ALL POSTS
Weekly Update for November 21 and 28: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening November 21 A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night — Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Aniston Goes Dark for ‘Cake’
Jennifer Aniston showed a rare and delightfully dark streak in the 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses, in which she frolicked as a sexually predatory dentist. With this weekend’s release of Horrible...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Hella de Jonge — ‘Don’t Lose Heart’
Sculptor and writer Hella de Jonge has published two books about her youth and her family: Los van de wereld (Apart from the World) and Spring (Jump). (Press materials) Don’t Lose Heart will play...
‘Selma,’ ‘Obvious Child,’ ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ Receive Multiple Spirit Awards Nominations
Five women-directed films — Ava DuVernay’s Selma, Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love, and Anja...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Katelijne Schrama — ‘Georgica’
Katelijne Schrama studied fine arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where she produced a short film, Daydreams and Sandman, for her end exam. Since then, she has worked as a freelance...
Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman to Tell ‘Big Little Lies’ on TV
Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are the latest A-listers to sign up for plum gigs on the small screen. After jointly optioning Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, the two Oscar winners...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Camilla Nielsson — ‘Democrats’
Camilla Nielsson was trained asa documentary filmmaker at the Tisch School of the Artsand holds an M.A. in visual anthropologyfrom New York University (NYU). Theaward-winning filmmaker has directed...
Watch: How Not to Sell a Movie, AKA What’s With This Trailer for ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’?
Amy Adams to Play Janis Joplin in ‘Get It While You Can’ Biopic
After scamming her way through the 1970s in last year’s American Hustle and painting through the 1950s in the upcoming Big Eyes, Amy Adams will visit the decade between as Janis Joplin in a biopic...
Watch: President Obama Salutes Meryl Streep with Presidential Medal of Freedom
It’s Official: Michelle MacLaren Will Direct Wonder Woman
After weeks of rumors, we now have official confirmation that Michelle MacLaren will develop and direct the Wonder Woman movie, which is scheduled for release in Summer 2017. This is great news on a...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Lia Jaspers — ‘Match Me!’
Munich-born Lia Jaspers is the director of the documentaries Tar Dakar (2005), You Drive Me Crazy (2012), and Match Me! (2014). She lives and works as a freelance author and writer in Munich. Match...
Georgia O’Keeffe Painting Sets New Record for Women Artists
A Georgia O’Keeffe painting called Jimson Weed/White Flower №1 (below) has set a new auction record for women artists. The 1932 artwork was purchased for $44.4 million (you read that right) at...
‘Mockingjay — Part 1’ Opens at 2014’s Biggest Box-Office Weekend
Here’s another feather in Jennifer Lawrence’s cap: her latest film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 opened nationwide at $123 million, landing the biggest domestic box-office weekend...
Tina Fey’s ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Greenlit for Two Seasons at Netflix
30 Rock will no longer be Tina Fey’s TV home. After writing and starring in SNL and 30 Rock for a combined 15 years at NBC, Fey has jumped ship (at least temporarily) to Netflix. Her next series,...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Eline Jongsma — ‘Empire’
Eline Jongsma is one half of Jongsma + O’Neill, an award-winning Dutch-American creative team working at the intersection of documentary, art, and technology. Jongsma + O’Neill’s latest...
Cross-Post: A Solution to Gender Inequality in Film — Just Add 5 Female Characters Onscreen
Each year, my Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative assessesthe gender of all speaking characters (those saying one or more words onscreen) across the 100 top-grossing films. In 2013, only...
New Podcast: Nina Jacobson — Producer of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
https://medium.com/media/793c54a7e8bb578220a07d4101c9d52b/href
Rosamund Pike to be Feted by Palm Springs Film Festival
En route to a seemingly inevitable Best Actress Oscar nod for Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike will pick up the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s 26th annual Breakthrough Performance Award....
Jennifer Lawrence and the ‘Mockingjay’ Are Ready To Set The Box Office on Fire
From my latest Forbes post on the sky-high projections for the world’s most popular female-led franchise and the two models of women’s leadership the blockbuster provides: The Hunger Games:...
Natalie Dormer to Star in BBC2 Period Drama About Real-Life Adultery Court Case
Before The Scarlet Letter imprinted Hester Prynne with an indelible “A,” there was 18th-century noblewoman Lady Seymour Worsley, who caused a scandal — and inspired a court...
Pulitzer-Winning Playwright Marsha Norman on Trapped Girls and the Perils of New Play Development
Crossposted with permission from The Interval. “I’ve become an activist, which was kind of a surprise to me. I thought it was going to be enough that I do it [write, succeed]; that my example...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Eva Tomanova — ‘Always Together’
Eva Tomanova is a Czech author and director with abackground in journalism. For the last eight years, she has worked for Czech TV,Febio s.r.o., and TV Barrandov, and as a director of documentary...
Steve McQueen to Write and Direct Adaptation of BBC Series About Female Robbers
After picking up the Best Picture trophy for 12 Years a Slave and guiding newcomer Lupita Nyong’o to a Best Actress win, Steve McQueen is using his considerably increased clout to bring a passion...
Trailer Watch: ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ Aims for World Domination
Melissa McCarthy to Play Tinker Bell in Live-Action Comedy-Adventure
Non-blonde, non-spritely Melissa McCarthy has signed on to play Tinker Bell in an upcoming live-action comedy-adventure. At this point, we can only guess what kind of fairy McCarthy, who will star...
Trailer Watch: ‘The DUFF’ Channels Classic Teen Comedies Like ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘She’s All That’
Misty Copeland to Star in Reality Show on Oxygen
Misty Copeland is bringing her talent to the masses. Usually seen at work only in rarefied halls like the American Ballet Theatre, Copeland has been increasing her visibility off the stage in...
The Big O: In a Weak Year for Female Roles, These Silent Types and Big Talkers Deserve Oscar Consideration
Silence can be golden and talk doesn’t have to be cheap — all you need is the right actress to pull it off. As is common at year’s end, when the air is rife with Oscar buzz, film pundits...
IDFA Women Directors: Meet Gina Leibrecht — ‘How to Smell a Rose’
Trailer Watch: Live-Action ‘Cinderella’ Stars Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham-Carter
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SNL’s Cecily Strong to Host Next Year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner
After inviting five white guys in a row to host and roast the President and Washington politicians, the White House Correspondents Association has finally decided to shake things up. SNL’s Cecily...
Emma Thompson to Be Honored by British Independent Film Awards
Emma Thompson, the only artist to boast Oscar trophies for both writing and acting, will receive the Richard Harris Award at this year’s Moët British Independent Film Awards. The Richard Harris...
The Power and Vision of Ava DuVernay
If you read Women and Hollywood regularly, you know that I am a gigantic fan of Ava DuVernay. I have been since her first movie, 2010’s I Will Follow, came out. She was one of the first people I...
‘Monster’ Director Patty Jenkins Announces First Film Project in Over Ten Years
Patty Jenkins has announced her first feature-directing project since 2003’s Monster, which garnered Charlize Theron the Best Actress Oscar, as well as its equivalents from the Golden Globes and...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Gracie Otto- ‘The Last Impresario’
Gracie Otto is an accomplished filmmaker with substantialcredits as a director, writer, editor, and actress from her bases in Sydney,Paris, and Los Angeles. Since graduating from Sydney Film School...
Trailer Watch: Jessica Chastain Seduces and Bullies in Liv Ullmann’s ‘Miss Julie’
We are introduced to Miss Julie through the eyes of John, her father’s valet, who describes her as “elegant” and “magnificent” and praises her “waist and neck.” Her first lines of...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Michele Josue — ‘Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine’
Michele Josueis a filmmaker born to Filipino immigrant parents and raised in Maryland. Aftergraduating from Emerson College, Michele relocated to Los Angeles and worked asa short-form video editor...
Trailer Watch: Anne Hathaway is Consoled by Music and Love in Kate Barker-Froyland’s ‘Song One’
“Your brother was in an accident. You need to come home.” So begins a journey for archaeologist Franny, played by Anne Hathaway in Song One. Franny leaves a dig in Morocco to spend time with her...
Quotes of the Day: Hilary Swank and Natalie Dormer on Girl Power, Feminism, and the Gender Pay Gap
Hilary Swank and Natalie Dormer are both promoting movies that focus on female protagonists, and nuanced ones at that — a rarity in the world of cinema. Swank and Dormer were drawn to their...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Jilann Spitzmiller — ‘Still Dreaming’
DOC NYC Women Directors & Producers: Meet Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg — ‘Above and Beyond’
Roberta Grossman (Above and Beyond’s director) is an award-winning filmmaker with a passion for history and social justice. She has written and produced more than forty hours of documentary film...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander — ‘Us, Naked: Trixie and Monkey’
Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander is a full-time professor at the MarylandInstitute College of Art (MICA), where she teaches in Foundation; Film andVideo; and Community Arts. She has received numerous...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Cheryl Furjanic — ‘Back on Board: Greg Louganis’
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Olga Lvoff — ‘When People Die They Sing Songs’
Olga Lvoff received an MFA in Social Documentary from the School of Visual Arts in 2013. She has worked as an independent film director since 2009. Her recent short documentary film, Two Travelers,...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Meghan O’Hara — ‘In Country’
Meghan O’Hara is a San Francisco-based filmmaker and educator. She is a 2014 Fellow of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and was named one of the 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2014 by...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Johanna St. Michaels — ‘Penthouse North’
Johanna St. Michaels’ first documentary Best WishesBernhard was awarded the Swedish national film award “Dokumentärfilmspremien” in 2003.Her second work, Snap Shots from Reality,was nominated...
Listen: Women and Hollywood Podcast #3: Paula van der Oest
https://medium.com/media/28afcdfd7c62207aea33d655999ac93e/href
Weekly Update for November 14: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening Beyond the Lights — Written and Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees) humanizes...
Laura Poitras’ ‘Citizenfour’ Tops Cinema Eye Nominations
Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour has emerged as the nonfic to beat this awards season. The Edward Snowden documentary led the Cinema Eye Honors nominations with nods in six categories, including best...
DOC NYC Women Directors: Meet Norah Shapiro — ‘Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile’