Features
Weekly Update for September 8: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Home Again”: Open Road Films Films About Women Opening This Week Home Again — Written and Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer “Home Again” stars Reese Witherspoon as Alice Kinney in a...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kate Novack — “The Gospel According to André”
Kate Novack is a producer and director. Her credits include “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” “A Table in Heaven,” and “Eat This New York.” Novack’s first feature screenplay,...
17 Films By and About Women to Check Out at TIFF 2017
“Unicorn Store” The 42nd edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will kick off in just two days, and as always, there is an overwhelming amount of amazing-sounding films screening at...
Mothers of the 21st Century: Crowdfunding Picks
“Brighton” Mothers play a critical role in our ability to grow, love, learn, and experience the world — but they are still women of the 21st century. They love, falter, make mistakes, and...
Weekly Update for September 1: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Viceroy’s House” Films About Women Opening This Week Tulip Fever “Tulip” In 17th century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl (Alicia Vikander) is forcibly married to a rich and powerful merchant...
September 2017 Film Preview
Jennifer Lawrence in “mother!” Fall will come rolling in with a bevy of women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films that range from romantic to historical to scary to funny. There’s...
Venice Film Fest Chief Refuses to Accept Any Responsibility for Lack of Women
The following is a rant. Yesterday, a story broke that included comments from Alberto Barbera, the head of the Venice Film Festival, in which he responded to the lack of women directors in the...
Weekly Update for August 25: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Served Like a Girl” Films About Women Opening This Week Served Like a Girl (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Lysa Heslov (Opens in NY and LA) Director Lysa Heslov’s powerful...
James Cameron Disses “Wonder Woman” and the Internet Disses Him Back
Gal Gadot shutting down an attacker in “Wonder Woman”: Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Yesterday, James Cameron found out that he’s no longer the King of the World. There is a new king — actually...
Guest Post: Why the Lack of Women-Made Films in the National Film Registry Is a Problem — and How…
Guest Post: Why the Lack of Women-Made Films in the National Film Registry Is a Problem — and How We Can Fix It Guest Post by Maya Pearson New strides towards equality are being made every...
Women Sizzle at an Otherwise Not-So-Hot Summer Box Office
All in all, it’s been a rough summer for movie theaters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this season’s box office is “pacing 12.4 percent behind last year” and it’s predicted that it...
Weekly Update for August 18: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Patti Cake$” Films About Women Opening This Week Patti Cake$ (Opens in Limited Release) In a coming-of-age story straight out of Jersey, an unlikely rapper (Danielle Macdonald) finds her voice...
Quote of the Day: Amandla Stenberg on the Power of Seeing Complex Black Women in Film
Despite evidence that films with diverse casts enjoy higher box office receipts than their non-diverse counterparts, on-screen racial inclusivity is still a rarity. This was on Amandla Stenberg’s...
We Are Family: Crowdfunding Picks
Production on “Bench” Our families are often the first people we turn to when we seek comfort, care, reassurance, or even strength. The women featured in this set of crowdfunding picks find...
Quote of the Day: Helen Mirren on Beauty and What She’d Tell Her Younger Self
“Nastiest of All Nasty Women” Helen Mirren has been redefining and challenging Hollywood standards for decades. From her longstanding role as DCI Jane Tennison in “Prime Suspect” to her...
Weekly Update for August 11: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Glass Castle”: Jake Giles Netter/Lionsgate Films About Women Opening This Week The Glass Castle Chronicling the adventures of an eccentric, resilient, and tight-knit family, “The Glass...
Watch: BFFs Share Secrets and Jokes in Exclusive “Porcupine Lake” Clip
Sleepovers are sacred spaces, and by choosing to attend participants agree to an implied confidentiality agreement: what happens at a sleepover stays at a sleepover. Our exclusive clip of...
More Than One Hat: August VOD and Web Series Picks
“Wisco Queens” Oftentimes, women in the film industry wear more than one hat — especially if a project is very close to their own identities and lives. The women behind this month’s VOD...
Quote of the Day: Playing Billie Jean King Was a “Game Changer” for Emma Stone
Representation matters, and not just for audiences. Emma Stone described playing tennis pro Billie Jean King as a “game changer” in a new interview with Marie Claire. She portrays the...
Guest Post: Plenty of Qualified Women Directors Are Ready to Fill the Ranks
Guest Post by Rachel Feldman If asked to imagine a film or TV director, most people conjure the image of a man. Sadly, this is true for those who work in the film and television industry as well....
Quote of the Day: Brie Larson Hopes by Directing She Can Inspire Others to “Take the Risk”
Brie Larson’s feature directorial debut, “Unicorn Store,” won’t hit theaters until later this year, but the Oscar-winning actress is already gauging the movie’s success. And,...
Weekly Update for August 4: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Step” Films About Women Opening This Week Step (Documentary) — Directed by Amanda Lipitz Baltimore is a city that is fighting to save its youth. “Step” chronicles the trials and...
Letting Go of the Past: Crowdfunding Picks
The past is the story of who we are: it defines us and plays a part in how we act. But sometimes the past can hold us back and take away our ability to make progress. For this round of crowdfunding...
Quote of the Day: Ava DuVernay Doesn’t “Understand a Structure Where Women Aren’t Making Decisions”
Ava DuVernay is at it again. The “13th” director can always be counted on to deliver powerful truths about the industry, whether she’s describing Hollywood as “a patriarchy, headed by men...
Quote of the Day: Halle Berry Loves Seeing “A Woman of Color Get to Save the Day”
It’s time for a mom to come to the rescue. “Taken” and plenty of other action flicks have seen dads go to hell and back to save their kids. Now Halle Berry is getting the chance to be a hero...
Quote of the Day: Jessica Lange Says “Ageism is Pervasive” in the Film Biz
After more than four decades in the industry, Jessica Lange continues to deliver standout performances and rack up awards. She’s up for an Emmy this year for playing Joan Crawford in “Feud:...
August 2017 Film Preview
“The Glass Castle” With summer drawing to a close, August brings a bevy of films by and about women that engage with quirky themes and unique perspectives. The month kicks off with “Step,”...
Quote of the Day: Phoebe Waller-Bridge Calls People-Pleasing “A Fucking Nightmare”
“Being proper and sweet and nice and pleasing is a fucking nightmare. It’s exhausting,” says Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a new interview with The Guardian. It’s just the kind of observation her...
Weekly Update for July 28: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Atomic Blonde” Films About Women Opening This Week Atomic Blonde Oscar-winner Charlize Theron explodes into summer in “Atomic Blonde,” a breakneck action-thriller that follows MI6’s most...
Book Excerpt: “Nancy Meyers”
The following is excerpted from Deborah Jermyn’s “Nancy Meyers,” which will be released July 27. May 2014. A BBC journalist was on the phone. It was shortly to be the twentieth anniversary of...
Guest Post: Why I Made “Birthright: A War Story,” The Real-Life “Handmaid’s Tale”
Guest Post by Civia Tamarkin As a veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker, much of my focus has been criminal and social justice issues. My investigations led to the releases of a young man...
Women at a Crossroads: Crowdfunding Picks
Still from “Human Telegraphs” For this round of crowdfunding picks, we’re featuring projects that explore the kinds of decisions that women make they find themselves at a crossroads in their...
Quote of the Day: Jenny Slate Doesn’t Want to Be “Known as the Woman Dating So-and-So”
Jenny Slate has a movie coming out today. She’d rather talk about “Landline” — a project she worked hard on and wants people to see — than who she’s sleeping with. And she’s...
Updated Info for Women and Hollywood’s 10th Anniversary
Note: The Los Angeles anniversary event is now October 25, 2017. Invitations are still available for Women and Hollywood’s 1oth anniversary celebrations. This fall Founder and Publisher Melissa...
Weekly Update for July 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“To the Bone” Films About Women Opening This Week To the Bone — Written and Directed by Marti Noxon (Available on Netflix) Based on the real-life experiences of writer-director Marti...
New Deadline for Women and Hollywood’s First-Time Female Filmmaker Contest
Thank you to all the women who have submitted films for Women and Hollywood’s First-Time Female Filmmaker Contest. The response has been mind blowing, so much so that we have almost 1,000...
Quote of the Day: Charlize Theron Is Ashamed of Hollywood’s Sexism
Charlize Theron is paying tribute to her ass-kicking predecessors. The Oscar-winning actress is doing press for “Atomic Blonde,” set to bow in just a few weeks. While promoting the spy thriller,...
Weekly Update for July 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Austin Found” Films About Women Opening This Week Austin Found — Written by Brenna Graziano (Also Available on VOD) Leanne Miller (Linda Cardellini, “Freaks and Geeks”) is a...
Quote of the Day: Emma Stone on the Importance of Male Allies in Fighting the Pay Gap
Something that’s often missing from conversations about feminism and pay parity for women is, well, guys. While men should definitely not dictate the gender pay gap dialogue, their support is...
Book Excerpt: “Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge”
The following is excerpted from Becky Aikman’s “Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge,” which is available now. Less than two years earlier, Callie...
Unconventional Portraits: July’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“Girl on Girl” Historically, summer is a season of convention. We may expect the same sunny weather, celebratory barbecue, and the (usually male-led) poorly written summer blockbuster. However,...
Weekly Update for June 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Little Hours” Films About Women Opening This Week The Little Hours (Opens in NY and LA) Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a...
Unheard & Unseen: Crowdfunding Picks
Thousands of women’s stories are ignored or simply go untold — a huge problem that is addressed in this round of crowdfunding picks. These stories are diverse, yet they’re united by their...
July 2017 Film Preview
“Girls Trip” As “Wonder Woman” becomes the highest-grossing live action film directed by a woman, July promises to bring even more interesting, powerful women to the big...
Quote of the Day: Halle Berry Talks the Lack of Change Since Her Historic 2002 Oscar Win
“This is for every nameless, faceless woman of color who now has a chance because this door has been opened,” a triumphant Halle Berry announced when she won the Best Actress Oscar for...
Cross-Post: A Collective Call Against Critical Bias
Paula Vogel’s “Indecent”: NewYorkTheater/YouTube This piece, “A Collective Call Against Critical Bias,” was originally published on HowlRound, a knowledge commons by and for the theatre...
Quote of the Day: Solange Thanks BET for Always Giving Women a Seat at the Table
When Solange won the Centric Award at Sunday’s BET Awards, her acceptance speech seemed fairly run-of-the-mill at first. She thanked her family and friends, her husband and son, and her...
Guest Post: How — and Why — I Made a Movie That Tackles Mental Health
Guest Post by Angela Cohen Why do we go to the movies? Maybe it’s to escape, to relate, live vicariously, feel less alone, or get inspired. Why do I make movies? I want people to love, laugh,...
Weekly Update for June 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Beguiled” Films About Women Opening This Week The Beguiled — Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola (Opens in Limited Release; Opens Wider on June 30) “The Beguiled” is an...
Guest Post: Why I Produced a Documentary About Getting Girls into Classrooms Around the World
Guest Post by Martha Adams How can the 130 million girls missing from classrooms around the world get the education they deserve? That’s all I wanted to ask the three Imams sitting across from me...
Cross-Post: Lillian Hellman’s Regina Giddens: The Theatre’s Original “Nasty Woman”
By Sarah Rebell The following has been reposted from The Interval with the author’s permission. When I set out to write a piece on “The Little Foxes,” I headed right to the Drama Book Shop in...