Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the fathers of cinematic neorealism, but later moved towards luxurious, sweeping epics dealing with themes of beauty, decadence, death, and European history, especially the decay of the nobility and the bourgeoisie.
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy, cultural and feminist studies; the media also often uses the term. Across these disciplines, there is no single consensus definition, but broadly speaking body image consists of the ways people view themselves; their memories, experiences, assumptions, and comparisons about their own appearances; and their overall attitudes towards their own respective heights, shapes, and weights—all of which are shaped by prevalent social and cultural ideals.
Jean Kilbourne is an American public speaker, writer, filmmaker and activist, who is known for her work on the image of women in advertising and her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. She is also credited with introducing the idea of educating about media literacy as a way to prevent problems she viewed as originating from mass media advertising campaigns. She also lectures about the topic, and her documentaries based on these lectures are viewed around the world.
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a worldwide marketing campaign launched by Unilever in 2004 aiming to build self confidence in women and young children. Dove's partners in the campaign included Ogilvy, Edelman Public Relations, and Harbinger Communications along with other consultants. Part of the overall project was the Evolution campaign.
Cosmetic advertising is the promotion of cosmetics and beauty products by the cosmetics industry through a variety of media. The advertising campaigns are usually aimed at women wishing to improve their appearance, commonly to increase physical attractiveness and reduce the signs of ageing.
Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has published four photographic monographs, directed four documentary features, produced four traveling exhibitions, and published in magazines throughout the world.
Ruchi Anand is an Indian-born academic and author living in France. She has authored or contributed to several books in the field of international relations and environmental politics and teaches international relations in France and the United States.
The National Film Festival for Talented Youth, held annually in Seattle, Washington, showcases work by filmmakers 24 and under from across the U.S. and the world. Founded in 2007, it has since become the most influential youth-oriented film festival in North America, featuring early work by several notable filmmakers, including Gigi Saul Guerrero, Ben Proudfoot, and Rayka Zehtabchi. The festival includes film screenings, filmmaking workshops and panels, concerts by youth bands, and a gala opening night.
Pietra Brettkelly is a New Zealand filmmaker, known for her documentaries. She is a documentary filmmaker submitted three times for Oscar consideration, a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and was recently named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand. Her films have premiered in five of the world's top six film festivals – Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals – and have garnered many awards. She is known for her independent, risk-taking style, which has taken her to many different countries. She approaches her subjects' lives with a "quiet" demeanor and "non-judgmental" attitude, allowing her to capture and document real stories.
The 'effects of advertising on body image have been studied by researchers, ranging from psychologists to marketing professionals. "These days we know that the media and body image are closely related. Particularly, the body image advertising portrays affects our body image. Of course, many other things influence our body image: parenting, education, intimate relationships, and so on. The popular media does have a big impact, though" This is because thousands of advertisements contain messages about physical attractiveness and beauty, examples of which include commercials for clothes, cosmetics, weight reduction, and physical fitness. Researchers have conducted studies in an attempt to see if such advertisements have effects on teenage body image, and what those effects might be.
Amy Lemons is an American fashion model and model advocate. She rose to fame quickly by landing the cover of Italian Vogue at age 14. Her ascent in the modeling industry included shooting the covers of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire. She also landed campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and Louis Vuitton. After a brief hiatus to earn her college degree from UCLA, Amy came back to the modeling industry and began speaking out about the industry's "zero-sized standard" and healthy self-esteem for young women.
The thin ideal is the concept of the ideally slim female body. The common perception of this ideal is a woman who possesses a slender, feminine physique with a small waist and little body fat. The size that the thin ideal woman should be is decreasing while the rate of female obesity is simultaneously increasing, making this iconic body difficult for women to maintain. This creates a gap between the actual appearance of an average woman’s body and its expected appearance which, depending on the extent to which a woman internalizes the necessity of living up to this ideal for her well-being and peace of mind, may have serious psychological effects.
The Gardener is a documentary film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It had its Asian premiere at Busan International Film Festival, its European premiere at Rotterdam International Film Festival, and North American premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It is the first film in decades to be made by an Iranian filmmaker in Israel. The film has been shown in more than 20 film festivals and won the Best Documentary award from Beirut International Film Festival and the special Maverick Award at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia. The film was selected as "Critic's Pick of the Week" by New York Film Critics Circle, "Best of the Fest" at Busan Film Festival by The Hollywood Reporter, and "Top Ten Films" at Mumbai Film Festival by Times of India, and its script was added to the Library of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The feminine beauty ideal is a specific set of beauty standards regarding traits that are ingrained in women throughout their lives and from a young age to increase their perceived physical attractiveness. It is a phenomenon experienced by many women in the world, though the traits change over time and vary in country and culture.
Gender plays a role in mass media and is represented within media platforms. These platforms are not limited to film, radio, television, advertisement, social media, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to promote gender equality and reinforce women's empowerment in the media industry and representations. For example, UNESCO, in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists, elaborated the Gender-sensitive Indicators for Media contributing to gender equality and women's empowerment in all forms of media.
Taryn Brumfitt is an Australian body positivity advocate, writer, photographer, and filmmaker, known for founding the Body Image Movement and for her 2016 documentary film Embrace.
A Different Image is a 1982 film directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.
Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, second or third directoral works are admitted. There are three competition sections: International Feature Film, International Documentary Film and 'Focus: Switzerland, Germany and Austria' which focuses on these three production countries. Several industry events take place in the framework of the festival, such as the ZFF Academy or the international Zurich Summit, which have rendered the film festival an international platform for the film industry.
The Famine Within is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Katherine Gilday and released in 1990. The film explores the issue of women's body image, and the prevalence of eating disorders. The film was narrated by Rebecca Jenkins.The Famine Within is an exploration of the contemporary obsession with body size and shape among North American women. Through the use of conventional documentary interviews and narration in conjunction with striking evocative imagery, the film presents women sharing their own experiences suffering with an eating disorder. The direct testimony of many women who have suffered from the body obsession – dancers, mothers, career women, athletes, bulimics, fat women, anorexics, young girls - with the views of leading experts, this work explores the kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied by food. The film is less about illness associated with food, but more raises questions about why so many women are worried about gaining weight or “being fat” The film premiered at the 1990 Festival of Festivals. It was subsequently broadcast by TVOntario.
Body positivity is a social movement focused on the acceptance of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities, while challenging present-day beauty standards as an undesirable social construct. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body, instead of its physiological appearance.
