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Talkhouse

Jessica Watkins is a stand-up comedian, actress and producer born and raised in East Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles in 2005 and has been living and performing in New York City for over a decade. Her first film, <a href="https://www.specialishdoc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jessica Watkins: SPECIALish</a>, is now available on-demand and on all digital platforms. (Photo by Jesse Paul.)

Jessica Watkins

Film

Unscared

Melissa Stephens is a comedian, actor, writer and director from the peach state. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and after graduation she relocated to L.A. She is a founding member of IAMA Theatre Company, performing in the world premieres of Leslye Headland’s Bachelorette, Reverb and Cult of Love. Her directorial debut, Peen, was a Vimeo Staff Pick, and she writes and directs the short series <a href="http://www.findingtheasshole.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Finding the Asshole</a>, which was chosen to show at Slamdance 2019 in the Episodes program. Her latest short, Travis, is now available online. (Picture by Christopher Stewart.)

Melissa Stephens

Making Amends

Kaouther Ben Hania constantly explores the boundaries between fiction and documentary; her sixth film,<a href="https://www.thevoiceofhindrajabfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> The Voice of Hind Rajab</a>, is now in theaters. As a filmmaker, she constantly explores the boundaries between fiction and documentary. Her previous film, Four Daughters, was nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Awards 2024, after being presented in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film received numerous prestigious awards and was sold in over 40 territories. Her 2021 film, The Man Who Sold His Skin, was also nominated at the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film in 2021, representing Tunisia. All her other films have premiered at prestigious festivals including: Cannes, Venice, AFI, Los Angeles, Locarno, IDFA, Hot Docs Toronto. (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo.)

Kaouther Ben Hania

How I Made a Feature Film About Rape in Just Nine Shots

Natalia Leite is a writer-director-actor, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her 2015 feature film debut, Bare, starred Dianna Agron, Paz De La Huerta and Chris Zylka and was released by IFC Films and Paramount Pictures. She often deals with sexuality in her work, which has been described as having “a bracing, assertive style” (Variety), “emotional intelligence and sensitivity” (Los Angeles Times), and as “cementing the reign over highly stylized and sexually progressive dramas” (Slant). Her second feature, M.F.A., a psychological thriller centered around rape crimes in a university, stars Francesca Eastwood and was released by Dark Sky Films this fall. She also directs music videos and commercials, and is a frequent contributor to Vice Media. She created the provocative Vice show Every Woman, which has garnered over 8 million views, and co-created and starred in the series Be Here Nowish on Vimeo. Her work has been featured in The Sunday Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue, among other publications.

Natalia Leite

Why Women Need to Tell Rape Stories

Bree McKenna is a musician, writer, Libra and feminist witch living in Seattle. She splits her time playing bass in Tacocat, the Hardly Art punk pop band responsible for anti-street harassment anthem &#8220;Hey Girl&#8221; and celebratory menstruation surf-rock hit &#8220;Crimson Wave,&#8221; and in pregnancy-themed supergroup Childbirth, who write funny feminist punk songs gleefully commemorating questionable sexual decisions and skewering dudes who ask rude questions about scissoring. As a writer, McKenna&#8217;s work has appeared in She Shreds, Vice and Seattle alternative weekly the Stranger, notably satirizing music journalism misogyny in a &#8220;Men Who Rock!&#8221; issue and calling out punk scene sexism in her essay &#8220;Sexist Queers.&#8221; McKenna loves chihuahuas, essential oils, and spell-casting.
(Photo credit: Michael Levine)

Bree Mckenna

Music

Bree McKenna (Tacocat, Childbirth) Points out the Sad Irony Inherent in the Attacks Against Brock Turner’s Friend

Esmé Patterson&#8217;s decadal musical career sprang from Colorado&#8217;s mountains when she co-founded Denver&#8217;s beloved indie-folk ensemble Paper Bird. After four acclaimed albums and perpetual touring, Patterson set a new course. In 2012, she wove local talents, including Nathaniel Rateliff, into her first powerful, ethereal solo release All Princes, I. Her 2014 release, Woman to Woman, rounded out previously one-dimensional females from popular songs to the praise of The New York Times, The Guardian and others. “Dearly Departed,” her hit collaboration with Shakey Graves, led to millions of streams, sold out shows nationwide, as well as performances on Conan and The Late Show With David Letterman. Patterson&#8217;s newest record, We Were Wild, was released on June 10, 2016.
(Photo credit: Daniel Topete)

Esmé Patterson

Esmé Patterson Plans to Celebrate the Swedish Heroes of the Stanford Rape Case on Stage

rape