Women Directors
Chicken & Egg Pictures Launches New Diversity Initiative and Announces Inaugural Fellows
Chicken & Egg Pictures, longtime champion of women directors, has launched a new diversity fellows initiative and announced its first batch of participants. The organization will support seven...
Quote of the Day: Ava DuVernay Explains Why It’s a Problem There Are So Few Women Directors
Recently asked what her “leading frustration about Hollywood” is, Ava DuVernay offered a characteristically insightful and honest response. She identified gender inequality behind the camera as...
‘Pitch Perfect’ Writer Kay Cannon to Make Directorial Debut With Anti-Sex Comedy ‘The Pact’
Veteran comedy writer Kay Cannon will make her directorial debut with “The Pact.” Best known for penning the “Pitch Perfect” movies (she’s been tapped the write the trilogy capper as...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Amy Berg — ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’
Amy Berg is a critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. She was nominated for an Academy Award and a DGA Award (Outstanding Directorial Achievement in...
Women-Directed Films on More Screens in Theaters Than Ever Before This Weekend?
Women directors are taking over multiplex screens — or, at the very least, playing on many more of them than usual. There’s actually a good chance, in fact, that there are more theater...
“Song of Lahore” Co-Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on Pakistan’s Rich Music Scene and Culture
Interview by Becca Rose Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Oscar-winning co-director of 2012’s “Saving Face,” once again finds inspiration in her birth country, Pakistan, in “Song of Lahore.”...
The Many, Many Reasons Behind the Exclusion of Women in TV’s Directing Ranks
In the 2014–2015 TV season, white women directed 13% of episodes and women of color directed 3%. Put another way, “Women are more than half of the American population, but they’re getting less...
5 Takeaways From the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman on the Gender-Discrimination Investigation
Melissa Goodman, the director of the LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, recently spoke with Variety about the dearth of opportunities for women...
Fabienne Berthaud’s ‘Sky,’ Starring Diane Kruger, Acquired By IFC
French writer-director Fabienne Berthaud’s “Sky” has been acquired by IFC for North American distribution two months after the drama’s world premiere at TIFF. Diane Kruger (“The...
Susan Sarandon to Exec-Produce Doc About Inventor and Actress Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr is getting the doc treatment from executive producer Susan Sarandon and director Alexandra Dean, and it’s no wonder given Lamarr’s legendary careers — yes, plural — as...
Infographic: Hollywood Sexism On Screen, Behind the Camera, in Paychecks
Chantal Akerman’s Final Film ‘No Home Movie’ to Be Released by Icarus
Chantal Akerman’s last film, “No Home Movie,” has found a North American distribution deal and a U.S. release date. Shot almost entirely in her mother’s apartment and focused on the...
#FavWomanFilmmaker Campaign Invites Audiences to Share Their Love of Films Made by Women
Some of myearliest memories are related to moving images and to feminism. As athree-year-old, I was annoyed by the fact that in Spanish, my native tongue, werefer to a group of women and men by...
Noomi Rapace in Talks to Star in Amy Winehouse Biopic Written/Directed by Kirsten Sheridan
Actress Noomi Rapace (“Prometheus,” the Swedish “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy) is in negotiations to play soul singer Amy Winehouse in a new biopic. To be written and directed by...
Elizabeth Banks to Play War Photographer Shot Down over the South Pacific in Adventure-Drama
Here’s the good news: Elizabeth Banks will play one of the first female war photographers in a new adventure-drama. The project will boast a woman director, Sloane U’Ren, and focus on the...
Studio Execs Talk Hollywood’s Pay Gap, Women Directors, Unequal Opportunities for Female Talent
“I actually think women drive the box office,” said Sony chairman Tom Rothman at The Hollywood Reporter’s annual executive roundtable. This year has been dominated by headlines about sexism...
Apply to Essence’s 3rd Annual Shorts Competition for Black Women Filmmakers
Essence’s shorts competition is back, this time with a new theme: the modern black family. The third iteration of the magazine’s contest for African-American women directors is seeking...
Confessions From Above the Celluloid Ceiling: The Truth About White Male Privilege
I don’t remember the first time I really thought about white male privilege, but in retrospect, one incident stands out. I was visiting a school where I was hoping to shoot a scene for a film....
Nicole Kidman in Talks to Co-Star in “Wonder Woman”
Nicole Kidman, Amazon? Sure, why not. The 5'11" Oscar winner is reportedly in talks to co-star as a “high-ranking Amazon warrior” in Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” according to...
Gamechanger Films Announces Next Feature: Sarah Adina Smith’s ‘Buster’s Mal Heart’
Gamechanger Films, the studio devoted to women-directed narrative features, has announced its next project: Sarah Adina Smith’s “Buster’s Mal Heart.” The mystery will feature “Mr....
Trailer Watch: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Are an Emotional Mr. & Mrs. Smithereens in ‘By the Sea’
Just days ahead of its world premiere on November 5 at AFI Fest, “By the Sea” has a newly cut trailer. Written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt, the sun-drenched but dour-looking marital...
Elaine May to Direct Mike Nichols Doc
Elaine May has signed on to helm a PBS documentary about Mike Nichols, the Oscar-winning director of “The Graduate” and her old comedy partner. May will revisit Nichols’ career — which...
Emily Ting’s Romance “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong” to Be Released by Gravitas Ventures
Writer-director Emily Ting’s neon-lit romance between a Chinese-American woman and an American expat in Hong Kong has found a distribution deal. Gravity Ventures will release “Already Tomorrow...
Rom-Com Doc ‘Meet the Patels’ to Be Remade as Rom Com for Fox Searchlight
The crowd-pleasing “Meet the Patels” is best described as a nonfiction romantic comedy. After breaking up with his girlfriend of two years because she’s not Indian, 30-year-old Ravi allows his...
Study: 2014’s Top 700 Films Confirm That Women Hire Women
A new study looking at the top 700 domestic films of 2014 concludes that women directed 13% of last year’s theatrical releases and demonstrates that female filmmakers are much more likelier than...
Producer Mehret Mandefro on How Her Bride-Abduction Drama ‘Difret’ Shows that Change Can Happen
In “Difret,” 14-year-old Hirut (Tizita Hagere) is kidnapped while walking home from school and forced into marriage by an older man she doesn’t know — and who’s willing to do whatever...
Agnieszka Holland Announces Next Feature: Polish Murder Mystery ‘Game Count’
A series of grisly murders and the “quirky old lady” the police keep coming back to in their homicide investigation will form the basis of “Game Count,” Agnieszka Holland’s next feature...
Seeking Our Story: The Making of an Oscar Winner: Kathryn Bigelow and “Near Dark”
Kathryn Bigelowand female filmmakers in general had much to celebrate after the “Hurt Locker” director’s history-makingOscar win in 2010. But misperceptions — that Bigelow only makes...
Happy Friday: Ava DuVernay’s Glorious Speech at the ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards
Ava DuVernay gave one hell of a speech at the 22nd annual ELLE Women and Hollywood Awards this week. The “Selma” director, who was honored at the event, echoed Toni Morrison’s description of...
A Scholar’s Reflections on Women Directors: Discrimination and Mentorship, Then and Now
October is WomenDirectors Month on Turner Classic Movies, and my stint as a co-host has been awonderful excuse to revisit over 100 years of women directors and their films. Forthe first 20+ years of...
Chicken & Egg Announces Participants of Inaugural Accelerator Lab for Non-Fiction Projects
Chicken & Egg Pictures has announced the selected participants of its inaugural Accelerator Lab, which will offer first- and second-time female filmmakers working on non-fiction projects the...
Gemma Arterton to Star in Catherine Shepherd’s Directorial Debut About Virgin Birth
Catherine Shepherd’s directorial debut “Like A Virgin” has found a leading lady in “Gemma Bovery” star Gemma Arterton. Deadline reports that the former Bond girl will play a woman named...
Take Part in the EEOC’s Investigation into Industry-Wide Discrimination Against Women Directors
Last May, The New York Times published a15-page letter from the ACLU to the EEOC and two California state agenciesurging them to investigate Hollywood for sex discrimination against...
Sally Potter Casting Next Two Films, Dad-Daughter Portrait ‘Molly’ and Political Comedy ‘The Party’
Sally Potter is prepping her two follow-ups to 2012’s Cold War-set coming-of-age tale “Ginger and Rosa.” “I now have two complete scripts ready to go,” the British director announced of...
10 Women Directors Who Could Helm a ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off
Producer Kathleen Kennedy, who’ll oversee the upcoming “Stars Wars” trilogy and standalone Han Solo film, is adamant that her version of a galaxy that originally only had just six women in it...
2015 DOC NYC Lineup is 38% Female-Helmed; Hillary Rodham Clinton to Appear at Fest
DOC NYC’s 2015 lineup has been announced, and of 104 features screening, 39 are directed or co-directed by women — a figure that amounts to 38% of the programming. Last year, women helmed 43...
The 3 Most WTF Excerpts from Quentin Tarantino’s Interview Diminishing Kathryn Bigelow & Ava DuVernay
Does Quentin Tarantino want to be taken seriously, or doesn’t he? Based on a new NY Times interview with novelist Bret Easton Ellis, the answer seems to be “as long as you work under the same...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Miranda Pennell — ‘The Host’
Miranda Pennell originally trained in contemporary dance and later studied visual anthropology. Pennell’s video work until 2007 explored different forms of collective performance and has been...
Trailer Watch: Janis Joplin Goes From Singer to Legend in Amy Berg’s Doc ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’
A trailer has arrived for Amy Berg’s Janis Joplin doc “Janis: Little Girl Blue.” The spot begins with a voiceover from Joplin herself, who says, “I started singing when I was about 17.” It...
Australian Directors Guild Proposes 50–50 Quotas at Screen Australia for Women Filmmakers
Last year, the Swedish Film Institute reached 50–50 gender parity in its funding distribution between male and female helmers. Some in Australia, including noted filmmaker Gillian Armstrong, are...
Amma Asante’s Royal Interracial Romance ‘A United Kingdom’ Begins Filming
The cameras have begun rolling on “A United Kingdom,” BAFTA-winning director Amma Asante’s follow-up to “Belle.” Starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike and set in British-colonized...
15% of Oscars Submissions for 2016’s Best Foreign Language Film Category Directed by Women
Twelve films directed or co-directed by women have been submitted by their respective countries for the 2016 Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Those dozen works make up about 15% of...
Director Afia Nathaniel Talks ‘Dukhtar,’ Pakistan’s Oscar Submission About Fleeing Child Marriage
Ava DuVernay: For Women and People of Color, Hollywood is “A Whole Bunch of Locked Doors”
Ava DuVernay was her usual candid self in a fantastic new interview with NBC News, in which she described Hollywood as “a whole bunch of locked doors,” revealed what she plans on doing as an...
Amy Berg’s Janis Joplin Doc ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’ Acquired by FilmRise
2015 is turning out to be quite the year for documentary portraits of female musicians. “Amy,” Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse doc, is the year’s second biggest nonfiction film so far, while...
Gina Prince-Bythewood Developing Racially Flipped Police-Shooting Drama for Fox
Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood is re-teaming with her “Love and Basketball” star Sanaa Lathan on a Fox drama about a black cop who kills a white teen. Lathan will play an investigator...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lyric R. Cabral — ‘(T)ERROR’
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker committed to reporting stories seldom seen in mainstream media. Her documentary work has been supported by artist grants from the BBC,...
Study: “Female Directors Face a Fiscal Cliff in Their Careers Soon After Making a Short Film”
“Making a short film might be both the launch and the pinnacle of [many female filmmakers’] careers,” concludes a comprehensive new study that looks at how often women start on unequal terrain...
TCM’s ‘Trailblazing Women:’ A Q&A with Host Illeana Douglas
As the host of TCM’s new series “Trailblazing Women,” a month-long series highlighting women’s achievements in the film industry, Illeana Douglas brings a widely varied experience to the...
Male Privilege Watch: First-Time Film Director Seth Grahame-Smith To Direct ‘The Flash’
In today’s chapter in the annals of dude with no experience gets job no woman would ever get, our dude with no directing experience is writer Seth Grahame-Smith of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire...
Join LA Women in Film’s #52FilmsByWomen Movement
Trailblazing Women, the multi-year initiative by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Women in Film (WIF LA), kicked off last night with a month-long programming event. As we previously reported, TCM...