Isy Santini
Cult film addict and horror aficionado
Isy is currently a Master’s student at the University of Edinburgh and the Film & TV editor of The Student. As well as editing, she writes weekly articles ranging from reviews to retrospectives to discussions of the role of representation in media. She also writes longer essays on Medium. She is particularly interested in the intersection between film and politics. She believes that all films are political, and she is fascinated by film’s capacity to reveal pervasive but many times unspoken ideas that exist in society. She especially likes to apply feminist readings to film.
She is frequently found watching low-budget exploitation flicks from the 1960s and 1970s, and she loves almost every film from that era. She thinks it was a time when filmmakers were taking greater risks and telling weirder, often less palatable but infinitely interesting stories. It gave us
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975),
Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1979),
Jesus Christ Superstar (Norman Jewison, 1973; one of THE most underrated films of the ‘70s),
House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977),
Pink Flamingos (John Waters, 1972), and much more.
Her favourite genres are definitely horror and musicals because they tend to be very creative and embrace metaphor. That said, her favourite movie of all time is not ironically Ella Enchanted (Tommy O’Haver, 2005).
Other posts by Isy Santini
Castration Movie
Queer epic offers a multifaceted character study of trans girls, while keeping audiences hooked for a a whopping runtime - from Scotland's Weird Weekend
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Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers
Dirty queer classic from more than half a century ago boasts a whimsical quirkiness missing from present-day LGBT+ movies - from Scotland's Weird Weekend
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Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Tinto Brass's scandalous historical drama gets a major overhaul, removing the porny bits and inserting genuine horror into the story - on VoD on August 23rd
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Desire Lines
American documentary celebrates the diversity of transmasculine sexuality by exploring the lives of gay trans men, in a refreshing addition to LGBT+ representation - from the 40th edition of Sundance
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Pure Unknown (Sconosciuti Puri)
A forensic scientist works hard in order to identify migrant corpses and offer the dead people and their families some closure and dignity - from the the Italian Doc Season at Bertha DocHouse on January 27th and 28th
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Still Working 9 to 5
Star-studded American doc about the barriers that women still have to overcome at the workplace has a sobering message: the struggle for Equal Rights that began in the 1970s is far from over - from the Doc'n Roll Film Festival
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The top 10 Campest movies of all time!
From fur coats, giant hairdos, banging fists and vivacious overacting to inappropriately twee songs and even a cat that barks, Isy Santini scours the history of cinema in search of the most unnatural, exaggerated and yet sincere movies and movie scenes ever made
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Clashing Differences
A women's association is forced comply with a demanding diversity checklist, in this engaging and funny riff on the repercussions of the identity movement, and the various ramifications of feminism - from the 31st Raindance Film Festival
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Inland
British horror folk about a young man released from a psychiatric institution blends hyperrealism with surreal symbolism - view it for free in December with ArteKino 2024
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Reclaiming Vincente Minnelli’s overlooked gem
Not quite what it seems: Isy Santini takes a dirty look at Vincente Minnelli's Brigadoon and argues that the film - which most thought to be a musical - was in reality a horror piece!
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The top 10 misogynistic films of all time!
From loving rape victims to "ugly" women with rotten teeth and monstrous villainesses with stiletto-shaped feet: Isy Santini picks 10 films from throughout the history of cinema that are beyond insulting to women!
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