Awards
The Big O: Will the Academy’s Love of Female Ensembles Help August: Osage County?
What is almost over but has only just begun? The seeminglyendless race for the Oscars, of course. With the Golden Globes ceremony onSunday and Academy Award nominations being announced next...
BAFTA Nods Recognize Women Directors and Female Protagonists
After an award season apparently blind to non-acting female talent, we finally got some good news today. Among the BAFTA nominees are films by several women directors: Clio Barnard’s The Selfish...
WGA Nominates Women Screenwriters for Dallas Buyers Club, Before Midnight
The Writers Guild of America announced their 2014 award nominees today. Only two female screenwriters — Dallas Buyers Club co-writer Melisa Wallack and Before Midnight co-writer/star Julie...
Megan Ellison Leads PGA Awards Nominations
The Producers Guild of America, an industry group that predicts and influences the Oscar nominees more often than not, announced the ten films in the running for its annual awards. Wunderkind...
Exclusive Trailer: Hannah Espia’s Transit
In 2010, Israel began deporting the children of migrant workers, many of whom were fluent only in Hebrew and had never seen the land of their parents. First-time director Hannah Espia’s Transit...
Sarah Polley, Nicole Holofcener, Sandra Bullock Big Winners of AWFJ Awards
We previously wrote about the Alliance of Women Film Journalist (AWFJ) nominations, about which the big takeaway was that “female critics have more or less the same tastes as their male...
Ellen DeGeneres is Utterly Charming in the First Oscars Trailer
After last year’s Seth MacFarlane fiasco, the Academy apparently took a long, hard look at itself in the mirror and asked, “What the hell were we thinking?” because it wisely invited Ellen...
The Big O: Looking at the Women of Oscars Past, Present, and Future
The Oscar derby often offers interesting, if disturbing, insights into how women are treated in the world of film. As the year draws to a close, let’s review what happened the last time Hollywood...
Director Jasmila Zbanic Is Wary of Quotas for Women Directors
Quota is a dirty word in our supposed meritocracy. But it’s a less contentious, even normal, practice in other parts of the world. Sweden, for example, recently mandated that “funding shall be...
10 Films from Women Directors, Screenwriters, or Stars Added to National Film Registry
The National Film Registry has announced its 2013 list of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” films to be preserved by the Library of Congress, and 10 of its 25 selections...
Less than 10% of Oscar-Eligible Films Directed by Women
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have released their list of films eligible for the 2014 Oscars, and of the 289 films that qualified for Oscar consideration, a paltry 25, or 8.6%,...
Crosspost: Heroines of Cinema: An A to Z of Women in Film in 2013
It’s at times like these that twenty-six letters seems awfully few. Not that this list is intended as an encyclopedia. Instead, please see it as a mere sample of the films worth seeing, the...
EDA Awards Honor Women Directors and Writers, Names Actresses Who Need New Agents
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, in which our own Melissa Silverstein is a member, has announced their Best-of-2013 list. The big takeaway? Female critics have more or less the same tastes as...
The Big O: Can a Woman Win an Oscar Without Falling in Love?
Ifthere’s a lesson to be learned from likely multiple-Oscar nominee Saving Mr. Banks — other than, grammatically speaking, the climatic Mary Poppins song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” should...
Golden Globe Noms Reflect the Status Quo of Hollywood Sexism
The 2014 Golden Globe Awards have us excited about Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s return to hosting duties and… that’s about it. With no women directors (minus Frozen co-helmer Jennifer Lee) or...
THR Releases “2013 Women in Entertainment Power 100” List
The Hollywood Reporter released its annual “Women in Entertainment Power 100” ranking, which the publication described as a reflection of “a TV industry in flux, ongoing volatility at the film...
Ava DuVernay to be Honored by Adrienne Shelly Foundation
Ava DuVernay will receive the Adrienne Shelly Foundation’s Third Annual Woman of Vision Salute. Named after actress and filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, the non-profit organization helps support women...
Women-Centric TV Shows Dominate WGAs
If the so-called Golden Age of Television — a cultural epoch that deconstructed traditional masculinity while reveling in violence and guilt (The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Mad...
Awards Roundup: Europe, Boston, LA, NY Online, British Indies, and IDAs
The first major award weekend yielded honors for directors Susanne Bier (Love is All You Need), Haifaa al-Mansour (Wadjda), Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell), Jehane Noujaim (The Square). Results from...
Sarah Polley, Wadjda director Haifaa al-Mansour Among National Board of Review’s Best-of-Year Picks
Directors Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell) and Haifaa al-Mansour (Wadjda) and actress Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color) were the only awardees among the National Board of Review’s...
Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers to Receive DGA Diversity Award
Sometimes it feels like Women and Hollywood is really just a Shonda Rhimes fan club in disguise, but we can’t help getting excited everytime the Scandal creator is recognized for being the force...
Sarah Polley, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence Are NYFCC Picks
The New York Film Critics Circle released their best-of list yesterday, and director Sarah Polley was the sole female awardee in a non-acting category. Polley’s meta-memoir Stories We Tell was the...
Five Women Directors Make the Documentary Oscar Shortlist
Once again, the Oscar documentary shortlist for the 2014 ceremony, announced yesterday, is an idiosyncratic mix of crowd favorites and obscure titles. Women directors were behind the camera on five...
Gotham Shows Brie Larson Some Love for ‘Short Term 12’
Brie Larson won the IFP Gotham Awards’ Best Actress Prize for her luminous performance in the social-work drama Short Term 12, beating out seeming front-runner Cate Blanchett as a modern-day...
Clio Barnard Only Sight & Sound-Approved Woman Director
Director Clio Barnard must be tired of collecting awards by now. Here’s another for her scrapbook: her debut narrative feature, The Selfish Giant, landed on film magazine Sight & Sound’s...
Women Dominate First Feature, Documentary Categories in Spirit Awards Nods
Women directors outnumbered the men among the Independent Spirit Awards’ Best First Feature and Best Documentary nominees. Women writers were also well represented in the Best Screenplay and Best...
With Frozen, Director Jennifer Lee Breaks the Ice for Women Directors
It has taken 53 films, starting with 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for theMagic Kingdom to reach this historic point. But Walt Disney Animation Studios hasfinally placed a woman in the...
Two Women Directors Nominated for Oscars’ Live-Action Short Category
The ten preliminary nominees for the Oscars’ live-action shorts category have been announced. Among the ten directors on the long list, two were women: Miranda de Pencier and Selma...
AFI: Roundup of the Women-Directed Foreign Language Oscar Entries
This year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Filmwill be chosen from a field of 76 entries, with each feature submitted to theAcademy by its respective country. Sixteen of these...
Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury Honored at the Governors Awards
Angelina Jolie and Angela Lansbury, along with Steve Martin and costume designer Piero Tosi, received honorary Oscars at the Governors Award last night. Awarded by the Board of Governors of the...
Clio Barnard, Claire Denis Awarded at Stockholm Film Fest
The Selfish Giant is quickly becoming Women and Hollywood most anticipated film of 2014. News arrived from Stockholm yesterday that Selfish director Clio Barnard was bestowed yet another...
Female Filmmakers Sweep Half of AFI Awards
Women directors received half of the awards presented at the closing of the American Film Institute Film Festival in Los Angeles yesterday. British filmmaker Clio Barnard, whose first narrative...
The Big O: When it Comes to Oscar Dames, Dench Rules
According toRodgers and Hammerstein, there is nothing like a dame. According toOscar, few dames are grander than Judi Dench. Of the 14 Academy Award-nominated actresses who have held the lofty...
Directors Susanne Bier and Clio Barnard Nominated by European Film Awards, British Indie Awards
Award season is often the most frustrating time for Women and Hollywood, with so many nominations and prizes distributed to the same stubbled faces we see every few years. The European Film Awards...
The Big O: Natalie Portman Swings the Hammer When it Comes to Her Post-Oscar Career
NataliePortman is in the midst of a very important performance, one that could decideher future in the movie industry. And, no, it isn’t her return to the bigscreen after a two-year break as Jane...
All Five Docs Nominated for Cinema Eye’s Top Prize Directed or Produced by a Woman
Nonfiction filmmakingtends to be the one bright spot for women in Hollywood, with female documentarydirectors nearing parity with their male counterparts. The nominations forCinema Eye’s 7th...
Caitlin Moran and Mary Beard Join Award Panel for Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction
Since1996, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Orange Prizefor Fiction, has awarded “excellence, originality and accessibility in women’swriting from throughout...
The Big O: Will Audiences (and Oscar Voters) Surrender to 12 Years a Slave?
Can movie audiences handle the truth — especially when it’s unpleasant to sit through? That is one of the main questions surrounding the widely praised 12 Years a Slave. Consider there are...
Big Vision Empty Wallet Chooses All-Female Screenwriting Fellowship Roster
At the kick-offmeeting for Big Vision Empty Wallet’s 2013 Screenwriting Fellowship we laughed,shared our industry horror stories, toasted our successes, and examined ourcreative goals. My business...
The Big O: Reality Bites Oscar — Hard
It’s time to get real about the Oscar race. Most of the films in play for a coveted spot on the best-picture roster have some element of truth to them. Today marks the arrival of Captain...
One Woman Directed Short on 2013 Oscar Documentary Short Shortlist
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the 8 documentary shorts that are on the 2013 Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Short. Three to five of the films on the list will...
16 of 76 Oscar Foreign Language Submissions Directed by Women
A record number of 76 films were submitted this year for the 2014 Foreign Language Film Oscar. Last year, 71 films were submitted. Moldova, Saudi Arabia and Montenegro submitted films for the first...
Cross Post: The State of the Race: Will There be a Hillary Effect on the Oscar Race?
Imagine as we enter Oscar race 2013 three strong films written and directed by women, with leading women at the forefront, one of which is crowned the early frontrunner to win. Imagine an Oscar race...
The Big O: Are Grande Dames the New Babes?
Beautybefore age. Thistwist on an old adage has held sway for the most part when it comes toselecting which actresses are granted an Oscar each year, at least for the pastseveral decades. But2013...
Wadjda Rises Hackles in Saudia Arabia Just By Being Considered for an Oscar Nomination
Wadjda written and directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour is making its way around the world in limited release. The reviews have been spectacular, it has won festival prizes, and is also making an emotional...
Cross Post: Hollywood’s New Feminists, Why the Old One Went Away and What’s Coming Next?
Women’s rights made a major impact on Hollywood in the 1970s. Feminism, now a dirty word, was such a force to be reckoned with that you didn’t dare depict a woman in a film who didn’t have, at...
2 Women Directed Animated Features on Oscar Shortlist
21 animated features have made it to the Oscar shortlist for best animated feature. Since over 16 films were submitted, a maximum of 5 films can be nominated. However, of these 21 animated...
Canada Establishing Rosalind Prize for Women Fiction Writers
During the Vancouver Writers Fest, frustration turned into creation. A panel of five women, including the founder of the U.K.’s Orange Prize for fiction, discussed the current state of women’s...
Australia Launches Literary Award for Women — The Stella Prize
Australia has launched its first major literary award for women writers inspired by the UK Women’s Prize for fiction. The Stella Prize, named after author Stella Maria Miles Franklin who wrote...
Women Directed 5 of 8 Documentary Shorts on Oscar Shortlist
Eight documentary shorts have been chosen for the 2013 Oscar shortlist. Between three and five will receive a nomination. Five of eight of the shorts are directed by women. Nominations will be...
11 out of 71 Academy Foreign Language Film Submissions Are Directed by Women
For the 85th Academy Awards, a record-breaking 71 countries have submitted films to compete in the Foreign Language Film category. However, according to our research, only 11 of those 71 films are...