BY Sophie Willard
Writers to Watch: Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, Rising Stars of “Star Trek”
Although it was Varsity Badminton at Pennsylvania’s Bryn Mawr College that initially brought writers Bo Yeon ‘Boey’ Kim and Erika Lippoldt together, it was the doubles partners’ shared love...
Finding Her Place: VOD and Web Series Picks
Whether it’s an understated coming-of-age portrayal of a biracial teenage girl beginning to recognize how her race and class impact how society treats her and others like her (“Miriam Lies”); a...
Fighting for Her Community: Women in Film at the 2019 BFI London Fest
In the world cinema offerings that were available at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival earlier this month, a clear theme began to emerge: female protagonists fighting for their communities. Indeed,...
BFI London FF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Malgorzata Szumowska – “The Other Lamb”
Born in Kraków, Malgorzata Szumowska is one of the most prominent Polish directors of today, and has been honored with several international awards, including the Teddy Award for “In the Name...
October 2019 Film Preview
October’s film releases feature women in all their multitudes, and working in a variety of professions. In “Lucy in the Sky” (October 4), an astronaut loses her grip on reality upon...
NYFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Ivy Meeropol – “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn”
Ivy Meeropol’s documentary feature debut was “Heir to an Execution,” which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. It was followed by two short...
Writer to Watch: “Derry Girls” Creator Lisa McGee
Derry-born stage and screenwriter Lisa McGee never originally set out to write about the late 20th century period of conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Yet when...
NYFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Tânia Cypriano – “Born to Be”
Tânia Cypriano has been working between the United States and her native Brazil for over 25 years. Her films and videos have won international awards including Best Documentary at the Pan African...
Paths to Success: Crowdfunding Picks
The path to success is full of uncertainty and comes with no guarantees. For many, an already-difficult road is compounded by various factors: gender, race, sexuality, economic status, appearance,...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Alma Har’el – “Honey Boy”
Alma Har’el is a film and music video director, best known for her documentaries “Love True” and “Bombay Beach,” the latter of which was awarded the top prize at the 2011 Tribeca Film...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Klaudia Reynicke – “Love Me Tender”
Klaudia Reynicke is a screenwriter and director from Lima, Peru, now based in Switzerland. She directed her first short film, “Great Expectations NY,” in 2005. It was followed by additional...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Kasi Lemmons – “Harriet”
Kasi Lemmons is an award-winning director, writer, actress, and professor. Her acclaimed 1997 feature directorial debut, “Eve’s Bayou,” received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lisa Barros D’Sa – “Ordinary Love”
Lisa Barros D’Sa’s debut feature film, “Cherrybomb,” co-directed with Glenn Leyburn, premiered at the Berlinale in 2009. Barros D’Sa and Leyburn’s second feature, “Good Vibrations,”...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Gabriela Cowperthwaite – “The Friend”
Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a Brazilian American filmmaker who rose to prominence with the release of her 2013 film “Blackfish,” which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Shelly Love – “A Bump Along the Way”
Award-winning artist and director Shelly Love has devised, written, and directed numerous music videos, commercials, and short films including “Little White Bird,” “Pod,” “Scratch,”...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Unjoo Moon – “I Am Woman”
Born in South Korea and raised in Australia, Unjoo Moon has directed and produced many award winning short films, music videos, commercials, and documentaries which have screened internationally at...
July 2018 Film Preview
By Beandrea July and Sophie Willard While the summer is often associated with big budget films, like the “Mamma Mia!” sequel (July 20), this July is defying expectations by releasing a...
Under the Radar: Motherhood Meets Magical Realism in Brazilian Fairy Tale “Good Manners”
Unsurprisingly for a film infused with magical realism, “Good Manners” was first conceived in a state of sleep: “the original image came from a dream of [co-director Marco Dutra’s]: two women...
In Search of Self: Crowdfunding Picks
Almost every woman can relate to the pressure to conform or compromise oneself — the struggle to be heard and seen, valued and understood. Yet so few stories accurately or realistically...
“Humans” Offers Some of Sci-Fi TV’s Most Touching Explorations of Motherhood
AMC’s “Humans” is, on the surface, a television show about artificial intelligence, and its place within a society that is much like ours. Set mostly in the UK, in a parallel present, the...
Summer 2018 Film Preview
By Beandrea July and Sophie Willard This summer’s movie slate boasts an impressive array of female-led and woman-helmed films, from reboots to period pieces, and coming-of-age tales to...
Addressing Adversity: Crowdfunding Picks
Whether it’s an inescapable reality of everyday life, or catalyzed by a change in our circumstances, we’ve all faced adversity. For many, multiple systems of oppression intersect to pose...
Cannes 2018 Women Directors: Meet Margarethe von Trotta — “Searching for Ingmar Bergman”
Margarethe von Trotta launched her career as an actress. She directed her first feature, “The Second Awakening of Christa Klages,” in 1978. The next year marked the release of “Sisters,...
Cannes 2018 Women Directors: Meet Agnieszka Smoczyńska — “Fugue”
Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s first feature film, “The Lure,” was recognized as the best debut at the 2015 Polish Film Festival. “The Lure” has received numerous awards at festivals worldwide,...
Feminist Takes on Sci-Fi: May’s VOD and Web Series Picks
While science-fiction is usually associated with flashy VFX, aliens, spaceships, and advanced technology, the genre is incredibly varied and nuanced, and beloved by many as a means to explore complex...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bari — “Primas”
Laura Bari made her full-length debut with “Antoine,” a documentary about the imaginary life of a blind boy. The film was shown at 30 festivals around the world and won over a dozen prizes. She...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Alba Sotorra — “Commander Arian”
Alba Sotorra is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Barcelona. She has directed a number of documentaries, including “Unveiled Views,” which premiered at Guadalajara International...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Audrey Gordon — “Siblings”
Audrey Gordon is a French documentary filmmaker and former journalist. She has directed several documentaries for TV including “Kinderlekh,” “Edith and Lucile,” “A Two-way-Street,” and...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Trisha Ziff — “Witkin & Witkin”
Trisha Ziff has worked for the last 25 years as a writer, editor, curator, and documentary filmmaker. Her feature credits include “The Mexican Suitcase,” and “The Man Who Saw Too Much,”...
May 2018 Film Preview
“Tully” Plenty of women-helmed, female-fronted flicks are premiering alongside the superhero and sci-fi blockbusters this month. Kicking the month off on May 1 is the Netflix debut of C. Fitz’s...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Elan Bogarín — “306 Hollywood”
Elan Bogarín was nominated for at the 2009 Gotham and Spirit Awards for producing “Big Fan.” She co-founded The Wassaic Project, an arts festival/residency program that has hosted thousands of...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Kate Novack — “The Gospel According to André”
Kate Novack is an Emmy-nominated producer and director of documentary films. She was a producer and writer on “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” which was nominated for two News &...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Katrina Costello — “The Silver Branch”
Katrina Costello co-founded Sea Fever Productions in 2006 along with her husband, Kevin O’Sullivan. The company is dedicated to producing natural history documentary films in Ireland. “The...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Brownson — “The Rachel Divide”
Laura Brownson worked for nearly 15 years in narrative features and television before turning to documentary film. She is the co-director of the documentary “Lemon,” which won a Special Jury...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Lindsey Cordero — “I’m Leaving Now (Ya Me Voy)”
Lindsey Cordero is a Mexican filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She previously co-directed the TV documentary “Firmes, Mexicans in the Bronx” and produced “En el Séptimo Día.” “I’m Leaving...
Why Does Hollywood Dismiss Women-Directed Films About Queer Women?
Opening today, Sebastián Lelio’s widely praised adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s “Disobedience” will hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles before rolling out nationwide. Led by Rachel...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Christina D. King and Elizabeth A. Castle — “Warrior Women”
Christina D. King is a member of the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma whose work across commercials, documentary, film, and television focuses on human rights issues, civic engagement through...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Shameela Seedat — “Whispering Truth to Power”
Shameela Seedat is a human rights law specialist turned filmmaker from South Africa. Since she began documentary filmmaking, Seedat has been commissioned by various local and international...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Katja Fedulova — “Faith Hope Love”
Katja Fedulova has been working since 2004 as a freelancer, cinematographer, and director for advertising, documentary, and feature films. “Faith Hope Love” will premiere at the 2018 Hot Docs...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Haifaa Al-Mansour — “Mary Shelley”
Haifaa Al-Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia, and is regarded as one of its most significant cinematic figures. The success of her 2005 documentary, “Women Without Shadows,”...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Susanna Nicchiarelli — “Nico, 1988”
Susanna Nicchiarelli has written and directed many short films, documentaries, and two features: “Cosmonaut,” winner of the Controcampo award at the Venice Film Festival, and “Discovery at...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Susanna White — “Woman Walks Ahead”
Susanna White is a BAFTA award winning director who began her career making documentaries such as “Tell Me the Truth About Love.” She made her feature narrative debut with “Nanny McPhee...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Eva Vives — “All About Nina”
Eva Vives won Best Short at the Sundance and Cannes in 2000 with “Five Feet High and Rising,” a short she cast, edited, and produced. She followed that up with a feature she co-wrote, “Raising...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Emma Forrest — “Untogether”
Emma Forrest is a columnist, novelist, screenwriter, and director. Her novels include “Namedropper,” “Thin Skin,” and “Cherries in the Snow,” and she penned the acclaimed memoir “Your...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Karen Gillan — “The Party’s Just Beginning”
Karen Gillan is a Scottish filmmaker and actress. Her directing credits include shorts “Coward,” which screened at Edinburgh Film Festival, and “Conventional.” “Jumanji: Welcome to the...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Dava Whisenant — “Bathtubs Over Broadway”
Dava Whisenant is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker making her directorial debut with “Bathtubs Over Broadway.” She served as editor on docs “Two Trains Runnin’,” “Under the Electric Sky,”...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Pietra Brettkelly — “Yellow is Forbidden”
Pietra Brettkelly is the director of “Beauty Will Save the World,” “The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins,” “Maori Boy Genius,” and “A Flickering Truth.” Her films have won various...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Madeleine Sackler — “O.G.”
Madeleine Sackler is an Emmy-winning director and producer. Her films include 2010’s “The Lottery” and 2013’s “Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus.” “O.G.” will...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Kerruish — “General Magic”
Sarah Kerruish’s films have been distributed worldwide and won awards including a Peabody, and an Emmy nomination. In 2017, she made a short film about the last few days of the tech team at the...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bispuri — “Daughter of Mine”
Laura Bispuri’s short film “Passing Time” was selected as one of the best international shorts by France’s Académie des César, and her next short, “Biondina,” was awarded Italy’s...
Tribeca 2018 Women Directors: Meet Ioana Uricaru — “Lemonade”
Ioana Uricaru was born and raised in Romania, where she studied biology before turning to filmmaking. She is an Alumna of Berlinale Talents, the Cannes Cinefondation Residence Programme, the...