Films About Women Opening This Weekend
Touchy Feely
is about about a brother a sister, one who touches for a living and one who makes a point of not getting too close to anyone. The film is about conections
and about intimacy and stars the incomparable Rosemarie DeWitt as a massseuse who developes an aversion to touching with a terrific performance by Josh
Pais as her brother who begins healing through his touch. (Melissa Silverstein)
Adore – Anne Fontaine
Naomi Watts and Robin Wright deliver riveting performances in Adore, a sensual and provocative drama about two about two lifelong friends who find
unexpected happiness in relationships that cross the bounds of convention. An unpredictable tale of misguided love and a heartfelt celebration of the
enduring nature of female friendship, the film is the English-speaking directorial debut of distinguished filmmaker Anne Fontaine. (Press Materials) Read
our interview with Fontaine.
A Teacher
is a tense, unflinching piece of film that gets under your skin and refuses to let go. It’s the tightly drawn portrait of Diana (Lindsay Burdge), a young
high school teacher who is having an illicit affair with her all-too-appealing student Eric (Will Brittain).
We are dropped into the affair without knowledge of its origins. Automatically, the stakes and the tension of the situation are apparent, as we watch Diana
try to balance her day to day life–teaching, running, interacting with her roommate and being set up with terrible guys her own age. Her interactions with
Eric amount to secret rendezvous in the backseat of cars, homes where roommates or relatives are absent, and the urgency between the two is palpable.
Inevitably, the relationship — and Diana — fall apart. Written and directed by Hannah Fidell, the film is sexy, scary and heart-grippingly tense. She
masterfully navigates the unraveling of a woman weighted down by her choices, yet she does not does judge those choices. (Kerensa Cadenas)
Best Kept Secret – Samantha Buck (doc)
At JFK High School, located in the midst of a run-down area in Newark, New Jersey, the nation’s 10th poorest city, administrators answer the phone by
saying, “You’ve reached John F. Kennedy High School, Newark’s Best Kept Secret.” And indeed, it is. JFK is a public school for all types of students with
special education needs, ranging from those on the autism spectrum to those with multiple disabilities. Janet Mino has taught her class of young autistic
men for four years. When they all graduate in the spring of 2012, they will leave the security of the public school system forever. Best Kept Secret follows Ms. Mino and her students over the year and a half before graduation. The clock is ticking to find them a place in the
adult world — a job or rare placement in a recreational center – so they do not end up where their predecessors have, sitting at home, institutionalized,
or on the streets. (Press Materials)
Winnie Mandela
A drama that chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela (Jennifer Hudson) from her childhood through her marriage and her husband’s incarceration. (IMDB)
Populaire
1958. Rose (Deborah Francois) is a terrible secretary but a demon typist. Her handsome boss resolves to turn her into the fastest girl in the world. (IMDB)
Good Ol’ Freda
Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. Though she had no concept of how far
they would go, Freda had faith in The Beatles from the beginning, and The Beatles had faith in her.
History notes that The Beatles were together for 10 years, but Freda worked for them for 11. Many people came in and out of the band’s circle as they grew
to international stardom, but Freda remained a staple because of her unfaltering loyalty and dedication. As the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend,
Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution — advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in
history.
In Good Ol’ Freda, Freda tells her stories for the first time in 50 years. One of few films with the support of the living Beatles and featuring
original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the music industry. (Press Materials)
Films About Women Currently Playing
The Lifeguard – Written and Directed by Liz W. Garcia
Afternoon Delight – Written and Directed by Jill Soloway
Passion
Therese
Paradise: Faith
The Mortal Intruments: City of Bones – Written by Jessica Postigo
The Patience Stone
Inch’Allah – Written and Directed by Anaid Barbeau-Lavalette
In A World…
– Written and Directed by Lake Bell
Blue Jasmine
Girl Most Likely – Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, written by Michelle Morgan
The Heat
– Written by Katie Dippold
20 Feet From Stardom
Hannah Arendt
– Directed by Margarethe von Trotta
Fill The Void
– Written and Directed by Rama Burshstein
Frances Ha – Co-Written by Greta Gerwig
Films Directed by Women Opening This Weekend
99% The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film – Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Krstic (doc)
In 2011, seemingly overnight, Occupy captured the imagination of our nation — and the world. The sweeping story of the birth of a movement, 9 9% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film follows a disparate group of activists who converged on lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to build a
new society. Inspired by the idea that wealth and power were disproportionately wielded by an elite few, parks from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis to Jackson
Mississippi were soon Occupied. But what did they want? And would their own processes hinder them in achieving it?
As mainstream news failed to find answers, and with police forces around the country perpetrating indelible acts of violence against American citizens,
established New York filmmakers Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites decided to tell the story themselves — with a little help from their friends. Using an
unprecedented production model that tested the processes – but was unaffiliated with – the Occupy Movement, over a hundred people across the US came
together to craft this unique portrait. Now, after thousands of activists have been arrested and forcibly evicted from their encampments, the Occupation
finds itself at a crossroad: what’s next? In an era of hopelessness and resignation, 99% offers a striking portrait of those who refused to accept the
status quo, while analysis from activists, experts, and detractors finally brings the story into focus. (Press Materials)
Out of the Clear Blue Sky – Danielle Gardner (doc)
A documentary that explores the effects of 9/11 on the firm Cantor Fitzgerald, whose offices on the top five floors of the North Tower of the World Trade
Center were destroyed in the attacks, killing 658 out of their 960 employees. (IMDB)
I Am Breathing – Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon (doc)
A documentary follows the last months of Neil Platt, a young father with terminal and debilitating motor neuron disease. (IMDB) Read the guest post on making that movie
from director Emma Davie.
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
Una Noche – Written and Directed by Lucy Mulloy
Our Nixon – Directed by Penny Lane (doc)
Getaway – Directed by Courtney Solomon
Blackfish – Directed by Gabriela Coperthwaite (doc)
Love Is All You Need – Directed by Susanne Bier
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
Before Midnight – Co-Written by Julie Delpy
Films By and About Women on DVD/And Or On Demand
Stories We Tell – Directed by Sarah Polley
Scandal Season 2
The English Teacher
Arthur Newman – Written by Becky Johnston
