Women Directors
Guest Post: Hollywood’s Dirty Little Secret
According to the latest “Boxed In” report compiled by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, Executive Director at The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, released...
Kathryn Bigelow’s Movie Gets New Poster
I have to tell you all up front that you will probably get sick of me talking about this film but you need to be prepared because she is probably going to be the only woman in the Oscar conversation...
Trailer Watch: Wadjda — Directed and Written by Haifaa Al-Mansour
As we previously reported, Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda (the first woman from Saudi Arabia to direct a feature) was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Wadjda follows a 10 year old girl, who...
26 of 84 Films in the Hamptons International Film Festival Are Directed by Women
Last week the 20th edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival announced their line-up. The festival will run from October 4–8. With a slate of 84 films announced thus far, 26 are directed...
Trailer Watch: Midnight’s Children — Directed by Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta’s latest film is an adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s beloved novel Midnight’s Children. Two children are born at midnight at the exact moment India regains their independence from...
Talking to Penny Marshall
A new memoir by actress and director Penny Marshall hit bookstore last week. Marshall was a big star in the 70s and 80s appearing on multiple TV shows and hanging out with the rest of Hollywood TV...
TIFF: Interview with Cate Shortland — Director and Co-Writer of Lore
Lore is Cate Shortland’s second film after the exciting Somersault. It is a bold look at a young girl who lived her whole life in the belly of the Nazi beast and had no perspective on anything...
Women Do Rule the Documentary World
Last week was Independent Film Week here in NYC. There are a wide variety of events, panels and of course parties. I was able to attend the Chicken and Egg Pictures event (which was beyond packed)...
Interview with Lisa Immordino Vreeland — Director of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel
Lisa Immordino Vreeland loved Diana Vreeland before she married her grandson. Even though they never met she paints a glorious portrait of a unique woman who was a driving force in the fashion and...
Early Look at Finale of ‘Georgia’ Written and Directed by Marta Kauffman
Have you been following the great online videos being posted on the new WIGS You tube channel? If not, you have been missing out. Women and Hollywood is happy to preview the finale of...
Interview with Delphine and Muriel Coulin — Co-Directors/Writers of 17 Girls
17 Girls, directed and written by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, was inspired by the Massachusetts story about a group of teenage girls who all make a pact to get pregnant and raise their...
TIFF: Interview with Susanne Bier — Director of Love Is All You Need
At the Toronto Film Festival you see a lot of heavy movies really early in the morning. Love is All You Need was a most welcome respite from the intensity that was around at the festival. Academy...
TIFF Review: The Stories We Tell — Sarah Polley’s Effective New Documentary
Toronto loves Sarah Polley. The display of that love was evident last week at the premiere of her first documentary Stories We Tell which held its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film...
James Cameron on Women and Action Roles in Films
The Guardian headed over to Ireland to meet with James Cameron at the new Titanic Belfast museum and among the things he discussed was how Hollywood gets its action women wrong. We know that...
Patricia Riggen Directing Chilean Miners Film, The 33
It was announced that Patricia Riggen will be directing The 33, the story of the 33 Chilean Miners who were trapped in the San Jose Mine. The film will cover the events leading up to the collapse of...
DVD and On Demand Round Up- September 13
This week there is an overwhelming amount of women-centric and created films released on DVD and On Demand. Here’s a round-up of your options to check out over the weekend. DVD Releases: Lola...
Renee Zellweger to Make Directorial and Stage Debuts
Renée Zellweger is going to be one busy lady. Zellweger has just signed on to make her feature directorial debut with 4 ½ Minutes. The film, which is loosely based on the experiences of stand-up...
Interview with Ruba Nadda — Writer/Director of Inescapable
To be considered for TIFF Gala status, your movie has to have two things: major stars and major audience interest. Only two Canadian films are getting the Gala treatment this year, and both of them...
Women Directors News: Amy Berg’s Every Secret Thing and Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves
As we had previously reported, director Amy Berg, whose documentary West of Memphis screened at TIFF, is directing her first narrative feature Every Secret Thing starring Diane Lane with a script...
Interview with Bachelorette Writer/Director-Leslye Headland
I got the chance to talk with the writer and director of Bachelorette Leslye Headland earlier this week. Here are some thoughts on the film. Women and Hollywood: Your film is a subversive look at...
A Chat with Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing: Directors of Detropia
Detropia is a very prescient film. It’s about what is going on in our country right now. It’s about how the middle class is disappearing. This is a painful movie to watch because it documents...
TIFF Preview: The Female Directing Masters Playing at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival
The Toronto Film Festival opens tonight. Over the next 10 days there will be a couple of hundred movies to be seen. This is one festival where you can make a decision to see films by women and see...
Guest Post: How Can We Get More Women In Power As Directors?
This is an expansion of the piece written for the NY Times forum: How Can Women Gain More Influence in Hollywood. Most directors work intermittently as free-lance employees and are far from rich or...
Women Directors Are Way More Successful in the Indie World
As we embark on the fall festival season, Dr. Martha M. Lauzen has published another one of her vitally important studies tracking the progress of women working behind the scenes on movies. In...
Interview with So Yong Kim — Writer/Director of For Ellen
So Yong Kim’s For Ellen stars Paul Dano in a beautiful performance as a young father forced to make a life altering decision about his relationship with his daughter Ellen. Dano plays Joby a...
TIFF Trailer Watch: The Stories We Tell Written and Directed by Sarah Polley
This first documentary by the incredibly talented Sarah Polley is getting great reviews out of Venice and Telluride.
TIFF Adds Masters and Mavericks to Lineup
Got the rundown yesterday on the TIFF Masters and Mavericks screenings. It seems that no women qualify to be Masters. Here’s what Piers Handling the Director and CEO of TIFF said about the...
TIFF Trailer: Inescapable — Written and Directed by Ruba Nadda
Ruba Nadda’s Inescapable focuses on a father (Alexander Siddig) whose daughter goes missing in Syria. He must go back to Syria, where he hasn’t been in decades, to find his daughter and deal...
TIFF Trailer: English Vinglish Directed by Gauri Shinde
The film captures a modern day struggle experienced all too often by the un-American elite trying to make it in America: the language barrier. Sridevi’s character, Shashi, is made to feel insecure...
Cross Post: Brenda Chapman on Writing BRAVE
Brave rocked the box office. Its themes of identity, responsibility, and family were equally appealing to boys and girls, adults and children. Its unique characters were memorable and brimming with...
Trailer Watch: For Ellen — Directed and Written by So Yong-Kim
In theaters September 19th. For Ellen, written and directed by So Yong-Kim, focuses on a absentee father and musician (Paul Dano) who has to make the decision about whether to fight for custody of...
Trailer Watch: Sarah Polley Directs a Documentary — Stories We Tell
This is a busy year for Sarah Polley. Her film Take This Waltz is now in release in the US and now she has a documentary premiering at Venice and Toronto. Here’s the opaque description from the...
Trailer Watch: Diana Vreeland- The Eye Has to Travel Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Film opens September 21.
The LA Times Talks to Three Women Directors — Where is the Female Equivalent of Woody Allen?
Check out the LA Times piece on Ava DuVernay, Jullie Delpy and Leslye Headland. While things still suck for women directors, it kind of feels like the conversation is shifting. Maybe I am being too...
Interview with Nicole Karsin — Director of We Women Warriors
We Women Warriors director Nicole Karsin answered some questions (by email) about her documentary that follows three native Colombian women who are using nonviolent resistance to defend their people...
The Adrienne Shelly Foundation Announces 2012 Grant Recipients
The Adrienne Shelly Foundation announced their five new grant recipients for 2012. The five grants are awarded in conjunction with other organizations/ institutions including: Columbia University,...
First Look at Oscar Winner Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty
The film will be released on December 19. I am wondering if it will go the route of The Hurt Locker with a platform release or will have have a wide release. I am thinking that it will be a wide...
What Are the Greatest Movies Directed by Women?
Fueled by the anger of another best of list sorely lacking in women, I would like to put forward the following films (which came from people all over the world through twitter and facebook) for the...
Guest Post: Dreams in New York
As the producer of British filmmaker Carol Morley’s films to date and an ex-New Yorker now based in London, I’m thrilled Dreams of a Life is getting a hometown viewing. Dreams of a Life is a...
Mosquita y Mari — Written and Directed by Aurora Guerrero
Mosquita y Mari is born from the memory of Aurora Guerrero’s adolescence. It is a lovely coming of age story of two Latina girls in the Huntington Park neighborhood in LA. On the surface the girls...
Gender Matters: The Sight and Sound Top 50 Films Of All Time List
Yesterday, the twittersphere went a bit wiggy with the once a decade Sight and Sound Top 50 Films of All Time List. Thie list has been published every 10 years year since 1962 and Citizen Kane made...
Drew Barrymore, Amy Berg Announce New Directing Projects
Two exciting new women-directed projects were announced this week. Amy Berg, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker, will be directing her first narrative feature. Indiewire reports that Every...
Cross Post: Sisters in Cinema: Where are the Black Women Film Directors?
Last week, the Twitterverse was gifted a priceless nugget when film director Ava DuVernay and her guild, AFFRM, released the second trailer for her anticipated movie, Middle of Nowhere. The...
Women Directed Additions to Toronto 2012 Lineup
The Toronto International Film Festival rolled out 60 additional titles today. Here are some of the women directed films in the documentary and vanguard programs. (All Synopses from the TIFF press...
Interview with Aurora Guerrero — Writer/Director of Mosquita y Mari
Mosquita y Mari writer and director Aurora Guerrero answered some questions (by email) fresh from the film recently winning Best Actress (Fenessa Pineda) and the Audience Award for Outstanding First...
Trailer Watch: Cloud Atlas — Co-Directed by Lana Wachowski
The Wachowskis are an incredibly successful writing/directing duo best known for the Matrix Trilogy. They are also known for the cult classic Bound and for writing V for Vendetta. They’ve been off...
Interview with Anne Emond and Catherine de Lean — Writer/Director and Star of Nuit #1
I met Anne last spring in Cologne, Germany at the International Women’s Film Festival where her film played. We were able to reconnect when she came to town to promote her provocative film,...
New Trailer: Middle of Nowhere — Written and Directed by Ava Duvernay
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE | In theaters October 12, 2012 Synopsis: Winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE follows Ruby, a bright medical student who sets...
Guest Post: Until the Fat Girl Swims
Many filmmakers talk about how their vocation is a “labor of love.” For most of us, the “labor” can frequently exceed the “love.” However, when we release our films out into the world it...
4 Women Directors in Competition at 2012 Venice International Film Festival
Contrary to the folks at Cannes who seem to not be able to find any women directed movies for their competition, Alberto Barbara has gotten 4 films with women directors (or co-directors) in the...
Ruby Sparks- Written by Zoe Kazan and Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
It’s no surprise that Zoe Kazan who penned the delightful new film Ruby Sparks opening today is a good writer. Both her parents — Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord are also top tier Hollywood...