Overview

This first collection devoted to Susan Seidelman - director, producer and visionary of feminist American cinema and television includes never-before-published archival material and an interview with insights into her process and thoughts on #timesup and the future of the industry. Her debut feature, Smithereens, was the first American independent film to compete for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Her knack for casting saw her insist on Madonna for Desperately Seeking Susan before Madonna was famous. Seidelman directed Meryl Streep and John Malkovich in their first comedy features, Roseanne Barr in her first feature film and Laverne Cox in one of her earliest features. Seidelman also directed the Sex and the City pilot, kickstarting a global phenomenon. Seidelman's career is one of firsts, yet little is written about her. This collection begins filling that gap while opening the door for additional scholarship, making this a valuable text for years to come.

Full Product Details

Author:   Susan Santha Kerns (Associate Professor of Cinema and Television Arts, Columbia College Chicago.)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:  

9781399503051

ISBN 10:   1399503057
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   17 October 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Ahead of the Curve - Susan Santha Kerns Part 1: Building a Foundation 1. The Making of Ms. Right: Susan Seidelman and the Persistence of ""Women’s Films"" - Maya Montañez Smukler 2. Susan Seidelman's Sex and the City: TV Authorship and Feminist Possibility - Elizabeth Alsop 3. ""I've always been a voyeur"": An Interview with Susan Seidelman - Susan Santha Kerns Part 2: Embodied Spaces 4. ""Who is This?"": Smithereens, Susan Seidelman’s Auspicious Debut Feature - Susan Santha Kerns 5. Swapping the Suburban Housewife for the NYC Feminist: Susan Seidelman and her Personas - Ruth Wollersheim 6. Original She-Devil Ending Screenplay Pages 7. Unsettling Domesticity: Desperately Seeking Susan, Madonna, and the Voyeuristic Politics of MTV Stardom - Michael Reinhard 8. Directing a City: Susan Seidelman’s New York - Josephine M. Yanasak-Leszczynski 9. Making Frankie Stone: Feminism, Post-Romance, and Making Mr. Right - Vanessa Cambier Part 3: Making Room 10. Electric Melodrama: Susan Seidelman, Childhood, and the Girl Next Door - Debbie Olson 11. Age, Disability, and Agency in the Late-Period Films of Susan Seidelman - Cole Bradley 12. And You Can Dance! Movement, Mobility and Magic in Musical Chairs - Warren Holmes 13. Death, Illusion and the Hijab in Susan Seidelman’s Cut in Half - Stacy Thompson Bibliography Index

Reviews

"""This ground breaking collection on the work of under recognized film and television director Susan Seidelman illustrates both difficulties and the potentialities of centralizing women's desires, voices, and perspectives. By looking broadly at Seidelman's oeuvre, this book deftly categorizes and contextualizes the contributions she has made to the feminist media archive."" -Suzanne Leonard, Simmons University"

Author Information

Susan Santha Kerns is Associate Professor of Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago.

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