Festivals
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ceylan Özgün Özçelik — “Inflame”
Born in Turkey, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik is a writer, director, producer, and editor. Özçelik produced, wrote, and hosted “En Heyecanlı Yeri,” a TV show about cinema that aired for almost 10...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Katherine Fairfax Wright — “Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall”
Katherine Fairfax Wright is the director, editor, and cinematographer of “Call Me Kuchu,” the story of the last year in the life of the first openly gay man in Uganda. Wright produced...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Renée Felice Smith— “The Relationtrip”
A New York native, Renée Felice Smith moved cross country for her role on CBS’ hit, “NCIS: Los Angeles.” Smith starred in and produced “Baby,” a short film that went to SXSW in 2015. She...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Magdalena Zyzak— “A Critically Endangered Species”
Magdalena Zyzak’s first feature film was “Redland,” a wilderness drama which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2013, she produced a second feature film directed by Asiel...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Valerie Weiss — “The Archer”
Valerie Weiss is an award-winning filmmaker and scientist. Her directing credits include “A Light Beneath Their Feet,” “Losing Control,” “Chicago Med,” and an upcoming episode of...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Laura E. Davis and Jessica Kaye — “Inheritance”
Laura E. Davis is a writer, director, and story consultant. Her previous credits include the award-winning feature “Thin Air,” a short film starring Sarita Choudhury (“Homeland”), and a...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Reeder— “Signature Move”
Jennifer Reeder constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma, and coping. Her award-winning narratives borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Julia Halperin — “La Barracuda”
Julia Halperin previously produced, co-directed, and edited “Now, Forager,” which had its world premiere in 2012 at International Film Festival Rotterdam and its North American Premiere at New...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Miao Wang — “Maineland”
Miao Wang an award-winning filmmaker who focuses on documentaries that inspire cultural understanding and a humanist perspective of the world. Her previous directing credits include “Beijing...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Karen Skloss — “The Honor Farm”
Karen Skloss is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has been shown on HBO, at the MoMA, in wide theatrical release, and in film festivals internationally. She is also the drummer for the band...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Leandra Leal — “Divine Divas”
Leandra Leal is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning Brazilian actress who has acted in more than 25 feature films, 12 soap operas, and many plays. She was awarded Best Actress at the...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kasia Rosłaniec— “Satan Said Dance”
Director and screenwriter Kasia Rosłaniec hails from Poland and studied at Warsaw Film School, where she completed the short film “Mall Girls” in 2006 as her thesis. “Mall Girls” received...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer M. Kroot — “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin”
Jennifer M. Kroot’s directorial credits include “To Be Takei” and “It Came From Kuchar.” She has received grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation, Creative Work Fund, Frameline, the Pacific...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Chris Shellen — “Spettacolo”
Chris Shellen is a writer and filmmaker based in California. She produced the award-winning documentary “Marwencol” and co-authored the companion art book, “Welcome to Marwencol,” which was...
Piper Laurie to Be Honored with Special Event at Ojai Film Festival
The most terrifying mom in film history is getting much-deserved props. “Carrie” star Piper Laurie will be celebrated with a special event in her honor at the upcoming Ojai Film Festival, The...
Tina Mabry to Receive Outfest’s Fusion Achievement Award
“Mississippi Damned” writer-director Tina Mabry is the 2017 recipient of Outfest’s Fusion Achievement Award, a press release has announced. The filmmaker will receive the honor at the Fusion...
Tribeca 2017 Competition Lineup is Almost 40 Percent Women-Helmed
The Tribeca Film Festival has announced its 2017 lineup, and 12 of the 32 films screening in Competition sections are women-directed or co-directed, amounting to a respectable 38 percent. “As a...
Ildiko Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” Wins Top Prize at Berlinale
Ildiko Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” has been awarded the Berlin International Film Festival’s highest honor, the Golden Bear, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The love story centers on two...
New Directors/New Films Festival Announces 2017 Lineup
The lineup for the 46th annual New Directors/New Films Festival (ND/NF) has been announced. A joint effort of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, ND/NF will...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Tala Hadid — “House in the Fields”
Tala Hadid is a writer, director, and photographer. Her first film,“Sacred Poet,” centered on Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. She’s directed several short films, including “Tes...
LA Women’s International Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup
The 13th Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival has announced its 2017 program. The festival will kick-off four days of features, documentaries, shorts, and panel discussions with a...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jackie Van Beek — “The Inland Road”
Jackie Van Beek is a New Zealand writer, director, and actor with a background in devised theater. She has made seven short films that have played at numerous festivals including Berlin, London,...
True/False Film Fest Teams Up with Kickstarter for Childcare Initiative
The past week has been a pretty good one childcare advocates. First, Raising Films launched the Family Support Fund. Now True/False Film Fest and Kickstarter are working together on The Cradle, an...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Rubika Shah — “White Riot: London”
Rubika Shah is a director, writer, and journalist. She has directed a number of documentary shorts for the BBC which explore the works of Spike Lee, Gore Vidal, and others. Her documentary short...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Teona Strugar Mitevska — “When the Day Had No Name”
Teona Strugar Mitevska is an award-winning writer and director. Her previous credits include “The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears,” “I Am from Titov Veles,” and “Veta.” “When the Day...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ildikó Enyedi— “On Body and Soul”
Ildikó Enyedi began her career as a concept and media artist as part of the art group Indigo and the Balázs Béla Studio. Her first film, “My Twentieth Century,” won the Cannes Camera d’Or...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Daniela Thomas — “Vazante”
Daniela Thomas writes and directs films and plays, creates opera and theater sets, designs exhibitions, and creates installations. She is based in São Paulo but her work has been seen, exhibited,...
WIFT Germany Announces Berlinale Event with Lone Scherfig
If you find yourself in Berlin this coming Saturday, you should consider attending “How to Attract Audiences in a Changing Cinema Landscape – Fresh Ideas for Storytelling and Outreach.” The...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Laura Schroeder — “Barrage”
Laura Schroeder was born in Luxembourg. Her works have screened at festivals worldwide. After several self-produced films, she wrote and directed the short films “Senteurs” and “Double...
Athena Film Festival Announces IRIS Screenwriting Lab Participants
The Athena Film Festival has announced the participants for its inaugural Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab. The Athena IRIS Lab, “whose goal is to develop feature-length narrative scripts with bold...
Find Out Why We Are Still Protesting At Meeting During Berlinale
Dortmund Cologne International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF) just said what we’ve all been thinking: “I cannot believe we are still protesting!” According to a press release from the...
Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” and Eliza Hittman’s “Beach Rats” Score Sundance Deals
The biggest deal of Sundance 2017 was for a woman-directed movie. Netflix shelled out $12.5 million for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” Deadline reports. Writer-director Eliza Hittman also secured a...
Sundance Sales for Women-Centric “Patti Cake$” and “The Incredible Jessica James”
Sundance Film Festival is a great place to see movies, and it’s also a great place to have your movie seen: the fest is a business hub, with sales being reported on a daily basis. Two deals for...
Sundance Deals: Sales for Women-Directed “Landline,” “To the Bone,” & More
This year’s edition of the Sundance Film Festival is shaping up to be a memorable one for women directors. In the past day alone Gillian Robespierre’s “Landline,” Amanda Lipitz’s...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Zoe Lister-Jones — “Band Aid”
Zoe Lister-Jones is an actor, director, writer, and producer who is currently starring in CBS’ “Life in Pieces.” She recently co-starred in “Confirmation” for HBO. As a...
Sundance Deals: “Novitiate,” “Fun Mom Dinner,” and “The Big Sick” Find Homes
The Sundance Film Festival isn’t even halfway through yet, but there have already been some exciting deals and developments for films by and about women. Maggie Betts’ “Novitiate” and...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Barbara Kopple — “This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous”
Barbara Kopple is a two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker. A director and producer of narrative films and documentaries, her two most recent projects are the documentaries “Miss Sharon...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Pamela Yates — “500 Years”
Pamela Yates is a co-founder and current creative director of Skylight, a media company dedicated to creating feature length documentary films and digital media tools that advance awareness of human...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Brea — “Unrest”
Jennifer Brea is a filmmaker, writer, and data wrangler. She earned her AB in Politics from Princeton University, and is a TED Fellow. Prior, she was a freelance journalist in China and East and...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sydney Freeland — “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train”
Sydney Freeland is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Her debut feature, “Drunktown’s Finest,” premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to receive the Jury Prize at LA Outfest and a...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Marti Noxon — “To the Bone”
Marti Noxon is the creator and executive producer of Bravo’s first scripted drama series, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” and the co-creator and executive producer of the acclaimed Lifetime...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Amanda Kernell — “Sami Blood”
Amanda Kernell has directed a number of shorts, including “Stoerre Vaerie,” or, “Northern Great Mountain,” which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and won the Best Swedish Short...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Bainbridge— “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the…
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Bainbridge— “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World” Catherine Bainbridge is a writer, producer, and director, and the co-founder of Rezolution...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Bainbridge— “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World…
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Catherine Bainbridge— “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World” “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World” Catherine Bainbridge is a writer, producer,...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Pascale Lamche — “Winnie”
Pascale Lamche is an award-winning filmmaker who has made feature documentaries and series both as a writer-producer and writer-director for key broadcasters internationally. Her films have...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Rory Kennedy— “Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton”
An Academy Award nominated, Primetime Emmy Award winning director and producer, Rory Kennedy’s work deals with some of the world’s most pressing issues — poverty, political corruption,...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Lone Scherfig — “Their Finest”
In her native Denmark, Lone Scherfig began her career directing award-winning commercials and television dramas. Her feature film credits include “An Education,” “One Day,” and “The...
CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX Members Make Their Mark on Sundance 2017
Female DPs are making at splash at Sundance 2017. Back in spring of last year, female cinematographers banded together to form a new, supportive group called CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX, which aims to...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Janicza Bravo — “Lemon”
Janicza Bravo wrote and directed “Gregory Go Boom,” a Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning short film. Her other credits include “Man Rots from the Head,” “Woman in Deep,” and an episode of...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ramona S. Diaz — “Motherland”
Ramona S. Diaz is an award-winning Asian-American filmmaker. Her film credits include “Spirits Rising,” “Imelda,” “The Learning,” and “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Michelle Latimer— “Rise”
Michelle Latimer is a Métis/Algonquin filmmaker based in Toronto, as well as a programmer, actor, and activist. Her previous directorial efforts include “Choke,” a Sundance Special Jury...