What Is Thelma & Alice?

Thelma and Alice is a newsletter for people who want to watch more movies made by women. It began as a blog that I started in late 2017, after the Harvey Weinstein allegations broke. It was a wake-up moment for me when I realized that the vast majority of movies and TV shows I watched were written or directed by men. I wanted to correct my vision and make an effort to seek out more movies created by women. Maybe you do, too.

The name Thelma & Alice is a nod to the feminist classic film, Thelma & Louise. Thelma refers to Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese’s legendary and indispensable film editor; Alice refers to Alice Guy-Blaché, one of the first people to direct narrative film. You can watch one of her first efforts, filmed in 1900, “The Cabbage Fairy” on Youtube. It’s about a minute long and it’s delightful.

Why Subscribe?

Every month you'll get 4-5 short and sweet film recommendations sent to your inbox, all of them written or directed by women. My goal is to pick movies for a variety of moods, whether you need a low-stakes weeknight watch, an escape to a beautiful landscape, or if you're ready to dig into a complex social or historical issue. Movies will be a mix of new and old, and I’ll always let you know where they are streaming.

About Me

I write fiction and criticism, but mostly fiction. Novels are my first love, with movies a close second. I’m the author of a novel, Home Field (William Morrow 2016), and new novel, We Were Pretending, forthcoming from Little A. My short stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications including Electric Literature, The Southern Review, The New England Review, Poets & Writers, The New York Times, and The Millions, among others.

I live in Maine with my husband and our two children. You can email me at hgersenauthor@gmail.com or by replying to posts. You can also find me at letterboxd at ThelmaAndAlice.

Subscribe to Thelma and Alice

Every month you'll get 4-5 short and sweet film recommendations sent to your inbox, all of them written, directed, or produced by women.

People

Hannah Gersen - writer & moviegoer, author of HOME FIELD, reviews @thecommonmag, new novel WE WERE PRETENDING forthcoming August 2024, in the meantime writing about movies & culture here and elsewhere.