Films About Women Opening This Weekend

Admission – Written by Karen Croner

Comedies today seem to always go for the broadest, raunchiest laughs. The audience is not trusted to get the comedic nuances in everyday life. That is not the case with the new film Admission written by Karen Croner, directed by Paul Weitz and based on the book by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Read more…

Eden – Co-Written and Directed by Megan Griffiths

Eden is based on the true story of a young woman who thought she was having a good time at a bar with a guy who very easily became the victim of a sex trafficker right here in the US. We all think sex trafficking happens in other places, but the reality is that it is pandemic here in the US. While all films about trafficking are tough, this one is very different because Eden figures out a way to manipulate her captors and escape. She has to do some incredibly difficult things along the way but she never gives up. She truly is a hero. These films are usually such downers but this one has a completely different feel to it. It’s has the pacing of a thriller but at the same time you are never allowed to forget that this is a young woman fighting for her life. I will look forward to Megan Griffiths’ next film. It has won prizes at film festivals including the top prize at the 2012 SXSW. It’s playing in NYC at the Film Forum.

The Sapphires

The ads for The Sapphires might feature Chris O’Dowd but the second you sit down for the Sapphires, you will know that reality the movie is not about him. The movie is the true story about how four aboriginal young women from Australia wound up playing for US troops in Vietnam. While this might not seem like a feel good or beat sounding film, I assure you it is. It’s got a great soundtrack and is one of the most feel good movies I’ve seen in a long time. It touches on issues of race in Australia about how aborigines were treated wrapped up in the Vietnam war and all the politics surrounding it. At the heart are these four women who love to sing and who just want to make something out of their lives. O’Dowd plays the drunk who becomes their manager and helps them negotiate Vietnam. Read more…

Hunky Dory

In the heat of the summer of 1976, drama teacher Vivienne (Minnie Driver) fights sweltering heat and general teenage apathy to put on an end-of-term version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. (From IMDB)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Ginger and Rosa – Written and Directed by Sally Potter

If I Were You – Written and Directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin

The Girl

The Call

Spring Breakers

Girl Rising

Beyond the Hills

War Witch

Stoker

Beautiful Creatures

Lore – Directed by Cate Shortland

Side Effects

Mama

Films Directed by Women Opening This Weekend

My Brother the Devil – Written and Directed by Sally El Hosaini

Two teenage brothers must face their own prejudices head on if they are to survive the perils of being British Arabs growing up on the streets of gangland London. (From IMDB) (NY)

Everybody Has a Plan – Directed by Ana Piterbarg, Written by Ana Cohan and Ana Piterbarg

Everybody Has A Plan tells the story of Agustin (Viggo Mortensen), a man desperate to abandon what he has gradually come to feel is an unfulfilling existence after years of living in Buenos Aires. Following the death of his identical twin brother Pedro, Agustin sets out to begin his life anew by assuming Pedro’s identity and returning to the mysterious Tigre Delta region where the brothers had spent their childhood. Soon after his homecoming, however, Agustin finds himself unwittingly embroiled in the deadly criminal underworld that his brother had been part of. [Synopsis courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival]

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

K-11 – Directed by Jules Stewart

Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey – Directed by Ramona S. Diaz

A Place At The Table – Directed by Kristi Jacobsen and Lori Silverbush (doc)

Hava Naglia: The Movie – Directed by Roberta Grossman (doc)

West of Memphis – Directed by Amy Berg

Films Written by Women Opening This Weekend

Olympus Has Fallen – Co-Written by Katrin Benedikt

Disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, Banning works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers. (From IMDB) See interview with co-writer Katrin Benedikt.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Emperor – Co-Written by Vera Blasi

Safe Haven – Co-Written by Dana Stevens

Films By and About Women on DVD/On Demand

Bachelorette – Directed by Leslye Headland

Zero Dark Thirty – Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Rust and Bone

The Girl

The Other Son – Directed by Lorraine Levy

Television By and About Women

Girl Model -Co-Directed by Ashley Sabin-3/24/13 at 10pm on PBS

Girl Model strips away the facade of the modeling industry by following two people whose lives intersect because of it. Ashley is a deeply conflicted American model scout, and 13-year-old Nadya, plucked from a remote Siberian village and promised a lucrative career in Japan, is her latest discovery. As the young girl searches for glamour and an escape from poverty, she confronts the harsh realities of a culture that worships youth — and an industry that makes perpetual childhood a globally traded commodity. (From PBS)