BY Rachel Montpelier
Foreign-Language Oscar Picks: Indonesia Selects “Marlina the Murderer,” Lebanon “Capernaum”
Another two women-directed films have been selected for the foreign-language Oscar race. Indonesia has chosen Mouly Surya’s “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts” as its submission...
Trailer Watch: Rachel Brosnahan Reinvigorates the Neighborhood in “Change in the Air”
Think of “Change in the Air” as “The Marvelous Ms. Miller.” A trailer for Dianne Dreyer’s new drama sees Rachel Brosnahan’s character, Wren Miller, enchanting...
TIFF Horror Pic “The Wind” Lands at IFC Midnight
“The Wind,” a horror-Western from Emma Tammi, made its world premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival, and now it’s making its way to theaters. A press release has...
Emmys 2018: Amy Sherman-Palladino Makes History and Hannah Gadsby Calls Out #NotAllMen
“Gilmore Girls” was repeatedly and egregiously snubbed by the Emmys, but show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino finally got the last laugh. Her latest series, “The Marvelous Mrs....
Amy Chozick’s 2016 Election Memoir “Chasing Hillary” Getting Series Treatment at Warner Bros.
Nearly two years later, it’s still hard to process what exactly happened on November 8, 2016 — and how Hillary Clinton lost the election. Journalist Amy Chozick has already shed some...
Weekly Update for September 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Where Hands Touch – Written and Directed by Amma Asante “Where Hands Touch” is a coming of age story set in the most brutal of times: Germany, 1944. Leyna (Amandla...
TV News: Woman-Led “Lean On Me” Remake and Ann Patchett Adaptation On the Way
Two women-driven television adaptations are in the works. “Lean On Me,” a gender-flipped TV reboot of the classic Morgan Freeman film, is in development at The CW, and Emily Mortimer is...
Production Set on Cynthia Erivo-Led Harriet Tubman Biopic, Kasi Lemmons Directing
Production will soon be underway for Cynthia Erivo-starrer “Harriet.” Over a year and a half after news of the Harriet Tubman biopic originally broke, Focus Features has announced...
IDFA Signs the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has taken the 5050×2020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion in Film Festivals two months ahead of its 31st edition. By signing...
Writer to Watch: Sierra Teller Ornelas of “Superstore”
Working on “Superstore,” the NBC comedy about a motley crew of employees at a big-box store, marked the first time Sierra Teller Ornelas wasn’t the only Latina in the...
Quote of the Day: “Designing Women” Creator Linda Bloodworth Thomason Calls Out Les Moonves
“In spite of my proper Southern mother’s admonition to always be gracious, I am all out of grace when it comes to Mr. Moonves,” Linda Bloodworth Thomason writes in a guest column for...
Ruth Wilson, Elizabeth Marvel, and More Join Glenda Jackson in Broadway’s “King Lear”
Ruth Wilson, Elizabeth Marvel, Jayne Houdyshell, and Aisling O’Sullivan are set to take a walk in the rain with Shakespeare’s tragic king. Deadline confirms they have joined the cast of...
Pics from Aislinn Clarke & Tinna Hrafnsdóttir Among Boudica Films’ New Female-Led Projects
Boudica Films, the Rebecca Long and Ian Davies-led UK film fund that supports women-centric and -made pics, has announced its latest slate of projects. Per Screen Daily, two movies about...
Rosamund Pike, Lesli Linka Glatter, & Meredith Stiehm Team Up for “Banker’s Wife” Series
Following recent turns in “A Private War” and “Beirut,” Rosamund Pike has signed on to another dramatic, action-packed thriller. Deadline has revealed the “Gone...
TIFF 2018 Women Directors: Meet Amma Asante — “Where Hands Touch”
Amma Asante made her feature debut with 2004’s “A Way of Life.” The film earned her the Most Promising Newcomer prize at the 2005 BAFTA Awards. She was also honored with the BFI London Film...
Weekly Update for September 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING I Am Not a Witch – Written and Directed by Rungano Nyoni (Opens in NY; Opens in LA September 14) When eight-year-old Shula (Maggie Mulubwa) turns up alone and...
Awards Roundup: TIFF to Honor Claire Denis, BAFTA Cate Blanchett
Claire Denis’ and Cate Blanchett’s awards shelves are about to become a bit more crowded. Cannes prize-winning director Denis will be presented with the fifth annual Roger Ebert Golden...
Study: Women Wrote Only 21% of Reviews on 2015-17’s Top Films, POC Just 17%
A new study from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows that, unfortunately, the severe underrepresentation of women critics and critics of color found in...
TIFF 2018 Women Directors: Meet Naziha Arebi — “Freedom Fields”
Naziha Arebi has made short films shown worldwide, completed a series of educational shorts on Libyan reconciliation, and directed a short doc about the assassinated Libyan activist Salwa...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Garner Organizes the “Camping” Trip from Hell
“She always has a plan, my Katty.” That’s Walt’s (David Tennant) take on his wife Kathryn’s (Jennifer Garner) anal behavior during his birthday camping trip. No matter...
Cicely Tyson to Receive Honorary Oscar, Kathleen Kennedy the Thalberg Award
Legendary actress Cicely Tyson and mega-producer Kathleen Kennedy will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars. Per The Hollywood Reporter,...
Trailer Watch: Harassment Makes a Woman’s New Job a Nightmare in TIFF Film “Working Woman”
“The administrative manager is my right hand,” Orna’s (Liron Ben-Shlush) new boss tells her in the trailer for Israeli drama “Working Woman.” She assists him at his...
New WarnerMedia Policy Makes Significant Commitment to Inclusion on Both Sides of Camera
WarnerMedia — the conglomerate made up of Warner Bros., HBO, Turner, and their assets — is adopting a company-wide policy that commits to diversity and inclusion on- and off-screen....
TIFF News: Gemma Arterton to Topline Phyllis Nagy’s Dusty Springfield Biopic
Gemma Arterton is going to the Toronto International Film Festival with one film and leaving with another. The Hollywood Reporter confirms the “Vita and Virginia” actress will portray...
TV Preview: Series By and About Women Premiering This Fall
It’s always sad to see summer end, but at least we have the promise of fall TV to cheer us up. Autumn 2018 promises to be an exciting season for women-driven television projects. Some of the...
TIFF 2018 Women Directors: Meet Jasmin Mozaffari — “Firecrackers”
Jasmin Mozaffari’s student thesis film, “Firecrackers,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to screen at numerous other fests across Canada and Europe....
Christine Pietrosh & Jessica Goldstein’s “Family Friendly” Gets Put Pilot Commitment at ABC
ABC is taking on the bullshit mothers so often face in the workplace. According to Deadline, the network has given a put pilot commitment to Christine Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein’s...
Trailer Watch: The Right to Choose Is On the Line in “Reversing Roe”
“Life is winning again,” Vice President Mike Pence gloats in the trailer for “Reversing Roe” — but women’s rights are not. As Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme...
BIFA Holding Mandatory Unconscious Bias Training Ahead of 2018 Awards
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is addressing its own prejudices. Screen Daily reports that the organization is requiring its voters to complete unconscious bias training before its 2018...
Weekly Update for August 31: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING Let the Corpses Tan – Written and Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Opens in NY and LA) After stealing a truckload of gold bars, a gang of thieves...
DGA Report: Women and POC First-Time TV Directors Made Gains in 2017-18 Season
Sometimes the fight to make the entertainment industry more inclusive can feel downright Sisyphean. Thankfully, that’s not always the case, as the Directors Guild of America’s (DGA)...
Female UK Playwrights Call for More Women-Written Plays to Be Commissioned, Included in Canon
Charlotte Jones, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Tanika Gupta, and more playwrights are calling time’s up on UK theater’s exclusion of women writers. According to The Stage, they are demanding...
Sonia Sanchez Awarded $100,000 Lifetime Achievement Prize from Academy of American Poets
Sonia Sanchez is the recipient of The Academy of American Poets’ prestigious Wallace Stevens Award. The New York Times reports the poet, author, and activist received the $100,000 lifetime...
“Crazy Rich Asians” & “The Wife” Among 22 Films to Receive ReFrame’s Gender Equality Stamp
ReFrame has bestowed its stamp of approval to 22 more films. Introduced earlier this summer, the stamp is given to films and TV projects that hire female-identifying individuals on both sides of the...
Amidst Backlash Over Lack of Women Directors, Venice Film Fest Signs Gender Parity Pledge
The Venice Film Festival is finally taking tangible steps toward gender equality. The festival signed the 5050×2020 Pledge yesterday, in spite of Artistic Director Alberto Barbera previously...
Rotten Tomatoes Updates Critics Criteria to Be More Inclusive, Adds Over 200 Tomatometer-Approved Writers
After recent studies from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found that film criticism is dominated by white men, Rotten Tomatoes is...
BBC America & Women’s Media Center Team Up to Increase Women’s Onscreen Representation
BBC America and Women’s Media Center (WMC) are working together to improve the media’s depictions of women. A press release has announced that the TV network and the feminist organization...
Miu Miu Women’s Tales 2018 Will Screen Shorts by Haifaa Al-Mansour and Dakota Fanning
Venice Film Festival has announced the offerings for this year’s Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a “dedicated program of film screenings and revealing conversations by some of the most exciting...
Trailer Watch: An Army Vet Brings a Malevolent Force into Her Home in “Lost Child”
“These are the Ozarks woods,” a family friend reminds Fern (Leven Rambin, “True Detective”), an army veteran who has just returned home. “These people around here, they...
Weekly Update for August 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING The Bookshop – Written and Directed by Isabel Coixet (U.S. Release) (Opens in NY and LA) England, 1959. Free-spirited widow Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) risks...
Inclusive “Bewitched” Remake from Yamara Taylor & Kenya Barris Gets Pilot Commitment at ABC
Time to joyfully wiggle your nose. Deadline confirms a racially inclusive “Bewitched” remake is on the way at ABC. The sitcom, written by “Black-ish’s” Yamara Taylor and...
Camden International Film Fest’s 2018 Lineup Is Over 50% Women-Directed
This year’s Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) promises to be a good one for women filmmakers. According to a press release, the documentary fest boasts full gender parity among its...
Sundance Institute Fellow Tayarisha Poe Directing Her First Feature Film
Tayarisha Poe’s “Selah and the Spades” is officially making its way to the big screen. According to Deadline, Poe is helming the film from her own script, marking her feature...
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen Writing Drama About Hawaiian Women for ABC, Viola Davis Producing
“Crazy Rich Asians” is breaking down barriers at the box office and on the small screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the commercial and critical hit directly influenced...
Both Sloan Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellowships Go to Women Writer-Directors
Erica Liu and So Young Shelly Yo are the 2018 SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellows. SFFILM, a Bay Area-based org championing films and filmmakers, announced the news in a press...
Sharon Horgan to Make Her Feature Directorial Debut, Has Yet Another Show in the Works
Sharon Horgan is squeezing two more projects into her jam-packed schedule. Deadline confirms the “Catastrophe” star and co-creator will direct her first feature film, and is teaming up...
Melissa Rosenberg and Kay Cannon Score TV Deals
“Jessica Jones” showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and “Blockers” director Kay Cannon have both inked deals with indie television studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter,...
IMDbPro’s New App Includes Tap-to-Call WIF Sexual Harassment Hotline Feature
IMDbPro, the movie and TV database’s subscription platform, will make it easier for its members to report sexual harassment or seek other kinds of help. Variety reports the new IMDbPro app...
Nicole Kidman Exec Producing TV Adaptation of Cecelia Ahern’s “Roar”
Nicole Kidman is working on yet another TV project. The “Big Little Lies” star and producer is already developing television adaptations of “The Expatriates,” “The Female...
Trailer Watch: NYC’s “Queen of the Night” Is Celebrated in “Susanne Bartsch: On Top”
Susanne Bartsch, the legendary fashionista and party hostess, is known for accepting, supporting, and honoring marginalized communities, and LGBTQ folks in particular. She “was the one who...
Jodie Whittaker-Led “Doctor Who” Features Female Writer of Color For the First Time
Feminist Whovians can rejoice once more. The new “Doctor Who” — you know, the one that will finally feature a woman Doctor — has announced its writers and directors....