Features
Pick of the Day: “Maid”
In one of the early episodes of the new Netflix limited series “Maid,” the main character laments that she will need someone to watch her toddler daughter while she goes to interview for...
October 2021 Film Preview
With the arrival of autumn comes chilling, thrilling, and captivating new releases in theaters and on streaming sites. From drama and documentary to edgy horror, this month offers plenty of variety...
October 2021 Television Preview
From narratives of independent women striving to find a foothold for themselves to coming-of-age narratives, fall TV has much to offer. Kicking off the month is Molly Smith Metzler’s “Maid”...
Exclusive: Abortion Doc “On the Divide” Among Chicken & Egg’s Latest Project: Hatched Grantees
Chicken & Egg Pictures has added seven projects to its 2021 slate of Project: Hatched grantees. Women and Hollywood can exclusively announce that the org, which supports women and gender...
Pick of the Day: “Nuclear Family”
Two women should be able to have children with the help of a sperm donor, a person who provides genetic material but has “no rights and no responsibilities” in the children’s lives....
Pick of the Day: “I’m Your Man”
A researcher finds herself serving as an unenthusiastic participant in someone else’s study in “I’m Your Man.” A sci-fi rom-com from Emmy-winning “Unorthodox”...
Pick of the Day: “El Planeta”
“Girls” was populated with entitled, feckless, but ultimately fascinating female characters. “Arrested Development” followed a formerly wealthy family willfully ignoring just...
Pick of the Day: “My Name Is Pauli Murray”
If there were any justice in this world, Pauli Murray would be a household name on par with Martin Luther King or Gloria Steinem or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was an activist and legal scholar whose...
Pick of the Day: “Y: The Last Man”
“Y: The Last Man’s” title really should have been retooled. I haven’t read the DC Comics series it’s based on, but the TV adaptation is about a lot more than the last...
Pick of the Day: “Language Lessons”
Described as a “weird little movie made in a very weird time about finding friendship in strange places and accepting love even when you think you may not be worth it” by writer,...
TIFF 2021 Preview: Canada’s Colonialist Legacy, the Return of Jane Campion, and More
The 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is nearly upon us. Set to take place September 9-18 and include a mix of in-person and digital events, the fest’s program this...
Animator to Watch: Angela Stempel of “Pen15’s” Animated Special “Jacuzzi”
Animator Angela Stempel is making her mark in the film and TV by bringing the drawing board to life. Originally a student of International Relations, Stempel’s route to the animation circuit...
Quote of the Day: Jane Campion Says the #MeToo Movement Felt “Like the Berlin Wall Coming Down”
Jane Campion can “feel a change in the weather” since the dawn of the #MeToo movement. During a press conference at Venice Film Festival promoting her first feature in over a decade,...
Exclusive: Sundance Winner “Writing with Fire” Acquired by Music Box Films
The story of India’s only women-led news outlet is heading stateside. Women and Hollywood can exclusively reveal that Music Box Films has acquired rights to “Writing with Fire,”...
September 2021 Television Preview
It’s that time of the year again, where new shows premiere on every network and we’re reunited with some of our favorites as their new seasons begin. We’re seeing some exciting releases by and...
September 2021 Film Preview
From a modern-day revamp of a classic fairytale to a comedy about unabashed suburban women who become Robin Hoods of their community, along with an array of socially conscious documentaries and...
Pick of the Day: “Rare Beasts”
If you, like me, are a fan of the Billie Piper show “I Hate Suzie” — its anti-heroine lead, its focus on the messiness of feminism in theory vs. practice, its general acidity...
Pick of the Day: “The Chair”
Though it’s decidedly less glamorous, academia isn’t entirely dissimilar from Hollywood. The wealthy and powerful minority convince themselves that meritocracy governs the system, and the...
Navigating the New: Crowdfunding Picks
Entering a new chapter in life feels daunting for anyone; with outside perspectives projected upon you, there can be a sense of powerlessness in the midst of change. It takes courage to claim space...
Exclusive: The Cast & Crew of “Spirit Untamed” Discuss the Importance of Girls’ Onscreen Rep in Clip
In “Spirit Untamed,” a girl’s love for a mustang named Spirit leads her to forge lasting friendships with other young women — and discover an unexpected connection with her...
Under the Radar: “Women of My Billion” Examines India’s Long-Standing Gender-Based Social Injustices
How does one deal with the anger and frustration propelled by news of violent social injustices rampant in one’s country? If you’re Srishti Bakshi, you walk it off. Walk the entire length of...
Pick of the Day: “CODA”
From start to finish, “CODA” is a delight. Siân Heder’s second feature is heartfelt, laugh-out-loud funny, and everything I’d hoped it would be after reading about its...
Pick of the Day: “Materna”
Jean (Kate Lyn Sheil), Mona (Jade Eshete), Ruth (Lindsay Burdge), and Perizad (Assol Abdullina) are four very different women with no connection to one another, besides the fact that they are on the...
Pick of the Day: “The Macaluso Sisters”
A fun day at the beach has unforeseen ripple effects in “The Macaluso Sisters,” Emma Dante’s adaptation of her play of the same name. Comprised of three parts that catch up with the...
Writer to Watch: Bolu Babalola of “Big Age”
The Internet’s favorite “romcomoisseur,” the President and CEO of the Nick Miller fanclub, “Love Island’s” most beloved live tweeter, the bestselling author of “Love In Color:...
Pick of the Day: “Pray Away”
As moving as it is infuriating,” “Pray Away” sees director Kristine Stolakis taking a sobering look at the ongoing toll of conversion therapy. The doc explores the “ex-gay...
August 2021 Television Preview
Summer television will go out with a bang this August, with releases ranging from a star-studded miniseries set at a health-and-wellness resort to an Emmy nominee’s animated return. This...
Pick of the Day: “Lorelei”
First-time feature director Sabrina Doyle told us that “Lorelei” is the result of her desire to “make a film about working-class people that shows their resilience, their inner...
Pick of the Day: “The Pursuit of Love”
The new miniseries “The Pursuit of Love” features two storytelling tropes that tend to annoy me: the juxtaposition of the free spirited woman and her wallflower best friend, and the woman...
August 2021 Film Preview
A history-making Sundance winner and a biopic about the Queen of Soul are among the most anticipated titles hitting theaters this August. Kicking off this month’s releases is “Pray...
Pick of the Day: “Playing with Sharks”
I’d never heard of Valerie Taylor before “Playing with Sharks,” but Sally Aitken’s loving tribute makes a compelling case for why the pioneer in underwater filmmaking and...
Pick of the Day: “How It Ends”
It’s the end of the world and Zoe Lister-Jones is feeling anything but fine in “How It Ends,” an apocalyptic Sundance comedy that sees the multi-hyphenate reuniting with the star of...
Pick of the Day: “No Ordinary Man”
In January 1989, jazz musician Billy Tipton died from a bleeding ulcer with his son, Billy Tipton, Jr., by his side. When the paramedics arrived, they and the younger Tipton discovered Billy —...
Quote of the Day: Jodie Turner-Smith Calls for Inclusive Hiring Above & Below the Line During Cannes Talk
Jodie Turner-Smith is emphasizing the importance of inclusive hiring — and not just directors and actors. Per Variety, the “Queen & Slim” star called on the industry to provide...
Pick of the Day: “This Way Up”
Set in the months before COVID-19 brought the world to a grinding halt, Season 2 of “This Way Up” sees its main character, Aine (writer-creator-EP Aisling Bea), navigating fits and starts...
Pick of the Day: “Black Widow”
Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow made her MCU debut in 2010’s “Iron Man 2.” In the intervening 11 years, she’s joined the Avengers, saved the world half a dozen times, and...
July 2021 Television Preview
With summer in full swing, and the Summer Games coming up, the TV landscape feels a little quieter in anticipation of the jam-packed fall season — but there’s still something for...
Reclaim Your Story: Crowdfunding Picks
Few things are as frustrating as having your voice drowned out by someone who has not lived your experience. Oppression relies on suppressing minority voices. If you cannot share your stories, your...
Pick of the Day: “Zola”
Like the viral Twitter thread it’s inspired by, “Zola” begins with an invitation: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me and this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of...
July 2021 Film Preview
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee Women kick ass. This is something that we know and we witness on the news, in our friends and relatives, and even in ourselves — but it’s always nice to be...
Pick of the Day: “The Legend of the Underground”
Arriving on HBO as Pride Month comes to a close, Giselle Bailey and Nneka Onuorah’s documentary “The Legend of the Underground” follows a group of non-conformist Nigerian men in the...
Quote of the Day: Queen Latifah Accepts BET Lifetime Achievement Award, Emphasizes “Black Is Beautiful”
“Be Black. Black is beautiful,” Queen Latifah emphasized while accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 BET Awards. The Grammy and Emmy-winning multi-hyphenate used her time...
Ladies Who Rock: VOD, Webseries, and Podcast Picks
Music is an avenue for letting the unspoken be sung out loud, for sharing with the world the emotions that stir within us. Great music can reach an audience anywhere, relating differently to each...
Pick of the Day: “Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer”
“Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer” spotlights people and events that have been “disappeared by history,” as one interviewee puts it. Dawn Porter’s latest documentary...
Pick of the Day: “Kevin Can F**k Himself”
“King of Queens,” “According to Jim,” “Still Standing,” “Home Improvement,” “Kevin Can Wait” — the list of sitcoms centering doofus,...
Pick of the Day: “Physical”
“No one could ever hate me as much as I hate myself, okay? So any mean thing someone is going to think of to say about me, I’ve already said to me, about me, probably in the last half...
The Animated Imagination: Crowdfunding Picks
Animation gives storytellers the liberty to dream and mythologize without restriction, to turn fanciful reveries into alternative realities of experience, human or otherwise. The medium indulges the...
Costume Designer to Watch: Ayanna James-Kimani of “Insecure”
“Costume is prime real estate in television — whatever message you want out, you’re going to see it in the person’s wardrobe,” costume designer and stylist Ayanna James-Kimani observed in...
Pick of the Day: “Tuca & Bertie”
Praise be: “Tuca & Bertie” has risen from the dead, and its resurrection is everything you’d hope and more. Adult Swim revived Lisa Hanawalt’s critically acclaimed...
Have Pride: Crowdfunding Picks
Being able to relate to and see ourselves in the characters from our favorite films is not a privilege everyone can enjoy. For a long time, authentic LGBTQ+ stories were not being told in meaningful...
Pick of the Day: “Little Birds”
Situated at the intersection of sexual liberation and colonialism, “Little Birds” is a reimagining of Anaïs Nin’s 1979 erotic story collection of the same name. The Starz...