Weekly Update for September 29: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Te Ata — Written by Esther Luttrell (Opens in Oklahoma; Opens October 13 in NY and LA)

“Te Ata” (TAY’ AH-TAH) is based on the inspiring, true story of Mary Thompson Fisher, a woman who traversed cultural barriers to become one of the greatest Native American performers of all time. Born in Indian Territory, and raised on the songs and stories of her Chickasaw culture, Te Ata’s (Q’orianka Kilcher) journey to find her true calling led her through isolation, discovery, love, and a stage career that culminated in performances for a United States president, European royalty, and audiences across the world. Yet, of all the stories she shared, none are more inspiring than her own. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The Sound — Written and Directed by Jenna Mattison (Also Available on VOD)

A supernatural skeptic (Rose McGowan) sets off to debunk paranormal sightings using low frequency sound-waves in an abandoned subway station and is met with unforeseen evil and eerie memories. (Press materials)

Chavela (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi (Opens October 4 in NY; Opens October 6 in LA)

Through its lyrical structure, “Chavela” will take viewers on an evocative, thought-provoking journey through the iconoclastic life of game-changing artist Chavela Vargas. Centered around never before-seen interview footage of Chavela shot 20 years before her death in 2012, and guided by the stories in Chavela’s songs, and the myths and tales others have told about her — as well as those she spread about herself — the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Different Flowers — Written and Directed by Morgan Dameron

“Different Flowers” follows Millie (Emma Bell) as she approaches her 30s and faces the crucial decision about marriage, love, career, and whether she should settle or take a leap of faith. Making a last-second decision to bail on her lavender-themed Kansas City wedding, leaving her groom Charlie (Sterling Knight) awkwardly standing at the altar, she sets off on an adventure with the help of her free-spirited younger sister, Emma (Hope Lauren). (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Blood Stripe — Co-Written by Kate Nowlin (Opens in NY; Opens October 13 in LA)

Our Sergeant (Kate Nowlin) returns home to a small town in Minnesota, having just completed her third tour with the Marines in Afghanistan. But this time, her usual homecoming rituals with her husband (Chris Sullivan) and her family give Our Sergeant no solace. Unable to sleep, wracked by paranoia and anxiety, it is clear that in addition to the shrapnel scars she bears on her torso, Our Sergeant carries unseen wounds. It is only a matter of time before she will no longer be able to bottle up her trauma. (Press materials)

Window Horses — Written and Directed by Ann Marie Fleming

Rosie Ming (voiced by Sandra Oh), a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather go to Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians who tell her stories that force her to confront her past: the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of poetry itself. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Ann Marie Fleming.

Find screening info here.

Signature Move — Directed by Jennifer Reeder; Written by Lisa Donato and Fawzia Mirza (Opens in NY)

A new romance with Alma (Sari Sanchez) forces Zaynab (Fawzia Mirza) to confront her relationship with her recently widowed mother. In this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama, Zaynab copes by taking up Lucha-style wrestling. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jennifer Reeder.

Find screening info here.

Youth — Written by Yan Geling

Performing art troupe members, led by Xiaoping (Miao Miao), each face their own trials and tribulations. From escaping a family scandal to dealing with unrequited love, each experiences rejection that shapes their lives in this coming-of-age tale. (Press materials)

Gerald’s Game (Available on Netflix)

While trying to spice up their marriage in their remote lake house, Jessie (Carla Gugino) must fight to survive when her husband dies unexpectedly, leaving her handcuffed to their bed frame. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Battle of the Sexes — Co-Directed by Valerie Faris
Woodshock — Written and Directed by Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy
Unrest (Documentary) — Directed by Jennifer Brea; Written by Jennifer Brea and Kim Roberts
Victoria & Abdul
Bobbi Jene (Documentary) — Directed by Elvira Lind
Elizabeth Blue
Friend Request
The Tag-Along 2
mother!
Home Again — Written and Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Year by the Sea
The Unknown Girl
Twenty Two (Documentary)
Napping Princess
Dalida — Written and Directed by Lisa Azuelos
Dolores (Documentary)
Tulip Fever
Served Like a Girl (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Lysa Heslov
Polina — Written and Co-Directed by Valérie Müller
Leap! — Co-Written by Carol Noble
The Villainess
The Teacher
Marjorie Prime
Patti Cake$
The Glass Castle
Ingrid Goes West
Annabelle: Creation
Once Upon a Time
Kidnap
Step (Documentary) — Directed by Amanda Lipitz
Atomic Blonde
The Girl Without Hands
The Midwife
Landline — Directed by Gillian Robespierre; Written by Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm
Girls Trip — Co-Written by Tracy Oliver
Wish Upon — Written by Barbara Marshall
Lady Macbeth — Written by Alice Birch
The Little Hours
Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White
47 Meters Down (Also Available on VOD)
Lost in Paris — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Fiona Gordon
Beatriz at Dinner
Moka
Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins
Love, Kennedy
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nehama
Paris Can Wait — Written and Directed by Eleanor Coppola
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

“Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton”

Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex Trafficking (Documentary) — Directed by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree (One Week Only in Limited Release)

A four-year-old child’s arms are cut off to make him a more sympathetic beggar when his captors set him alongside the road. Girls as young as one are used as pawns in cyber porn. Young girls are groomed as prostitutes by “lovers,” many abducted from their homes and taken far away to be held as sex slaves. Parents sell or are tricked into giving up their children. An activist recalls the horrors of being trafficked during her own youth. A reformed trafficker reveals his deepest regrets and recalls his own sexual abuse as a child. These are the stories of “Stopping Traffic.” (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton (Documentary) — Directed by Rory Kennedy (Opens in LA; Opens in NY October 6) (Also Available on VOD)

“Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton” tracks the remarkable life and legendary career of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. Much admired by the public, though often disdained or ignored by the surf industry itself, Laird is a unique sports icon — an athlete who has refused to compete professionally, yet has dominated big wave surfing as no other figure in history has ever done. Laird’s biographical story is told against the backdrop of a winter surf season on Kauai, where El Niño storm systems threaten to bring the biggest surf in decades. Mixing never-before-seen archival footage, with contemporary verité scenes shot in Southern California, Bermuda, and Kauai, “Take Every Wave” weaves the past and present into an intimate and compelling portrait of a superstar athlete at the top of his game. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Rory Kennedy.

Find screening info here.

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (Documentary) — Directed by Jennifer M. Kroot

“The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin”: Tigerlily Pictures

“The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin” examines the life and work of one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels have inspired millions to claim their own truth. With help from his friends — including Neil Gaiman, Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen, and Amy Tan — Maupin offers a disarmingly frank look at the journey that took him from the jungles of Vietnam to the bathhouses of ’70s San Francisco to the front line of the American culture war. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jennifer M. Kroot.

Find screening info here.

Tam Cam: The Untold Story — Directed by Veronica Ngo

It’s a modern, action-packed twist on a classic Vietnamese Cinderella tale of an apathetic Prince (Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc) who finds enchantment in Tam (Ha Vi), a kind and beautiful countryside girl. Things turn fatal when Tam gets trapped in the jealous machinations of her wicked stepmother and stepsister, and the Prince suffers from misplaced loyalty, putting his love, himself, and his kingdom in peril. (Press materials)

The Pathological Optimist (Documentary) — Directed by Miranda Bailey

“The Pathological Optimist” is a character study of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, one of 13 co-authors of a notorious 1998 paper in the UK medical Journal The Lancet, but who became the very public face of what has come to be known as “The Anti-Vaccination Movement.” An expat from Britain who currently resides in Austin, Texas, the film follows Wakefield and his family for five years as he fought a defamation battle in the courts against the British Medical Journal and journalist Brian Deer. The results of that case — and the self-reflection, pronouncements, and observations of Wakefield, his legal team, wife, and his children — create a complex and incisive look at one of our era’s most fear-provoking and continually provocative figures. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

The Tiger Hunter — Co-Written and Directed by Lena Khan
Loving Vincent — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Dorota Kobiela
Slipaway — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Julia Butler
I Am Another You (Documentary) — Directed by Nanfu Wang
Red Trees (Documentary) — Directed by Marina Willer; Co-Written by Marina Willer and Leena Telén
Trophy (Documentary) — Co-Directed Christina Clusiau
School Life (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin (Also Available on VOD)
Spettacolo (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Chris Shellen
I Do… Until I Don’t — Written and Directed by Lake Bell
Viceroy’s House — Written and Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Co-Written by Moira Buffini
Beach Rats — Written and Directed by Eliza Hittman
Lemon — Co-Written and Directed by Janicza Bravo (Also Available on VOD)
Whose Streets? (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Sabaah Folayan
Detroit — Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Catherine Bainbridge
Pop Aye — Written and Directed by Kirsten Tan

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Kingsman: The Golden Circle — Co-Written by Jane Goldman
Shot — Co-Written by Anneke Campbell
Logan Lucky — Written by Rebecca Blunt
The Fencer — Written by Anna Heinämaa
13 Minutes — Co-Written by Léonie-Claire Breinersdorfer
The Big Sick — Co-Written by Emily V. Gordon
Cars 3 — Co-Written by Kiel Murray

TV Premieres This Week

Anjelah Johnson: Mahalo & Goodnight (Comedy Special) (Premieres September 29 on Epix)

Filmed at the Hawaii Theater in Honolulu, Hawaii, Anjelah Johnson’s fourth stand-up comedy special dishes on awkward massages, home invasions, spiders, and being a full-grown child. (Press materials)

Big Mouth — Co-Created by Jennifer Flackett (Premieres September 29 on Netflix)

Teenage friends find their lives upended by the wonders and horrors of puberty in this edgy comedy. (Press materials)

The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Premieres September 29 on Netflix)

Ms. Frizzle’s kid sister Fiona (Kate McKinnon) takes the wheel at Walkerville Elementary, leading the class on wild adventures packed with science-fueled fun. (Press materials)

Ten Days in the Valley — Created by Tassie Cameron (Premieres October 1 on ABC)

Kyra Sedgwick stars as Jane Sadler, an overworked television producer and single mother in the middle of a separation whose life is turned upside down when her young daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. Just like her controversial police TV show, everything is a mystery, everyone has a secret, and no one can be trusted. (Press materials)

9JKL — Co-Created by Dana Klein (Premieres October 2 on CBS)

Josh Roberts (Mark Feuerstein) is a new divorcé and actor between projects who moves home to New York to regroup, living in an apartment sandwiched between his doting, meddlesome parents on one side and his brother, sister-in-law, and their new baby on the other. (Press materials)

The Halcyon — Created by Charlotte Jones (Premieres October 2 on Ovation)

“The Halcyon” is a critically-acclaimed drama that takes you inside a bustling and glamorous five-star hotel at the center of London during World War II. The series is a captivating look at the private lives of London socialites and visiting hotel guests through the dark prism of war — revealing the extraordinary impact it has on families, politics, and personal relationships. (Press materials)

Swim Team (Documentary) — Directed by Lara Stolman (Premieres October 2 on PBS)

Parents of a boy on the autism spectrum form a competitive swim team, recruiting other teens on the spectrum and training them with high expectations and zero pity. “Swim Team” chronicles the extraordinary rise of three diverse young athletes, capturing a moving quest for inclusion, independence, and a life that feels like winning. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Lara Stolman.

Kevin (Probably) Saves the World — Created by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters (Premieres October 3 on ABC)

Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter), a cluelessly self-serving person, is on a dangerous path to despair. In a downward spiral, Kevin returns home to stay with his widowed twin sister (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and niece. On his first night there, an unlikely celestial being named Yvette (Kimberly Hébert Gregory) appears to him and presents him with a mission — to save the world. (Press materials)

Bonus Family — Co-Created by Clara Herngren and Moa Herngren (Premieres October 5 on Netflix)

A new couple, their exes, and their children navigate the emotional challenges and tricky logistics of blended family life in this Swedish dramedy. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

SPF-18 (VOD, Available Now)
Armstrong — Co-Directed by Kerry Carlock (VOD/DVD, October 3)
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (DVD, October 3)
Churchill — Written by Alex von Tunzelmann (VOD/DVD, October 3)
The Layover (DVD, October 3)
Paint It Black — Co-Written and Directed by Amber Tamblyn (VOD, October 3)
Palm Swings — Written by Amanda Lockhart (VOD, October 3)

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