Suggested Recent Titles on Filmmaking: Groundbreaking Female Directors, De Palma’s Overlooked War, Almodóvar, and Anthony Mann

      As we progress through 2025, our latest column presents a selection of books that are poised to be among the year's most significant and outstanding releases. Additionally, this column includes an extensive overview of new and recent novels worth your attention, along with a plethora of Blu-ray and 4K treasures. Let’s begin with an engaging and enlightening overview of women in film.

      **Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words by Marya E. Gates (Rizzoli)**

      Anyone familiar with critic and writer Marya E. Gates’ “Female Filmmakers in Focus” column on RogerEbert.com will agree that she is expertly positioned to author Cinema Her Way. This beautifully crafted and visually stunning book is filled with information and interviews. Gates highlights the legendary figures in cinema (Varda, Lupino, Akerman) whose work paved the path for current filmmakers. While she briefly mentions renowned directors like Coppola and Gerwig, Gates gives precedence to many significant directors whose contributions have been overlooked. She speaks with Jane Campion and Miranda July, but also delves into the works of Allison Anders, Lizzie Borden, Julie Dash, Mary Lambert, and Isabel Sandoval. One of my favorite quotes comes from Katt Shea, whose filmography spans from Poison Ivy and The Rage: Carrie 2 to Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. In their discussion, Gates addresses the recurring “outsider” theme in much of Shea’s oeuvre. “If it’s somebody who’s misunderstood and doesn’t belong,” Shea remarks, “then I have a movie!” This essential theme resonates throughout many films explored in Cinema Her Way.

      **Casualties of War: An Investigation by Nathan Réra (Sticking Place Books)**

      Few individual film analyses are as thorough and insightful as Casualties of War: An Investigation. Author Nathan Réra meticulously examines every facet of the film's journey, from its inspiration to its production and lasting impact. The investigation starts with the actual Vietnam incident and journalist Daniel Lang’s piece for The New Yorker, followed by a failed adaptation effort by Fred Zinnemann and a partial adaptation from Elia Kazan. Then arrives De Palma, with the book covering every detail of pre-production, overseas filming, and the post-production phase. It’s an exhaustive method, resulting in a deeper appreciation for a film that was too harrowing for most audiences and critics in 1989. “The film is more than just a cinematic adaptation,” Réra asserts. “It is a genuine backdrop where memories—those of Americans and Vietnamese, of veterans and anti-war activists—collide.”

      **The Passion of Pedro Almodóvar by James Miller (Columbia University Press)**

      It has been several months since the release of The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodóvar's latest film. Given the insights in The Passion of Pedro Almodóvar, I would have relished reading James Miller’s perspective on the director’s first English-language drama. Miller examines seven specific entries in Almodóvar’s filmography: Volver, Bad Education, his debut feature Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom, Laws of Desire, The Flowers of My Secret, Broken Embraces, and Pain and Glory. This is a smart approach, especially with the inclusion of the latter two films (two of my personal favorites). Miller’s reflections on Glory are particularly illuminating: “Pain and Glory becomes a vehicle for grappling with the collateral damage caused by the movidea [the Spanish cultural revolution], a formative moment that Almodóvar fondly recalls.”

      **The Black Book: An Anthony Mann Reader by Scout Tafoya (Honors Zombie Books)**

      One of my favorite reads in 2023 was filmmaker and critic Scout Tafoya’s examination of John Ford, But God Made Him a Poet. Tafoya returns with another intricately crafted, deeply engaging analysis of a pivotal director—this time Anthony Mann, known for Winchester ’73, El Cid, and The Fall of the Roman Empire. “This is a work rooted in pure appreciation for a man who mastered cinematic language, poured his heart and soul into his work, and ultimately died largely unappreciated by Hollywood,” Tafoya remarks. “Mann’s failures and successes seem to keep each other in check, never allowing his greatness to achieve canonical status. His name is one every American cinephile learns, but we aren’t encouraged to express our admiration. That’s precisely what I aim to do.” You will finish Black Book with a deeper respect for Mann and his contributions, as well as for Tafoya’s significant work.

      **Past Lives by Celine Song (A24)**

      A24’s screenplay books make for wonderful keepsakes and signify that a film is among the company’s most cherished releases. Thus, it is fitting that Celine Song’s stunning Past Lives has received a deluxe treatment. The book is segmented into five