Women Directors
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Limor Shmila — “Montana”
Limor Shmila is an Israeli writer and director, who is also known for her work as a casting director. For the last 10 years she has been one of the leading casting directors in Israel, working on...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Zaida Bergroth — “Miami”
Zaida Bergroth is a Finnish film director whose works has been screened at several prominent festivals, including TIFF, and have received awards at Pusan International Film Festival and Chicago...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Clio Barnard — “Dark River”
Clio Barnard is a director whose films have won her The Douglas Hickox Award at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), Best Screenplay at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, and Best...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Nora Twomey — “The Breadwinner”
Nora Twomey is a filmmaker and co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, the twice Oscar-nominated animation studio based in Ireland. Having co-directed “The Secret of Kells” with Tomm Moore, Twomey went on...
Juliette Binoche to Star in Naomi Kawase’s Next Film “Vision”
Juliette Binoche has lined up her next project. The Oscar-winning actress will portray a journalist in “Vision,” from “Radiance” director Naomi Kawase, ScreenDaily confirms. Filming on the...
Weekly Update for September 8: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Home Again”: Open Road Films Films About Women Opening This Week Home Again — Written and Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer “Home Again” stars Reese Witherspoon as Alice Kinney in a...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Susanna White — “Woman Walks Ahead”
Susanna White is a BAFTA-winning film and television director. Her previous credits include “Our Kind of Traitor” and “Parade’s End.” White was lauded for her six episodes of “Bleak...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Valerie Faris — “Battle of the Sexes”
Valerie Faris and her husband, Jonathan Dayton, have co-directed music videos for R.E.M., The Smashing Pumpkins, Janet Jackson, Oasis, and many others in the 1990s and 2000s. Their previous film...
Trailer Watch: Three People Struggle to Leave Hasidic Judaism in Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady’s “One…
Trailer Watch: Three People Struggle to Leave Hasidic Judaism in Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady’s “One of Us” “One of Us” “I called my mom and I said, ‘Hey, Mom. Can I talk to...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sadaf Foroughi — “AVA”
Sadaf Foroughi is an Iranian-born, Montreal-based filmmaker. In 2005 she was selected to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus as a writer-director. She created a short documentary,...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Priscilla Cameron — “The Butterfly Tree”
Priscilla Cameron is a writer and director whose short films have won awards, screened in national and international festivals, and have been sold nationally and internationally. “The Butterfly...
“Year by the Sea” Star Karen Allen on Joan Anderson’s Book, Directing, and Roles for Women Over 60
Probably best-known for her turns in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the “Christmas Carol” retelling “Scrooged,” Karen Allen has been working regularly since her 1978 debut in “Animal...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kathleen Hepburn — “Never Steady, Never Still”
Kathleen Hepburn is a Vancouver born writer and director. “Never Steady, Never Still” is an expansion on a short with the same name, which was selected as one of TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten. She...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Iram Haq — “What Will People Say”
Iram Haq is a Norwegian actress, writer, and director. Her directorial debut short, “Little Miss Eyeflap,” screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Her feature film debut, “I Am...
Agnès Varda to Receive Honorary Oscar
Agnès Varda is receiving a much-deserved Academy Award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced via press release that the prolific director will be presented with the Honorary...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Tracy Heather Strain — “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart”
Tracy Heather Strain is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, and producer. Her previous directing credits include episodes of miniseries “Unnatural Causes” and “I’ll Make Me a...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Molly McGlynn — “Mary Goes Round”
Molly McGlynn is a Canadian writer and director. Her previous short films include “I Am Not a Weird Person,” “Shoes,” and “3-Way (Not Calling).” “Mary Goes Round” is her first...
Hungary Chooses Ildikó Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” as Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
Ildikó Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” took home top honors at the Berlin Film Festival in February, and it could land an Oscar nomination in the coming months. The unconventional romantic drama...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Haifaa Al-Mansour — “Mary Shelley”
Haifaa Al-Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia, where her 2005 documentary “Women Without Shadows” has influenced a new wave of filmmakers. Her work is both praised and vilified...
Trailer Watch: A Superstar Seeks Connection in Sophie Fiennes’ “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami”
“I’ve been around the block — too many times,” Grace Jones observes in a trailer for Sophie Fiennes’ new documentary. “Around the globe is more like it.” That’s for sure: Jones...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kate Novack — “The Gospel According to André”
Kate Novack is a producer and director. Her credits include “Page One: Inside the New York Times,” “A Table in Heaven,” and “Eat This New York.” Novack’s first feature screenplay,...
New Research Disproves Three Myths About Female Directors
You know that only dudes go to the movies, right? That might sound ridiculous — because it is ridiculous and untrue — but that’s a sexist rule of thumb that studio execs still very...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Greta Gerwig — “Lady Bird”
Greta Gerwig’s acting credits include “Maggie’s Plan,” “Frances Ha,” and “Mistress America.” She co-wrote the latter two features, and alongside Joe Swanberg she co-directed the...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Barbara Albert — “Mademoiselle Paradis”
Barbara Albert is a director and writer whose short films have been introduced at festivals around the world. Her first feature film “Nordrand,” or “Northern Skirts,” premiered at Venice...
Trailer Watch: Families in the American South Collide in Dee Rees’ “Mudbound”
Atrailer has finally landed for the biggest hit out of Sundance 2017, Dee Rees’ “Mudbound.” The drama is set in the rural American South during World War II, and the spot kicks off with two...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sophie Fiennes — “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami”
Sophie Fiennes is a film director whose feature documentaries include her collaborations with the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, “The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema” and “The Pervert’s...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Aoife McArdle — “Kissing Candice”
Aoife McArdle was born in Northern Ireland. Her work as a music video director has earned her a nomination for Best Director at the 2014 UK Music Video Awards. “Kissing Candice” is her feature...
Screen Australia Funding Projects from Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts, Bruna Papandrea, & More
Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts, and producer Bruna Papandrea are teaming up on a new feature film. Screen Australia confirms that the three will produce “Penguin Bloom,” a family film in which...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jenna Bass — “High Fantasy”
Jenna Bass is a director and writer whose work has premiered around the world, including Sundance, Berlinale, Göteborg, Busan, and Durban International Film Festivals, where she has been heralded...
17 Films By and About Women to Check Out at TIFF 2017
“Unicorn Store” The 42nd edition of the Toronto International Film Festival will kick off in just two days, and as always, there is an overwhelming amount of amazing-sounding films screening at...
Trailer Watch: Saoirse Ronan Grows Up in Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird”
“I hate California. I want to go to the East Coast. I want to go to where culture is like New York,” says Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) in the first trailer for Greta...
Mothers of the 21st Century: Crowdfunding Picks
“Brighton” Mothers play a critical role in our ability to grow, love, learn, and experience the world — but they are still women of the 21st century. They love, falter, make mistakes, and...
Ana Urushadze’s “Scary Mother” Chosen as Georgia’s Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
Ana Urushadze’s award-winning directorial debut may be headed to the Academy Awards. “Scary Mother” has been chosen to represent Georgia in the best foreign-language film category at the 2018...
Trailer Watch: A Dancer Changes Her Life in Elvira Lind’s Tribeca Winner “Bobbi Jene”
“I need to do what I need to do. I need to dance. I need to work hard. That’s it,” says Bobbi Jene Smith in a new trailer for Elvira Lind’s “Bobbi Jene.” The award-winning documentary...
Weekly Update for September 1: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Viceroy’s House” Films About Women Opening This Week Tulip Fever “Tulip” In 17th century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl (Alicia Vikander) is forcibly married to a rich and powerful merchant...
Venice Film Fest 2017 Women Directors: Meet Annika Berg — “Team Hurricane”
Since she was a teenager Danish filmmaker Annika Berg has been making movies. She graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2015 and received critical acclaim for her graduation film,...
Venice Film Fest 2017 Women Directors: Meet Katharina Wyss — “Sarah Plays A Werewolf”
Katharina Wyss is a Swiss filmmaker based in Berlin. She has previously written, directed, edited, and produced commercials and short films “Es war einmal ein König,” “1000 Meilen von...
Horror Anthology Written & Directed by Women in Development at The CW, Drew Barrymore to Produce
Genre fans, rejoice. A horror series written and directed entirely by women is in development at The CW, Deadline reports. Hailing from Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen’s Flower Films, Jill...
Trailer Watch: A Celebration Goes Off the Rails in Sally Potter’s “The Party”
A star-studded cast swaps barbs in a UK trailer for “The Party.” Described as “a comedy wrapped around a tragedy,” the black and white Sally Potter film features Patricia Clarkson (“House...
Venice Film Fest 2017 Women Directors: Meet Natalia Garagiola — “Hunting Season”
Natalia Garagiola is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the writer-director of shorts “Rincón de López,” which screened at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, and...
September 2017 Film Preview
Jennifer Lawrence in “mother!” Fall will come rolling in with a bevy of women-centric, women-directed, and women-written films that range from romantic to historical to scary to funny. There’s...
BFI London Film Festival’s Official Competition Is 33 Percent Women-Directed
Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women” took home top honors at the BFI London Film Festival last year, but the ensemble drama was one of just two women-directed films that screened in the 12-title...
Trailer Watch: Joaquin Phoenix Is a Vigilante in Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here”
Not much is known about Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), the protagonist of Lynne Ramsay’s Cannes-winning thriller, “You Were Never Really Here.” He doesn’t answer when a client asks if he has kids. A...
Gurinder Chadha on “Viceroy’s House,” the Partiality of Historical Films, and “Bend It Like…
Gurinder Chadha on “Viceroy’s House,” the Partiality of Historical Films, and “Bend It Like Beckham” Gurinder Chadha is a writer, director, and producer known for films like “Bend It...
Palestine Selects Annemarie Jacir’s “Wajib” for Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
Annemarie Jacir has been chosen to represent Palestine for the third time at the Academy Awards. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jacir’s latest film, “Wajib,” is now a contender in the...
TIFF 2017: Coralie Fargeat’s “Revenge” Acquired by Shudder
“Revenge” has found a home in advance of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. AMC Networks’ Shudder snagged the North American, U.K., Ireland, and Australian rights...
Venice Film Fest Chief Refuses to Accept Any Responsibility for Lack of Women
The following is a rant. Yesterday, a story broke that included comments from Alberto Barbera, the head of the Venice Film Festival, in which he responded to the lack of women directors in the...
Alankrita Shrivastava’s “Lipstick Under My Burkha” Gets U.S. Release
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” will have a U.S. theatrical run. Alankrita Shrivastava’s feminist film — which opened in India earlier this summer after initially being blocked for release by...
Venice Film Fest 2017 Women Directors: Meet Alena Lodkina — “Strange Colours”
Alena Lodkina is a Russian-born filmmaker based in Melbourne, Australia. She has made fiction and documentary short films that have played at festivals around the world, including Melbourne...
Noomi Rapace and Director Vicky Jewson Team Up for Female Bodyguard Flick
BAFTA-nominated actress Noomi Rapace is no stranger to fast-paced thrillers. The star has appeared in everything from “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” franchise to “Prometheus” to...
Weekly Update for August 25: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Served Like a Girl” Films About Women Opening This Week Served Like a Girl (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Lysa Heslov (Opens in NY and LA) Director Lysa Heslov’s powerful...