Women Make SF https://womenmakesf.podbean.com Post-viewing/playing discussion of Science/Speculative Fiction films and digital fictions made by women. Thu, 13 Nov 2025 01:03:00 +0100 https://podbean.com/?v=5.5 en Copyright 2020 All rights reserved. Society & Culture 1440 episodic Post-viewing/playing discussion of Science/Speculative Fiction films and digital fictions made by women. womenmakesf womenmakesf No false https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/8776270/WMSF_Insta_Logoahyte.png Women Make SF https://womenmakesf.podbean.com 144 144 Strange Days at 30 Strange Days at 30 https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/strange-days-at-30/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/strange-days-at-30/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2025 01:03:00 +0100 womenmakesf.podbean.com/632f2b64-1f89-349b-beb4-1db581f5ee6d In the NOVEMBER edition, we’ll be talking about Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated science fiction thriller Strange Days, which was originally released on 13 October 1995 in the US and worldwide in February 1996. In part a response to the police brutality of the LA Riots, Strange Days is a complex film about memory, addiction, and the desire to escape reality…

]]> In the NOVEMBER edition, we’ll be talking about Kathryn Bigelow’s underrated science fiction thriller Strange Days, which was originally released on 13 October 1995 in the US and worldwide in February 1996. In part a response to the police brutality of the LA Riots, Strange Days is a complex film about memory, addiction, and the desire to escape reality…

]]> womenmakesf false No 4016 2 3 full ReproFutures: Parenting in the Anthropocene ReproFutures: Parenting in the Anthropocene https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/reprofutures-parenting-in-the-anthropocene/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/reprofutures-parenting-in-the-anthropocene/#comments Fri, 31 Oct 2025 22:03:17 +0100 womenmakesf.podbean.com/6c465ec7-c030-32eb-9d66-fa45626e8987 In the OCTOBER episode, we are joined by Dr Anna McFarlane (University of Glasgow), and we’ll be talking about recent women-directed SF with a focus on ReproFutures: imagined near futures of pregnancy, gestation, childbirth and child rearing. We’re focusing on recent films, The Pod Generation, written and directed by Sophie Barthes (who also made Cold Souls), and Fleur Fortuné’s The Assessment.

]]> In the OCTOBER episode, we are joined by Dr Anna McFarlane (University of Glasgow), and we’ll be talking about recent women-directed SF with a focus on ReproFutures: imagined near futures of pregnancy, gestation, childbirth and child rearing. We’re focusing on recent films, The Pod Generation, written and directed by Sophie Barthes (who also made Cold Souls), and Fleur Fortuné’s The Assessment.

]]> womenmakesf false No 3972 2 2 full Style over [the] Substance: Beauty is Pain Style over [the] Substance: Beauty is Pain https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/beauty-is-monstrous/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/beauty-is-monstrous/#comments Thu, 11 Sep 2025 04:04:00 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/38faea9b-72fe-339b-a944-59c0f845db2b We're back! On Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (2024) and Ninagawa Mika's Helter Skelter (2012) - re/introducing the project, talking about the films as science fiction and their approach to the male/female gaze, bodies and women in the film industry.

]]> We're back! On Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (2024) and Ninagawa Mika's Helter Skelter (2012) - re/introducing the project, talking about the films as science fiction and their approach to the male/female gaze, bodies and women in the film industry.

]]> womenmakesf false No 4477 2 1 full Robot Boyfriends with Guest Scott Midson Robot Boyfriends with Guest Scott Midson https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/wmsf10/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/wmsf10/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2022 00:01:00 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/dab09640-249c-3a0b-b47c-cbf8e0fd6faf With Scott Midson (a man!) we chat about I'm Your Man (2021) and Making Mr. Right (1987).

]]> With Scott Midson (a man!) we chat about I'm Your Man (2021) and Making Mr. Right (1987).

]]> womenmakesf false No 3328 1 10 full Interview with Cargo director Arati Kadav Interview with Cargo director Arati Kadav https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/interview-with-cargo-director-arati-kadav/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/interview-with-cargo-director-arati-kadav/#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2021 00:38:00 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/a0a9a96d-61df-31e9-9271-639377fd3b88 This is our second episode in a row with a guest! This week we welcome Indian filmmaker Arati Kadav whose Hindi-language SF Cargo was our more recent #WomenMakeSF film, which is notably the first Indian SF genre film directed by a woman. We are so excited to have the writer and director here to answer our questions! Cargo combines references to lots of key SF texts and a retro-futuristic analog aesthetic, with a distinctly Indian narrative that places reincarnation in a science fictional setting. We think about why women are often led to producing original low-budget content rather than also being allowed into the realms of franchise, and why women deserve their own science fictions. Women read, write, watch, play, and make science fiction - why can’t we shake the stereotype?

]]> This is our second episode in a row with a guest! This week we welcome Indian filmmaker Arati Kadav whose Hindi-language SF Cargo was our more recent #WomenMakeSF film, which is notably the first Indian SF genre film directed by a woman. We are so excited to have the writer and director here to answer our questions! Cargo combines references to lots of key SF texts and a retro-futuristic analog aesthetic, with a distinctly Indian narrative that places reincarnation in a science fictional setting. We think about why women are often led to producing original low-budget content rather than also being allowed into the realms of franchise, and why women deserve their own science fictions. Women read, write, watch, play, and make science fiction - why can’t we shake the stereotype?

]]> womenmakesf false No 3973 9 full Trans Representation and SF (Guest Cheryl Morgan) Trans Representation and SF (Guest Cheryl Morgan) https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/trans-representation-and-sf-guest-cheryl-morgan/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/trans-representation-and-sf-guest-cheryl-morgan/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:57:00 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/8ff5cd45-787a-3574-a792-5ec1c533481e This week’s episode is our first look at the work of the Wachowski sisters - Lily and Lana - who are the most prolific SF creators on the WMSF list with their work expanding across several platforms. We watched Jupiter Ascending (Wachowskis) - our first screening since September - and are both avid fans of Sense8. We are joined this week by our special guest science fiction critic, writer, editor, and publisher Cheryl Morgan. After a run of fairly serious space and science/fiction films we wanted to watch some pure space opera - but this is a Wachowski storyworld it was never going to be that simple... 

]]> This week’s episode is our first look at the work of the Wachowski sisters - Lily and Lana - who are the most prolific SF creators on the WMSF list with their work expanding across several platforms. We watched Jupiter Ascending (Wachowskis) - our first screening since September - and are both avid fans of Sense8. We are joined this week by our special guest science fiction critic, writer, editor, and publisher Cheryl Morgan. After a run of fairly serious space and science/fiction films we wanted to watch some pure space opera - but this is a Wachowski storyworld it was never going to be that simple... 

]]> womenmakesf false No 4899 8 full Women in Space Women in Space https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/women-in-spacemaking-space-for-women/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/women-in-spacemaking-space-for-women/#comments Wed, 19 May 2021 19:46:47 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/e4188c16-2573-357a-92e7-6b4a926b32cb This week we are talking about women in space. How have space movies imagined women’s participation in space exploration and travel? Our cultural imaginaries have not always made space for women in space - despite the early SF positioning of women as part of humanity’s journey to the stars, much of contemporary SF see women as support for the male mastery of technologies and machines. We talk about #WomenMakeSF movies Aniara a Swedish SF directed by Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, Claire Denis’ English language debut High Life alongside key examples like Gravity, Interstellar, and Alien. 

]]> This week we are talking about women in space. How have space movies imagined women’s participation in space exploration and travel? Our cultural imaginaries have not always made space for women in space - despite the early SF positioning of women as part of humanity’s journey to the stars, much of contemporary SF see women as support for the male mastery of technologies and machines. We talk about #WomenMakeSF movies Aniara a Swedish SF directed by Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, Claire Denis’ English language debut High Life alongside key examples like Gravity, Interstellar, and Alien. 

]]> womenmakesf false No 4182 7 full Finishing Schools of Fear Finishing Schools of Fear https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/finishing-schools-of-fear/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/finishing-schools-of-fear/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2020 17:22:19 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/dbccd335-edd1-3cc9-99c2-c51b329e12d9 This week we are looking at the film Paradise Hills and Level 16 both films are set at dystopian finishing schools where being the perfect girl is the goal. These young women are trapped in the trappings of femininity and sacrificed in the pursuit of an apparent notion of female perfection. We discuss this in relation to a recent TIME article that argues that women's genre filmmaking is “about women’s deepest anxieties”. Content warning: discussion of rape culture and violence against women.

]]> This week we are looking at the film Paradise Hills and Level 16 both films are set at dystopian finishing schools where being the perfect girl is the goal. These young women are trapped in the trappings of femininity and sacrificed in the pursuit of an apparent notion of female perfection. We discuss this in relation to a recent TIME article that argues that women's genre filmmaking is “about women’s deepest anxieties”. Content warning: discussion of rape culture and violence against women.

]]> womenmakesf false No 3188 6 full Fan Grrling Fan Grrling https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/fan-grrling/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/fan-grrling/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2020 14:04:00 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/8c3d2f5f-c3f0-326d-9576-b23f4ce3faae Guest Katie Heffner is a PhD student at the University of Kent, supervised by Prof. Charlotte Sleigh, researching women’s participation in fandom in the early 20th century. She received a Masters in Library and Information Science with a concentration on digital archives at the University of Iowa in 2019. Her honors thesis for her Bachelors degree in English Literature explores how fandom practices such as fanzines can be used within classrooms.

]]> Guest Katie Heffner is a PhD student at the University of Kent, supervised by Prof. Charlotte Sleigh, researching women’s participation in fandom in the early 20th century. She received a Masters in Library and Information Science with a concentration on digital archives at the University of Iowa in 2019. Her honors thesis for her Bachelors degree in English Literature explores how fandom practices such as fanzines can be used within classrooms.

]]> womenmakesf false No 4405 5 full Ladies of the Lakes (water, waves, and women) Ladies of the Lakes (water, waves, and women) https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/ladies-of-the-lakes-water-waves-and-women/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/ladies-of-the-lakes-water-waves-and-women/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2020 18:53:15 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/dfca0356-9f11-3702-b44d-a73a4aaf4e00 The sea merges myth and science - both a source of deep fear (and thus myth) and massive rewards (and thus science). In SF the oceans can be a space of imagined futures, a frontier, and a dangerous yet bountiful environment. We noticed a trend in the women directed movies we have been watching that focus around the theme of the sea and water, so this episode explores the sea in women made SF and the mythic connection between science, the sea, and female experiences.

]]> The sea merges myth and science - both a source of deep fear (and thus myth) and massive rewards (and thus science). In SF the oceans can be a space of imagined futures, a frontier, and a dangerous yet bountiful environment. We noticed a trend in the women directed movies we have been watching that focus around the theme of the sea and water, so this episode explores the sea in women made SF and the mythic connection between science, the sea, and female experiences.

]]> womenmakesf false No 3605 4 full Stop Canceling our Shows Stop Canceling our Shows https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/stop-canceling-our-shows/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/stop-canceling-our-shows/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2020 14:15:02 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/7a919968-052a-5b18-81d8-a256a4ed5c70 We take a break from film to gab about our favorite women-created SF TV (which, given how short the list is, is all of them): Emergence, Vagrant Queen, Sense8, Killjoys!, Westworld, and Altered Carbon, with a little Roswell, iZombie, Russian Doll, Jessica Jones, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

]]> We take a break from film to gab about our favorite women-created SF TV (which, given how short the list is, is all of them): Emergence, Vagrant Queen, Sense8, Killjoys!, Westworld, and Altered Carbon, with a little Roswell, iZombie, Russian Doll, Jessica Jones, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

]]> womenmakesf false No 3012 3 full Defining SF is Hard Defining SF is Hard https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/definingsf/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/definingsf/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2020 14:26:32 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/dcfa1a39-78f3-573b-8177-e5466a18d31a What is SF? Why "SF" and not "scifi"? In this episode we follow up on the ideas from the opening episode as we debate what really qualifies as science fiction. We also discuss our first three watch party movies: Welcome II the Terrordome (dir. Ngozi Onwurah, 1993), Tank Girl (dir. Rachel Talalay, 1995), and Évolution (dir. Lucile Hadzihalilovic, 2015).

]]> What is SF? Why "SF" and not "scifi"? In this episode we follow up on the ideas from the opening episode as we debate what really qualifies as science fiction. We also discuss our first three watch party movies: Welcome II the Terrordome (dir. Ngozi Onwurah, 1993), Tank Girl (dir. Rachel Talalay, 1995), and Évolution (dir. Lucile Hadzihalilovic, 2015).

]]> womenmakesf false No 4260 1 2 full Launching Women Make SF Launching Women Make SF https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/launch/ https://womenmakesf.podbean.com/e/launch/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2020 15:39:29 +0200 womenmakesf.podbean.com/35d52a32-1abc-5aee-919c-4bcb847b8089 In our inaugural episode, we introduce you to us as your hosts, and the project itself: where it came from, what it is, and where we expect it to go. 

Intro/Outro music: Inspire Glitches (2017) by Yuriy Shishlov (CC-BY-NC-SA)

Hosts: Amy Chambers (@amycchambers), Lyle Skains (@lskains/@wonderboxpub)

]]> In our inaugural episode, we introduce you to us as your hosts, and the project itself: where it came from, what it is, and where we expect it to go. 

Intro/Outro music: Inspire Glitches (2017) by Yuriy Shishlov (CC-BY-NC-SA)

Hosts: Amy Chambers (@amycchambers), Lyle Skains (@lskains/@wonderboxpub)

]]> womenmakesf false No 2371 1 1 full