Features
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Maya Newell — ‘Gayby Baby’
Maya Newell is an Australian filmmaker with a focus on directing documentaries. Her award-winning short “Two” screened at festivals internationally and she was awarded Best New Documentary...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Gavron — ‘Suffragette’
Sarah Gavron’s feature film debut was “Brick Lane,” which earned her a BAFTA nomination, a BIFA nomination and The Alfred Dunhill Talent Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Prior to this,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lyric R. Cabral — ‘(T)ERROR’
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker committed to reporting stories seldom seen in mainstream media. Her documentary work has been supported by artist grants from the BBC,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sara Blecher — ‘Ayanda’
Sara Blecher is a co-founder of CINGA, a South African-based production company that has made a number of award-winning features, documentaries and drama series. An honors graduate of NYU, Blecher...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Karyn Kusama — ‘The Invitation’
Karyn Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, “Girlfight,” in 1999. The film won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It went on...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mor Loushy — ‘Censored Voices’
Mor Loushy graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2007 and has been working as a freelancer ever since. Her debut film, “Israel Ltd.,” world-premiered at International...
TCM’s ‘Trailblazing Women:’ A Q&A with Host Illeana Douglas
As the host of TCM’s new series “Trailblazing Women,” a month-long series highlighting women’s achievements in the film industry, Illeana Douglas brings a widely varied experience to the...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Ondi Timoner — ‘BRAND: A Second Coming’
Director and producer Ondi Timoner won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice — for “Dig!” (2004), about the collision of art and commerce through the story of two bands, and “We Live in...
Guest Post: Continuing the Push Towards Diversity in the U.K.
Despite “diversity” being everyone’s favorite word in the film and TVindustry these days, we seem to be making little headway moving towards it. Last year’s Sex and Power Report showed us...
Women & Hollywood’s Recommended Reads: Week of October 2
Lupita Nyong’o Shines a Light on Africa (NY Times) Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald on New ‘Malala’ Doc, Feminist Barbie and a Revived ‘Men in Black’ (Sans Will Smith) (THR) Patricia...
Weekly Update for October 2: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Freeheld “Freeheld” tells the story of Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), a veteran police detective who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, and her fight to...
Emma Watson, Marion Cotillard and Meryl Streep Talking About Feminism and Film
Remember not too long ago when every actress walking a red carpet would be asked what she was wearing? Remember not too long ago when actresses were asked about their babies and their boyfriends...
Why Horror Is Good for Women
People are always telling me they don’t like horror. Like rightafter I tell them I make horror films. Or programmers pickingme up from the airport who have barely said hello and whose festival...
‘Addicted to Fresno’ Director Jamie Babbit on Hiding Pregnancies and Embracing Diversity
There’s been a lot of talk lately about Judy Greer’s summer of tiny, thankless roles, in which she plays characters designed to be instantly forgettable in “Tomorrowland,” “Entourage,”...
Forgiveness and Ferguson: October 2015’s Crowdfunding Picks
This week’s women-centric crowdfunding picks could hardly be more different in subject and form: a personal documentary about a strained mother-daughter relationship, a comedic short about a baby...
October 2015 Film Preview
October sees the release of a number of women-centric films. The highly anticipated release of “Suffragette,” directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan — a partnership that first...
A Guide to All the Queer Female Characters on TV This Fall
Welcome to fall, when you can smell the pumpkin spice lattes in the air and see all the shiny new shows longing for your approval and a full season pick-up. The new television season also brings...
What I Learned From Finding My Lead Actress Through ‘Women and Hollywood’
In January 2013, I wrote a guest post forWomen and Hollywood about my difficulties casting a curvier woman for my low-budget indie film. I had decided to Kickstart my first feature, “Bread and...
Weekly Update for September 25: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week The Keeping Room — Written by Julia Hart Unlike most war narratives, this one tells the story of women left behind after the men go to war and never...
How Viola Davis is Using Her Emmy Win to Inspire
Viola Davis’ historic Emmy win as the first African-American woman to clinch the Best Actress in a Drama trophy (in 2015!) became the news out of the awards show. That was in part because of the...
Amy Heckerling Advises How NOT to Lose Your Virginity in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’
The following is excerpted from Tara Ison’s book “Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to Live, Love, and Die at theMovies.” I’m a child of the movies, a movie freak, a film junkie; movies...
The Many Faces of Feminism in ‘The Women’s List’
Elizabeth Banks On Directing, Playing the Hero in ‘Love & Mercy’ and Concluding ‘The Hunger Games’
Elizabeth Banks is everywhere. Producing, directing and acting. She just completed a stint on the jury at the Venice Film Festival and has been doing a round of press for “Love and Mercy,” the...
Lesbian Love and Pregnancy Past 40: September 2015’s Web Series and VOD Picks
Oh, to be young and in love. In the Dutch lesbian coming-of-age drama “Summer,” two teenage girls fall for each other and experience all the joys of first love — but also the challenges of...
Quote of the Day: Catherine Hardwicke on Why It’s Not Enough to Just Be an Example
Catherine Hardwicke is widely considered one of the most successful female directors in Hollywood, but she’s still painfully aware of the industry’s “woman problem,” having been denied the...
Jeannie Gaffigan on Injecting Her Voice into ‘The Jim Gaffigan Show’
Fifteen years ago, my work withJim Gaffigan began as a “side thing” to my own career. I was a writing partner,acting coach and album producer for a rising star in comedy clubs. I understoodhis...
Weekly Update for September 18: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Sicario Emily Blunt continues her streak playing kickass women in this gripping thriller about an idealistic FBI Agent, Kate Mercer, who is scouted by a...
Quote of the Day: Patricia Rozema Vows to Make “Films With Female Leads for the Rest of My Life”
Patricia Rozema’s post-apocalyptic drama “Into the Forest,” starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood as survivalist sisters, enjoyed its world premiere at TIFF 2015. In a new interview, Rozema...
Kim Cattrall, Female Celebrities and the Mothering Box
What Kim Cattrall said about parenting this week should not have been headline news. It should have been a sentiment that society was already deeply familiar with and considered both ordinary and...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Elaine Constantine — ‘Northern Soul’
Elaine Constantine was born in Bury, England. She was first assistant to British fashion photographer Nick Knight before becoming a regular photographic contributor to Vogue, W and The Face. She has...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Julie Delpy — ‘Lolo’
Julie Deply was born in Paris. She is an accomplished actor, having appeared in such films as “Before Sunrise,” “Broken Flowers” and “Waking Life.” She has previously written, directed...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anne Èmond — ‘Our Loved Ones’
Anne Èmond is a Montreal-based filmmaker. She has written and directed many short films, including “Naissances” and “Sophie Lavoie.” Her first feature, “Nuit #1,” earned Émond the...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors — Meet Fabienne Berthaud — ‘Sky’
Fabienne Berthaud was born in Gap, France, and is an actor, photographer, novelist and filmmaker. She co-directed the short “Noël en famille.” Her debut feature, “Frankie,” played at TIFF...
Natalie Portman Criticizes Stereotypical Female Characters at TIFF
“Black Swan” star Natalie Portman criticized the lazy tropes Hollywood screenwriters use to define female characters during a candid interview at a TIFF fundraising gala last week. The...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anna Boden — ‘Mississippi Grind’
Anna Boden was born in Berkeley, California. She co-directed with Ryan Fleck the short “Have You Seen This Man” and the documentary “Young Rebels” and co-wrote the feature “Half Nelson.”...
Ava DuVernay-Backed ‘Mississippi’ Drama Finally Makes It To Netflix: September VOD Picks
Our top VOD recommendation for this week is “Mississippi Damned,” an intense social drama that has been supported by “Selma” director Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY and now available on Netflix. If...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Elisabeth Scharang — ‘Jack’
Elisabeth Scharang was born in Austria. She worked as a journalist and radio broadcaster before directing the documentaries “Normale Zeiten,” “Octopusalarm,” “My Dear Republic” and...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Peedom — ‘Sherpa’
Jennifer Peedom is an Australian documentary filmmaker based in Sydney. Her television credits include high-altitude direction and cinematography on the Discovery Channel’s “Everest: Beyond the...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Gillian Armstrong — ‘Women He’s Undressed’
Gilliam Armstrong was born in Melbourne and studied filmmaking at Swinburne Art School and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Her films include “My Brilliant Career,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sue Brooks — ‘Looking For Grace’
Sue Brooks is an Australian independent filmmaker. She directed and co-produced “Japanese Story,” which won the International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI award, as well as 29...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Louise Osmond — ‘Dark Horse’
Louise Osmond is a British documentary filmmaker. Educated at Oxford, she worked as a journalist and editor before directing features, including “Deep Water,” “Blitz: London’s Firestorm,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Anne Sewitsky — ‘Homesick’
Anne Sewitsky studied at the Norwegian Film School and has directed episodes of the series “Himmelbla,” “Norwegian Cozy” and “Helt perfekt.” Her debut feature, “Happy, Happy,”...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Katherine Monk — ‘Rock the Box’
Katherine Monk is a film critic and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. Formally the national movie critic for Postmedia News, Monk is a regular contributor to CBC Radio, Global Television and Corus...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lucile Hadžihalilovic — ‘Evolution’
Lucile Hadžihalilovic was born in Lyons, France, and studied filmmaking at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques in Paris. She has worked as an editor, frequently collaborating with...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Jocelyn Moorhouse — ‘The Dressmaker’
Jocelyn Moorhouse was born in Melbourne, Australia, and graduated from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. She has previously directed the features “Proof,” “How to Make an...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Danae Elon — ‘P.S. Jerusalem’
Upon graduating from high school, Danae Elon spent two years in compulsory military service as a non-commissioned officer to the United Nation forces in the area. At age 21, Elon left Israel to...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Meghna Gulzar — ‘Guilty’
Meghna Gulzar is a Mumbai-based film writer and director. She began her career as chief assistant director to Saeed Akhtar Mirza on the National Award-winning Hindi feature film “Naseem” before...
Weekly Update for September 11: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This WeekBreathe — Written and Directed by Mélanie Laurent With her second feature, actress-turned-director Melanie Laurent has made one of the best movies of the...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lorene Scafaria — ‘The Meddler’
Lorene Scafaria was born in New Jersey. She is a writer, actor, director and recording artist. She wrote the screenplay for “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” directed episodes of “New...
Women Driving Social Change: September 2015’s Crowdfunding Picks
This week’s crowdfunding picks are bound together by the focus that each project gives to human welfare, subversive countercultures and the fight for women’s rights. “The Seeds of Vandana...
TIFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Corsini — ‘Summertime’
Catherine Corsini grew up in Seineet-Marne, France. She moved to Paris to pursue acting before becoming a filmmaker. Her numerous features as writer-director include “Poker,” “Les Amoureux,”...