Women Directors
Trailer Watch: Higher Ground — Directed by Vera Farmiga
Film opens on August 26th. A terrific directorial debut by Farmiga who also stars in the film.
The Love Crimes of Kabul Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian Premieres Tonight on HBO
If you want to see the lack of progress the US investment in women in Afghanistan, check out the Love Crimes of Kabul. This is the true story of women (and some girls) being held in the Badam Bagh...
Guest Review: The Sleeping Beauty — directed by Catherine Breillat by Emilie Spiegel
There was no way I wasn’t going to love Catherine Breillat’s latest film, The Sleeping Beauty (La belle endormie). It covers all my bases: female-centric (check), arty and lusciously imagined...
Two Women Get Directing Gigs — Drew Barrymore and Jerusha Hess
Drew Barrymore and Jerusha Hess (the co-writer of Napoleon Dynamite) have both signed up for directing gigs. Barrymore will produce and direct Heist Society to be adapted by Shauna Cross (Whip It)....
Teaser Trailer: The Iron Lady
Here’s a teaser trailer for the UK version of the film which will open in the US in December and the UK in January 2012. http://vds.rightster.com/v/01z13vb3x2qxu0 Rightster – This video is...
Catherine Hardwicke and Noomi Rapace Team Up for Film
To me this is an awesome team. Twilight director teaming up with the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Catherine Hardwicke and Noomi Rapace. How cool. The news is that Rapace will star in a bio...
Diablo Cody to Make Her Directing Debut
Academy Award winning writer Diablo Cody will make her directing debut on her own script Lamb of God. Her longtime collaborator Mason Novick will produce. It seems that the movie is being fast...
Trailer Watch: One Day Directed by Lone Scherfig
Film opens August 19
Human Rights Watch Int. Film Fest: The Price of Sex — directed by Mimi Chakarova
The Price of Sex is one of those films that haunt you. I watched it over a week ago and I still cannot get it out of my mind. The film painstakingly depicts the brutal reality of how easily women and...
LA Film Festival: Somewhere Between — Directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton who produced one of my favorite films ever — Whale Rider — steps behind the camera to direct a film for her daughter Ruby whom she adopted from China....
Films to Watch for This Fall on the Film Fest Circuit: The Women
The intrepid folks at IndieWIRE have put together a wish list for films they want to see this fall on the film fest circuit. Here are the women centric and women directed ones on the list. (all...
Julie Taymor Talks Spiderman at LA Theatre Conference
I’m a bit obsessed about the Julie Taymor/Spiderman situation. Mostly I’m obsessed because of what this will mean for her career, but also what it will mean for other women’s careers. Since her...
Sex Crimes Unit — Directed by Lisa F. Jackson
Monday night, HBO will air a behind the scenes look at the NYC Sex Crimes prosecution unit. These are the lawyers who go to court to fight for the women (yes, it is mostly women) who have been raped...
Trailer Watch: Wish Me Away — directed by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf
This doc about country star Chely Wright premieres at the LA Film Festival on Monday- June 20 “Wish Me Away is the poignant story of Chely Wright, the first country music star to ever come out as...
Guest Post: Step One: Finding the Right Producer by Zoje Stage
In 2008, I won a Fellowship in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts. As I left the party in my strapless black dress and uncomfortable shoes I had one thought: “Please dear gods...
Guest Post: Fighting Fish — The Story of Making an Ultra-Low-Budget Indie by Annette Apitz
A very wise woman said to me after I finished my first feature film, “Congratulations. With independent films, you really have to will them into existence.” Making my first feature film was...
Trailer Watch: Pariah — Written and Directed by Dee Rees
No release date yet. Focus says Winter 2011.
Martha Coolidge Talks Valley Girl and Female Directors
Martha Coolidge will be in NYC this weekend for a Saturday screening of Valley Girl at the opening of the new film center at Lincoln Center. The film is presented by director Kevin Smith who picked...
More Women Directed Films at Silverdocs
Got an email from some folks working with Silverdocs saying I left out many female filmmakers from my recent post, so here they are. Festival takes place June 20–26. SILVER SPECTRUM (in no...
Trailer Watch: Jig Directed by Sue Bourne
Film opens June 17
Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour directed by Kerthy Fix
Feminism is alive and well — at least to me — as I watched the road movie Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour, a film that showed the band on a world tour that took place in 2004–2005....
Interview with Liz Garbus, Director of Bobby Fischer Against the World
Liz Garbus is a prolific documentarian. Her latest film, Bobby Fischer Against the World which premiered at Sundance is a fascinating look at chess champion Bobby Fischer and all his demons, will...
Mosquita y Mari and My Reincarnation Enter the Kickstarter Hall of Fame
Here’s some good news for women filmmakers. These two films both made their Kickstarter goals and My Reincarnation broke all crowd funding records on the site. Here’s what director Jennifer Fox...
Trailer Watch: The Whistleblower — Directed by Larysa Kondracki
The Whistleblower is a film that hits you right in the gut. It’s based on the true story of a real life whistleblower Kathryn Bolkovac a cop from Nebraska who volunteered to go be a peacekeeper in...
!Women Art Revolution directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson Opens in NYC Today
There are not many films that are able to show the development of a true revolution and Women Art Revolution is one of them. It shows how feminism affected women’s art and how art affected...
Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival: The Women
Here are the women directed films that will be screening at the Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival from June 20–26. Just a note, the opening, closing and centerpiece films are all directed by...
Interview with Natalia Smirnoff — Writer and Director of Puzzle
Puzzle is the story of Maria del Carmen an average 50 year old woman whose role in life is to take care of her husband and two almost sons. When she discovers that she has immense talent for putting...
Guest Review: A Chessmate Movie for Women By Aviva Kempner
One of the few times I played chess I lost in four moves. Humiliated I never tried again. After seeing Caroline Bottaro’s female empowering film, Queen to Play, I want to reconsider my easily...
Guest Post: My Exprience at the AFI Directing Workshop for Women by Amy French
On May 9th, an audience of six hundred people gathered at the Director’s Guild Theater in Los Angeles to ask the question, “Are women directors better suited to explore the subtle nuances of...
Cannes Winners: The Women
The Cannes Film Festival concluded last evening and Poliss directed by Maiwenn won the jury prize (which is third place.) The film has been picked up Sundance Selects. None of the other films by...
Jane Campion and Women Directors at Cannes
When Jane Campion shows up at Cannes people take notice, especially because she is the only woman to have ever won the Palme d’Or. Let’s say that again. The year is 2011 and only one woman has...
Hanging With The Topp Twins
The Topp Twins were in NYC last weekend for the opening of the documentary on their lives. Here’s my conversation with them and a glimpse of them singing Untouchable Girls after the screening....
Eve Ensler to Make Directing Debut With The Other Side Starring Jane Fonda
Vagina Monologue writer and V-Day activist Eve Ensler will be making her directorial debut on The Other Side a film that will also focus on the epidemic of rape in the Congo. In the...
Angelina Jolie’s Directorial Debut Gets a Name and a Date
Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, a love story set in Bosnia War in the 90s finally has a title — In the Land of Blood and Honey. The other news is that it will be released on December 23rd...
Tickets Available to LA Screening of No Woman, No Cry
More Magazine has made available several tickets to a special screening of Christy Turlington Burns’ documentary No Woman, No Cry. The screening will be held on Monday, May 23rd at 4:30pm at LA...
Cannes Watch: Reviews of Polisse directed by Maiwenn
From Jordan Minzer in the Hollywood Reporter: A powerhouse of emotional jolts, free-wheeling comedy and socially-minded storytelling, Poliss (Polisse) reps an admirable step up for...
Human Rights Watch Film Festival: The Women
Women directors are dominant in the upcoming Human Rights Watch Film Festival in NYC from June 16–30. The themes of the Festival this year are: Truth, Justice and Accountability; Times of Conflict...
Weinstein Co. Picks Up Meryl Streep Film The Iron Lady
Looks like we will have a Meryl Streep film in Oscar contention this year. At Cannes, the Weinstein Co. has secured the US rights for the film. Film is written by Abi Morgan and directed by...
Cannes Watch: First Reviews of Sleeping Beauty Directed by Julia Leigh
From Sasha Stone on The Wrap: Much has been made of the supposed sexuality to be plumbed in Australian novelist and first-time auteur Julia Leigh’s “Sleeping Beauty.” First, a teaser poster...
Cannes Watch: Reviews of We Need to Talk About Kevin
Here are some first looks at the female directed films being screened at Cannes. First up: We Need To Talk About Kevin — directed by Lynne Ramsey From Xan Brooks in the Guardian: We Need to...
Sissy Spacek To Take Up Directing
The LA Times is reporting that Sissy Spacek will make her directing debut on Sweet Tea which is adapted from a collection of short stories Goodbye to the Buttermilk Sky by Julia Oliver. Here’s a...
Trailer Watch: The Future — Written and Directed by Miranda July
Film Opens July 29
Attenberg to be Greek Entry for Academy Awards
Attenberg, written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari has been making its way around the world winning many awards including best actress at the Venice Film Festival and the top award at the...
Cholodenko and Hardwicke Book New Projects
There are reports that two high profile female directors — Lisa Cholodenko and Catherine Hardwicke — are circling their next projects. According to Deadline, Hardwicke will helm the...
The Beaver — Directed by Jodie Foster
It would have been so much easier if The Beaver stunk and then I could write again about how I can’t stand Mel Gibson (and not just for what he did to his girlfriend) and how I don’t understand...
Save the Date: The Topp Twins are Coming to NYC on May 13 for a Q and A with Me!
One of my favorite films from the Athena Film Festival which I produced last February was The Topp Twins. As I say to everyone on paper this film sounds too way out to work. It’s about lesbian...
Trailer Watch: Buck — directed by Cindy Meel
This film premiered at Sundance and has been playing the festival circuit all spring. It opens on June 24
Los Angeles Film Festival 2011 Selections: The Women
The LA Film Festival will run from June 16 to June 26. They received over 5,000 submissions for their competition program. All the films in competition are either world, North American, or US...
Will Kathryn Bigelow Be The First Out of the Gate With a Bin Laden Movie?
I imagine that Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal are pretty psyched today regarding the prospects for their upcoming film which has long been rumored to be about the attempt to capture Bin Laden. In...
Women Win Big Prizes at Tribeca Film Festival
Lisa Aschan’s Swedish film She Monkeys (which I missed and desperately want to see) won the best narrative at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was written by Josefine Adolfsson and...
The Arbor — Directed by Clio Barnard
Clio Barnard takes the documentary form and stands it on its head with The Arbor a look at playwright Andrea Dunbar and her family. Dunbar grew up a working class kid on an estate in Bradford,...