Weekly Update for June 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Little Hours (Opens in NY and LA)

Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a simple life in their convent. Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Documentary (Documentary) (Opens in NY and LA)

Portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman found her medium in 1980: the larger-than-life Polaroid Land 20 x 24 camera. For the next 35 years she captured the “surfaces” of those who visited her Cambridge, Massachusetts studio: families, Beat poets, rock stars, and Harvard notables. As pictures begin to fade and her retirement looms, Dorfman gives Errol Morris an inside tour of her backyard archive. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge — Directed by Marie Noelle; Written by Marie Noelle and Andrea Stoll

In 1903 the scientist Marie Curie (Karolina Gruszka) was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for physics together with her husband, Pierre (Charles Berling). But only a short time later, in her mid-thirties and a young mother of two, she loses Pierre. In a world dominated by men, she makes her way steadfastly, continues her research alone, and is the first woman to receive a chair at the Sorbonne in Paris. When she falls in love with the married scientist Paul Langevin (Arieh Worthalter) after years of mourning, she becomes the subject of a violent scandal. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Inconceivable — Written by Chloe King (Also Available on VOD)

A mysterious young woman, Katie (Nicky Whelan), moves to a new town with her daughter and quickly befriends Angela Morgan (Gina Gershon), a mother of one who longs for a bigger family. As their lives become intricately entwined, Angela and her husband, Brian (Nicolas Cage), invite Katie to live in their guest-house and to serve as their nanny. Over time, the blossoming friendship between the two women spirals into a dangerous obsession as Katie becomes overly attached to the Morgans’ daughter. Enduring lies and manipulations, Angela and Brian realize that sweet Katie is actually trying to destroy their family from within. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Darkness Rising (Also Available on VOD)

Haunted by a mysterious past, the lone survivor of a family massacre (Katrina Law) revisits her childhood home on the eve of its destruction, awakening the otherworldly evil that resides there. (Press materials)

Reset

In the near future, scientist Xia Tian (Yang Mi) is on the verge of a major discovery: time travel. After she successfully sends living tissue back in time by 110 minutes, her years of work seem to have paid off, but everything unravels when her young son is kidnapped and held for a hefty ransom — all of her research. When the drop goes sour and her son is killed, Xia Tian desperately sends herself back in time using her prototype, where she discovers multiple versions of her future self. Now, all of the Xia Tians must band together to save their son in this action-packed sci-fi thriller. (Press materials)

7 From Etheria (Anthology) — Written and Directed by Karen Lam, Heidi Lee Douglas, Arantxa Echevarria, Martha Goddard, Anna Elizabeth James, Barbara Stepansky, and Rebecca Thomson (Opens July 5)

Etheria is the world’s most respected showcase of the best new horror, comedy, science fiction, fantasy, action, and thriller films made by emerging women directors. Terrifying home invasions, unexpected carjackings, and hilarious jelly wrestling are just the start; before you’re through watching this anthology, you’ll visit a Tasmanian penal colony in 1829, prove Kurt Gödel’s time-travel theorem, be victimized by strange alien substances, and dare to venture out into a devastated nuclear wasteland. “7 From Etheria” is a wild ride, so please strap on your seat belt for your own safety. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

The Beguiled — Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola
The Bad Batch — Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Okja (Also Available on Netflix)
Souvenir (UK)
Paulina
Inversion
Rough Night — Co-Written and Directed by Lucia Aniello
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
Whitney: Can I Be Me (Documentary) (UK)
Megan Leavey — Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Co-Written by Pamela Gray and Annie Mumolo
Beatriz at Dinner
Moka
Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins
Sámi Blood — Written and Directed by Amanda Kernell
Letters from Baghdad (Documentary) — Directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum
Past Life
Love, Kennedy
Berlin Syndrome — Directed by Cate Shortland
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nehama
Hermia & Helena
Everything, Everything — Directed by Stella Meghie
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Linda Saffire
Snatched — Written by Katie Dippold
Paris Can Wait — Written and Directed by Eleanor Coppola
The Wedding Plan — Written and Directed by Rama Burshtein
Manifesto
Like Crazy — Co-Written by Francesca Archibugi
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (Documentary)
A Quiet Passion
Colossal
Their Finest — Directed by Lone Scherfig; Written by Gaby Chiappe
Beauty and the Beast
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Laura Dunn

“Look & See” revolves around the divergent stories of several residents of Henry County, Kentucky who each face difficult choices that will dramatically reshape their relationship with the land and their community. In 1965, Wendell Berry returned home to Henry County, where he bought a small farm house and began a life of farming, writing, and teaching. This lifelong relationship with the land and community would come to form the core of his prolific writings. A half century later Henry County, like many rural communities across America, has become a place of quiet ideological struggle. In the span of a generation, the agrarian virtues of simplicity, land stewardship, sustainable farming, local economies, and rootedness to place have been replaced by a capital-intensive model of industrial agriculture characterized by machine labor, chemical fertilizers, soil erosion and debt — all of which have frayed the fabric of rural communities. Writing from a long wooden desk beneath a forty-paned window, Berry has watched this struggle unfold, becoming one of its most passionate and eloquent voices in defense of agrarian life. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Laura Dunn.

Find screening info here.

The Reagan Show (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Sierra Pettengill (Opens in NY and LA)

“The Reagan Show”: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

“The Reagan Show” follows Ronald Reagan’s rivalry with charismatic Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, tracing how the Communicator-in-Chief used his public relations chops to overcome Soviet mistrust, the objections of a skeptical press corps, and the looming threat of WWIII. Chock full of wit and political irony, and told solely through 1980s network news and videotapes created by the Reagan administration itself, the film explores Reagan’s made-for-TV approach to politics as he faced down the United States’ greatest rival. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sierra Pettengill.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Good Fortune (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Rebecca Harrell Tickell
All the Rage (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Suki Hawley
In Transit (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Lynn True
Pop Aye — Written and Directed by Kirsten Tan
Hare Krishna! The Mantra, The Movement and the Swami Who Started It All (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jean Griesser and Lauren Ross
Raising Bertie (Documentary) — Directed by Margaret Byrne
Band Aid — Written and Directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (Also Available on VOD)
Wakefield — Written and Directed by Robin Swicord (Also Available on VOD)
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe — Co-Written and Directed by Maria Schrader
Risk (Documentary) — Directed by Laura Poitras
Buster’s Mal Heart — Written and Directed by Sarah Adina Smith
Obit. (Documentary) — Directed by Vanessa Gould
Tomorrow (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Mélanie Laurent
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Lydia Tenaglia
Alive and Kicking (Documentary) — Directed by Susan Glatzer; Written by Susan Glatzer and Heidi Zimmerman (Also Available on VOD)
David Lynch: The Art Life (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Cezanne and I — Written and Directed by Danièle Thompson
Jasper Jones — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Australia)

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

13 Minutes — Co-Written by Léonie-Claire Breinersdorfer (Opens in NY and LA)

In November 1939, Georg Elser’s (Christian Friedel) attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler fails, and he is arrested. During his confinement, he recalls the events leading up to his plot and his reasons for deciding to take such drastic action. (Press materials)

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

“The Big Sick”: WHILE YOU WERE COMATOSE, LLC

The Big Sick — Co-Written by Emily V. Gordon
Cars 3 — Co-Written by Kiel Murray
I Love You Both — Co-Written by Kristin Archibald (Also Available on VOD)
Radio Dreams — Co-Written by Aida Ahadiany
Churchill — Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
3 Idiotas — Co-Written by Martha Higareda
God of War — Co-Written by Maria Wong
Champion — Written by Missy Reed and Sarah Inabnit
Smurfs: The Lost Village — Written by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon

TV Premieres This Week

Gypsy — Created by Lisa Rubin (Premieres June 30 on Netflix)

Therapist Jean Holloway (Naomi Watts) develops dangerous and intimate relationships with the people in her patients’ lives in this simmering psychological thriller. (Press materials)

First Ladies Revealed (Docuseries) (Premieres July 2 on Smithsonian)

First Ladies have played a key role in branding their husbands’ presidencies and have each left their own mark on history. “First Ladies Revealed” examines some of the most prominent and remarkable women — trailblazers, style icons, diplomats, war heroes, and global superstars. From Dolley Madison, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jackie Kennedy to Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and more, the series tells the stories of some of the women who left their indelible mark on the White House and the nation. Smithsonian Channel reveals their challenges and celebrates their achievements, going beyond their public lives to tell their private stories. (Press materials)

Janet King (Series 3 Premieres July 3 on Acorn TV)

Janet’s (Marta Dusseldorp) investigation into the mysterious death of a young cricketer uncovers a web of lies and corruption — where the public face of professional sport meets the shadowy underbelly of drugs, match fixing, kickbacks, and murder. (Press materials)

The Words That Built America (Documentary) — Directed by Alexandra Pelosi (Premieres July 4 on HBO)

Celebrating Independence Day, “The Words That Built America” is an unabridged reading of the authentic words of our founding fathers. Director-producer Alexandra Pelosi brings together more than 100 readers, including all the living presidents and vice presidents, as well as Supreme Court justices, Cabinet secretaries, and the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, along with a wide array of celebrities, leading media figures, and young people to read these iconic documents. (Press materials)

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