BY Laura Berger
Amy Berg Docuseries About Grooming in the Works at Freeform
Amy Berg’s latest project, “Phoenix Rising,” debuted on HBO last month. The documentary miniseries sees “Westworld” actress Evan Rachel Wood revisiting the emotional,...
Kelsey Peterson Talks “Move Me,” Her Documentary Exploring Her Personal Journey Becoming Disabled
Kelsey Peterson is a dancer, choreographer, writer, and filmmaker. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Montana in 2008, and later, her yoga teacher certification from CorePower Yoga....
Kestrin Pantera’s SXSW Audience Award Winner “Pretty Problems” Lands at IFC Films
Kestrin Pantera’s sophomore feature has secured distribution. The winner of the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award at this year’s SXSW, “Pretty Problems” will hit theaters and...
Laura Herrero Garvín on “La Mami,” a Doc About Women Who Connect & Transform in a Mexican Night Club
Born in Toledo, Spain, Laura Herrero Garvín is the co-founder of Sandia Digital, a company through which she has made about 20 short documentaries. Her professional career is closely linked to...
Nicol Paone to Direct Dark Comedy Thriller “The Kill Room,” Uma Thurman Will Star
Last week’s Academy Awards saw Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Travolta reuniting onstage to celebrate the 28th anniversary of “Pulp Fiction.” Now, two of those stars are...
Kathryn Bigelow to Direct “Aurora” for Netflix
Days after Jane Campion seized the Oscar for Best Director, the first woman to ever win the prize has lined up her next project: Kathryn Bigelow is set to helm “Aurora.” Like...
Trailer Watch: Céline Sciamma Is Back with Mother-Daughter Story “Petite Maman”
Céline Sciamma is back with another film that’s sure to break your heart. She’s following up 2019’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” a tragic romance about an artist and...
San Francisco Film Fest 2022: 56% of Films Directed by Women or Non-Binary Filmmakers, 52% by BIPOC Filmmakers
The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) has announced its 2022 lineup, and 56 percent of this year’s films “are helmed by female or non-binary filmmakers and 52 percent are...
Trailer Watch: Alison Pill & Sarah Gadon Are Sisters Coping with Loss in “All My Puny Sorrows”
“Suffering is something that is passed on from one generation to the next — like flexibility, grace, or color blindness,” says Alison Pill in a new trailer for “All My Puny...
Jennifer Lopez Producing “Backwards in Heels,” Series About Iconic NYC Female-Only Residential Hotel
Jennifer Lopez is bringing all of the glitz and glamor of the Barbizon Hotel to Prime Video. Deadline reports that Amazon landed “Backwards in Heels,” a Skydance TV series that counts...
Trailer Watch: Elisabeth Moss Investigates a Serial Killer in “Shining Girls”
After taking on “The Invisible Man,” Elisabeth Moss is squaring off against a serial killer in “Shining Girls.” An adaptation of Lauren Beukes’ best-selling novel, the Apple...
Sarah DeLappe to Adapt Dorothy Baker Novel “Cassandra at the Wedding” for Neon
Sarah DeLappe is following up “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” her SXSW pic about a group of rich 20-something friends whose hurricane party turns deadly, with another dark comedy. She’s...
Trailer Watch: Lena Headey Risks It All in Gigi Gaston’s “9 Bullets”
“Be strong. Don’t quit,” Lena Headey is told in a new trailer for “9 Bullets.” Written and directed by Gigi Gaston (“Rip it Off”), the thriller sees the...
Oscars: Jane Campion Lands Best Director for “The Power of the Dog,” “CODA” Goes Three for Three
Jane Campion became the third woman to ever take home the honor Best Director at last night’s Academy Awards. Her “Power of the Dog” win follows on the heels of Chloé Zhao’s...
Trailer Watch: Sofia Alvarez’s “Along the Ride” Follows a Teen’s Quest to Find Herself the Summer Before College
“Life is long,” a teenage girl is told in a new trailer for “Along the Ride. “It’d be boring if we had to stay the same versions of ourselves the whole time.”...
Liz Tigelaar Set to Pen Film Adaptation of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” for Netflix
Liz Tigelaar is bringing another best-selling book to the screen. The “Little Fires Everywhere” creator, showrunner, and exec producer is set to pen a film adaptation of Taylor Jenkins...
Gemma Chan to Portray Anna May Wong in Biopic of the Trailblazing Actress
Gemma Chan is set to pay tribute to another actress. Following roles in blockbusters including “Eternals,” “Captain Marvel,” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” Chan will...
Megan Thee Stallion Docuseries on the Way from Nneka Onuorah
Megan Thee Stallion is celebrating another milestone. The Grammy-winning rapper, who made history as the first woman with three No. 1 streaming songs in a single year back in 2020, will be the...
Trailer Watch: Nicole Kidman, Issa Rae, & More Team Up for Genre-Bending Stories in Apple TV+ Series “Roar”
“GLOW’s” cancellation in 2020 still stings. The Netflix comedy about a ragtag women’s wrestling league was in production on its fourth season when word came that the...
Meghan Markle Set to Examine Stereotypes About Women in Her First Spotify Podcast
Meghan Markle is all too familiar with the kind of misogynistic vitriol leveled at women. She’s faced sexism, racism, and classism on a global scale. The Duchess of Sussex is set to...
Trailer Watch: “Lioness: The Nicola Adams Story” Celebrates a History-Making Boxer
“When I was a kid, I wasn’t aware that women didn’t box,” says Nicola Adams in the trailer for “Lioness: The Nicola Adams Story.” She wasn’t shielded from...
A “CODA” Musical Is Being Developed
“CODA” is heading to the stage following its history-making awards run. A musical adaptation of Sian Heder’s second feature is in the works from the film’s co-producers,...
Trailer Watch: Jessie Buckley Is Haunted and Hunted in “Men”
Jessie Buckley is following up her Oscar-nominated turn in “The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s portrait of an ambivalent mother, with a psychological horror pic....
Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Slip” Comedy Series in the Works at Roku
Zoe Lister-Jones is embarking on another epic journey. Her last film, “How It Ends,” told the story of a woman making her way through LA by foot on the eve of the end of the world, and...
Trailer Watch: Daisy Edgar-Jones & Olivia Newman Bring “Where the Crawdads Sing” to the Screen
Reese Witherspoon is bringing another project based on a bestselling book to a screen near you. The “Gone Girl” and “Wild” producer, who also counts small screen titles such...
Pick of the Day: “The Principles of Pleasure”
“So many people are left out of the pleasure conversation,” we’re told early on in “The Principles of Pleasure.” A three-part docuseries exploring how “sex, joy,...
Trailer Watch: Malin Akerman and Lorenza Izzo Escape a Cult in “The Aviary”
“I just feel like he’s here with us. That was Seth’s power — he got us lost in our own minds,” says Malin Akerman in a new trailer for “The Aviary.” The...
Lena Headey Making Her Feature Directorial Debut with “Violet”
Lena Headey is off the throne and stepping behind the camera. The four-time Emmy-nominated actress, best known for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister in “Game of Thrones,” is set to make...
Alice Diop’s “We” Acquired by MUBI Following Award-Winning Debut at the Berlinale
“We” (“Nous”) is coming stateside. Alice Diop’s award-winning documentary has been acquired by MUBI, which landed all rights to the film in the U.S. and SVOD rights for...
“CODA” Wins the Top Prize at the PGA Awards
“CODA’s” odds of securing the Oscar for Best Picture are looking brighter by the day. Sian Heder’s sophomore feature took home the top honor at Saturday night’s PGA...
Jacqueline Olive & Stanley Nelson Team Up for Doc About Pepsi’s Historic All-Black Sales Team
Two award-winning filmmakers are teaming up to tell the story of the first all-Black sales team at a major U.S. corporation. Jacqueline Olive (“Always in Season”) and Stanley Nelson...
Kathlyn Horan’s “The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile” Lands at Sony Pictures Classics
“The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile” has secured worldwide distribution following its world premiere at SXSW last week. A press release announced that Sony...
Trailer Watch: “Topside” Follows a Mother and Daughter Living Under the Streets of NYC
The winner of a Special Jury award for directing at SXSW 2020, Celine Held and Logan George’s “Topside” tells the story of a five-year-old girl (Zhaila Farmer) and her mother (Held)...
Pick of the Day: “Minx”
Tired of seeing headlines about how to “find your thin within” and “snag a spouse,” a young feminist vows to create a publication worthy of its women readers in “Minx,” an HBO Max comedy...
Nikyatu Jusu’s Sundance Winner “Nanny” Acquired by Amazon, Blumhouse
Described as “compassionate and horrifying,” “visually stunning, masterfully acted, [and] impeccably designed from sound to visual effects” by Sundance jurors who crowned it...
Trailer Watch: “Derry Girls” Is Back for a Third and Final Season
“Just try to enjoy what time you have left,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Derry Girls.” It’s nearly time to say goodbye to Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla...
Judy Blume Doc on the Way from Amazon and Imagine Docs
Judy Blume has shaped generations of readers with classics like “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Forever,” and “Tiger Eyes.” With a slew of adaptations...
Exclusive: Sadie Hernandez Talks Access to Health Care & Wendy Davis’ Influence in “Shouting Down Midnight” Clip
Described by director Gretchen Stoeltje as “both a cautionary tale and a rallying cry,” “Shouting Down Midnight” highlights some of the brave women in Texas who have fought...
Teaser Watch: Maika Monroe Can’t Escape Prying Eyes in Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher”
Maika Monroe is being haunted by another unseen threat. The “It Follows” breakout stars in “Watcher,” a psychological thriller about a woman who is being stalked. A newly...
Trailer Watch: Ava DuVernay Celebrates Cinema with HBO Max’s “One Perfect Shot”
“Twenty-four frames per second — that’s the standard frame rate for cinematic storytelling. Over 100,000 frames come together to create magic. What if we could step into a single...
Marlee Matlin Will Make Directorial Debut with an Episode of Fox’s “Accused”
Weeks after landing the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside her “CODA” co-stars, Marlee Matlin is stepping behind the camera. She’s set to...
Leya Hale on Tackling the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Epidemic in “Bring Her Home”
Leya Hale comes from the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Diné Nations. She is a producer for Twin Cities PBS and is best known for her first feature documentary, “The People’s...
Trailer Watch: Iman Vellani’s Dreams Come True in “Ms. Marvel”
“I always thought I wanted this kind of life, but I never imagined any of this,” says Iman Vellani in a new trailer for “Ms. Marvel.” The Canadian actress is making her...
“Abbott Elementary” Renewed For Season 2
“Abbott Elementary,” Quinta Brunson’s tribute to overworked and underfunded public school teachers, has been renewed for a second season by ABC. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the...
Gillian Robespierre & Mathilde Dratwa Team Up with Julianne Nicholson for “Separation Anxiety” Series
“Obvious Child” writer-director Gillian Robespierre and playwright Mathilde Dratwa have signed on to executive produce and write “Separation Anxiety,” a limited series based...
“The Power of the Dog” and “CODA” Land Major Honors at the BAFTA Awards
“The Power of the Dog” continues to dominate awards season. Jane Campion’s Western about Montana ranchers was named best film at last night’s BAFTA Awards. Campion also landed...
Megan Park Teams Up with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment for Next Feature, “My Old Ass”
Megan Park has lined up her follow-up to SXSW winner “The Fallout,” her directorial debut. The “Secret Life of the American Teenager” actress will tackle another coming-of-age...
Pick of the Day: “Turning Red”
A hilarious and moving tribute to the power of friendship, family, and self-acceptance, Domee Shi’s “Turning Red” is a delight from start to finish. Pixar’s latest tells the...
Trailer Watch: An Aspiring Pornstar Moves to LA in Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure”
“I love being in front of the camera. I love having people watch me,” says Sofia Kappel in a new trailer for “Pleasure.” Ninja Thyberg’s feature debut tells the story of...
Trailer Watch: Mayim Bialik Makes Her Directorial Debut with Dianna Agron-Starrer “As They Made Us”
Mayim Bialik steps behind the camera in “As They Made Us.” Best known for her on-screen work in “The Big Bang Theory” and “Blossom,” the Emmy-nominated actress...
Amanda Kloots Memoir “Live Your Life” Coming to the Screen
Amanda Kloots’ life story is coming to the big screen. She’s teaming up with Di Novi Pictures producers Denise Di Novi and Margaret French Isaac on a film adaptation of her memoir,...