BY Women and Hollywood
Weekly Update for April 15: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Sky — Directed by Fabienne Berthaud; Co-Written by Fabienne Berthhaud and Lucy Allwood Fleeing from the scene of a terrible crime, a young woman (Diane...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Stéphanie Gillard — ‘The Ride’
Stéphanie Gillard’s first documentary, “Une histoire de ballon,” explored the meeting point of oral tradition and soccer culture in Cameroon. She made a second documentary in 2009 in...
Watch: Amandla Stenberg Releases Short Film ‘Blue Girls Burn Fast’
Amandla Stenberg has come a long way since playing the quiet Rue in “The Hunger Games.” In fact, the young actress, director and writer has already embarked upon her own filmmaking career. This...
Oscar Nominee Agnieszka Holland Calls Filmmaking a ‘Boys’ Club’ That Ignores Women
We love it when female filmmakers call out the industry for its sexism. Now Agnieszka Holland has joined in the fight. According to The BBC, during an on stage interview with BFI Southbank, which is...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Kristi Jacobson — ‘Solitary’
Kristi Jacobson’s 2013 film “A Place at the Table” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film won the IDA’s prestigious Pare Lorentz Award and was nominated for Best Feature...
‘Echo Park’ Director Amanda Marsalis Talks Race, Gentrification and Love
Director Amanda Marsalis is a photographer for publications including Vogue, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ and The Guardian, as well as a commercial director. Marsalis is an Echo Park resident. Her unique...
Tanya Saracho Hired as Showrunner of Starz’s ‘Pour Vida’
Mexican-born playwright and television writer Tanya Saracho has been brought on as showrunner for “Pour Vida,” a new Starz series in development. The series was inspired by a short story by...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Marina Person — ‘California’
Director, TV show host and actress, Marina Person graduated in Cinema from the University of São Paulo. She directed the 2007 feature documentary “Person,” selected for the Locarno and Trieste...
Shamim Sarif on Her Politically-Charged Romance ‘Despite the Falling Snow’
Shamim Sarif is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and film director who has spoken at TED events in London, Jerusalem and India. Her and her partner Hanan Kattan are founders of the...
Trailer Watch: Elle Fanning is a Hyper-Stylized Killer in ‘The Neon Demon’
The pressures of being a starlet in Hollywood is something that “The Neon Demon” star Elle Fanning (“Maleficent”) probably knows all too well. Now her experiences, and the experiences of...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Rachel Tunnard — ‘Adult Life Skills’
Rachel Tunnard is a writer, director and editor. She is a BAFTA “Brit to Watch” and was named as one of the “Creative England 50” in 2015. Her short film “Emotional Fusebox” was...
Pamela Romanowsky on the Past and the Mysteries of Our Minds in ‘The Adderall Diaries’
Pamela Romanowsky is a Brooklyn-based writer and director. She is an alumnus of The Sundance Institute’s Screenwriting, Directing, and Composition & Sound labs and the Creative Producing...
Submissions for DGA’s Student Film Awards Spotlighting Diverse Student Filmmakers Now Open
Women student directors, here’s your chance to shine! The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced that the application period for the 22nd Annual DGA Student Film Awards for Women and...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Deb Shoval — ‘AWOL’
Deb Shoval was raised by her Israeli father and American mother in a Pennsylvania coal town, where she now runs an organic vegetable farm. Shoval’s short film “AWOL” premiered at Sundance...
‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’ Renewed for 3 More Seasons
Bravo’s first-ever scripted series, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” has been renewed for a surprising three seasons. Lisa Edelstein (“Castle”) stars in the dramedy as self-help writer...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Alma Har’el — ‘LoveTrue’
Alma Har’el is a music video and film director, best known for her documentary “Bombay Beach,” which took the top prize at Tribeca Film Festival in 2011, received a nomination for a 2011...
‘Orphan Black’ Returns, Looks Back
“Orphan Black,” the BBC’s endlessly twisty clone thriller, kicks off its new season tonight (if your memory’s hazy, you can get up to speed here). Thankfully, the show seems to have found a...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Lydia Tenaglia — ‘Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent’
Lydia Tenaglia is co-founder and executive producer of ZeroPoint Zero Production, Inc. (ZPZ), creators of the Emmy- and Peabody- Award winningseries, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and...
Cannes 2016 Lineup: 15% Women Directors in Main Competition
Today marks the annual ritual which feels almost like torture — the unveiling of the Cannes Film Festival lineup. This year the main competition boasts three female directed films out of...
Meryl Goldsmith On Fighting a Medical Standard in ‘The Syndrome’
Meryl Goldsmith is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who got her bachelor’s degree in Film and Video from the University of Michigan. Goldsmith teamed up with an investigative journalist on her...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Sonia Kennebeck — ‘National Bird’
Sonia Kennebeck is an independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist who has worked for CNN and German public television’s highest-rated and longest-running current affairs...
What Women Do For Love: April 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
This month’s crowdfunding picks are centered on the importance of love in the lives of women. Whether romantic or familial, love is the impetus driving the female protagonists in this month’s...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Dana Flor — ‘Check It’
Dana Flor wrote anddirected the Emmy award-winning documentary “Latinos in Beisbol,” and theEmmy-nominated documentary “Cesar Chavez” for NBC. Flor wrote and producedthe two-hour special...
Trailer Watch: ‘Our Little Sister’ Might Be This Year’s ‘Mustang’
“Our Little Sister,” another foreign Cannes 2015 favorite, is finally hitting the U.S. and a new trailer has premiered making the film seem like it may be this year’s “Mustang.” (I.e. a...
St. Vincent to Make Directorial Debut in All-Female Horror Anthology ‘XX’
Musician Annie Clark, better known by her stage name of St. Vincent, will be making her directorial debut with a segment in “XX,” the upcoming all-female horror anthology film. As Rolling Stone...
‘Confirmation’ Proves Why Anita Hill Still Matters
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ester Gould — ‘Strike a Pose’
Ester Gould has been directing her own documentaries for Dutch public broadcasters since 2005. Her first feature-length documentary, “Shout,” jointly directed with Sabine Lubbe Bakker and shot...
Barbra Streisand Will Finally Get to Play Mama Rose in ‘Gypsy’
It’s looking like Barbra Streisand’s long-awaited screen version of the musical “Gypsy” has found a home. A deal is being finalized at STX Entertainment. Streisand will star as iconic stage...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Salima Koroma — ‘Bad Rap’
“Bad Rap” is Salima Koroma’s directorial debut. She’s a former video producer for Time Magazine, NowThis and Current TV. She is also a former hip-hop and K-pop news writer. Koroma is...
FilmRise Acquires Elizabeth Wood’s Controversial Sundance Drama ‘White Girl’
FilmRise has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Elizabeth Wood’s controversial drama “White Girl.” In a previous interview with Women and Hollywood, Wood described the plot of her...
Women Make Up Half the Movie Audience and Other Takeaways from the 2015 MPAA Report
The film world is in that lovely city of Las Vegas this week participating in its annual orgy of excess known as CinemaCon. This is when the major studios tout their upcoming big-budget movies and...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Amanda Micheli — ‘haveababy’
Amanda Micheli is an award-winning director and cinematographer. She earned an Oscar nomination for “La Corona,” which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival before airing on HBO. In 2004,...
Trailer Watch: Gloria Steinem Brings the Revolution to Viceland with New Docuseries ‘Woman’
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s new weekly docuseries has a trailer and a premiere date. “Woman” will debut on Viceland May 10. The activist and author of “Outrageous Acts and Everyday...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Jenny Gage — ‘All This Panic’
Jenny Gage’s fine art work has appeared in gallery and museum shows throughout the world. Her commissioned work and portraits have been featured in publications including W, Vanity Fair and...
Paramount Sets Meryl Streep’s ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ For August Release
Meryl Streep is officially the queen of August. Deadline has reported from CinemaCon that her latest film, “Florence Foster Jenkins,” will open on August 12, 2016. The films tells the true story...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Katie Holmes — ‘All We Had’
Katie Holmes’ acting credits include “Touched With Fire,” “Woman in Gold,” “Ray Donovan,” “Batman Begins” and “Dawson’s Creek.” “All We Had” is her directorial...
Tribeca 2016 Preview: Films By and About Women to Catch At This Year’s Fest
The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off tomorrow. Only 33 percent of the films screening in the competition sections are directed by women. Still, the 15th edition of Tribeca features a significant...
Guest Post: Kaitlin McLaughlin On Rejecting ‘Likeable’ Female Characters for ‘Hostile Border’
“Hostile Border,” co-directed by Kaitlin McLoughlin, tells a story about a young undocumented woman (Veronica Sixtos) who is sent back to Mexico and gets involved with an charming drug smuggler...
‘Creed’ Star Tessa Thompson Joins ‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Now that we know that Natalie Portman won’t be reprising her role as Jane Foster in the third Thor film, set for July 2017, there’s another female lead taking her place in Asgard. According to...
10 Things We Learned About Karyn Kusama’s Tumultuous Career from Her BuzzFeed Profile
Filmmaker Karyn Kusama hit the scene at Sundance 2000 where she premiered her debut feature, “Girlfight,” before a crowd of thousands. The film, which starred a then-unknown Michelle Rodriguez...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Deborah S. Esquenazi — ‘Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four’
Deborah S. Esquenazi is an Austin-based documentary filmmaker, radio producer, instructor and journalist. Her work explores the intersections of mythology and justice, identity and power. Esquenazi...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ingrid Jungermann — ‘Women Who Kill’
Ingrid Jungermann created the WGA-Nominated web series “F To 7th,” featuring Amy Sedaris, Michael Showalter and Gaby Hoffmann. A television version of “F To 7th” is currently in development,...
‘Creed’ Star Tessa Thompson Joins ‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Now that we know that Natalie Portman won’t be reprising her role as Jane Foster in the third Thor film, set for July 2017, there’s another female lead taking her place in Asgard....
Win $20,000 to Finish Your Doc from Project Greenlight Digital Studios and Seed&Spark
Looking for finishing funds for your independent documentary? You just may be in luck. Project Greenlight Digital Studios (PGLDS) and Seed&Spark are teaming up to launch a 60-day crowdfunding...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Kadri Kõusaar — ‘Mother’
Kadri Kõusaar is an Estonian novelist and film director. She has also worked as a radio DJ and television host, and has a universitydegree in Spanish language and literature. Kõusaar made her...
Watch: Lupita Nyong’o, Julianne Moore, Misty Copeland and More Inspire at Variety’s Power of Women Event
On Friday, April 8, Variety’s third annual Power of Women New York gathering took place. The event recognizes six women for their philanthropic efforts. This year’s honorees were Oscar winners...
Leyla Bouzid’s ‘As I Open My Eyes’ Acquired by Kino Lorber Ahead of Tribeca Film Festival
Kino Lorber has announced the acquisition of all U.S. and Canadian rights to Leyla Bouzid’s music-filled debut feature “As I Open My Eyes” ahead of its U.S. debut at the Tribeca Film...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Leyla Bouzid — ‘As I Open My Eyes’
Leyla Bouzid is a Tunisian born and raised filmmaker. She studied French literature at the University of Paris and film directing at La Fémis. Her shorts “Soubresauts” (2011) and “Zakaria”...
Gabrielle Carteris Elected President of SAG-AFTRA, Union’s Top 3 Officers Now All Female
Andrea Zuckerman may not have been the most popular person at West Beverly Hills High School, but the “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress who played her, Gabrielle Carteris, just landed a big...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Sara Taksler — ‘Tickling Giants’
A senior producer at “The Daily Show,” Sara Taksler has pitched stories and jokes, and researched footage for over a decade. Taksler directed and produced the feature documentary, “TWISTED: A...
Melissa McCarthy Signs On For Another Film As ‘The Boss’ Takes the Weekend Box Office
Melissa McCarthy truly is the boss. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that McCarthy and her husband and frequent collaborator, Ben Falcone, are teaming up for another film called “Life of the...