Festivals
Cannes 2017: Nicole Kidman, Sofia Coppola, & More Take Home Awards
Cannes 2017 has come to a close and, happily, honored several female directors, writers, and performers. While the 70th edition of the fest has been consistently marked with sexism onscreen and off,...
Guest Post: What It’s Like to Attend a Film Fest with a Newborn
Jennica Schwartzman with her daughter Winslow at the Bentonville Film Festival Guest Post by Jennica Schwartzman “And the Best Narrative award goes to: Jamaica Schwartzman…” My name is Jennica...
Guest Post: Cannes Can’t Seem to Figure Out How to Accommodate Working Moms
Guest Post by Nanna Frank Rasmussen Working mothers are not very welcome at the Cannes Film Festival, it seems. This year at least two mothers attending the fest have spoken out about the major...
Cannes 2017: All Hail Jane Campion
Me with Jane Campion at Cannes Cannes Film Festival celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. Just remember that only one female director — Jane Campion — has won a Palme d’Or. She...
Lee Grant to Receive Split Screens Festival’s Inaugural Legacy Award
Actress, director, and author Lee Grant will be honored this year at the Split Screens Festival. According to an announcement from the television fest, Grant will receive its first Legacy Award,...
Cannes Update: Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House” Gets U.S. Distribution
“Viceroy’s House” has found a U.S. home. IFC acquired the U.S. rights to the period drama from “Bend It Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha at the Cannes market, The Hollywood Reporter...
Cannes Update: Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider” Snagged by Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights to Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” a press release has announced. The company will also distribute the cowboy drama in Latin America,...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Natalia Santa — “La Defensa del Dragón”
“La Defensa del Dragón” is Natalia Santa’s directorial debut. The film will premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on May 24. W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words. NS:...
Cannes Update: Rihanna, Lupita Nyong’o, Ava DuVernay, and Issa Rae Team Up for Buddy Film
This is not a drill: Rihanna and Lupita Nyong’o are starring in a buddy movie together. “Insecure” co-creator Issa Rae is writing the script. “Selma” helmer Ava DuVernay is directing. If...
Cannes Update: Catherine Deneuve to Star in Julie Bertuccelli’s “Claire Darling”
“School of Babel” director Julie Bertuccelli has begun production on her next film, “Claire Darling.” According to Variety, Catherine Deneuve and her daughter Chiara Mastroianni have signed...
Cannes Update: Joanna Hogg to Direct “The Souvenir”
“Exhibition” writer-director Joanna Hogg has a new project in the works. The British filmmaker will helm “The Souvenir,” a romantic mystery executive-produced by Sikelia Productions’...
Cannes Interview: Kristen Stewart Explains Why Directing Shouldn’t Be About Correcting
Kristen Stewart is crafting a great career for herself. She shot to international stardom in “Twilight,” but it’s what she’s done after the vampire romance franchise that really makes her...
Cannes Update: Jessica Chastain to Star in and Produce “Seducing Ingrid Bergman”
Jessica Chastain is set to portray an icon of the silver screen. The two-time Oscar-nominated actress will topline and produce “Seducing Ingrid Bergman,” Deadline reports. Chastain will play the...
The Cannes Conundrum
I feel very conflicted writing about the Cannes Film Festival. It would be easy if I wrote reviews and I could just talk about the movies — whether I like them or not, and whether they suck or...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Cecilia Atan and Valeria Pivato — “The Desert Bride”
Cecilia Atan’s documentary series “Madres de Plaza de Mayo, la Historia” was nominated for the International Emmy Awards. “The Sea,” her first short film, screened at the Cannes Short Film...
Cannes Update: Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In” Acquired by Sundance Selects
Sundance Selects has snagged all North American rights to Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In,” Variety reports. The dramedy just made its world premiere at Cannes, where it received positive...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Bonni Cohen — “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power”
Bonni Cohen is an award-winning producer and director. She co-directed “Audrie & Daisy,” which premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up as a Netflix...
Cannes Update: New Films with Ashley Judd and Maggie Q on the Way
Films toplined by Ashley Judd and Maggie Q are the latest projects seeking distribution deals at the Cannes Film Market. According to ScreenDaily, Red Sea Media has begun talks with international...
Cannes Update: Greta Gerwig to Star in Mia Hansen-Løve’s English-Language Debut
French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve is set to make her English-language debut. ScreenDaily reports that the award-winning writer-director will helm “Bergman Island,” starring Greta Gerwig, Mia...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Chloé Zhao — “The Rider”
Chloé Zhao is an award-winning director and producer. Her first feature-length doc, 2015’s “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” was nominated for the Golden Camera Award at Cannes, the Grand Jury...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Marcela Said — “Los Perros”
Marcela Said has worked in both documentary and feature films. Her debut feature, “The Summer of Flying Fish,” premiered at the Director’s Fortnight in 2013. She wrote “Los Perros” at the...
Cannes 2017: Salma Hayek, Robin Wright, and More to Participate in Women in Motion Talks
Women-directed films are — once again — scarcely represented in Cannes’ Competition lineup, but fortunately Kering’s third annual Women in Motion program promises to initiate and...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Léa Mysius — “Ava”
Léa Mysius has directed three award-winning short films selected for a number of festivals: “Cadavre exquis,” “Les Oiseaux-tonnerre,” selected for the Cannes Cinéfondation award, and...
Cannes 2017 Women Directors: Meet Valeska Grisebach — “Western”
Valeska Grisebach’s directorial debut, “Be My Star,” won the Critics’ Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Torino Film Festival’s main prize. Her second feature film,...
Cannes 2017 Updates: Rosamund Pike, Blake Lively, and Noomi Rapace Line Up New Projects
Cannes is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, but it’s also a business hub. The fest — and Cannes market — officially kick off tomorrow, May 17, but new projects...
Cannes 2017: Women in Motion to Honor Isabelle Huppert and Maysaloun Hamoud
The face of this year’s Women in Motion program is also the winner of its top prize. In partnership with Cannes, Kering will present the 2017 Women in Motion Award to Isabelle Huppert. The news...
Submissions Are Open for the 2018 Athena Film Festival
Does your short or screenplay portray a female leader? If so, take note: the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College is now accepting submissions. Co-founded by Women and Hollywood founder and...
Infographic: Women Directors at Cannes 2017 #SeeHerNow
The 2017 Cannes Film Festival kicks off this Wednesday, May 17. While the high-profile fest is still nowhere near overall gender parity, the number of women directors has increased slightly from the...
Apply Now for the Women in Entertainment Workshop Series at LAFF
This year’s Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) is turning out to be a very welcoming event for women in Hollywood. The fest’s lineup includes plenty of of women-directed films and now Women in...
Mimi Plauche Named Artistic Director of Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival will have a new artistic director for its 53rd edition in October. According to the Chicago Tribune, Mimi Plauche has been promoted from program director to...
Helen Mirren to Be Honored at Monte Carlo TV Fest
Helen Mirren is set to receive yet another well-deserved award. The Oscar, Tony, and Emmy winner will take home the Monte Carlo Television Festival’s Crystal Nymph at a ceremony to be held June...
Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2017 Lineup: 41% Women-Directed
The lineup for the 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival has been announced. According to a press release, the selected films will “serve as inspiration and motivation for the audience, from...
LA Film Fest Competition Lineup Announced: 46 Percent Women-Directed
The LA Film Festival (LAFF) has announced its 2017 competition lineups. “Our competitions reflect who Film Independent is as an organization,” emphasized LAFF Director Jennifer Cochis. “Within...
Julie Andrews to Be Honored at Hamptons Film Fest
Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is set to honor one of the most beloved actresses of all time. Whether you know her best as Mary Poppins or Maria von Trapp, chances are you’ve been...
Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz to Topline “The Widow”
Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz are joining forces. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actresses have signed on to star in “The Widow,” a thriller about a young woman (Moretz) who...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Selma Vilhunen — “Hobbyhorse Revolution”
Selma Vilhunen is a director and screenwriter of both fiction and documentary films. She is also one of the co-founders of the production company Tuffi Films. Her fiction feature debut, “Little...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sofia Bohdanowicz — “Maison du bonheur”
Sofia Bohdanowicz is an experimental filmmaker from Toronto, Canada. Her most recent collection of shorts, “Last Poems,” explores the passing of her paternal grandmother through the poetry of...
Petra Volpe’s “The Divine Order” Wins Tribeca Audience Award
A woman-helmed film has won another major Tribeca honor. Just days ago we reported that women directors dominated the fest’s top awards, and now a press release has announced that Petra Volpe’s...
Barbra Streisand Started Directing Because She “Couldn’t Be Heard”
Barbra Streisand didn’t mince words when Robert Rodriguez interviewed her at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend —of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way. The famously outspoken...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Marie Clements— “The Road Forward”
Marie Clements (Métis/Dene) is an award-winning writer, director, and producer of film, television, radio, new media, and live performance. Her work as a filmmaker includes the 2015 docudrama...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Tasha Hubbard — “Birth of a Family”
Tasha Hubbard is an award-winning filmmaker and an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Her previous documentary, “Two Worlds Collide,” won a Gemini and a Golden Sheaf Award in...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Vaishali Sinha — “Ask the Sexpert”
Vaishali Sinha co-directed and produced the feature documentary “Made in India,” which focused on the personal stories behind the phenomenon of outsourcing surrogate mothers to India. The...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Karin Jurschick — “Playing God”
Karin Jurschick is the co-founder of the International Women’s Film Festival in Cologne, Germany. Her award-winning films include “On the Rail of Evil,” “Chernobyl and its Consequences,”...
Women Directors Dominate Tribeca’s Top Awards
Female filmmakers left a major impression on Tribeca jurors. The fest runs until Sunday, April 30, but presented awards for its 16th edition on Thursday. Women-directed films were named U.S. Best...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kalina Bertin — “Manic”
“Manic” is Kalina Bertin’s first feature. It will premiere at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 30. W&H: Describe the film for us in your...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Stacey Tenenbaum — “Shiners”
Stacey Tenenbaum is an award-winning creative producer and director who started her career in factual television 18 years ago. In 2014 Tenenbaum founded H2L Productions, a Montreal-based boutique...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ann Shin — “My Enemy, My Brother”
Ann Shin’s cross-platform project “The Defector” won Best Documentary and Best Documentary Director at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards. The short version of “My Enemy, My Brother” was...
Hot Docs 2017 Preview: A Flamenco Legend, Female Inmates, and Domestic Violence
“A Better Man” Hot Docs kicks off today. Given that the Toronto fest is among the world’s biggest documentary festivals, it’s unsurprising that this year’s expansive program has something...
Hot Docs 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ashley Sabin — “Do Donkeys Act?”
Ashley Sabin’s documentaries have screened internationally in festivals and on television worldwide. Her vast body of work includes four recent “animal ethnography” films based in the world...
Anjelica Huston to Be Honored at Seattle Film Fest
Anjelica Huston is set to add another trophy to her mantle. The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) has announced that the Oscar winner has been chosen as the 2017 recipient of their Career...
Cannes 2017: Join Women and Hollywood and Other Organizers Supporting Female Filmmakers
This year at the Cannes Film Festival, Women and Hollywood will once again be hosting a networking meeting with influencers who advocate for female filmmakers. Join us May 22 at the Scandinavian...