Weekly Update for January 13: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Claire in Motion — Written and Directed by Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson (Also Available on VOD)

Three weeks after Claire’s (Betsy Brandt, “Breaking Bad”) husband has mysteriously disappeared, the police have ended their investigation and her son is beginning to grieve. The only person who hasn’t given up is Claire. Soon she discovers his troubling secrets, including an alluring yet manipulative graduate student with whom he had formed a close bond. As she digs deeper, Claire begins to lose her grip on how well she truly knew her husband and questions her own identity in the process. “Claire in Motion” twists the missing person thriller into an emotional take on uncertainty and loss. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson.

Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray (Documentary) — Directed by Kristi Zea and The 100 Years Show (Documentary Short) — Directed by Alison Klayman (Screening in NY Until January 17)

Kristi Zea brings to her debut documentary all the visual smarts she developed as a costume designer and award-winning production designer for Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme, among others. A friend of Murray’s since the 1980s, the filmmaker captures the vivacious artist’s flair for color and shape. Murray’s zany, fractured canvases feature paeans to domesticity (crying children, coffee cups) as they fairly burst with the remarkable good humor and energy the artist herself exhibited even in the final days of her life. Murray’s journals are read by Meryl Streep and art world luminaries Roberta Smith, Paula Cooper, Jennifer Bartlett, and Vija Celmins testify to both her life and work. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Kristi Zea.

Ma — Written and Directed by Celia Rowlson-Hall (Opens in NY and Chicago)

In this modern-day vision of Mother Mary’s pilgrimage, a woman (Celia Rowlson-Hall) crosses the scorched landscape of the American Southwest. Reinvented and told entirely through movement, the film playfully deconstructs the role of this woman, who encounters a world full of bold characters that are alternately terrifying and sublime. “Ma” is a journey into the visceral and the surreal, interweaving ritual, performance, and the body as sculpture. The absence of dialogue stirs the senses and leads us to imagine a new ending to this familiar journey. The virgin mother gives birth to our savior, but is also challenged to save herself. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Bad Kids of Crestview Academy (Also Available on VOD)

A new group of students has been placed in Saturday detention at the infamous and prestigious Crestview Academy. When Siouxsie (Sammi Hanratty), part of the sophomore “undercrust,” crashes the party to avenge her sister’s death, a Saturdaydetention reserved for the privileged seniors turns into a date in hell. Hilarity and suspense ensue while each “bad kid” pits one against the other, and one by one each falls victim to absurdly gruesome “accidents” while trying to escape. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Underworld: Blood Wars — Directed by Anna Foerster
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder
Toni Erdmann — Written and Directed by Maren Ade (Opens in NY and LA)
20th Century Women
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Bad Kids (Documentary)
Julieta
Jackie
Things to Come — Written and Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve
The Eyes of My Mother (Also Available on VOD)
A United Kingdom — Directed by Amma Asante (Playing in the UK)
Moana — Co-Written by Pamela Ribon
Arrival
The Love Witch — Written and Directed by Anna Biller
Elle
The Eagle Huntress
The Handmaiden
Queen of Katwe — Directed by Mira Nair

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

The Bye Bye Man — Directed by Stacy Title

People commit unthinkable acts every day. Time and again, we grapple to understand what drives a person to do such terrible things. But what if all of the questions we’re asking are wrong? What if the cause of all evil is not a matter of what… but who? “The Bye Bye Man” is a chilling horror-thriller that exposes the evil behind the most unspeakable acts committed by man. When three college friends stumble upon the horrific origins of the Bye Bye Man, they discover that there is only one way to avoid his curse: don’t think it, don’t say it. But once the Bye Bye Man gets inside your head, he takes control. Is there a way to survive his possession? (Press materials)

Vince Giordano: There’s a Future in the Past (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Amber Edwards (Opens in NY, One Week Only)

Musician, scholar, and bandleader Vince Giordano, with his 11-member band The Nighthawks, has doggedly kept the popular music of the 1920s and ’30s alive for the past 40 years. Through Vince’s story, the viewer will be immersed in the Hot Jazz and Swing that fueled Prohibition high-jinx and cheered up Depression-era America. And they will see what it takes to make a life as a professional jazz musician in New York today. Giordano’s dedication has kept this cultural phenomenon on life support through hard times, and introduced it to a new generation who are laying claim to this joyful, energetic music. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Strike a Pose (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Ester Gould (Opens January 18 in NY)

In 1990, seven young male dancers — six gay, one straight — joined Madonna on her most controversial tour. On stage and in the iconic film “Truth or Dare,” they showed the world how to express itself. Now, 25 years later, they reveal the truth about life during and after the tour. “Strike a Pose” is a dramatic tale about overcoming shame and finding the courage to be who you are. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Ester Gould.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

None.

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Alone in Berlin — Co-Written by Bettine von Borries (Also Available on VOD)

This true-life tale of courage unfolds against the tumultuous backdrop of Berlin in 1940. Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson) are a working class husband and wife doing their best to ride out the war. When their son is killed fighting on the frontlines, however, everything changes. They begin pouring their rage and grief into postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans, risking everything to disseminate their messages of protest across the city. But this seemingly small act of subversion rattles the regime, including a police inspector who will not rest until the culprits have been caught. (Press materials)

Sleepless — Co-Written by Andrea Berloff

“Sleepless” follows Jamie Foxx as undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who is caught in a high-stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnaps Downs’ teenage son. In one sleepless night he will have to rescue his son, evade an internal affairs investigation, and bring the kidnappers to justice. (Press materials)

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

A Different American Dream (Documentary) — Co-Written by Jane Wells
Ocean Waves — Written by Kaori Nakamura
Office Christmas Party — Co-Written by Laura Solon
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Written by J.K. Rowling
Bad Santa 2 — Co-Written by Shauna Cross
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — Written by Jane Goldman

TV Premieres This Week

Great Performances: Bel Canto The Opera — Hosted by Renée Fleming (Special) (Premieres January 13 on PBS)

An American opera diva (Danielle de Niese) is among the hostages taken when terrorists storm a diplomatic gathering in Lima, Peru. During the months-long crisis, unexpected alliances form between the captors and captives. Adapted from Ann Patchett’s novel “Bel Canto,” this broadcast is hosted by legendary soprano Renée Fleming. (Press materials)

Victoria — Written and Created by Daisy Goodwin (Series Premieres January 15 on PBS)

In 1837, a diminutive, neglected teenager is crowned Queen Victoria, navigates the scandal, corruption, and political intrigues of the Court, and soon rises to become the most powerful woman in the world. “Victoria” stars Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who”) as Queen Victoria in a highly anticipated series that follows the drama of the candid, spirited monarch who was perhaps the first woman to seem to have it all. (Press materials)

Throwing Shade — Co-Executive Produced by Erin Gibson and Anna Wenger (Series Premieres January 17 on TV Land)

Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi host this late-night series from Funny or Die based on their hit podcast, bringing their unique perspective on everything from politics to the latest pop culture nonsense. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

Aquarius (Netflix, Available Now)
Clinical (Netflix, Available Now)
Bridget Jones’s Baby — Directed by Sharon Maguire; Co-Written by Helen Fielding and Emma Thompson (Netflix, Available Now)
Broad City Season 3 — Created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (Netflix, Available Now)
A Beautiful Now — Written and Directed by Daniela Amavia (Netflix, January 15)
Hostage to the Devil (Documentary) — Co-Written by Rachel Lysaght (Netflix, January 15)
Fatima (Netflix, January 17)
The Girl on the Train — Written by Erin Cressida Wilson (DVD/VOD, January 17)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (DVD, January 17)
Wanda Sykes: What Happened… Ms. Sykes? (Comedy Special) — Directed by Liz Patrick (Hulu, January 19)

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