Women Directors
Guest Post: What Inspired Me to Make a Film About Retirees
Guest Post by Rosemary Rodriguez There’s an abundance of turmoil, fear, anger, and hatred expressed through images that come at us 24/7 through social media, TV, and movies. As a society, we are...
Quote of the Day: Ellen Pompeo Praises Shonda Rhimes’ Leadership
Ellen Pompeo made her directorial debut on last night’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” after 13 seasons of portraying the titular Dr. Meredith Grey. And it seems as though her boss,...
Weekly Update for March 31: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week “The Zookeeper’s Wife” The Zookeeper’s Wife — Directed by Niki Caro; Written by Angela Workman The real-life story of one working wife and mother...
Guest Post: How One Non-Profit Changed The Game For Parents At SXSW
Guest Post By Christy Lamb and Mathilde Dratwa INT. BEDROOM — VERY EARLY MORNING Actress and director Foster Wilson has just found out that a film she worked on, “The Archer,” will be...
Guest Post: Supporting Women’s Voices in Independent Film
Guest Post by Jere Rae-Mansfield As a distributor of independent feature films for over 30 years, I have enjoyed watching women unite and rise to prominence in the film industry. Not only the titans...
Susan Johnson Talks “Carrie Pilby” and Finding Funding for the Female-Led Film
Susan Johnson is an Independent Spirit Award winning filmmaker. “Carrie Pilby” marks her feature directorial debut. After a successful career as a music video director, Johnson has produced 10...
April 2017 Film Preview
“Their Finest” If there’s one thing that April showers bring, it’s a plethora of films that feature women holding both the camera and the pen. Female screenwriters, in particular, drive this...
Trailer Watch: Diane Lane Takes the Trip of a Lifetime in Eleanor Coppola’s “Paris Can Wait”
“Driving is the only way to see a country,” Anne (Diane Lane) is told in a new trailer for “Paris Can Wait.” She and her husband (Alec Baldwin) are visiting Cannes from the U.S., but...
Women-Directed Features “Polina” and “The Drowning” Acquired
Two new women-directed films have found homes. Deadline reports that Oscilloscope Laboratories snagged the North American rights to Valérie Müller and Angelin Preljocaj’s “Polina,” a ballet...
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” to Open Indian Film Fests in LA and NY
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” has been subject to censorship in India, but the feminist film is being received warmly at festivals in the U.S. In fact, the Alankrita Shrivastava-directed movie will...
Male Privilege Watch: Chris Addison to Make Feature Debut with “Nasty Women”
Here we go again. Yet another newbie male director has been given the reins to a much anticipated women-centric project. This time it’s Chris Addison making his feature directorial debut with the...
Trailer Watch: Explorer Gertrude Bell Takes Center Stage in “Letters from Baghdad”
“In the desert, every newcomer is an enemy till you know him to be a friend,” says Gertrude Bell, voiced by Tilda Swinton, in a new trailer for Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum’s “Letters...
BAMcinématek to Present Anne-Marie Miéville Retrospective
Swiss filmmaker Anne-Marie Miéville will be celebrated with a full career retrospective presented by BAMcinématek in Brooklyn. After launching her career in the ’70s, the writer, director, and...
Natalie Portman to Play a Bull Rider in Anna Rose Holmer’s “Bronco Belle”
Natalie Portman is going from redesigning the White House to becoming a rodeo superstar. The “Jackie” actress is attached to star as a bull rider in “Bronco Belle,” Deadline reports. “The...
Bentonville Film Fest to Open with Gaby Dellal’s “3 Generations”
“3 Generations” The 2017 Bentonville Film Festival will open with Gaby Dellal’s controversial “3 Generations,” Indiewire reports. Written by Dellal and Nikole Beckwith, the drama, once...
Amber Heard to Star in Agnieszka Holland’s “The Kind Worth Killing”
Amber Heard is teaming up with Polish auteur Agnieszka Holland. Heard will topline Holland’s upcoming crime thriller “The Kind Worth Killing,” Deadline reports. The feature hails from...
A Conversation with “The Zookeeper’s Wife” Director Niki Caro
We have been anxiously awaiting “The Zookeeper’s Wife” ever since Jessica Chastain’s 2015 guest feature for The Hollywood Reporter. Long before its release, Niki Caro’s film was labeled a...
Jessica Chastain and Niki Caro on “The Zookeeper’s Wife” and the Importance of Recognizing Women in…
Jessica Chastain and Niki Caro on “The Zookeeper’s Wife” and the Importance of Recognizing Women in History “The Zookeeper’s Wife” “The Zookeeper’s Wife” tells the powerful story...
Thea Sharrock Being Eyed to Direct “The One and Only Ivan”
Thea Sharrock may be following up a tragic romance with a gorilla story. The “Me Before You” director is in talks to helm Disney’s big screen adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s Newbery...
What Happened to the Women Directors in Hollywood? Part 5: 2000–2017
Mira Nair and Ava DuVernay: Wikimedia Commons/IndiaFM/Bollywoodhungama/usbotschaftberlin by Carrie Rickey This five-part Truthdig series by Carrie Rickey is published in partnership with Women and...
Robin Swicord’s “Wakefield” Acquired by IFC Films
Love “Breaking Bad” and miss watching Bryan Cranston scale new heights of self-destructive behavior? You’re in luck. Robin Swicord’s “Wakefield” has found a home. A press release...
Weekly Update for March 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week “Prevenge” Prevenge — Written and Directed Alice Lowe (Opens in NY and LA) Widow Ruth (Alice Lowe) is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to...
Trailer Watch: Kitty Green Returns to the Scene of the Crime in “Casting JonBenet”
The 1996 murder of six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey made international headlines, but the horrifying crime undoubtedly made the most lasting mark in Boulder, Colorado, where...
Nicole Kidman and Amy Schumer to Star in Rebecca Miller’s “She Came to Me”
Nicole Kidman and Amy Schumer are set to co-star in a new film. “Maggie’s Plan” hit theaters just last year, but writer-director Rebecca Miller is already lining up a star-studded cast for...
Trailer Watch: Netflix’s “Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On” Investigates the Porn Industry
“We can’t ignore that porn today is sex education,” emphasizes an interviewee in “Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On.” And she’s not wrong. Sex education is sorely lacking in the U.S. school...
Shared Experience: Crowdfunding Picks
“The Last Partera” International Women’s Day gave women around the country an opportunity to unite for a common purpose and demonstrate their value. Similarly, this round of crowdfunding picks...
Trailer Watch: Tracy Droz Tragos Gives Women a Platform in “Abortion: Stories Women Tell”
“People telling their stories is so important because we keep those things locked inside of ourselves and they kill us,” says one of the characters in a new trailer for “Abortion: Stories...
Melissa Joan Hart to Direct Anjelica Huston in Lifetime Movie
Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Anjelica Huston are joining forces to make some magic at Lifetime. Melissa Joan Hart will direct the Oscar winner in “Watcher in the Woods,” an upcoming original...
You’re Invited: Women and Hollywood Talks Europe vs Hollywood with German Director Frauke Thielecke
Wondering how women fare in the European film and TV industry compared to Hollywood? You’re in luck. Award-winning German director Frauke Thielecke will speak about her experiences directing film...
Evan Rachel Wood to Make Directorial Debut
“Westworld’s” Evan Rachel Wood is stepping behind the camera. After more than 20 years of acting in the business, Wood will make her directorial debut. In an interview with Vulture, Jenny...
Carey Mulligan to Star in BBC Miniseries Directed by S.J. Clarkson
Carey Mulligan is teaming up with another woman director. Two months after her latest film, Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” premiered at Sundance comes word that the Oscar nominee will star in...
Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton’s “Battle of the Sexes” Gets Awards-Friendly Release
Emma Stone just won her first Oscar in February, and the “La La Land” actress may be in running for the 2018 Academy Awards as well. Fox Searchlight has announced an awards-friendly release date...
“A Woman, a Part” Director Elisabeth Subrin on Making a Movie About a Woman Over 40
Elisabeth Subrin’s critically acclaimed films and video art have screened widely internationally, including at The New York Film Festival, The Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Vienna...
Trailer Watch: Petra Epperlein Investigates Surveillance Culture in “Karl Marx City”
“It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of the subject of modern surveillance and come out sounding like a raving paranoid,” “Karl Marx City” co-director Petra Epperlein told us. But a newly...
Tamara Jenkins to Direct “Private Life,” Starring Kathryn Hahn and Molly Shannon
It’s been a decade since Tamara Jenkins released her last film, but the writer-director has a project on the way, and it sounds amazing: “Private Life,” a Netflix original film, will star...
Mila Kunis & Kate McKinnon in Talks for Susanna Fogel’s “The Spy Who Dumped Me”
Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon may be teaming up for a woman-directed comedy. The actresses are in talks to star in Susanna Fogel’s “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” Deadline reports. If they sign on...
What Happened to the Women Directors in Hollywood? Part 4: 1984–1999
by Carrie Rickey This five-part Truthdig series by Carrie Rickey is published in partnership with Women and Hollywood. The series considers the historic accomplishments of women behind the camera,...
Weekly Update for March 17: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Beauty and the Beast” Films About Women Opening This Week Beauty and the Beast Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” a live-action retelling of the studio’s animated classic, refashions...
Screen Australia Announces Gender Matters Mentorship Program Recipients
Eight women have been selected for a commercial directing mentorship, Screen Australia announced. As part of the Australian Directors’ Guild’s (ADG) Gender Matters initiative, these eight...
Hot Docs Special Presentations Lineup: Dance Teams, Indigenous Musicians, & Animal Rights Activists
Hot Docs has announced the lineup for their Special Presentations program. Nine of 26 films are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 35 percent of the high-profile slate. According...
Jennifer Aniston and Anne Fletcher Team Up for Teen Comedy
Jennifer Aniston played a Prom Queen and Homecoming Queen in “Friends,” and now she’ll take on the role of a former beauty queen. Variety reports that the expert tiara-wearer has joined the...
Women Directors Dominate Nominations for German Film Awards
Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” is the film to beat at the Lolas, Germany’s equivalent to the Academy Awards. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the daughter-father comedy garnered six...
Fusion Orders Dawn Porter Doc “Fatherless”
Dawn Porter has a new project on the way. Fusion has commissioned an hour-long documentary from the “Trapped” helmer, Realscreen reports. “Fatherless” will focus on “Grace & Frankie”...
Ana Asensio’s “Most Beautiful Island” Wins Top Prize at SXSW
Ana Asensio’s “Most Beautiful Island” has been named the winner of SXSW’s Grand Jury Award in the narrative feature competition, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Asensio’s film, which she...
“Somersault” Director Cate Shortland Has a Miniseries in the Works
Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland is returning to the small screen. The “Somersault” and “Lore” director is working on an eight-part miniseries for Matchbox Pictures, The Playlist reports....
Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Band Aid” Gets a Release Date
Dysfunctional bands are usually notorious for their diva antics, exploitation of adoring fans, and drug addictions — not passive-aggressive discussions about personal hygiene and doing the...
Film About Hillary Clinton During Her 1969 Gap Year Announced
A new film about Hillary Clinton — Hillary Rodham, actually — is on its way. According to TheWrap, Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotler have finished “When I’m a Moth,” about the gap...
Eve Ensler’s “In the Body of the World” Set for Off-Broadway Run, Diane Paulus to Direct
Even if you’ve never seen “The Vagina Monologues” performed live, you’re almost certainly familiar with its title. The groundbreaking episodic play has been staged countless times in over...
Sarasota Film Festival to Open and Close with Women-Directed Films
This year’s Sarasota Film Festival will feature women-directed films on Opening and Closing Night. According to a press statement from the festival, Rory Kennedy’s “Take Every Wave: The Life...
Australia Introduces Two New Initiatives to Support Women Filmmakers
Similar to Canada’s news last week, Australia has unveiled two new initiatives striving for gender parity in filmmaking. Screen Australia introduced Doco180 for documentary filmmakers, and the...
“Margarita with a Straw” Helmer Shonali Bose Signs on to Write & Direct Potential Pilot
Indian filmmaker Shonali Bose may be making her TV directorial debut. The “Margarita with a Straw” co-writer and co-director has signed on to write and direct a potential pilot based on Diksha...