Festivals
Miu Miu Women’s Tales 2018 Will Screen Shorts by Haifaa Al-Mansour and Dakota Fanning
Venice Film Festival has announced the offerings for this year’s Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a “dedicated program of film screenings and revealing conversations by some of the most exciting...
Camden International Film Fest’s 2018 Lineup Is Over 50% Women-Directed
This year’s Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) promises to be a good one for women filmmakers. According to a press release, the documentary fest boasts full gender parity among its...
Sarajevo Film Festival Signs 5050×2020 Pledge
The Sarajevo Film Festival has followed Cannes, Annecy, and Locarno’s lead and officially committed to gender equality among its filmmakers and leadership. Fest director Mirsad Purivatra...
TIFF Adds More Galas and Special Presentations: Pics from Sam Taylor-Johnson, Veena Sud, & More
The Toronto International Film Festival has added more titles to its most high profile slates. Of four galas added, one is woman-directed: Veena Sud’s “The Lie.” Starring Mireille...
TIFF’s Documentary Program Includes Films from Rashida Jones, Alexis Bloom, & More
The Toronto International Film Festival is less than a month away, and the fest is dropping announcements almost daily. Today marks the unveiling of the fest’s Documentary and Midnight Madness...
TIFF Announces Platform Program: Karyn Kusama, Carol Morley, & More
Nicole Kidman and Patricia Clarkson are bringing law and order to the Toronto International Film Festival. Both play detectives in films set to screen at TIFF. The fest just announced its Platform...
NYFF Announces Main Slate and It’s 13 Percent Women-Directed
We’re hoping the New York Film Festival (NYFF) follows in the footsteps of Cannes and Locarno and signs a gender parity pledge. The fest just announced its main slate, and it’s sorely...
LA Film Fest’s Major Feature Competition Lineups Are Over 50 Percent Women-Directed
Film Independent’s LA Film Festival (LAFF) has announced its first batch of lineups, and the programs are cause for celebration. Of 24 features screening in major competition categories, 14 are...
TIFF Announces Sisters March to Spotlight “Systemic Inequality”
The Toronto International Film Festival is rallying the troops. The fest announced that a rally will be held during its upcoming 43rd edition, a sisters march intended to spotlight “systemic...
Severely Gender Imbalanced Venice Fest Will Screen a Dude’s Doc About Women in Film
In news that could either be an attempt to rectify its exclusion of women directors or a simple fuck-you, Venice Film Festival is premiering the first four hours of an epic 16-hour doc about women...
Locarno Fest to Sign Pledge for Parity and Inclusion
Locarno Festival is committing to change. A press release from the Switzerland-based fest announced that President Marco Solari and Vice President Carla Speziali will sign the Programming Pledge for...
Only One Woman-Directed Film Will Screen in Competition at 2018 Venice Fest
The Venice Film Festival announced the lineup for its 2018 edition and once again it is years behind in terms of representing women directors. Just eight films of the 64 screening in the fest’s...
TIFF 2018’s Galas and Special Presentations Are 28 Percent Women-Directed
Claire Denis, Nicole Holofcener, and Amma Asante are heading to the Great White North. The directors’ latest films are making their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival...
Directors’ Fortnight Announces Gender-Balanced Committee, Upholding Cannes 50/50 Pledge
In a positive sign of things to come for Cannes 2019, the fest’s Directors’ Fortnight sidebar has unveiled a gender-balanced selection committee. The six-member group, led by Delegate...
Viola Davis-Starrer “Widows” to Open London Film Festival
“Widows” has snatched the coveted opening slot at the BFI London Film Festival, Variety confirms. Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez (“The Fast and the Furious”...
All-Female Jury Will Preside Over Taormina Film Festival’s Competition
Taormina Film Festival is making a statement: the 64th edition of the Italian fest will see an all-female jury presiding over the competition. ScreenDaily reports that the jury will be composed...
Mariette Rissenbeek Named Co-Director of Berlinale, Becomes First Woman to Lead the Fest
German Films managing director Mariette Rissenbeek will be the Berlin International Film Festival’s (Berlinale) next executive director, making her the first woman to lead the fest....
Films from Melanie Mayron, Valerie Buhagiar, & More Screening at 2018 Female Eye Film Fest
The upcoming Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) will include more than 90 pics directed by women, a press release has announced. Established in 2001 in response to the lack of women-helmed fare at...
Mariska Hargitay Applauds #MeToo in Monte Carlo TV Fest Award Speech
Mariska Hargitay was awarded the Monte Carlo Television Festival’s Crystal Nymph Award on Friday and the “Law & Order: SVU” star used the occasion to commend the #MeToo...
Turkish Culture Ministry Pulls Funding from Ankara Women’s Film Fest
The Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in Ankara, Turkey will no longer receive funding from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry. The ministry has been supporting the fest for...
Annecy Animation Film Festival Signs 5050×2020 Pledge
Last month Thierry Frémaux sparked international headlines when he signed a pledge for gender parity at Cannes Film Festival. The head of the fest, along with with his colleagues at the...
TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival Announces All-Female Jury and New Share Her Journey Prize
TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival has announced its 2018 jurors, and they’re all women. Now in its third year, the Toronto International Film Festival’s “tiniest film festival”...
“Eighth Grade” and “Half the Picture” Win Big at Sundance London
Female-led films swept the awards at this year’s edition of Sundance Film Festival: London. Coming-of-age comedy “Eighth Grade” scored the Audience Favourite Award and female...
Women-Directed Projects Account for 52 Percent of Slate at Frameline LGBTQ Fest
The 42nd edition of the San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival (also called Frameline) is kicking off in less than a month, and 52 percent of the the narratives, documentaries, episodics,...
Cannes Awards 2018: Another Dude Wins the Palme D’Or and Asia Argento Brings the House Down
Cannes’ 2018 Closing Ceremony was the perfect microcosm of the festival itself: it embraced some much-needed social change and somehow was still the usual old boys’ club. The fest’s...
Submissions Are Open for the 2019 Athena Film Festival
Attention filmmakers with a short or screenplay depicting a female leader: The Athena Film Festival is now accepting submissions. Co-founded by Women and Hollywood founder and publisher Melissa...
Cannes Film Festival Signs Pledge In Push for Gender Parity
The issue of the lack of female directors is dominating this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Part of this conversation is how movies get selected and who selects them. Is there a clear submission...
One of 82
On Saturday evening at the Cannes Film Festival I was one of 82 women who climbed the steps of the Palais de Festival — the most prestigious screening room in the world — as a participant...
Women and Hollywood Founder Melissa Silverstein to Participate in Historic Event at Cannes
Saturday May 12th on the 6:30 pm red carpet event, 82 international key women players of the film industry — directors, crew members, actresses, producers, screenwriters, sales agents,...
Support Women at Cannes Film Festival!
Women and Hollywood is standing with our sisters in France, LE DEUXIEME REGARD, to be a part of the 5050×2020 campaign to push for gender equality in the film industry. LE DEUXIEME REGARD is a...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2018 Lineup Is 80% Women-Directed
Usually, it’s easier and quicker to name the films that aren’t directed by men screening at a festival because there are so few of them — but that’s not the case with Human...
Cannes and Gender — A Work in Progress
So here I am again in Cannes. It’s my fourth year. And this is the first year since the reckoning, and this festival was a place where Harvey preyed against multiple women. For someone who does the...
Cannes 2018: News About Jenny Gage’s Adaptation of “After,” Sidse Babett Knudsen-Starrer “Wildland”
Cannes is about so much more than the films screening — the fest is also a business hub where projects in development seek distribution and funds. As such, the fest can be counted on to...
Kim Yutani Becomes Sundance Film Festival’s New Director of Programming
After more than a decade working for Sundance Film Festival, Kim Yutani has been named the fest’s new Director of Programming. Her new role sees her leading “the curation of film, media,...
AFI DOCS and Provincetown Fests Will Open and Close with Women-Directed Pics
Cannes, this is how it’s done: projects from female filmmakers are set to kick off and conclude both AFI DOCS and Provincetown International Film Festival. AFI DOCS, a documentary fest in the...
Angela Robinson to Receive Achievement Award at Outfest
Angela Robinson is set to receive a major honor at the 2018 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. The “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” writer-director will take home the...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bari — “Primas”
Laura Bari made her full-length debut with “Antoine,” a documentary about the imaginary life of a blind boy. The film was shown at 30 festivals around the world and won over a dozen prizes. She...
Cannes 2018: Patty Jenkins to Receive Women in Motion Award
Patty Jenkins is heading to Cannes. The “Wonder Woman” director will be honored with the 2018 Women in Motion Award. A press release announcing the news emphasized that the trailblazing...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Alba Sotorra — “Commander Arian”
Alba Sotorra is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Barcelona. She has directed a number of documentaries, including “Unveiled Views,” which premiered at Guadalajara International...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Biljana Tutorov — “When Pigs Come”
Biljana Tutorov is a director, producer, film curator, and VJ. In 2010 she founded Wake Up Films, an independent film production company dedicated to young European talent. She is now in...
Trailer Watch: Cannes Film “Whitney” Presents Both Sides of an Incredible Talent
Whitney Houston’s family and friends describe her two sides in a new trailer for “Whitney.” The late singer was an iconic, amazingly gifted artist and performer, but she was also, as one of the...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Audrey Gordon — “Siblings”
Audrey Gordon is a French documentary filmmaker and former journalist. She has directed several documentaries for TV including “Kinderlekh,” “Edith and Lucile,” “A Two-way-Street,” and...
Trailer Watch: A Woman is Betrayed by Her Husband and Friend in Cannes Pic “One Day”
The trailer for “One Day” (“Egy Nap”) sees Anna (Zsófia Szamosi) carting her kids around to school and various activities, doing some grocery shopping, comforting her crying toddler, and...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Margarita Cadenas — “Women of the Venezuelan Chaos”
Margarita Cadenas served as a co-writer and producer for French Television, and has produced numerous commercials around the world. Her filmmaking credits include “Cenizas Eternas,”(“Eternal...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Hind Bensari— “We Could Be Heroes”
Hind Bensari’s first documentary short, “475: Break the Silence,” contributed to a movement in Morocco that succeeded in repealing a law that allowed men accused of rape to marry their...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Sandra Luz López Barroso — “Artemio”
Sandra Luz López Barroso is an anthropologist and award-winning filmmaker. She’s spent more than 10 years working on diverse artisticprojects in Mexico. She served as a DP on the short film...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Christy Garland — “What Walaa Wants”
Christy Garland has directed award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary features and fiction shorts. Her credits include “Cheer Up,” “The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song,” and...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Trisha Ziff — “Witkin & Witkin”
Trisha Ziff has worked for the last 25 years as a writer, editor, curator, and documentary filmmaker. Her feature credits include “The Mexican Suitcase,” and “The Man Who Saw Too Much,”...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Elizabeth Mirzaei — “Laila at the Bridge”
Elizabeth Mirzaei served as director and cinematographer on the BBC’s “The Killing of Farkhunda,” which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award, and a cinematographer on the...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander — “Grit”
Cynthia Wade’s 2008 documentary “Freeheld” won an Academy Award, Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and 13 other awards. Her other credits include “Grist for the Mill,”...
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Elan Bogarín — “306 Hollywood”
Elan Bogarín was nominated for at the 2009 Gotham and Spirit Awards for producing “Big Fan.” She co-founded The Wassaic Project, an arts festival/residency program that has hosted thousands of...