Hello April
We have officially been running our monthly recommendations and update “Hello” articles for a year now, which is so lovely! We have a lot going on the scenes to to let you know about along with some wonderful top picks from our team. Before you check these out, here’s our founder, Caris, to let you know what we are up to here at Rianne Pictures.
What have we been up to?
Usually, I round up everything that we’ve been up to over the past month, which I’m still going to try to do! But with something a little different on this occasion. So bare with me!
RP: Evolve kicked off in March, our first workshop was about story structure, developing our writers into stepping away from ‘analysis paralysis’ and moving into strengthening their ideas with structure and world-building. There’s a lot of pressure out there for writers to constantly be….well writing. Sometimes a break is the most important step you can take in your journey, it’s something I’ve learned a lot this past couple of weeks. My dog, Kara, went in for a routine operation and two days later was rushed back into surgery as something had gone wrong.
A terrifying time, leaving her to stay in the vet hospital overnight filled me with loneliness and fear. What did I have waiting for me the next morning? More emails, more meetings, and more work. So I took a step back, sometimes it can feel that as we have to work twice as hard in this industry that taking a break is a sign of defeat, a step back, failure of not being good enough. When in fact, it’s just a pause, it’s all still waiting for us afterwards. We’re in control of the timeline.
Imposter syndrome is in more of us than we’d like to admit, particularly when we’re working in an industry that didn’t have space for us for a very long time. There’s no clear career path ahead for us, it’s about fighting our way to be seen, heard and taken seriously. We’ve been building our partnerships for Women X this month as well as looking for our venue. It’s been a hard one navigating booking a venue when you’re not able to visit it beforehand and yet you still need to pay a non-refundable deposit (I know right). Partnerships can be tricky too, over the past few weeks I have been told “There are other bigger festivals out there.” “How can you promise it will be the best event during that month?” “We’re not looking to support a start-up event.” Hearing these words and having to keep a brave face is hard, it can also fill me with doubt as to whether I’m good enough.
Let me get something off my chest, Women X never wanted to be the biggest, we’re more than likely not the best. But we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere. Women X has and always will be a safe space for women and non binary to share and celebrate their work, and film lovers to experience something different, and aspiring filmmakers to know that there is space for them in this industry too. Judging by the number of submissions we’re received, the exciting partnerships we’ll soon announce and the feedback we gathered last year, we’re doing a pretty good job for the people who count, and that’s what matters.
Speaking of doing a good job, over on the podcast you can now catch up with the live episodes we did along with a Wandavision 101, a perfect companion if you enjoyed the Disney+ series as much as we did. If you’re not subscribed yet, hit that button on Spotify or Apple Podcasts - you’ll make our day.
Over at RP: Editorial we shared a nice little round-up of the female directed short films featured at the BFI Future Film Festival, along with some fantastic interviews from Susanna with five of those directors featured. The editorial team shared some brilliant essays too, including a beautiful piece on The Haunting of Hill House by Alysha, if you have five minutes today seriously take a read of her story, you can find all of the pieces over here.
April brings us longer days, a little bank holiday, and one month closer to the cinemas re-opening. Hang in there guys and tell your imposter syndrome to f**k off for today, you’ll see them again tomorrow.
Now back over to Sophie for your monthly recommendations.
Caris x
TV Shows
Diner Banter - YouTube
The Circle - Channel 4
Now, you must have seen everyone talking about The Circle (if not, are you off the grid?) and for good reason. This addictive social media game is filled with overdramatic editing and more plot twists than you can count - Caris and Ashton are utterly obsessed!
Diner Banter - YouTube
Neha is loving Diner Banter, a new independent show directed by Gayatri Bahl and streaming on YouTube. The bite sized comedy is fully improvised and focuses on four friends as they laugh and vent about anything and everything at their favourite diner. The women involved are fantastically talented and this is definitely worth checking out!
Your Honor - Sky Atlantic
Lauren has been enjoying watching Your Honor, a crime drama available on Sky Atlantic. Starring Bryan Cranston as a New Orleans judge, the show is really gripping and you won’t want to stop watching.
Taskmaster - Channel 4
Taskmaster - Channel 4
My favourite escapism show is back! There is no better way to switch off from everything than watching a bunch of comics run about trying to complete silly tasks in the best way possible. There are always some fantastic wins and spectacular failures, both as enjoyable to see. Even bigger plus for me is that one of my all time faves of British tv, Charlotte Ritchie, is on this series!
Scandal - Disney+
If you haven’t yet watched Scandal, it’s all available to stream now on Disney+. Pearl is currently watching it for the first time and is completely obsessed with it. In particular, she loves how, much like other Shonda Rhimes shows, it’s a masterclass in when to reveal information that will change the story.
Judas and the Black Messiah
Films
Judas and the Black Messiah - BFI Player
Another film finally out in the UK is Judas and the Black Messiah. It’s hard to choose stand-out performances as the whole cast is incredible but Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, and Dominique Fishback shine in particular. Emily highly recommends it and found this a very eye opening watch having not known much about Fred Hampton beforehand.
Moxie - Netflix
Nomadland - Disney+
After months of anticipation, Nomadland is finally going to be available to watch in the UK! Chloe Zhao’s latest film starring Frances McDormand is an awards season favourite and has received tons of glowing reviews. Emily, along with most of our team, cannot wait to see it!
Moxie - Netflix
Directed by the ever brilliant Amy Poehler, Moxie is a fun coming-of-age film adapted from Jennifer Mathieu’s novel of the same name. Caris found this to be an uplifting film to watch despite a couple flaws. She would love to see a sequel with Lucy as the main character, navigating the cause in a college setting. Lauren also wants to give a shoutout to how good the soundtrack is!
Promising Young Woman - Sky Cinema
Emerald Fennell’s feature directorial debut can finally be seen in the UK on April 16. Promising Young Woman stars the stunningly talented Carey Mulligan as a woman who is trying to avenge her friend. It’s been nominated for a bunch of awards and has got a lot of people talking about it.
Dinosaur 13 - Sky Documentaries
Think you won’t be devastated by a dinosaur skeleton? That’s what Ashton thought too but then she finished watching Dinosaur 13 and was way more emotional than she ever thought she would be! The journey the crew went through to discover this giant fossil is well worth checking out.
Podcasts
#WomenCreateToo Podcast
Cosy Corner - Anastasia Tasou
Larissa has been loving Anastasia Tasou’s Cosy Corner podcast, a chilled out pod with no strict episode schedule. An artist with some beautiful products in her shop (and some free zines and colouring pages!), her podcast episodes are like a little chat and a breath of fresh air for your day.
#WomenCreateToo Podcast
We teamed up with this fab bunch for our live podcast event recently and had the best time! Women Create Too is a podcast hosted by Lolly, Lauren, Ruby Suze, and Natali - they are truly amazing and their show focuses on supporting women of colour in the film industry. The discussions they have are honest, personal, and inspiring for any fellow creatives.
The Missing Cryptoqueen - BBC Sounds
Would it really be a Rianne Pictures Hello article without a podcast reç from Ashton? The answer is no! This month, she wants to shout about The Missing Cryptoqueen on BBC Sounds. The pod investigates the woman who invented a cryptocurrency that scammed people out of millions and she’s now vanished! Give this a listen as they try to track her down…
Revolting Prostitutes - Molly Smith & Juno Mac
Books
Independent Artist Colouring Books - Aire Place Studios
Aire Place Studios are a not for profit studio based in Leeds and last month they launched a Black, Asian and Minoritized Ethnic Colouring Book and a LGBTQ+ Colouring Book. They are created by contributions from a wide variety of independent artists and look and sound fantastic. A great way to support independent creators and spend some relaxing time colouring unique artwork.
Revolting Prostitutes - Molly Smith & Juno Mac
Emily picked this up after being stuck in a bit of a reading rut and it’s really helped her get out of it. It’s all about sex work and sex workers’ rights and, importantly, is written by two sex workers. It explores legalities without being too dry or academic in tone which makes it more accessible. There is also a lot in here about the limits of carceral feminism too, which is very relevant and I highly recommend reading up on it.
The Black Flamingo - Dean Atta
I read this very recently as part of my LGBTQ+ Book Club and I absolutely loved it! We follow Michael from childhood to young adulthood as he is figuring out his identity, who he is, and what matters most to him. We see his heartfelt and difficult journey to creating his space in the world. It was loved by all at the book club, and features Dean Atta’s wonderful poem, How to Come Out as Gay.
All My Lies - Sophie Flynn
If you fancy checking out a psychological thriller, we have a fab recommendation from Pearl. All My Lies is the debut novel from Sophie Flynn, set to be published on April 23rd. You can preorder now for a story filled with twists and turns.
