The Academy Awards have existed since May 1929. In that time, only three women have won the Oscar for Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for 2008’s The Hurt Locker, Chloe Zhao for 2020’s Nomadland and Jane Campion for 2021’s The Power of the Dog. That’s three out of 95 Best Director trophies awarded to women—and all of them given only within the past 15 years.

The Nevada Women’s Film Festival is back this weekend. The festival is in its 9th year and it’s the only festival in Nevada to showcase women in film in key creative positions.

The 9th Annual Nevada Women's Film Festival returns to Las Vegas, June 22-25. Nikki Corda, executive director and founder of Nevada Women's Film Festival, and Dr. Heather Addison, chair & professor of University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Department of Film, joined us to share everything you need to know about it.

A recent documentary produced by UNLV College of Fine Arts highlighted the neighborhood’s issues and was used in testimony on Thursday. 

It’s an issue that the neighborhood has been dealing with for decades: the sinking streets of Windsor Park in North Las Vegas. On Saturday, residents of about 90 families who live in the Windsor Park neighborhood attended a screening of a documentary followed by a community discussion. “Windsor Park: The Sinking Streets” is an award-winning documentary by UNLV film and law students bringing attention to the decades-long struggles of a community in North Las Vegas.

State Sen. Dina Neal says she’ll ask the state to appropriate $10 million and the City of North Las Vegas for $20 million more to relocate any of 90 or so remaining residents of Windsor Park, a neighborhood of sinking homes that residents say has been forgotten by the City of North Las Vegas.

A new partnership is bringing the future of filmmaking right to UNLV. The university's film department and Vu Studios announced a new era of innovation at the school.

A new partnership is bringing the future of filmmaking right to UNLV. The university's film department and Vu Studios announced a new era of innovation at the school.

A new arthouse theater has opened in Las Vegas and we look at how the film industry is fairing in Southern Nevada and whether A-list actor and new Las Vegan Mark Wahlberg’s plan to make Las Vegas “Hollywood 2.0” could happen.

In 2012, as head of physical production for Summit Entertainment, Andi Isaacs retired from Hollywood. With 30 years and many major projects, from Scent of a Woman to The Twilight Saga under her belt, she was ready “to fall in love with something else,” Isaacs says. She did film industry consulting, a lot of volunteering, and started an MS in counseling before finding that “something else”: teaching film to young adults. She says this age group “has my heart,” because “they’re struggling and need encouragement … (but also) they’re resilient and smart and have so much to offer.” Due to her particular expertise, Isaacs’ arrival at UNLV Film this school year represents a shift in the department’s academic approach. She sat down with Desert Companion in her movie paraphernalia-trimmed office recently to explain.

While today's celebrities have the advantage of looking good thanks to social media filters and the lighting and effects used by movie studios, it goes without saying that they are an enviably youthful-looking bunch.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas offers the College of Fine Arts, one of the largest fine arts colleges in the nation.