Sisters Under the Mink Speaks!

On video introductions and film of the month club

Welcome to Sisters Under the Mink, weekend edition! 

I’m in your inbox this Friday to announce a new way of delivering this newsletter to you, including a few extras and perks. On top of the usual essays, there will be a monthly theme, along with a corresponding film of the month, curated by me and including a video introduction! Wherever possible I will always try and choose something accessible and/or affordable for readers to view. 

This month, Sisters Under the Mink will be collaborating with Cinema Italia UK to explore their mini film festival, Donne di Mafia (or ‘Women of the Mafia’), which will be taking place on their online platform from tomorrow, Saturday 6 March, to Monday 8 March, finishing up on International Women’s Day. I’ll let them explain it to you: 

I’ve always been fascinated by the rigid, secretive world of the Italian mafia, but it’s undeniable that the majority of their screen depictions have been extraordinarily male, and often romanticised. When it comes to Italian national cinema, it’s a little bit different. The poisonous leak of powerful regional mafioso - groups like the Ndrangheta and the notorious Camorra - is a daily reality. And their impact on the lives of countless Italian women is unspeakable. Donne di Mafia festival offers a desperately-needed corrective to the ‘men of honour’ narrative of mob stories, depicting everything from victims of mafia violence to mob wives and crusading female magistrates. To that end, this month, I’ll also be talking to the festival’s programmer, Felia Allum, about her choices and the thinking behind them, and writing about the films at length. 

Going forward, this is how it will work: in March, all of this material will still be free to subscribers, with a surprise gift for any email signups at the end of the month. If you like what you’re getting and want to convert to a paid subscription, you’ll continue to get a second dispatch from me, including a film of the month pick, a video introduction, and the opportunity for in-depth discussion in the comments. If you’re happy on the free list, of course, you’ll still get a dispatch monthly from Sisters Under the Mink. 

In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Donne di Mafia festival online, which begins tomorrow and still has availability. Where else are you going to find an Italian film about mob wives that also happens to be a musical?