BY Rachel Montpelier
Trailer Watch: Odessa Young’s Life Changes on “Mothering Sunday” in Eva Husson’s Latest
From director Eva Husson and screenwriter Alice Birch, “Mothering Sunday” sees a woman experiencing — and then reflecting on — a pivotal day in her life. On Mother’s Day...
Pick of the Day: “Night Raiders”
Marking Danis Goulet’s feature directorial debut, “Night Raiders” is a dystopian sci-fi take on the history, and possible future, of colonialism and authoritarianism. It’s a bleak...
Trailer Watch: Activists Derrica and Natalie Wilson Are Dedicated to Finding “Black and Missing” Persons
“There are so many missing people of color in the U.S.,” we’re told in the trailer for the HBO docuseries “Black and Missing.” “African Americans remain missing...
Regina Hall to Star in & Produce “Midnight Run” Sequel for Universal, Aeysha Carr Writing the Script
Regina Hall is gearing up for a “Midnight Run.” The “Black Monday” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” star has signed on to the sequel to 1988’s “Midnight...
There Is a Pronounced Gender Gap in Top Films’ VFX, Inclusion Initiative/WIA Study Finds
It’s no secret that women are underrepresented as speaking characters, directors, screenwriters, and producers in Hollywood’s highest-earning films. But a new study from Dr. Stacy L....
Pick of the Day: “Mark, Mary & Some Other People”
From the very beginning of their relationship, Mary (Hayley Law) and Mark (Ben Rosenfield) do things a little unconventionally. In the opening scenes of “Mark, Mary & Some Other...
Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Cannes Pic “Medusa” Heads to Music Box Films
“Medusa,” writer-director Anita Rocha da Silveira’s satirical thriller exploring the pressure women put on themselves to be perfect, has found a home. According to Deadline, Music...
Black Women Animate to Honor Mounia Aram, Tiffany Ford, and Thandiwe Mlauli
Black Women Animate Studios (BWA), an animation house “powered by Black female talent,” has announced the honorees of its second annual Black in Animation Awards. To be held November 14,...
Kelly Macdonald Starring in Carol Morley’s Next Feature, Jane Campion Exec Producing
“The Falling” filmmaker Carol Morley is collaborating with Kelly Macdonald (“Boardwalk Empire”), Monica Dolan (“A Very English Scandal”), Gina McKee...
Disability Representation Non-Profit Inevitable Foundation Selects Fall 2021 Screenwriting Fellows
Inevitable Foundation has selected its second round of screenwriting fellows. The non-profit, which aims to close the disability gap in TV and film, is presenting Shaina Ghuraya and writing partners...
“The Souvenir Part II,” “Censor,” and More Score BIFA Nominations
The 2021 British Independent Film Award (BIFA) nominations have been announced, with Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” Prano Bailey-Bond’s “Censor,” and Clio...
Trailer Watch: Sarah Kendall Can’t Escape Australia in “Frayed” Season 2
Despite her best efforts, the past catches up with Sammy (Sarah Kendall) in the new season of “Frayed.” The down-on-her-luck former London housewife/current Australia working girl is...
Eight Artists Selected for 2021 Women at Sundance Adobe Fellowship
Sundance Institute has selected eight artists for the second annual Women at Sundance Adobe Fellowship. Variety confirms that Deborah Esquenazi (“Southwest of Salem”), McKenzie Chinn...
Rebecca Sugar and USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative Among WIA Diversity Award Winners
The winners of the fifth annual Women in Animation Diversity Awards are “Steven Universe” creator Rebecca Sugar, the short film “All Those Sensations in My Belly,” and the USC...
Mamie Lang Kirkland Doc “100 Years from Mississippi” Acquired by Virgil Films
Film audiences will soon get to learn about Mamie Lang Kirkland and her incredible life. According to Deadline, a documentary about the activist, directed by her son Tarabu Betserai Kirkland, has...
Pick of the Day: “Passing”
“Passing” is a complicated term. Whether it relates to race, gender, or sexual orientation, it connotes posing, pretending, striving to be something you’re not. On the other hand,...
Quote of the Day: Gabrielle Union Calls Out Hollywood’s Fake Meritocracy in Book Foreword
Gabrielle Union has nearly 90 acting credits on IMDb. She has appeared on-screen since the mid-90s. She has had scene-stealing turns in cult classics and blockbusters alike, from “Bring It...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicole Holofcener Reteaming for Comedy “Beth and Don”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicole Holofcener are teaming up on another comedy about relationships and the secrets that undermine them. The respective “Enough Said” star and writer-director...
UCLA Diversity Report: Pandemic Audiences Embracing TV Shows with Diverse Casts and Writers
The latest edition of UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report examined television viewing habits during the 2019-2020 season and found that pandemic audiences are connecting with shows featuring...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fork Films Select Participants for Inaugural Story Workshop
Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fork Films are joining forces on a new creative story workshop for documentarians. Women and Hollywood can exclusively reveal that the orgs have selected the...
Trailer Watch: A College Student Unearths Family Secrets in Geeta Malik’s “India Sweets and Spices”
Alia (Sophia Ali, “The Wilds”) returns home from college and discovers there’s a lot about her mother she doesn’t know in “India Sweets and Spices.” A trailer for...
Teaser Watch: “Women of the Movement” Honors Mamie Till-Mobley
“What a fine young man you’re becoming,” Mamie Till-Mobley (Adrienne Warren, “Orange Is the New Black”) tells her son in “Women of the Movement,” ABC’s...
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” & Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” Lead Gotham Award Noms
The 2021 Gotham Award nominees have been announced, with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Rebecca Hall’s “Passing,” Shatara Michelle Ford’s...
Trailer Watch: Dawn Porter & Nicole Newnham Unpack Title IX’s Legacy with ESPN Docuseries “Fifty/50”
Although it tends to be associated with gender equality in sports, Title IX ensures equal treatment for women at any educational institution that receives federal funding. The landmark law will turn...
Sundance Institute Introduces Intensive for Trans Artists of Color
Sundance Institute has selected six artists for its inaugural Trans Possibilities Intensive. Ava Davis, StormMiguel Florez, River Gallo, Carol Grant, Mitchell (MiSha) Owens, and Savannah Ward are...
Patricia Clarkson and Nathalie Emmanuel Will Star in Spy Series from Director Ruba Nadda
Patricia Clarkson is reuniting with her “Cairo Time” and “October Gale” director. She is set to topline “Gray,” a spy thriller series helmed by Ruba Nadda....
Raising Films Survey: Majority of Respondents Believe Caregiving Has Negatively Impacted Their Career
The U.K. film industry is not a welcoming place for parents and caregivers — an issue COVID-19 has only exacerbated. This is among the conclusions drawn from a recent survey conducted by...
Trailer Watch: Motherhood Threatens to Crush Olivia Colman in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter”
Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley are mothers in crisis in “The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut. An adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel, the...
Field of Vision Introduces Doc Crew Apprenticeship Program for Underrepresented & Emerging Talent
Field of Vision is turning its attention to below-the-line inclusion in documentary filmmaking. The nonfiction unit behind projects such as “American Factory” and “On the...
BBC Revamps On-Set Bullying and Sexual Harassment Guidelines
The BBC has updated its on-set bullying and sexual harassment policy, presenting new guidelines on sex scenes, access to support resources, and safeguarding contacts. According to Deadline, BBC CCO...
Trailer Watch: Sexism & Disappointing Men Stand in the Way of Lorenza Izzo’s Dreams in “Women Is Losers”
“Your time is worth half of a man’s” the protagonist of “Women Is Losers” is told in in a new trailer for the film. That, of course, is outrageous, but it’s also...
Joni Mitchell Doc “50 Years of Blue” Heads to Marketplace, Teresa Griffiths Directs
eOne has kicked off global sales (excluding the U.K.) for the BBC Two feature doc “Joni Mitchell: 50 Years of Blue,” Deadline reports. A look at Mitchell’s creative process for what...
Teaser Watch: It’s “Hanna” vs. Utrax in Season 3
“You’re going out into the wide world,” a class of highly-trained, ass-kicking young women is told in the teaser for “Hanna’s” new season. Hanna (Esmé...
Pick of the Day: “Prism”
A prism can be a lens, a way of seeing. In the figurative sense, it can be a tool that refracts and deconstructs ideas. In the literal sense, it breaks down white light into a rainbow. A prism is not...
Pick of the Day: “Delphine’s Prayers”
Similar to her previous two features as a solo director, “Chez Jolie Coiffure” and “The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman,” Rosine Mbakam’s latest doc gives an...
Bullying & Harassment Reporting App Launches in U.K. Film Industry with Plans to Expand to Hollywood
It just got a little bit easier to call out toxic work environments — and for workplace harassers and bullies to be held accountable — across the pond. A new anonymous reporting app,...
Pick of the Day: “Hester Street” 4K Restoration
The old and the new collide in Joan Micklin Silver’s beloved “Hester Street.” The Oscar-nominated 1975 portrait of Jewish immigrant life in turn-of-the-century New York has received...
Pick of the Day: “Maid”
In one of the early episodes of the new Netflix limited series “Maid,” the main character laments that she will need someone to watch her toddler daughter while she goes to interview for...
Trailer Watch: Joanna Hogg, Honor Swinton Byrne, & Tilda Swinton Reunite for “The Souvenir Part II”
“I don’t want to show life as it plays out,” Honor Swinton Byrne declares in “The Souvenir Part II.” “I want to show life as I imagine it.” Swinton Byrne...
Exclusive: Abortion Doc “On the Divide” Among Chicken & Egg’s Latest Project: Hatched Grantees
Chicken & Egg Pictures has added seven projects to its 2021 slate of Project: Hatched grantees. Women and Hollywood can exclusively announce that the org, which supports women and gender...
Women-Driven Podcast Platform Fictionz Launching in October, Features Voices of Judy Greer & More
A new platform dedicated to women’s voices, literal and creative, is coming to the podcast landscape. Featuring the talents of Judy Greer (“Halloween” franchise), Jeanine Mason...
Niav Conty’s Feature Debut “Small Time” Acquired by Film Arcade
Niav Conty’s feature debut “Small Time” has found a home. Deadline confirms North American rights to the drama have been picked up by indie distributor The Film Arcade. Written,...
Pick of the Day: “Nuclear Family”
Two women should be able to have children with the help of a sperm donor, a person who provides genetic material but has “no rights and no responsibilities” in the children’s lives....
Marissa Jo Cerar’s Series Adaptation of “Black Cake” Lands at Hulu Following Bidding War, Oprah Producing
Marissa Jo Cerar is taking Charmaine Wilkerson’s upcoming debut novel, “Black Cake,” to Hulu. Following “a heated bidding war” with other streamers, Hulu has ordered an...
Pick of the Day: “El Planeta”
“Girls” was populated with entitled, feckless, but ultimately fascinating female characters. “Arrested Development” followed a formerly wealthy family willfully ignoring just...
Sharon Horgan Has an Apple TV+ Comedy Series On the Way
Sharon Horgan is bringing her many talents to Apple TV+. The multi-hyphenate is set to star in, co-write, and executive produce an untitled dark comedy about bereaved sisters for the streamer,...
Trailer Watch: Tessa Thompson & Ruth Negga Are Both “Passing” for Something in Rebecca Hall’s Directorial Debut
“We’re all of us passing for something or other,” Tessa Thompson opines in the new trailer for “Passing.” An adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Rebecca...
Emmys 2021: Michaela Coel & Women Directors Make History But POC Are Snubbed in Acting Categories
The Emmys took one step forward and two steps back during last night’s ceremony. While the 2021 edition saw a Black woman taking home the trophy for Writing – Limited or Anthology Series...
Pick of the Day: “My Name Is Pauli Murray”
If there were any justice in this world, Pauli Murray would be a household name on par with Martin Luther King or Gloria Steinem or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was an activist and legal scholar whose...
Inclusion Initiative: Latinas Comprised Only 1.9% of Leads/Co-Leads Across 2007-2019’s Top 1,300 Films
The latest report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has found that, despite making up about 20 percent of the U.S. population, the Hispanic/Latinx community “remains almost invisible...
Pick of the Day: “Y: The Last Man”
“Y: The Last Man’s” title really should have been retooled. I haven’t read the DC Comics series it’s based on, but the TV adaptation is about a lot more than the last...