Celebrating women is a 365 days a year endeavor, but in March, the month OF women, we turn it up a notch. We pay homage to women as the subject and creators of art that is worth our excitement, our support, and our attention. This issue features creators from all over the globe, from the streets of Hungary to the boroughs of NYC. From trailblazers in film and animation to disrupters who have interrupted your scheduled programming to preside over introducing you to the next level of cool.
In each iteration, these creators personify the audacity, the work ethic, and genius of what it truly means to be bad-ass. Check them out below and bask in a slice of their glorious creations.
Best Always!
Team Narazu
All Indie. All Awesome.
Film
by Leo Faierman
It’s no question that women at the helm in genre films have quite a ways to go. The Hollywood machine is a poisonous environment for women creatives to survive and thrive within, and while the recent upswing of #MeToo matched with prominently successful filmmakers like Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins have laid important groundwork for progress, have we reached a real sea change yet?
This Women’s History Month, I’d like to introduce three specific examples of experimental sci-fi and genre pieces directed by women, and I expect these names may be unknown to readers. These filmmakers are drawn from the three unique formats presented — short film, feature-length, and anime — but these pieces are exceptional, and the women behind them deserve not only our fervent support and promotion but our dollars as well. Of the 500 top-grossing 2018 films, women comprised a mere 15% of directors, according to an analysis by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. What’s even more interesting (and wholly unsurprising) is that, on those films which featured at least one female director, women comprised 71% of writers, 47% of editors, and 19% of cinematographers, with drastically reduced frequency when the directors were solely men.
The point stands that women situated behind the camera foster a safer, more welcoming, and more profitable environment for fellow women creatives. And those changes that will slowly accumulate as the gatekeepers are dealt with aren’t purely financial; as a lover of film, I selfishly want to see women thrive in the medium because it inevitably translates to better art for all of us to enjoy.
Hungarian filmmaker and animator Réka Bucsi has been making a name for herself on the short film circuit, with growing recognition and accolades for her outstanding, singular approach to animation and sound. Her first proper release was Symphony no. 42, a sublime series of connected vignettes which range from haunting to hilarious to absurd. Shortlisted for an Oscar, it would later be outdone by the short which I want to introduce to Narazu readers: LOVE. In 14 hypnotic minutes, Bucsi weaves a gorgeously uncanny symbolic story around the theme of the title, featuring bizarre creatures, planetary bodies, and a bewitching environment that somehow communicates themes of affection, joy, revival, safety, and dissolution. It’s so rich and resonant, a 360-degree observant meditation on love, despite the fact that it barely uses any practical language at all. Bucsi’smost recent short, Solar Walk, is presently unavailable in complete form online, presumably (or, hopefully) because there will be an eventual collection of these pieces released on DVD, but you can still watch LOVE on her Vimeo page.
Hilary Brougher’s 1997 debut The Sticky Fingers of Time represents one of my favorite types of films: a low/no-budget, gutsy passion project that has no choice but to rely on the strength of its writing and concept. Terumi Matthews plays Tucker Harding, a pulp-fiction author in the 50s who is drawn into a paradoxical time travel miasma, along with modern-day suicidal divorcee Drew (Nicole Zaray). Meanwhile, James Urbaniak (of Venture Bros. Fame) flutters around the periphery, cryptically engaging the events of the story while seemingly beholden to cursed “non-linear time.” It all results in a genre-bending mix of detective story, multi-threaded romance, and high-concept sci-fi, full of delightfully enigmatic lines like, “The price you pay for seeing the future is seeing the future.” Brougher has had a few films since Sticky Fingers, but it remains as a shining and inspiring example of a self-made artist doing the most with what’s at-hand, with directorial imagination in place of special effects. Check out the DVD available for purchase on Amazon with full director’s commentary.
Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
Finally, I wanted to speak about director Sayo Yamamoto. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, chances are that you’re familiar with her work in anime — and, specifically, her recent breakout hit Yuri on Ice— but there’s an exceptional portion of her oeuvre that is frequently skipped over. I’m speaking about her complete Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Yamamoto was given total directorial and creative control over the 13-episode series, which centered on the prominent heroine for the first time, as well as taking a much darker, more romantic, and surprisingly sexually explicit angle than any of the other Lupin animations. Essentially, it’s a perfect, though less-futuristic companion piece to the classic Cowboy Bebop, and even features Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe (who has frequently collaborated with Yamamoto) on soundtrack duties. Yamamoto is, thus far, the only woman to helm a Lupin series, and one which I would argue is the best, with a messily beautiful noir style of animation. What’s perfect is that it acts as a prequel, which means that there are plenty of nods to entice series nerds, but it’s also a perfect introduction for people who have yet to dip their toes into Lupin the Third(which is admittedly daunting, as the anime celebrates its FIFTIETH anniversary this year!). The only bad news is that it can be a little bit pricey, with a Multi-Format disc set currently going for $120 on Amazon. So long as you have a disc drive in your computer or some other way to play Region 2 DVDs, you can also just try the Manga Entertainment UK version, which is more reasonably priced.
Comics & Graphic Novels
With International Women’s day having just past, I had the difficult decisions of finding women forward comics. Happily not difficult because I couldn’t find strong representations of women in comics or super talented writers and artists, but because there are so many out there doing the damn thing.
For this next pick, I’m going to zigzag a little and so should you If you find yourself in Brooklyn, New York and can head over to Anyone Comics. Once a month two geeky ladies Karama Horne, Angélique Roché, and their special guest get together to record this podcast. You might know the hosts from their mainstream work at SYFY.com, but the Radical Geeks is their independent space to deep dive with intelligent humor into that intersectional space where geekdom meets the real world. Each show is about an hour or so with guests that range from independent creators such as The Wilds writer Vita Ayala to the creator of the Twitter handle #OscarsSoWhite April Reign to actor-comedian-writer Dan Folger. If you can’t find your way to Brooklyn you can always listen in on their site The Radical Geeks or on SoundCloud.
Written by Saladin Ahmed, Art by Sami Kivela, Colored by Jason Wordie, Cover by Taj Tenfold
BOOM! Studios’ Abbott is a supernatural noir horror book that takes place in Detroit during the 70s. Its lead, Elena Abbott, is a black woman reporter trying to uncover the mystery around a series of murders happening on the city’s Ley Lines. She’s a hard-drinking, chain smoker who pushes against everyone trying to treat her like the damsel in distress. With tight dialogue and classic comic art styling, Ahmed and Kivela take us on a mystical hunt for the truth, crafting a story that is engaging and suspenseful while capturing a slice of time for readers that might be too young to truly appreciate what growing up in the 70s was like.
Written by Greg Rucka, Art and Cover by Michael Lark
For the past few years, I’ve been reading Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s creator-owned comic Lazarus. The Lazarus is the title given to the living weapon that protects and enforces theses family’s interests and agendas, for the Carlyle family that’s Forever. Forever is a genetically engineered clone, the 7th in this program, despite being a clone, she is able to overcome her programming and family conditioning to build relationships and become the woman that will be able to truly help protect her family, in this future earth. The world building is eerily topical in its forecasting of world politics and economic domination, nations no longer exist and the world is divided by the 1% ruling elite or families into zones/territories. Rucka and Lark treat the book like a tv series, taking occasional breaks to rejuvenate their creative juices, but the great news is that they’re back from their latest recharge with a new arc in Forevers journey of discovery, Lazarus: Risen.
As I stated before there’s an abundance of talented women out there making quality comics in the main and on the fringe, so look out for these women. And on the off chance that you can make your way to New York at the end of June, head over to the Queens Museum for the 5th Annual Women in Comics Con. What follows is a very brief list of women creators, so brief I’m sure some will have words for me the next time they see me.
Books
By Clarence Young aka Zig Zag Claybourne
March roars winter out of our lives, so it’s fitting that Narazu features women artists and creators this month, as the expression “lion’s share” befits all the work women in sci-fi/fantasy/horror/comics/film/everything put forth every single day to benefit every single one of us genrephiles.
Here are 3 women in genre who have taken the grassroots and grown imaginative forests for all to explore.
Kenesha Williams editor.
If there’s one thing women with voices do, it’s not wait for anyone’s permission to speak. Kenesha Williams saw a need for the imaginative and highly transformative voices of WoC to not only be heard but celebrated, and thus was Black Girl Magic: the Magazine born. The Year One anthology compiles issues 1 through 4 from its debut year into a showcase worthy of your must-read pile. Stories encompass fantasy, horror, sci-fi, magical realism, myth, poetry, and basically life itself; interviews range from the inspirational to the educational, from the hilarious to the painful, and the insightful to “so real it cuts. With pieces from Tanya DePass, Miri Castor, Angelique Bautista, and dozens more authors you’ll definitely make note of, Williams doesn’t simply take us where no man has gone before, Black Girl Magic is a journey to where women have always lived, breathed, and created: the fantastic.
Pleasure Activism
by Adrienne Maree Brown
Anyone familiar with sci-fi legend Octavia Butler can’t help but be familiar with Adrienne, who’s championed Ms. Butler via the tribute collection Octavia’s Brood and has led countless talks/workshops on creative activism centered around Butler’s Parables series. Pleasure Activism takes the notions of change, self-love (mentally, emotionally and physically), and the ways those notions literally change what a community can be.
From the book’s website: “How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life?” Pleasure activism becomes a “politics of healing and happiness that explodes the dour myth that changing the world is just another form of work.” Think of it as a Hunger Game of one, and you’re the District. Revolution is very sci-fi, very genre, and does not necessarily have to be an epic of grimdark sturm und drang. There’s pleasure in change once we negate fear. Brown’s essays, along with essays and interviews from luminaries within the fields of literature, music, film, art, and sexuality, serve as introductions for the reader to get to know themselves, maybe again, maybe for the first time, and realize how much power they contain.
If Nicole Kurtz ever gives you a story without a skewed, intriguing point of view, alert the authorities because it’s not Nicole Kurtz. Profiled on Narazu before for her Replicated sci fi-mystery series, Sisters of the Wild Sage (which releases this April, but is available for Kindle pre-order) promises tales of bullets beside magicks, gods beside buffalo, and ancient powers from around the world traveling west to recreate the American frontier. Think American Godsfrom a black woman’s perspective, and you’re on your way to some eye-opening reading.
So you’ll get some smallish person saying smallish things like “women can’t be scary.” Here’s what you do. Don’t argue, just give that person a name: Lucy Snyder. Better yet, give Wee Willie a book. The Garden of Eldritch Delights. Watch him read it, and then watch how haggard his face looks after a few sleepless nights wondering when an invisible touch might come, and from which direction. Lucy Snyder’s fiction hollows you out, pours you full of potions and tonics, then sends you on your way to bubble yourself into something new. As a 4-time Bram Stoker Award winner, Snyder knows how to get into your head when you’re not looking…and then she’ll wait there…till you’ve forgotten about her…then the full force of a story like Blossoms Blackened Like Dead Stars hits you so hard you’re wondering whether your universe was ever real. The Garden features 12 distinctly-voiced stories but all Snyder. Snyderian? If she hasn’t become an adjective a la “Lovecraftian” it’s due to a lack of trying on our part, not the deserving quality on hers. This is a must-read if you’re into disturbing reads that don’t let go.