BY Vicki Lee
January 2023 Film Preview
The 2022 winner of the Berlinale’s Golden Bear hits finally hits theaters this month. Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs,” a portrait of a family of peach farmers in a small village in...
Pick of the Day: “Corsage”
“Never forget, no matter bronchitis or headache, you are the Empress,” Vicky Krieps is told in “Corsage,” Marie Kreutzer’s fictionalized account of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. The film...
Exclusive: Olivia Coleman Consoles Runaway Preteen in “Joyride” Clip
Olivia Colman hits the road in “Joyride,” Emer Reynolds’ drama about a strangers who connect under unusual circumstances. Joy (Colman) is a middle-aged solicitor with a goal: to...
4K-Restored Yvonne Rainer Collection on the Way
Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber have landed world rights to seven Yvonne Rainer films, newly restored in 4K by The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation. A...
Robin Thede and Bridget Stokes Reteam for Zombie Comedy “Killing It”
“A Black Lady Sketch Show’s” creator Robin Thede and director Bridget Stokes are teaming up again, this time in the realm of horror-comedy. Deadline reports that Stokes is set to helm Amazon...
Bilal Baig’s “Sort Of” Renewed by HBO Max for Season 3
“Sort Of” is coming back to HBO Max. Deadline reports that the streamer has renewed Bilal Baig’s comedy for its third season. Created by Baig and Fab Filippo, “Sort Of” follows...
Research: 2022 TV Offered Record-High Depiction of Barriers to Abortion Access
Midway through this year, the reproductive rights of folks with uteruses living in the U.S. suffered a cataclysmic regression when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Now, with at least...
Pick of the Day: “The Super 8 Years”
“Behind the image of the nondescript young mother, I can’t help but remember a woman secretly tormented by the need to write,” Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux reflects in “The Super 8 Years”...
Daisy Edgar-Jones To Star as Carole King in Lisa Cholodenko’s “Beautiful”
Daisy Edgar-Jones will “Feel the Earth Move” with her lead role as the Carole King in Sony’s “Beautiful.” Variety reports that the musical biopic of the legendary singer-songwriter will be...
Nikyatu Jusu to Direct “Night of the Living Dead” Sequel
“Nanny” director Nikyatu Jusu is moving from the horrors of the mind to the horrors of the flesh with her upcoming “Night of the Living Dead” sequel. MGM Studios is currently in final...
Nicole Holofcener, Lynn Novick, & Jenny Han Among 2023 Nantucket Film Fest Honorees
Women will dominate the tribute awards at the upcoming Nantucket Film Festival. A press release announced that Nicole Holofcener, Lynn Novick, and Jenny Han will each be honored at the 2023 festival,...
Destry Allyn Spielberg To Make Feature Debut with “Four Assassins (And A Funeral)”
Destry Allyn Spielberg is making her feature directorial debut. Deadline reports that she will helm action pic “Four Assassins (And A Funeral)” for Erica Lee and Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road...
All-Women Team to Direct Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”
Charlotte Brändström is returning to Middle-earth. The Emmy-nominated helmer directed two episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s” debut season and is returning...
Alison Star Locke on the Coexistence of Accountability and Compassion in “The Apology”
Alison Star Locke began her writing career as a story producer for reality TV and has written, directed, and produced numerous shorts. Her favorite, “Shhhhhhh…,” was laureled-up by the Los...
“Till’s” Danielle Deadwyler To Receive Breakthrough Performance Honor at Palm Springs Film Fest
“Till’s” Danielle Deadwyler is set to receive the Breakthrough Performance Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). Her performance as civil rights...
Trailer Watch: Gillian Jacobs Fights Her Own Doppelgänger in “The Seven Faces of Jane”
“What version of yourself do you want to be?” Gillian Jacobs is asked in the trailer for “The Seven Faces of Jane.” In addition to starring, the “Community” alumna directs alongside Gia...
Trailer Watch: “Harry & Meghan: Volume II” Exposes “Institutional Gaslighting”
“I wasn’t being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” Meghan Markle explains in the trailer for “Harry & Meghan: Volume II,” the Liz Garbus-directed docuseries following...
Trailer Watch: A Family Fights for Their Peach Farm in Carla Simón’s Oscar Contender “Alcarràs”
A new trailer for Spain’s International Oscar pick, Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs” introduces us to a family of peach farmers who lead an idyllic life, the old and the young all working...
Sallie Patrick’s “For Justice” Based on Katrina Brownlee’s Life Coming to CBS
A series inspired by former NYPD homicide detective Katrina Brownlee is in the works at CBS. Hailing from the NAACP-CBS Studios venture, “For Justice” is written and exec produced by...
Exclusive: An “Army” of Climate Activists Fight for Change in Clip of Rachel Lears’ “To the End”
“Can you imagine what would happen if we took these young folks [and] got them involved in elections? And young people were the reason why certain politicians won or lost in the 2020 elections,”...
Pick of the Day: “Hidden Letters”
“A man dreams to conquer the world / Does a woman dream any less?” a Nüshu poem asks. Centuries ago, in a rural pocket of China called Jiangyong County, at a time when women and girls were held...
Pick of the Day: “To the End”
“Some of us have to actually live the future that you all are setting on fire,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warns the fossil fuel execs testifying before Congress in Rachel Lears’ “To...
Jessie Buckley to Receive Oscar Wilde Award
Jessie Buckley will be honored at the 2023 Oscar Wilde Awards. A press release announced that the Oscar-nominated Irish actress will be presented with an award at the annual event run by the...
Trailer Watch: Alexandra Pelosi’s “Pelosi in the House” Offers Intimate Look at Nancy Pelosi’s Life in Politics
“Some people count sheep at night, I count votes,” Nancy Pelosi says in a new trailer for Alexandra Pelosi’s 14th HBO doc, “Pelosi in the House.” Filmed in cinema vérité style over...
Gillian Jacobs-Starrer “The Seven Faces of Jane” Lands at Gravitas Ventures
If you’ve ever played exquisite corpse — a game of creating a story or illustration on a paper segmented with folds — you’d know how wacky and surreal the final product can end up. An...
Mandy Walker Becomes the First Woman to Win Cinematography Honor at Australia’s AACTA Awards
Mandy Walker made history at this year’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Industry Awards. A press release announced that she’s become the first woman to win the award...
ARRAY Releasing and JetBlue Debut In-Flight Channel Showcasing Women and BIPOC Filmmakers
In-flight entertainment is getting an upgrade, thanks to Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing. The “Selma” director’s banner has partnered with JetBlue to launch an in-flight pop-up channel,...
Gugu Mbatha-Raw-Starrer “Surface” Renewed For Season 2 at Apple
Apple TV+ thriller “Surface” will be back for a second season. Deadline reports that the streamer has renewed the series starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Sophie, a woman trying to build herself back...
Pick of the Day: “Framing Agnes”
In 1958, a trans woman who went by “Agnes Torres” outsmarted the system to attain gender-affirming healthcare. Thanks to her resourcefulness, she received hormones and corrective surgery from a...
Pick of the Day: “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power”
“Strong people don’t need strong leaders: the emphasis was on the organizing,” civil rights activist Jennifer Lawson tells us in “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” Geeta Gandbhir...
NYWIFT Has Presented 24 Scholarships and Awards for Women in Film and TV Throughout 2022
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) has presented 10 scholarships and 14 festival awards to new and established filmmakers at seven New York-area festivals throughout the past year, a...
Caitlin Cronenberg’s Directorial Debut “Humane” Now in Post-Production
Caitlin Cronenberg has wrapped shooting on her directorial debut, environmental thriller “Humane.” Deadline reports that the film’s cast includes “Schitt’s Creek’s” Emily...
Pick of the Day: “Leonor Will Never Die”
“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” we’re told. But how does this adage apply to the final quarter of our lives, when we are no longer working? Do we surrender what...
Trailer Watch: June Beallor’s “2020 Chaos and Hope” Reflects on a Year of Unprecedented Crisis
A global pandemic, a sinking economy, attempts to overturn the U.S. presidential election, racially-motivated police brutality culminating in the Black Lives Matter movement: 2020 was indeed a...
Trailer Watch: Angelica Ross and Jen Richards Resurrect Artifacts of Trans History in “Framing Agnes”
“We have heard the story told by the hunter and not by the lion, and not by the lions who not only fought back but got away,” “Pose’s” Angelica Ross says in a new trailer for “Framing...
Trailer Watch: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, & Sally Field Are Football Diehards in “80 for Brady”
You’re never too old for ar trip with the besties. Starring screen legends Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, “80 for Brady” follows four best friends who embark on a wild...
Trailer Watch: Anna Gunn Avenges Missing Daughter in Alison Star Locke’s Feature Debut “The Apology”
“If it’s not revenge, what would you want?“ Anna Gunn is asked in a new trailer for Alison Star Locke’s first feature, “The Apology.” Penned by Locke, the horror pic stars the...
Natasha Rothwell Comedy Series “How to Die Alone” Lands Series Order From Onyx Collective At Hulu
Natasha Rothwell is following up her Emmy-nominated supporting role in one of last year’s hottest shows by leading her own series. Deadline reports that the “White Lotus” actress...
Trailer Watch: Riele Downs Throws a Ghost’s Birthday Party in “Darby and the Dead”
“Darby and the Dead” is not about your average high schooler. “Are you sitting down for this? I see dead people. I help them pass on to the next realm,” Darby (Riele Downs, “Henry...
Pick of the Day: “Bantú Mama”
How far would you go to save your own life? How far would you go to save the life of someone you love? Deceptively minimalist in its story and action, the Dominican Republic’s official Oscar entry...
Jessica Chastain Returns to Broadway with Amy Herzog’s Adaptation of “A Doll’s House”
This year’s Best Actress Oscar winner is heading to the stage: Jessica Chastain is returning to Broadway. Deadline reports that she’ll star as Nora Helmer in a “radical new...
Dana Schwartz’s Workplace Comedy “Talk Nerdy to Me” in Development at CBS
Dana Schwartz is getting her own series. Deadline reports that a workplace comedy about two geeky women created by the screenwriter, podcaster, journalist, and author is in early development at...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Marusya Syroechkovskaya – “How to Save a Dead Friend”
Marusya Syroechkovskaya is a Moscow-born award-winning filmmaker and visual artist who had to flee Russia in March 2022 as the crackdown on opposition voices increased. Her student short film,...
Trailer Watch: A Journalist Seeks the Truth Behind DAPL in Rebecca and Josh Tickell’s “On Sacred Ground”
“We destroyed their past but you’re destroying their future,” an oil exec is told in the trailer for Rebecca and Josh Tickell’s “On Sacred Ground,” a narrative feature that...
Celeste Barber Netflix Comedy Special in the Works
Celeste Barber’s first Netflix comedy special is on the way. Filmed during an encore performance of her “Celeste Barber – Fine, Thanks” tour, the hour-long special will be available on the...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Dawn Porter – “Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net”
Dawn Porter is an award-winning writer and producer. Her work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, MTV Films, and other platforms. Porter’s 2016 film “Trapped,” which explores...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Marianela Maldonado – “Children of Las Brisas”
Director and writer Marianela Maldonado has helmed several short fiction films including “The Look of Happiness” and “Breaking Out,” both of which premiered at Cannes Film Festival. She has...
Trailer Watch: Women Use a Secret Language in Violet Du Feng and Zhao Qing’s “Hidden Letters”
What if there was a way for women to communicate with each other secretly? For women to freely express their innermost sorrows and desires without the understanding of men? Such a language exists –...
Trailer Watch: Valerie Kontakos Salutes NYC Rebel Chelly Wilson in “Queen of the Deuce”
“Everything you said about her just sounded like it was made up,” we’re told in a new trailer for Valerie Kontakos’s “Queen of the Deuce.” One of our most anticipated...
DOC NYC 2022 Women Directors: Meet Karen Cho – “Big Fight in Little Chinatown”
Karen Cho (曹嘉伦) is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker known for her socio-political documentaries that explore themes of identity, immigration, and social justice. Her first film, “In The Shadow Of...
Sophia Clark’s “I Am Who I Say I Am” Docuseries Celebrates Gender Affirmation & Intersectionality
Leading up to Transgender Awareness Week, Black Public Media (BPM) has released “I Am Who I Say I Am,” a docuseries capturing feel-good stories about gender affirmation. Sophia Clark (“First...