Here’s the rest of the women directed and women-centric movies showing at Sundance in January. (Info from Hollywood Reporter)
PREMIERES
The Extra Man (Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini; screenwriters: Robert Pulcini, Jonathan Ames, Shari Springer Berman). A down-and-out playwright who escorts wealthy widows in Manhattan’s Upper East Side takes a young aspiring writer under his wing. Cast: Katie Holmes, John C. Reilly, Paul Dano, Kevin Kline, Alicia Goranson. (U.S.)
Please Give (Director-screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener). In New York, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives next door. Cast: Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Sarah Steele. (U.S.)
The Runaways (Director-screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi). In 1970s Los Angeles, a teenager named Joan Jett connects with an eccentric producer to form an all-girl band. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Tatum O’Neal. (U.S.)
NEXT
(A new section composed of eight American films selected for their innovative and original work in low- and no-budget filmmaking.)
Armless (Director: Habib Azar; screenwriter: Kyle Jarrow). Comedy about a woman who comes to terms with her husband’s strange secret. Cast: Daniel London, Janel Moloney, Keith Powell, Laurie Kennedy, Matt Walton.
The Freebie (Director-screenwriter: Katie Aselton). A young married couple decides to give each other one night with someone else. Cast: Dax Shepard, Katie Aselton.
SPOTLIGHT
Bran Nue Dae (Director: Rachel Perkins; screenwriters: Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi). In summer 1965, a young man is filled with the life of the idyllic old pearling port Broome — fishing, hanging out with his mates and his girl. Cast: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Geoffrey Rush, Ernie Dingo. (Australia)
Lourdes (Director-screenwriter: Jessica Hausner). A woman in a wheelchair travels to Lourdes in an attempt to escape her isolation. Cast: Sylvie Testud, Lea Seydoux, Bruno Todeschini, Gilette Barbier, Gerhard Liebmann, Irma Wagner. (Austria/France/Germany)
Mother & Child (Director-screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia). The lives of three women –a physical therapist, the daughter she gave up at birth three decades ago and a black woman seeking to adopt a child of her own — intersect. Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson. (U.S.)
Women Without Men (Directors-screenwriters: Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari). A dissection of Iranian society at the time of the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overturned the nationalist government and installed the shah in power. Cast: Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Shabnam Tolouei (Munis), Orsi Toth. (Germany/Austria/France)
DOCUMENTARY FILMS IN SPOTLIGHT
To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America (Director: Gayle Ferraro). Tapping into the success of Muhammad Yunus after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Bangladesh/U.S.)
NEW FRONTIER
Pepperminta (Director: Pipilotti Rist; screenwriters: Pipilotti Rist, Chris Niemeyer). Pepperminta is an anarchist of the imagination: Colors are the young woman’s best friends, and strawberries are her pets. With her friends, she sets out to fight for a more humane world. (Austria/Switzerland)
Shit Year (Director-screenwriter: Cam Archer). An aging, unhappy actress pursues enlightenment through early retirement, isolation, self-analysis and time aboard a spaceship. Cast: Bob Einstein, Ellen Barkin, Luke Grimes, Melora Walters, Nate Archer. (U.S.)
Sundance Reveals Non-Competition Lineup (Hollywood Reporter)
Alas, the lure of fat paychecks and exhibitionist number-one spots at the box office got the better of them, and as they slipped into middle-age, their collaborations gradually became stale and soulless as they sacrificed depth for marketability. Eventually the gods of world cinema banished Depp and Burton to the land of sell-outs where they were forced to contemplate their insatiable greed for the rest of their days. The end…or was that simply a wonderful dream?