BY Women and Hollywood
Quote of the Day: Marsai Martin Explains Her “No Black Pain” Project Rule
Marsai Martin was just recognized at the NAACP Image Awards for her work on-screen but the history-making “black-ish” star is also blazing trails behind the scenes. The youngest person to...
Yael Bridge’s Socialism Doc “The Big Scary ‘S’ Word” Lands at Greenwich Entertainment
A culture and climate that’s seen President Joe Biden labeled as “far left” and “socialist” is one in dire need of a political education. Thankfully, “The Big...
Trailer Watch: HBO Fantasy “The Nevers” Sees Gifted Women Rewriting the Rules of Reality
Victorian London is transformed in the wake of a supernatural event in a new trailer for “The Nevers.” Set in 1896, the HBO fantasy sees certain people, most of whom are women, gaining...
Apply Now: Constellation Incubator for Independent Filmmakers
Storytellers and artists Abeni Bloodworth, Angela Harmon, Naomi McDougall Jones, and Liz Manashil are bringing 36 feature filmmaking teams together for an eight-week incubator. They have founded...
SXSW 2021 Preview: Blackness and Beauty Standards, Selma Blair’s Public Battle with M.S., and More
SXSW 2021 is just around the corner. Set to take place March 16-21, the 35th edition of Austin-based fest is digital this year due to COVID-19. With more than half of the films set to screen in...
Guest Post: What We Learned as Parents and Carers During COVID, from Burnout to Building Back
By Raising Films Even before the pandemic, people with caring and parenting responsibilities working in film and TV had to have the know-how when it came to managing remote and home-based working...
New Report Finds Black Women in Family Films More Likely to Work in STEM Than Other Female Characters, But Colorism Persists
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media’s latest study considered the representation of Black women and girls in family entertainment over the past decade — and came to some...
Shahrbanoo Sadat Reflects on Showing a Different Side of Afghanistan in “The Orphanage”
Interview by Gabriela Rico Shahrbanoo Sadat is an Afghan writer and director based in Kabul. Her first feature film, “Wolf and Sheep,” was developed with the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence in...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with “Land” Star and Director Robin Wright
Robin Wright, the director and star of “Land,” will join the Girls Club for a conversation on Wednesday, March 3, at 2 p.m. EST. The event is open to the public, but be sure to...
March 2021 Film Preview
By Vicki A. Lee and Kara Headley 2021 marks the 40th year since the early seeds of Women’s History Month were sown. In 1981, Congress passed Public Law 97-28 to request the President designate the...
Golden Globes: Chloé Zhao Wins Best Director, Andra Day Named Best Actress in a Drama
Chloé Zhao and Andra Day made history at last night’s Golden Globe Awards. Zhao became the first woman director to claim the Best Director prize since Barbra Streisand took home the honor in...
Netflix, FWD-Doc, and Doc Society Launch U.K. Disability and Inclusion Toolkit, U.S. Version to Follow
A recent report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, analyzing the U.S.-based 126 movies and 180 series released on Netflix in 2018 and 2019, revealed that just 5.3 percent of stories were...
Athena Film Festival Trailer Encourages Viewers to “Imagine a New Future”
Set to run March 1-31, this year’s Athena Film Festival (AFF) is going digital due to COVID-19. “In a year like no other, we’re digging deeper,” a newly released trailer from...
Shatara Michelle Ford on Exploring How America “Consistently Fails Black Women” in #MeToo Drama “Test Pattern”
Shatara Michelle Ford is a Black American filmmaker born in rural Arkansas and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Their work explores class, power, womanhood, identity, memory, perception, and race. Her...
Athena Film Festival Offering a Select Number of Free Passes for Critics from Underrepresented Groups
Are you a film critic interested in attending the 2021 Athena Film Festival (AFF)? The fest, which has gone digital this year due to COVID-19, is reserving 10 press passes for film critics from...
Oscar Shortlists Announced: “Time,” “Crip Camp,” “Hope,” More Docs and International Features Make the Cut
Oscar shortlists are in. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced shortlists in nine categories at the upcoming Academy Awards, including Documentary Feature and International...
Portraits of Metamorphosis: Crowdfunding Picks
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee This week’s crowdfunding picks are a patchwork quilt of womanhood and girlhood, a vibrant assemblage of characters who are either coming of age or undergoing...
Athena Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup, Tracey Deer’s “Beans” to Open the Fest
Tracey Deer’s “Beans” will open the 11th annual edition of the Athena Film Festival (AFF) at Barnard College. The coming-of-age drama about a 12-year-old Mohawk girl set against the...
Golden Globe Nominations: Regina King, Chloé Zhao, & Emerald Fennell Land Best Director Nods, Make History
For the first time in its 78-year history, the Golden Globe Awards has recognized more than one woman in its Best Director category. Nominations for the 2021 edition of the awards ceremony were...
February 2021 Film Preview
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee This is the first Black History Month since the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others sparked a new wave of activism in the Black Lives...
Trailer Watch: Deirdre Fishel’s New Doc Follows Four “Women in Blue”
The Minneapolis police department has repeatedly made national headlines since spring 2020, when George Floyd was murdered at the hands of law enforcement. Deirdre Fishel’s new documentary,...
Sundance 2021 Preview: Tributes to Rita Moreno & Pauli Murray, a Queer Romance, “Passing,” & More
Newly reimagined thanks to COVID-19, this year’s edition of Sundance Film Festival is just around the corner. With nearly 50 percent of features directed or co-directed by women, there are...
Chloé Zhao Wins Palm Springs Film Fest’s Director of the Year Award, Is the First Woman to Win the Honor
We’re expecting Chloé Zhao to make history as the sixth woman to receive a nod for Best Director when Oscar nominations are announced March 15 — and are hoping she’s joined by...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with Producer Christine Vachon
The first Girls Club conversation of the new year will be with Christine Vachon, the veteran producer of works such as “Colette,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Carol,” and...
January 2021 Film Preview
By Tatiana McInnis and Shayna Maci Warner 2020 has been an exercise of endurance, unspeakable loss, tragedy, anxiety, and rage, the scale of which cannot be addressed in any piece of writing. Many...
Weekly Update for December 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Wonder Woman 1984 – Directed by Patty Jenkins; Written by Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callaham At long last, we’re being...
2020’s Best Films By and About Women
Confined and isolated thanks to COVID-19, we relied on films and appreciated their ability to transport and distract more than ever this year. Our favorite pics of 2020 served as invaluable emotional...
2020’s Best Documentaries By and About Women
Searing indictments of corrupt political systems, a trip down memory lane to a radical summer camp for teens with disabilities, an innovative tribute to the life and death of a man who is very much...
Weekly Update for December 18: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Ma Rainey knows her worth. As played by Viola Davis in the screen adaptation of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s...
2020’s Best New Television Created By and About Women
Thank goodness for TV this year. With social distancing, lockdowns, and quarantines, it has been the most reliable source of entertainment during the pandemic. Thankfully, 2020 was an especially good...
Guest Post: How I Went from Sketch Writing to Feature Films — And Got My First Feature Made
Guest Post by Chelsea Frei I’ve always had a hard time sitting still. I need to be working on the next thing, checking things off my to do list. I think that’s why I gravitated toward sketch...
National Film Registry Adds Record Number of Women-Directed Titles This Year
Kathryn Bigelow is making history with “The Hurt Locker” again. In 2010 she became the first — and remains the only — woman to win Best Director at the Oscars for the Iraq war...
Exclusive: NYWIFT Announces Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant Awardees
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) has named the awardees of the NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Grant. Funded by the Alan M. & Mildred S. Ravenal Foundation, the grant supports the...
Weekly Update for December 11: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD The Stand-In – Directed by Jamie Babbit “The Stand-In” A washed-up movie star, Candy (Drew Barrymore), busted for tax...
Passes Now Available for 2021 Athena Film Festival
Looking for a holiday gift for an awesome feminist film lover in your life? Need something to look forward to? (Of course you do.) We have good news: all-access passes are now available for the 11th...
Weekly Update for December 4: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Nomadland – Written and Directed by Chloé Zhao “Nomadland” is a marvel. A master class by rapidly ascending writer-director...
Stella Hopkins on Tackling Grief and Taboos in “Elyse”
“Elyse” marks Stella Hopkins’ directorial debut. In collaboration with Margam Films, she is developing a documentary based on the life of Sir Anthony Hopkins. “Elyse”...
You’re Invited: Women and Hollywood and ARRAY’s Virtual Premiere of Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy”
Women and Hollywood is teaming up with ARRAY to present the virtual premiere of Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy,” a coming-of-age drama set in ’70s and ’80s Sri Lanka...
Gal Gadot Will Star in Original Spy Franchise “Heart of Stone”
Gal Gadot is set to play another heroine in a blockbuster pic. Deadline reports that “Wonder Woman” actress is set to topline “Heart of Stone,” a Skydance Media title...
December 2020 Film Preview
By Tatiana McInnis and Shayna Maci Warner December brings together cinematic stories of every magnitude. From big-budget, long-delayed superhero sequels and explorations of iconic singers, artists,...
Weekly Update for November 25: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Happiest Season – Directed by Clea DuVall; Written by Clea DuVall and Mary Holland Hark! The Herald Drag Queens Sing: Clea DuVall’s...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with “I’m Your Woman” Writer-Director Julia Hart
Julia Hart, co-writer and director of “I’m Your Woman,” will join the Girls Club for a conversation on Wednesday, December 2, at 3 p.m. EST. The event is open to the public. Be...
Dawn Porter Receives Mind the Gap’s Documentarian of the Year Award
Mind the Gap, Mill Valley Film Festival’s (MVFF) gender equality initiative, has named Dawn Porter as Documentarian of the Year. According to a press release, the “Way I See It”...
Weekly Update for November 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Run Mommie Dearest does her best impression of Marmee in “Run.” Picture-perfect, warm, and loving on the surface, Diane (Sarah Paulson) is a...
Trailer Watch: Malcolm X Celebrates Alongside Muhammad Ali in Regina King’s “One Night in Miami
Inspired by true events, “One Night in Miami” takes place on February 25, 1964: the night Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was named the new World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. A...
Trailer Watch: A Woman Receives a Not-So Indecent Proposal in “Getting to Know You”
Abby (Natasha Little) gets the opportunity to have a little fun at the nondescript hotel she’s staying in for the night: a stranger requests she pose as his wife when he discovers the woman...
Weekly Update for November 13: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Dirty God – Directed by Sacha Polak; Written by Sacha Polak and Susanne Farrell “Dirty God” takes on the nexus of gendered...
Sacha Polak on Confronting Feelings of External Beauty Versus Internal Dignity in “Dirty God”
Interview by Gabriela Rico Sacha Polak is an award-winning director and screenwriter. Her feature films “Hemel” and “Zurich” were both screened ata range of international film festivals....
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with the Creators of “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult”
Cecilia Peck and Inbal Lessner, creators of the Starz docuseries “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult,” will join the Girls Club for a conversation on Tuesday, November 17, at 3 p.m. EST. The...
Gotham Awards Nominations: All Five Best Feature Nods Go to Women-Directed Pics
All too often awards shows forget that women directors exist. The 2020 IFP Gotham Awards is putting them front and center. Nominations for the 30th annual installment of the ceremony have been...
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Fest’s Final Week to Showcase Works by Felicia Pride & More
This year’s edition of the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival has confirmed its final week’s titles and events. The fest, an annual affair founded by African Voices magazine and...