Women Directors
Belma Bas Wins Top Award at International Frauen Film Festival for Zephyr
I just am back from Germany where I attended the International Frauen Film Festival, a truly wonderful environment where you can hang out with women working in the film business that you otherwise...
Trailer Watch: Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish Directed by Eve Annenberg
Synopsis: Eve Annenberg’s gritty, funny new feature stars predominantly non-actor twenty somethings who grew up speaking Yiddish as a first language in Brooklyn. This is possibly the first...
Guest Post: Filming Elephant Landmine Survivors Walk on Prostheses is No Small Feat
“The Eyes of Thailand” documentary tells the true story of Soraida Salwala’s quest to help two elephant landmine survivors, Motala and Baby Mosha, walk again on their own four legs by building...
Hey Nina Jacobson — How About Picking a Woman for Catching Fire!
According to reports in EW, the Playlist and the Hollywood Reporter, the search for a director for Catching Fire is down to two dudes — Bennett Miller and Francis Lawrence. Now I think that...
What Women Directed Films Should Have Been Considered for Cannes?
I am over the anger of this morning’s Cannes lineup and on to the next step — action. A tweet from Katey Rich asked me what films I thought should have been included in the lineup and I have...
Interview with Mary Harron — Director of The Moth Diaries
Mary Harron’s The Moth Diaries hits theatres this week. It is also available on demand. Women and Hollywood: What drew you to this project? Mary Harron: It was the intense focus on young girls...
Guest Post: I Hate Romantic Comedies: Why I Made a Romantic Comedy
Yes, I am a woman and I hate romantic comedies. I have only seen a handful in my life that I didn’t feel like took place in some parallel universe, and fewer than that that didn’t seemed like...
Guest Post: Tribeca Watch- A Happy Accident
For me, the filmmaking process is incredibly personal and I feel that there aren’t necessarily any rules to it. My latest film BILLY BATES will have a private screening at the 2012 Tribeca Film...
Tribeca Trailer Watch: Billy Bates — Directed by Jennifer De Lia
Who Should Direct Catching Fire?
So now it is official and Gary Ross has walked away from directing the sequel of Catching Fire because the production schedule was too tight. Here’s what he said: As a writer and a director, I...
Guest Post: Elza — A Different Kind of Movie with a French Caribbean Twist
When I was in the advertising business I enjoyed producing powerful commercials, but at the same time I felt there was something missing. I yearned to tell my stories — to capture life about...
Trailer Watch: First Position — Directed by Bess Kargman
This looks terrific. It will hit theatres on May 4th. Also look for it on demand. First Position
Lena Dunham in Conversation with Nora Ephron
I am very impressed with Lena Dunham. Have been since I saw Tiny Furniture. As the launch of her HBO show Girls approaches on the 15th of April (which I will write about next week), Lena is curating...
Tribeca Trailer Watch: Wagner’s Dream Directed By Susan Froemke
The film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday, April 25, followed by its worldwide theatrical release on May 7 — a one-day ticketed event as part of The Met: Live in...
Guest Post: A Wake Up Call
March may have been Women’s History Month, but we should be working actively all year to have more women’s work on film and on stage. We cannot accept the lowly statistics without activism....
Rocking Comment from Brave Director Brenda Chapman
I just wanted to thank all of you for the amazing the comments on the site this week. While I might not be the biggest responder to comments, I do read each and every one and try to comment on the...
Turn Me On, Dammit! — written and directed by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
This is a repost of a review written after seeing the film at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. The film opens in NY today. While watching the delightful Norwegian film Turn me on, Dammit! I...
Two African American Female Directors Book New Films
I was excited to report that one African American female director got a new gig, but two puts me close to over the moon. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Gina Price-Bythewood who directed Love...
Is Princess Culture Redeemable?
I am extremely ambivalent about the whole princess thing. If I never saw another princess anywhere it would be too soon. But I live in the real world and write about Hollywood and Hollywood is...
Guest Post: Growing into Your Voice: The Resonance of “Rockaway”
I was a shy girl growing up. I was studious, reserved, and well-mannered. I’d very selectively raise my hand in school, secretly afraid of delivering the wrong answer and facing judgment by my...
Interview with Susan Seidelman — Director of Musical Chairs
Susan Seidelman returns to the big screen with the Musical Chairs a love story set in the world of wheelchair ballroom dancing. It’s got something for everyone. It’s got class issues, gender...
Hollywood Feminists of the Day: Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamm — The Guys from Friends with Kids
It’s not very often that I think about a movie several weeks after I’ve seen it, but I have had Friends with Kids on my mind. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s just an adult...
Guest Post: Just Do It: One Woman’s Journey to Making a Feature
I wish someone had told me when I started out that if you want to make a feature, you need to find a way to do it. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait for someone to recognize your brilliance...
Interview with Megan Griffiths — Director of SXSW Audience Winner Eden
I was a little late to finding out about Eden but I am glad I did. It’s a really good and interesting film on a difficult topic — sex trafficking. We all think the sex trafficking occurs...
Guest Post: Losing Control on the Way to Distribution
Filmmakers are often told, write what you know. And I know a lot about being so attached to a plan that it can be difficult to move forward when it isn’t working. So, as my protagonist was trying...
Having Trouble Finishing Your Film? Maybe You Could Get a Grant
The Women in Film Foundation announces the 27th cycle of their finishing fund grants which provide up to $15,000 in cash as well as some serious in-kind donations towards finishing your film. The...
Interview with the Director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Producer Kelcey Edwards of Wonder Woman — The Untold Story of American Superheroines
I am one of those girls who grew up watching Wonder Woman and The Bionic Woman. I loved those shows. The feminist in me was alive way back then when Lynda Carter and Lindsey Wagner were kicking butt...
Cross Post: Nina Menkes — Cinema as Sorcery
I have fallen in love with Nina Menkes. Her films have taken me there, in their descent to the depths of her psyche, and by way of hers, to my own. I continue falling in love with her as she shares...
Exclusive: Poster for Eden Directed by Megan Griffiths — Will Premiere at SXSW on Sunday
This looks like a really interesting film. It is based on a true story of human trafficking. Here’s the description: In 1994 Korean-American teenager, Hyun Jae, went to a bar in New Mexico where a...
Trailer Watch: Where Do We Go Now — Written and Directed by Nadine Labaki
The film will open the New Directors/New Films series on March 21 in NYC. Here is an interview I did with Labaki in Toronto back in September where it won the audience award. NYTLogo_gray#888888
Happy International Women’s Day: Watch Saving Face on HBO Tonight
I started today watching the harrowing Academy Award winning documentary Saving Face directed by Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The film tells the story of women in Pakistan who have been...
Guest Post: Elizabeth Olsen Speaks Volumes in Silent House
Silent House is centered entirely on one woman’s terror as she is systematically stalked by an unknown assailant in a creepy, spooky old house. At first glance, this plotline might seem like it...
The Depressing Reality of Women Directed Films in 2012
I really wish I wasn’t writing this but over the last couple of days it has become clear to me that 2012 could be another depressing year for women directed films. I started feeling sad last week...
Trailer Watch: Now is Good
Dakota Fanning all grown up and falling in love Yahoo! Video Player Opens in the UK on May 25. US who knows? h/t Playlist
Julie Taymor Responds to Lawsuit Fighting for Her Reputation and Future Jobs
There is nothing like reading legal papers on a Monday morning to get your blood boiling. Late last week Julie Taymor’s lawyers responded to the part of the Spiderman lawsuit that has not been...
Interview with Carice van Houten — Star of Black Butterflies
Here is a reposting of the interview I did a little less than a year ago with Carice before she took the Tribeca Film Festival by storm. She stars in Black Butterflies which opens Friday and is...
To The Academy: Consider the Women
It’s that time of year, The Academy Awards, the “Super Bowl for Women.” It’s the night where we all get catty about whose dress doesn’t work, who’s got a new boyfriend or girlfriend, and...
Oscar Watch: Looking at Gender and the Oscars
Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti and Stephanie Gall of USC have taken a look at gender onscreen and behind the scenes in the best picture nominees over the last 30 years. There are two sets of...
Chicken and Egg Pictures Hits $2 Million in Grants
This is one of the places for women filmmakers to get money to get their films done. The list of films they are funding is incredible. I want to see them all. The descriptions are directly from the...
Julie Taymor and Spiderman Reach Partial Settlement
It’s always interesting how the filing of the lawsuits get so much news and the settlements…not so much, but this one is important to note. Last week the producers of Spiderman and director...
Trailer Watch: Musical Chairs — Directed by Susan Seidelman
Film Opens March 23.
Trailer Watch: Seeking a Friend at the End of the World — Written and Directed by Lorene Scafaria
Yahoo! Video Player
We Need to Talk About Kevin Wins Best Film at the Evening Standard Awards
Lynne Ramsey’s We Need to Talk About Kevin took another top award in Britain this week — The Evening Standard Award. These awards are given out by the top London film writers and are only...
Can Girls Be a Game Changer?
I found this brief behind the scenes one minute and forty two second piece from the upcoming HBO series Girls created by Lena Dunham and after I watched it I could not help but think that this show...
Sundance Deals 2012: The Women
Here’s the list of women directed and women written films that got picked up out of Sundance. I’m sure there will be more to come. Women Directed 2 Days in New York (Magnolia) — directed...
Sundance 2012 Success Story: Ava Duvernay
One of the biggest success stories out of Sundance is Ava Duvernay. Here is a woman who started a new distribution movement — African American Film Festival Releasing Movement; put out two...
Sundance 2012: Interview With Aurora Gurerrero Director of Mosquita Y Mari
Aurora Guerrero debuted her feature film ‘Mosquita Y Mari’ at Sundance 2012 and I had a chance to talk to her near the end of a hectic but exciting festival. She shared the secret of her $80,000...
Lauren Greenfield and Ava Duvernay Win Top Directing Honors at Sundance
Another Sundance is in the books and women and their films took many of the top honors in this past weekend’s awards ceremony. Winner of the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary Film: Lauren...
Interview with Valérie Donzelli — Director of Declaration of War
Valérie Donzelli has made a heartbreaking film about the fight a couple goes through to save their son from a brain tumor. They declare war on the cancer and with the support of their family their...
Maiwenn’s Poliss Scores 13 Cesar Nominations Including Best Director and Best Picture
The Maiwenn directed film Poliss scored the most Cesar nominations — 13 — including best picture, best screenplay and best director. But you wouldn’t know it from this breaking news...
Sundance 2012: Advice for Filmmakers
Chicken and Egg Pictures always has a great party at Sundance: delicious home-cooked food paired with a celebration of women filmmakers and the folks who support and nurture them. I pulled some of...