Women Directors
Toronto Trailer Watch: Lore — Directed by Cate Shortland
Australian Director Cate Shortland’s first film Somersault was great and this film looks to be even better. This is one at the top of my list to see in Toronto. Music Box has the US rights but no...
Women Directors Make Up Half of the 27th International Film Critics Week at the Venice Film Festival
The 69th Annual Venice International Film Festival announced the lineup for the 27th International Film Critics Week (SIC), the festival’s independent section. In this year’s selection of films,...
Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist to Open The Venice Film Festival
Mira Nair’s new film The Reluctant Fundamentalist will open the 69th Venice Film Festival on August 29th. It will screen out of competition. Festival director Alberto Barbera said this about...
13 Women Included in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film
Yesterday, Filmmaker Magazine released its “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” showcasing new and emerging talent in independent film. Within the 25 selections, 37 individuals are...
Interview with Lauren Greenfield, Director of Queen of Versailles
In some ways this movie’s subtitle is revenge of the 99%. The film gives you a behind the scenes look of an absurdly wealthy couple — David and Jackie Siegel — who are building the...
Lisa Cholodenko And Kathleen Kennedy Elected to Academy’s Board of Governors
Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences elected new members to the board of governors. There are two new members, director Lisa Cholodenko and producer Kathleen Kennedy. Kathleen...
Great Piece at the Women’s Media Center: If Women Ran Hollywood
Here’s a piece from Dr. Martha Lauzen — the guru of Hollywood stats — that appeared on the Women’s Media Center site. She pulls a gender reverse on how Hollywood is run. Here are...
Guest Post: Women, Science and Film
Women and Hollywood readers are well aware of the appallingly low number of female directors working in Hollywood. Well, this disparity exists in the sciences and other industries as well....
Remembering Nora Ephron: Talking About Women Directors
This is from an interview circa 1988 that Hollywood Reporter journalist Tim Appelo did for Savvy Magazine about the troubles Nora Ephron had in trying to get the film Cookie made. Fox put Susan...
15 of 27 Sundance Institute Grants Go To Women
The Sundance Institute recently announced their 27 recipients for development, production and audience engagement grants. Of the 27 grant recipients, 15 of the projects are led by women or include...
Trailer Watch: The Loneliest Planet — Directed by Julia Loktev
The film opens in the US on October 26.
Trailer Watch: Sister — Directed by Ursula Meier
This film won the Silver Bear at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival. The film opens in the US on October 5. More info including an interview with Meier from the LAFF from Thompson on Hollywood.
Julie Taymor Talks About Why She Took on The Lion King
Here she is talking to former Disney chief Michael Eisner at the Aspen Ideas Festival https://medium.com/media/4d27489cc07caf17804240a953eb5868/href
Sexism Watch: Another Movie List Leaves Off Women
So tired of reading these lists that don’t include any women. This time it is AMC’s film site which offers up a list of the 50 top directors of all time. There is not one single woman who could...
Cross-Post: A Heroine’s Journey
The world has moved on but I’m still obsessing about why, for the second time in three years was there no films directed by a woman in the main competition at Cannes this year. I mean I know...
Nora Ephron Dies at 71
I’m sitting here reeling from the news that Nora Ephron has died. No one even knew she was sick and now she is gone. The loss to movies, and especially to women in movies, cannot be...
Could Middle of Nowhere Be a Game Changer?
I had the privilege last week of attending the LA Film Festival gala of Middle of Nowhere written and directed by Ava Duvernay. If you recall, Ava is the first African American woman to win the best...
Lynne Meadow Celebrates 40 Years as Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club
Lynne Meadow has been a force of New York theatre for the last 40 years. She has taken the Manhattan Theatre Club from the Upper East Side to Broadway. She was the first women accepted into the...
Indiewire Looks at the Potential Fall Festival Releases
My colleagues at Indiewire have taken an expansive look at 50 films that they would love to see hit the festival circuit this fall. There are some very interesting women’s films on the list. (All...
Trailer Watch: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Directed by Alison Klayman
Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry opened the Human Right Watch Film Festival in NY and will be in theatres on July 27th.
Barbra Streisand To Get Back Behind The Camera
Newflash. Babs is going to get back behind the camera. According to Showbiz 411, Barbra Streisand who has not directed a film since The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996 is getting ready to direct Oscar...
Thinking About the Ending of Girls
I’ve been on the road so I didn’t have a chance to comment on the finale of Girls. First thing I want to report on is that every single meeting I have had during the run of the show no matter...
Interview with Susan Youssef, Director of Habibi
Susan Youssef’s film Habibi played at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Women and Hollywood: In the press notes you say your film was funded 100% through grants. Can you give advice to other...
Kristen Stewart is Top Earning Actress in Hollywood
The woman with the most Oscars is not the highest paid woman in Hollywood. According to Forbes, that honor goes to Kristen Stewart who this year will have two monster hits with the current Snow...
Maleficent Starts Production
Here’s the first image from the Angelina Jolie starring movie written by Linda Woolverton. Description: “the untold story of Disney’s most beloved villain, Maleficent, from the 1959 classic...
Quote of the Day: I Wanted To Give Girls Something To Look At And Not Feel Inadequate
This is what director Brenda Chapman thought about when created the character of Merida — the first female Pixar lead — which opens on Friday. Fairy tales have gotten kind of a bad...
Trailer Watch: Two Days in New York — Written and Directed by Julie Delpy
This is Delpy’s follow-up to 2 Days in Paris. Opens August 10 in theatres.
Women at the 2012 LA Film Festival
The LA Film Festival starts this weekend. There are many women directed films as part of the Festival. Festival Director Stephanie Allain talked about the importance of having a...
Oscar Winner Kathryn Bigelow Nears Completion of Filming Zero Dark Thirty
Update- Seems like the reports of the completion of filming Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to her Oscar winning film, The Hurt Locker were a bit premature. I am now told that production of has moved...
Gucci Tribeca 2012 Documentary Fund Winners Are Full of Women Filmmakers
Marking its fifth year of grants The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and Gucci today announced the 2012 recipients of the $150,000 of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. Included in these grants are...
Guest Post: The Pioneering Women of the Photo League
One of many gratifying aspects about making Ordinary Miracles was the opportunity it afforded to identify and celebrate the contributions made by an impressive number of extravagantly gifted female...
There’s Nothing Pretty About the Pink in the New Documentary ‘Pink Ribbons, Inc.’
Ever since I saw this movie — which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall and is directed by Lea Pool — I have been obsessed. Now, since all the Komen crap over the last...
Silver Docs 2012: The Women
The 10th edition of AFI Silver Docs Festival will take place in Washington DC from June 18–24. It will open with Ramona Diaz’ crowd pleaser DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: EVERYMAN’S JOURNEY. If you...
Natalie Portman to Team Up with Lynne Ramsay for Western
Natalie Portman was one of the people who was most excited about Patty Jenkins getting the gig to direct Thor 2. When that fell through one could imagine that she might still be interested in...
Julie Taymor Speaks Out
Julie Taymor has not been able to speak out since she was removed as director of Spiderman over a year ago. The legal documents have been speaking for her. But it looks like she is finally trying to...
Cross-Post — Cannes: Festival Opens in a Boys Own Adventure
There are rumbles around the world about the lack of women directors in the official competition. Dr. Lisa French adds an Australian perspective. The `Festival de Cannes` opened with the usual...
Cannes Watch: Woman With a Camera
Here’s a video that interviews women about the lack of women directors in Cannes. It is created by Donna Don. Here’s why she made it: To draw attention to the appalling low number of female...
Sign the Petition! Where Are the Women Directors?
It’s been very interesting to watch the opening of the Cannes Film Festival. In light of the fact that there are no women directors in competition and the great work of La Barbe, at the opening...
Interview with Tanya Wexler — Director of Hysteria
Hysteria first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and it recently screened at Tribeca. It opens in the US tomorrow, Friday, May 18. Women and Hollywood: This movie feels very contemporary in...
Cannes Watch: Why We Need Films Directed By Women AND Films About Women
Cannes is kicking off right now. I’ve spent the last two days putting together a petition that will be sent to the festival about the lack of female directors in competition. You can sign the...
Cannes Watch: The First Female Saudia Arabian Director Hits Cannes
Haifaa Al Mansour may not be able to drive in her country but she seems to have accomplished something no other woman — or man — has done in Saudia Arabia — directing the first...
Julie Delpy and Her Love/Hate Relationship with Hollywood
Julie Delpy is no a shrinking violet. She has many awesome opinions about how Hollywood treats women, which could be one of the reasons why, according to her, she has been fired by every agency...
Interview with Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell — Directors of Small, Beautifully Moving Parts
Women and Hollywood: How was it directing a movie together? How did you divide the work? Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell: In short, it was a very satisfying experience. We found that two brains...
First Feature on Hollywood Legend Mary Pickford to Go Into Production Next Year
It’s always good news when a woman whose contributions to our culture have receded from contemporary knowledge gets brought back into mainstream culture. Producers Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia...
Tribeca Watch: Speaking With Writer/Director Jenny Deller and Producer Kristin Fairweather of Future Weather
I didn’t get to see many Tribeca Fest films in the theatre this year due to my travel schedule at the beginning of the festival, but I was so glad to be able to catch the film and post screening...
Guest Post: Highlighting New Directing Talent
Tonight, AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women will have its 2012 showcase at the DGA. Each year this highly selective program offers eight talented women a tuition-free training program and the...
Chicken & Egg Pictures Call for Entries
For all female filmmakers- Chicken & Egg Pictures is looking for talented and amazing women filmmakers. They have only ONE open call in 2012. The deadline is June 29th 2012! Chicken & Egg...
Women Director Watch: Debra Granik and Nicole Holofcener
Some news on two of the top tier female directors- Nicole Holofcener will be directing Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in a film for Fox Searchlight according to the Playlist. Here’s the...
The World Before Her Takes Top Doc Prize at Tribeca
The World Before Her directed by Nisha Pahuja is an eye-opening and disturbing documentary about the limited options for girls and young women in India. The film juxtaposes two opposing...
Tony Nominations: Good for Female Directors, Horrible for Female Writers
Last June after a season where not a single female playwright was produced on Broadway it was announced that there would be at least five women with plays in the just ended 2011–2012 season. Four...
Elles directed by Malgoska Szumowska
Here are my impressions of the film from the Toronto Film Festival. The film opens in NY and LA today with a nationwide release it follow. Elles written by Tine Byrckel and Malgoska Szumowska and...