Time to plan a movie night. Streamers Filmstruck and Film Movement Plus are both celebrating female directors with newly-added collections of women-helmed films.
Filmstruck’s “Spotlight: Women Directors” includes 23-and-counting films directed by women spanning 100 years. Alice Guy-Blaché’s 1916 romance “The Ocean Waif,” Cheryl Dunye’s meta rom-com “The Watermelon Woman,” and Athina Rachel Tsangari’s portrait of competitive masculinity “Chevalier” are among the titles.
A curated tribute to trailblazing female filmmakers, Filmstruck will add a new film to “Spotlight: Women Directors” each week. Each movie will also feature an introduction by film journalist and author Alicia Malone. Head over to Filmstruck’s website to find out more.
From October 19 to the end of the month, Film Movement Plus, the new SVOD service from distributor Film Movement, will honor women directors’ creativity and vision with “Women Behind the Camera.” The centerpiece of the collection is Maysaloun Hamoud’s “In Between,” which follows three Palestinian women — lawyer Laila, aspiring DJ Salma, and shy, betrothed Nour — as they embrace both tradition and modernity in Tel Aviv.
“Women Behind the Camera’s” other films include: Jessica Hausner’s “Amour Fou,” a Romantic Era-set story about the unusual bond between a poet and a terminally ill woman; the Marleen Gorris-helmed feminist fairy tale “Antonia’s Line”; Mélanie Laurent’s examination of an intense, and toxic, female friendship, “Breathe”: “The Forest for the Trees,” Maren Ade’s story about an idealistic, yet lonely teacher; Iram Haq’s “I Am Yours,” about a young single mother who is also an immigrant; and Laurie Simmons’ “My Art,” centered on a woman struggling to fulfill her artistic ambitions.
