of Lee Miller. She was a fashion model; surrealist photographer; fashion photographer; war photographer and correspondent; and, at the end of her life, a gourmet chef.… read more.
Just in time for December’s gift-giving season, MoMA (NYC’s Museum of Modern Art) collaborated with the Mattel Corporation to produce a “Starry Night Barbie” doll dressed in a gown inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s beloved painting. Having previously written on Barbie’s legacy (directly before the release of Greta Gerwig’s eponymous 2023 film), I am checking back in on this inimitable doll’s current discourse.… read more.
