Films About Women Opening December 19
Annie — Co-Written by Aline Brosh McKenna
Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who’s also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they’d be back for her someday, it’s been a hard-knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything’s about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) — advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne), and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) — makes a thinly veiled campaign move and takes Annie in. Stacks believes he’s her guardian angel, but Annie’s self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it’s the other way around. (Press materials)
Ask Me Anything
Beautiful, wild, funny, and lost, Katie Kampenfelt (Britt Robertson) takes a year off before college to find herself, all the while chronicling her adventures in an anonymous blog into which she pours her innermost secrets. Eventually, Katie’s fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge. (Press materials)
Films About Women Opening December 24–25
Two Days, One Night
Sandra (Marion Cotillard) has just been released from the hospital to find that she no longer has a job. According to management, the only way Sandra can hope to regain her position at the factory is to convince her co-workers to sacrifice their much-needed yearly bonuses. Now, over the course of one weekend, Sandra must confront each co-worker individually in order to win a majority of their votes before time runs out. (Press materials)
Big Eyes
Directed and produced by Tim Burton, Big Eyes is based on the true story of Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who was one of the most successful painters of the 1950s and early 1960s. The artist earned staggering notoriety by revolutionizing the commercialization and accessibility of popular art with his enigmatic paintings of waifs with big eyes. The truth would eventually be discovered, though: Keane’s art was not created by him at all, but by his wife, Margaret (Amy Adams). The Keanes, it seemed, had been living a lie that had grown to gigantic proportions. Big Eyes centers on Margaret’s awakening as an artist, the phenomenal success of her paintings, and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, who was catapulted to international fame while taking credit for her work. (Press materials)
Films About Women Currently Playing
Free the Nipple — Written and Directed by Lina Esco
Difret
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Tip Top — Co-Written by Odile Barski and Axelle Ropert
Life Partners — Directed by Susanna Fogel; Written by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (doc) — Directed by Mary Dore
A Small Section of the World (doc) — Directed by Lesley Chilcott
Zero Motivation — Written and Directed by Talya Lavie
The Babadook — Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1
Beyond the Lights — Written and Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Dear White People
Annabelle
Films Directed by Women Opening December 19
If You Don’t, I Will — Written and Directed by Sophie Fillières
Pomme (Emmanuelle Devos) and Pierre (Mathieu Amalric) have been together a long time. Passion and spontaneity have given way to predictability and cold shoulders. But there’s a lingering optimism, a hope they can return to the couple they used to be, attending chic art openings and sharing a laugh like young lovers. On a hike together one afternoon, Pomme declares her independence by deciding to stay in the woods rather than return to an underwhelming life with Pierre. Pierre tries to get back to normal, despite his worries over her whereabouts and the indelible sense that he’s missing his better half. Meanwhile, Pomme begins an extended meditation in the forest on where her own life should go next, with or without Pierre. In the end, both are left to contemplate the strength and meaning of each other’s commitment. (Press materialst)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sophie Fillières about If You Don’t, I Will.
Films Directed by Women Opening December 25
Selma — Directed by Ava DuVernay
Selma is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil-rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma tells the real story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history. (Press materials)
Read Melissa Silverstein’s Forbes piece on Ava DuVernay’s Golden Globe nomination.
Unbroken — Directed by Angelina Jolie
Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII — only to be caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. (Press materials)
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
The Color of Time — Co-Directed by Edna Luise Biesold, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Gabrielle Demeestere, Alexis Gambis, Brooke Goldfinch, Shripriya Mahesh, Pamela Romanowsky, Tine Thomasen, Virgina Urreiztieta; Co-Written by Edna Luise Biesold, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Gabrielle Demeestere, Alexis Gambis, Brooke Goldfinch, Shripriya Mahesh, Pamela Romanowsky, Tine Thomasen, Virgina Urreiztieta, Shruti Ganguly
Miss Julie — Written and Directed by Liv Ullmann
Citizenfour (doc) — Directed by Laura Poitras
Awake: The Life of Yogananda (doc) — Directed by Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman
Films Written by Women Opening This Week
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies — Co-Written by Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women, and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves, and Men must decide: unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance. (Press materials)
Winter Sleep — Co-Written by Ebru Ceylan
Aydin, a former actor, runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal, with whom he has a stormy relationship. His sister Necla is suffering from her recent divorce. In winter, as the snow begins to fall, the hotel turns into a shelter, but also an inescapable place that fuels their animosities. (Press materials)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
The Good Lie — Written by Margaret Nagle
On DVD and VOD This Week
Two-Bit Waltz — Written and Directed by Clara Mamet
