Films About Women Opening This Weekend
Venus and Serena – Directed by Maiken Baird and Michelle Major (doc)
Venus and Serena takes an unfiltered look into the remarkable lives of the greatest sister-act professional tennis has ever seen. In a sport where they were not welcomed, the indomitable Williams sisters faced the opposition with grace and courage not only breaking new ground for female and African American athletes everywhere, but dominating the women’s game for over a decade. The film tells the inspiring story of how these two women, against all odds, but the help of visionary parents, made it to the top.
Venus and Serena also explores the struggle of these two aging superstars during the 2011 tennis season as they battle life and career-threatening health problems. In Venus and Serena we gain unprecedented access into the sisters’ lives – both in the spotlight – and behind closed doors, and we watch as they draw their greatest strengths from one another to overcome countless adversities. (From Press Materials)
Stories We Tell – Directed by Sarah Polley (doc) (review from the 2012 Toronto Film Festival)
Toronto loves Sarah Polley. The display of that love was evident last week at the premiere of her first documentary Stories We Tell which held its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. I was able to see the film with an audience rather than at a press screening, and the love they feel for her is palpable. It was really amazing to see. She is an incredibly talented filmmaker who takes a bold step by putting the lens on herself, her family and its secrets. It’s not a conventional documentary by any means. She has reenactments of past events. She has written a whole narration which her father reads throughout the movie. As the two of them sit there him reading, her directing you see them reflecting on their whole lives and how they are both so affected by all that the film reveals. She sets the whole thing up as if she is willing the way the answers will turn out. Not to give too much away because it is just so good, the film is about secrets and family and the search for truth and how many version of the truth exist. Read more…
The Girls in the Band – Directed by Judy Chaikin (doc)
A really important piece of history is on display in Judy Chaikin’s film The Girls in the Band. While we here all the time of the great male jazz and big band players, we hear very little about the women and this film opens up a whole new and fascinating world. It is another piece of important women’s history that was missing and introduces us to some incredible trailblazers who forged new ground for all women who came after them.
Films About Women Currently Playing
Kiss of the Damned – Written and Directed by Xan Cassavetes
Aroused – Directed by Deborah Johnston (doc)
What Maisie Knew – Co-Written by Nancy Doyne
Caroline and Jackie
Sun Don’t Shine
Paradise: Love
Filly Brown
The Host
Blancanieves
Admission – Written by Karen Croner
Ginger and Rosa – Written and Directed by Sally Potter
The Call
Spring Breakers
Lore – Directed by Cate Shortland
Side Effects
Films Directed by Women Opening This Weekend
Peeples – Written and Directed by Tina Gordon Chism
Sparks fly when Wade Walker crashes the Peeples annual reunion in the Hamptons to ask for their precious daughter Grace’s hand in marriage. (From IMDB)
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
Love Is All You Need – Directed by Susanne Bier
The Source Family – Directed by Maria Demopoulous and Jodie Wille (doc)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Directed by Mira Nair
Midnight’s Children – Directed by Deepa Mehta
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay – Directed by Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein
No Place on Earth – Directed by Janet Tobias (doc)
A Place At The Table – Directed by Kristi Jacobsen and Lori Silverbush (doc)
Hava Naglia: The Movie – Directed by Roberta Grossman (doc)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
Arthur Newman – Written by Becky Johnston
Olympus Has Fallen – Co-Written by Katrin Benedikt
Emperor – Co-Written by Vera Blasi
Films By and About Women on DVD/On Demand
Safe Haven – Co-Written by Dana Stevens
If I Were You- Written and Directed by Joan Carr Wiggin
Mama
Starlet
Steel Magnolias (2012 version)
