"For me it is one of the most brilliant Mafia movies. Moreover it's the incarnation of the mythical erotic-romantic-tragic relationship between men and women. Beginning with love and ending with death. Isn't it the best description of this endless men-and-women love-hate system? And it's one of the best films about family as well. The protecting nest as miserable, dark shelter from an even darker existence of solitude."

"After the sudden death of her father, Helen Macdonald managed her grief by taming a goshawk. The wild un-language of grief finds expression here. And there’s more; our relationship with creatures not us. How we read the past without re-writing it. How we learn to love – and why we might not want to do that. Painful, remarkable, redemptive, this book hovers over my heart and suddenly drops on it. Caught."

"I loved the mood of it, I loved the dialogue, I loved the relationship. Every aspect of that film, and I didn’t want to leave the mood of it for hours after leaving the theater. I watch that movie over and over again just because of the mood. I feel like it’s so hard to put poetry into a movie, but Sofia Coppola did that. The ending is one of my favorite endings ever."

"I remember when I saw On the Waterfront for the first time. With that, it was kind of the chemistry between Brando and Eva Marie Saint that was so gorgeous to watch on screen. And that’s a wonderful film to go back to. And actually, in the film I’m just about to do, one of the relationships that I have with another character kind of really reminds me of their relationship. So that’s lovely."

"Maya Angelou’s final work, published a year before her death, in 2013, when she was 85 years old. It was the first book to focus on her mother, Vivian Baxter, who abandoned Angelou when she was a child and it portrays their complicated relationship. The story is about the special connection between mother and child; both women found a way to move on and form a profound and enduring bond of love and support."

"This book wrecked me. That’s really all I have to say. Okay, fine, I should probably say more. It comes out on June 15th, but I snagged an early copy because the blurb alone had me hooked. In this emotional, sarcastic rom-com, a rock star’s disgraced son starts a fake relationship with an uptight barrister to improve his public image. The last thing these complete opposites expect is to have so much fun together."

"What can I say about this movie? One of the more influential films of my childhood, it is a heartbreaking and hilarious tale of a poor young schoolboy who poaches a kestrel as a pet. He has nothing in his life apart from the relationship with his bird. The realism may be the best I’ve witnessed. The lead performance is perfect on every note. I dream of being in a movie this good."

"I first saw this film when I started seeking out movies directed by women. This one stood out. There’s something so believable about that lead character—she’s a teenager I can understand. I loved her anger and her passion, and I was touched by her relationship with her mother. And I find Michael Fassbender’s performance so creepy in the midst of all this mundaneness, which Andrea Arnold depicts in such a raw and powerful way."

"One of the most beautiful films ever made. It’s a French movie with almost no dialogue, and I remember watching it in school several times. The innocence and the imagination of the young protagonist are threatened by bullies and adults, but the relationship he forms with his balloon gives us marvelous insight into childhood. I love how the film explores universal themes that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and backgrounds."