Movies

The Daily Stream: Celebrate Some Of The Best Women Directed Genre Shorts With Etheria Film Night 2022

Mor Cohen in A.K. Espada's This Is Our Home Shudder
By BJ Colangelo/

Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Shorts: "This Is Our Home," "Inheritance," "Dana," "Lucid," "Freya," "The Familiars," "Come F*** My Robot"

Where You Can Stream It: Shudder

The Pitch: Since 2014, festival founders Heidi Honeycutt and Stacy Pippi Hammon have been providing one of the premier showcases of genre films directed by women with the Etheria Film Festival. Each year, the film night honors a curated lineup of horror, science fiction, thriller, fantasy, dark comedy, and action short films directed by women and on special occasions, will highlight a feature film. Over the years, the festival has been home to some of the best women working in the business, including short films that would later go on to become horror features like Jill Gevargizian's "The Stylist" and Prano Bailey-Bond's "Nasty," which would later become "Censor." The festival also honors one person each year with The Etheria Film Night Inspiration Award, with previous winners including Lexi Alexander, Jane Espenson, Jackie Kong, Stephanie Rothman, Rachel Talalay, Gale Anne Hurd, and Angela Kang. This year, the award went to Gigi Saul Guerrero, who has a long history showcasing her short films at Etheria, and has gone on to direct films like "Culture Shock" and "Bingo Hell" in addition to her career as an actress. Thanks to a partnership with Shudder, all of the shorts from the history of Etheria Film Night are available to stream, including this year's fantastic collection.

Why It's Essential Viewing

Victoria A. Villier in Annalise Lockhart's Inheritance Shudder

Getting a movie made is hard, but getting a movie made when you're from a marginalized identity is even harder. While things have been improving in recent years, there's still a massive gender disparity when it comes to genre films. Horror, science fiction, thriller, fantasy, dark comedy, and action are all genres enjoyed and appreciated by non-cisgender men, and yet the entire system has been set up to prioritize the success of men, and only men, even when they fail miserably. Etheria Film Night isn't trying to be the "Ladies Night" diversity checkbox of film festivals, it's a showcase of some of the best genre creators in the business who are continuing to craft brilliant works of art in an industry that has never prioritized their vision. There's no shortage of talented women making genre films, and the collection of shorts in this year's Etheria Film Night is proof positive of this fact.

This year's lineup features the creepily empathetic "This Is Our Home" by A.K. Espada, the haunting "Inheritance" by Annalise Lockhart," the justified vengeance of "Dana" by Lucia Forner Segarra, the 90s art explosion of "Lucid" by Deanna Milligan, the Jury Award-winning "FREYA," from Camille Hollett-French, the witchy folklore of "The Familiars" by Millicent Malcolm, and the hilariously twisted "Come F*** My Robot" from Mercedes Bryce Morgan. These seven shorts couldn't be more different from one another, which means there's something for everyone.

Support. Watch. Vote.

Rhona Rees in FREYA by Camille Hollett-French Shudder

We hear a lot of complaints around these parts about how "Hollywood is out of ideas!" or "No one makes anything original anymore!" when it's not for a lack of trying. Independent voices are screaming, desperately trying to be heard, it's just a matter of whether or not you're receptive to listening. From now until July 19, 2022, all of the 2022 Etheria Film Night Shorts will be available to stream on Shudder, and viewers can even take part in the audience award by voting for their favorite online. This is a fantastic way to not only support one of the most prestigious women-directed genre festivals in the game, but a way to get a first look at some of the rising stars of genre filmmaking.

Perhaps one of the women in this line-up will follow the footsteps of other Etheria alumni like Axelle Carolyn ("The Haunting of Bly Manor," "American Horror Story," "The Midnight Club"), Mariama Diallo ("Random Acts of Flyness," "Master"), Natalie Erika James ("Relic," the upcoming "Apartment 7A"), Mindy Bledsoe ("The In-Between"), Bridget Savage Cole ("Blow the Man Down," "The Stand"), Roseanne Liang ("Shadow in the Cloud," the upcoming "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series), Amelia Moses ("Bleed With Me," "Bloodthirsty"), Chloe Okuno ("V/H/S/94," "Watcher"), and many, many more.

Recommended