BY Rachel Montpelier
Renée Zellweger to Receive American Riviera Award at Santa Barbara Film Festival
The Oscar buzz surrounding Renée Zellweger’s portrayal of Judy Garland in “Judy” just got stronger. Zellweger will receive Santa Barbara Film Festival’s American Riviera...
Trailer Watch: Alicia Vikander & Riley Keough Are in a Dangerous Love Triangle in “Earthquake Bird”
For a moment, things seem to be going pretty well for Lucy Fly (Alicia Vikander) in Tokyo. She’s seeing Teiji (Naoki Kobayashi), a photographer, and has just struck up a friendship with another...
“RBG” Directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen Are Making a Julia Child Documentary
Oscar-nominated “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen are spotlighting another icon for their next project. The duo are making a documentary about chef and author Julia Child for...
Trailer Watch: A Young Woman Is Haunted by Her Lover in Mati Diop’s Cannes Winner “Atlantics”
“You know you’re marrying Omar in 10 days, right?” a friend asks Ada (Mame Bineta Sane) in the trailer for Mati Diop’s “Atlantics.” “But I’m in love...
Biopic About Ann Hopkins and Her Landmark Gender Discrimination Case On the Way
As the Supreme Court gears up to — once again — hear arguments on abortion, there’s word that another historic court case for women’s rights will be getting the screen...
Euzhan Palcy Missed Out on Directing Gigs Because Hollywood Found Her Ideas “Too Black”
Euzhan Palcy became the first black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film with 1989’s “A Dry White Season,” the story of an apolitical South African white man waking up to the...
Quote of the Day: Rowena Chiu Breaks Down the Power Imbalances That Protected Harvey Weinstein
Yesterday, in an op-ed for The New York Times, Rowena Chiu recounted the night in 1998 when Harvey Weinstein nearly raped her. A former assistant to the disgraced mogul, Chiu described the toxic...
Tina Tchen Appointed President and CEO of Time’s Up
As of November 1, Tina Tchen will be the new president and CEO of Time’s Up. The co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and former chief of staff to Michelle Obama has been...
Modern Films & Amazon Prime Team Up to Stream “Skate Kitchen,” “The Perfect Candidate,” & More in UK
Crystal Moselle’s “Skate Kitchen,” Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate,” Nancy Biurski’s “The Rape Of Recy Taylor,” and more films about and/or made...
“Vida” Creator Tanya Saracho Will Be Honored at Outfest Legacy Awards
“Vida” has won a GLAAD Media Award, an Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and a SXSW Audience Award. Now Tanya Saracho, the creator of the Starz dramedy, is set to...
Submit Your Short for the Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award
The Eva Haller Women Transforming Media Award is accepting submissions. Named for the human rights activist and philanthropist Eva Haller, the honor recognizes short films telling women’s...
“Devil’s Doorway” Filmmaker Aislinn Clarke Wins Academy’s Gold Fellowship for Women Grant
“Devil’s Doorway” writer-director Aislinn Clarke is the winner of the second Academy Gold Fellowship for Women grant. According to Screen Daily, the Northern Irish filmmaker will...
Felicia D. Henderson’s Music Drama “Opus” Gets Script Commitment at Fox
“Empire” is ending after this season, but writer-producer Felicia D. Henderson and co-star Nicole Ari Parker are hoping to keep the family music drama game going at Fox. As Deadline...
WeForShe Now Taking Nominations for the 2020 WriteHer List
Do you know a woman who has written a great, but unproduced, pilot? WeForShe is here to help. The women’s advocacy group is accepting nominations for the 2020 WriteHer List. Each year WeForShe...
Four Ida Lupino Films Restored and Released in Box Set
One of the many trailblazing — and unsung — women in film history is getting some much-deserved time in the spotlight. As Vanity Fair reports, Kino Lorber has released a new box set, the...
“Saint Maud” Director Rose Glass Wins IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award
Rose Glass’ successful festival run just got even better. Her feature directorial debut, “Saint Maud,” has screened at TIFF and Fantastic Fest, is set to play at BFI London Film...
Reese Witherspoon Will Receive 2019 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award
Reese Witherspoon will soon have another trophy to add to her mantel. The Oscar winner is this year’s recipient of the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, The Hollywood Reporter has announced....
Ava DuVernay’s “DMZ” Adaptation Gets Pilot Order at HBO Max
Ava DuVernay’s latest TV project will see her expanding her relationship with DC Comics. Already tapped to helm the feature adaptation of DC’s “The New Gods” for Warner Bros.,...
Trailer Watch: Three Lost Souls Seek “Salvation” in Carmen Sangion’s Debut Feature
Things are pretty grim in the trailer for “Salvation”: A priest flagellates himself and struggles to comfort people in crisis. A young man runs from some unknown danger. Set to a cover of...
Laura Baumeister’s “Daughter of Rage” Will Be Nicaragua’s First Woman-Directed Fiction Feature
Laura Baumeister made a major mark at this year’s San Sebastián International Film Festival. Not only did the filmmaker win the €20,000 (about $21,800 USD) EFADs-CAACI Europe-Latin America...
Weekly Update for September 27: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Sister Aimee – Written and Directed by Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann (Available on VOD October 1) Aimee Semple McPherson was a hugely popular evangelist in...
Female Filmmaker Fest Lineup Includes Pics by Kirsten Johnson, Nadia Fares, & More
The second annual FFFEST (Female Filmmaker Festival) is set to take place at NYC’s Quad Cinema October 25-27, a press release has announced. This year’s celebration of women filmmakers...
Apply Now: Wavelength Productions’ WAVE Grant for First-Time Women Filmmakers of Color
Wavelength Productions, the company that brought us Rachel Lears’ feminist political doc “Knock Down the House,” has announced a grant supporting first-time female filmmakers of...
“Free Solo” Directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Ink First-Look Deal with Nat Geo
Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have picked up an Oscar, a BAFTA, and an Emmy for “Free Solo,” their doc about Alex Honnold’s quest to become the first person to free solo climb El...
Margaret Nagle to Bring Operation Varsity Blues to the Small Screen
Margaret Nagle is shifting her focus from one toxic world to another. Hot off the heels of the announcement of “Alpha Girls,” the project about women in Silicon Valley she’s writing...
Algeria Cancels “Papicha” Screenings, Putting Its Oscar Chances at Risk
This summer, Algeria became the first country to enter the 2020 International Feature Film Oscar race when it submitted Mounia Meddour’s “Papicha” for consideration. Now the nation is...
Carmen Chaplin to Direct Doc About Grandfather Charlie Chaplin
Carmen Chaplin is bringing her grandfather’s story to the big screen. The actress and filmmaker will direct “Charlie Chaplin, A Man of the World,” a feature documentary delving into...
May el-Toukhy Will Direct Isak Dinesen Biopic “The Lioness”
Earlier this year, news broke that a biopic about “Out of Africa” writer Karen Blixen, who published under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen, was in the works. Now the project has lined up a...
New UCLA Study Offers Five Practices for Promoting Diversity in Hollywood
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that Hollywood is mostly controlled by white dudes. There were 112 directors on last year’s top 100 films, and only one...
Trailer Watch: Elsa Is Called to the Enchanted Forest in “Frozen II”
In the new trailer for “Frozen II,” Elsa (Idina Menzel) seems a little off — at least according to her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell). Turns out some mystical force has been calling to...
Weekly Update for September 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Always in Season (Documentary) – Directed by Jacqueline Olive Claudia Lacy wants answers. When her 17-year-old son, Lennon, was found hanging from a swing set in...
“Jane the Virgin’s” Jennie Snyder Urman Has Shows in the Works at The CW and CBS
For those of you contending with a “Jane the Virgin”-sized hole in your watchlist, we have some good news for you. “Jane” creator and showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman is working...
New Film Series From Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Will Screen Works by Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, & More
ARRAY Alliance, Ava DuVernay’s nonprofit film collective, has been releasing films about and by women and people of color since 2010 — Heidi Saman’s “Namour,” Lisa France’s...
Theater Survey: Discrimination & Lack of Maternity Leave Feed Offstage Gender Gap
Excluding costume design, dudes dominate theater’s design, production, and technical professions. Women represent just 37 percent of Broadway and touring stage managers, a 2017 study revealed....
Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s “Americanah” Limited Series Heading to HBO Max
Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s much-anticipated TV adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americanah” has found a home. Variety confirms that forthcoming platform HBO Max has given...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Coky Giedroyc – “How to Build a Girl”
With a background in documentaries, pop videos, and arts programs, British director Coky Giedroyc made her feature debut with “Stella Does Tricks,” starring Kelly Macdonald. Her BAFTA-...
“Boxed In 2018-19” TV Study Reports Increases in Women’s On and Offscreen Representation
Here’s some welcome news to kick off the fall TV season: the number of women on both sides of the camera increased during the 2018-19 season. The latest “Boxed In” report from Dr....
Women of Color Led or Co-Led 11 of 2018’s Top 100 Films, According to New Research
As we’re all well aware, women are very much underrepresented on the big screen. However, according to new research from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, there is...
Venice Film Fest Hosts Gender Equality Seminar
Historically, Venice Film Festival has not seemed to give a shit about gender parity or inclusion. Artistic director Alberto Barbera has said he would rather quit than set gender quotas. In the wake...
Weekly Update for August 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Official Secrets – Written by Sara Bernstein, Gregory Bernstein, and Gavin Hood Based on world-shaking true events, “Official Secrets” tells the gripping...
Venice 2019 Women Directors: Meet Isabel Sandoval – “Lingua Franca”
Isabel Sandoval is a New York-based Filipina filmmaker. Her feature directorial debut, “Señorita,” premiered in competition at the 2011 Locarno Film Festival, and won the Emerging...
Trailer Watch: Uzo Aduba Starts an Education Reform Movement in “Miss Virginia”
“School or juvenile hall?” Uzo Aduba asks in the trailer for “Miss Virginia. “You have got to choose.” Her character, Virginia Walden, is talking to her son (Niles...
Venice 2019 Women Directors: Meet Manele Labidi – “Arab Blues”
Manele Labidi is a French-Tunisian writer-director. She has written and directed different projects for theater, radio, and television. Her first short film, “A Room of My Own,” is a...
Venice, TIFF, and San Sebastian Offering Childcare and Family-Friendly Services
Ahead of its 2019 edition, Cannes introduced “Le Ballon Rouge,” an initiative offering special services for industry attendees with babies or small children. The group Parenting at Film Festivals...
Venice 2019 Women Directors: Meet Marie Grahtø – “Psychosia”
Marie Grahtø graduated from the independent film school Super16 in 2014. She has travelled to festivals around the world with her short films “Daimi” (2012) and “Yolo”...
Trailer Watch: A Doctor Takes on Local Politics — and Sexism — in “The Perfect Candidate”
The protagonist of Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate,” a young female doctor in Saudi Arabia, is getting fed up. She’s not receiving the funding she needs at her...
All 10 of the 2019 WBTVG Directors’ Workshop Grads Have Booked Directing Gigs
The seventh annual Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) Directors’ Workshop is boasting a 100 percent job-placement rate. According to a press release, all 10 Class of 2019 graduates have secured...
Venice 2019 Women Directors: Meet Mattie Do – “The Long Walk”
Mattie Do is Laos’ first, and only, female filmmaker. Her feature debut, “Chanthaly,” was the ninth feature film produced in the country since the 1975 revolution, the first Lao...
Julie Plec’s Adaptation of Amy Chozick’s “Chasing Hillary” Gets Series Order at Netflix
The TV adaptation of journalist Amy Chozick’s memoir “Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns and One Intact Glass Ceiling” is moving forward at Netflix. Per Variety, the...
Rotten Tomatoes Added Over 600 Critics in Past Year, 55% Are Women
Last summer Rotten Tomatoes overhauled its critics criteria in an effort to be more inclusive, and added more than 200 writers to its ranks. It seems that forward momentum has not slowed down over...
Apply Now: Ghetto Film School’s AT&T Mentorship Content Lab
Los Angeles teens with filmmaking aspirations, this one’s for you. Nonprofit filmmaking program Ghetto Film School is now accepting applications for its AT&T Mentorship Content Lab, which...