by Eboni Boykin and Diana Martinez
The women-centric, directed, and written films hitting theaters this month will make you laugh, cry, and cringe. There is plenty to choose from, starting with “Me Before You,” Thea Sharrock’s directorial debut. The romance stars “Game of Thrones” breakout Emilia Clarke as a young woman who unexpectedly finds love. Eva Husson’s “Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)” offers another romance — albeit a more explicit one. The racy film follows hormonally-charged teens who host orgies and fall in love.
“Finding Dory,” one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, opens this month. A follow-up to the ever popular “Finding Nemo,” this installment follows one of that film’s most beloved characters, Dory, as her forgetfulness leads her to learn important lessons about love and family.
A sexy thriller directed by Elizabeth Allen, “Careful What You Wish For,” stars musician Nick Jonas as a man whose transgressions lead him to some deadly consequences. “The Neon Demon” is also sure to creep viewers out: The film, starring Elle Fanning, is set in a world of vicious Los Angeles beauty-suckers. Blake Lively plays Nancy in “The Shallows,” where she must battle a different kind of danger — a shark.
Scary in a different way, “The Witness” tells the true story of Kitty Genovese in documentary form — a victim of violence in 1964 who was attacked within view of 38 witnesses in New York City. Directed by Janina Quint, “Germans & Jews” also considers the toll of violence. The doc examines Germany’s relationship to the Holocaust today, and the healthy cultural exchange that can take place between these two groups. Thriller “Septembers of Shiraz” is the true story of a Jewish family in Iran that must escape the life threatening danger that arises post Islamic revolution.
Here is a list of women-centric, directed, and written films releasing in June. All descriptions are from press materials, unless stated otherwise.
June 3
“Me Before You” — Directed by Thea Sharrock; Written by Jojo Moyes
Louise “Lou” Clarke (Emilia Clarke) lives in a quaint town in the English countryside. With no clear direction in her life, the quirky and creative 26-year-old goes from one job to the next in order to help her tight-knit family make ends meet. Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge. Taking a job at the local “castle,” she becomes caregiver and companion to Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye. No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up. That is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living. Embarking together on a series of adventures, both Lou and Will get more than they bargained for, and find their lives — and hearts — changing in ways neither one could have imagined.
“The Fits” — Written and Directed by Anna Rose Holmer (Opens in NY; Opens in LA June 10)
“The Fits” is a psychological portrait of 11-year-old Toni (Royalty Hightower) — a tomboy assimilating to a tight-knit dance team in Cincinnati’s West End. Enamored by the power and confidence of this strong community of girls, Toni eagerly absorbs routines, masters drills, and even pierces her own ears to fit in. When a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Toni’s desire for acceptance is twisted.
“The President” — Co-Written by Marzieh Meshkini (Opens in NY)
“The President” tells the story of a dictator (Misha Gomiashvili) who is forced to personally confront the many people tortured by his regime after his government is overthrown. The President and his family rule the land with a draconian fist, enjoying a privileged and luxurious existence at the expense of his miserable and oppressed subjects. After a coup d’état uproots his position of power, the President’s wife and daughters are flown out of the country as he stays behind with his grandson (Dachi Orvelashvili), who is too young to grasp the unfolding events. After his personal escort and bodyguards turn on him, he is forced to disguise himself and flee into the countryside to avoid capture. He soon learns that he is now the country’s most wanted fugitive and begins a perilous journey with his grandson, his only ally. Posing as street musicians, the pair blend in with a band of haggard political prisoners just released from jail as they travel towards the coast to an awaiting ship that will take them to safety.
“Gurukulam” (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jillian Elizabeth (Opens in NY; Opens in LA June 10)
In vivid and sensuous detail, “Gurukulam” follows a group of students and their teacher as they confront fundamental questions about the nature of reality and self-identity at a remote forest ashram in southern India. Daily chores, meditation, ritual, and rigorous study are woven together connecting the natural and spiritual worlds in moments of surprising revelation and comic contradiction. Deeply observational and experiential, “Gurukulam” evokes the presence of the place and a tactile sense of the sacred. The richly layered soundscape and the intimate imagery bring us into a place of extraordinary beauty and simplicity. From Swami Dayananda’s first lesson — “Saying is only an expression of what you see” — “Gurukulam” is a rare invitation to look, listen, and experience a contemplative rhythm of life as old as the Bhagavad Gita and as new as present-day India.
“Honeyglue”(Opens in NY; Opens in LA and San Francisco June 10; Opens in Seattle and Portland June 17)
After learning that she has three months left to live, Morgan (Adriana Mather) turns her protected middle class life upside down. That’s when she meets Jordan (Zach Villa), a rebellious, gender-defying artist, and together they embark on an adventure of a lifetime. With a hand-held camera, the pair document their time together, creating a lasting record of what — and who — really matters in life.
“The Witness” (Documentary) (Opens in NY)
On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was repeatedly attacked on a street in Kew Gardens, Queens. Soon after, The New York Times published a front-page story asserting that 38 witnesses watched her being murdered from their apartment windows — and did nothing to help. The death of Kitty Genovese, 28, quickly became a symbol of urban apathy. “The Witness” follows the efforts of her brother Bill Genovese as he looks to uncover the truth buried beneath the story. In the process, he makes startling discoveries about the crime that transformed his life, condemned a city, and defined an era.
June 10
“Diary of a Chambermaid” — Co-Written by Hélène Zimmer
The beginning of the 20th century in provincial France. Highly sought after because of her beauty, Célestine (Léa Seydoux) is a young chambermaid who has just arrived from Paris into the service of the Lanlaire family. Rejecting Monsieur’s (Hervé Pierre) overtures, Célestine must also cope with Madame Lanlaire (Clotilde Mollet), a strict and severe woman who rules the household with an iron fist. She makes the acquaintance of Joseph (Vincent Lindon), the Lanlaire’s mysterious gardener, and becomes fascinated by him.
“Careful What You Wish For” — Directed by Elizabeth Allen (Also available on VOD)
A guy (Nick Jonas) gets more than he bargained for after entering into an affair with the wife (Isabel Lucas) of an investment banker (Dermot Mulroney). Soon, a suspicious death and substantial life insurance policy embroil him in a scandal. (IMDb)
“Germans & Jews” (Documentary) — Directed by Janina Quint (Opens in NY)
Today, Europe’s fastest growing Jewish population is in Berlin. Germany is considered one of the most democratic societies in the world, assuming the position of moral leader in Europe as it embraces hundreds of thousands of refugees. None of these developments could have been imagined in 1945. Through personal stories “Germans & Jews” explores the country’s transformation from silence about the Holocaust to facing it head on. Unexpectedly, a nuanced story of reconciliation emerges. What began as a private conversation between the two filmmakers and friends, Tal Recanati (Jewish) and Janina Quint (non-Jewish German), grew into a cultural exchange among many. We realize that the two people are inextricably linked through the memory of the Holocaust. “Germans and Jews” is provocative, unexpected, and enlightening.
“Call Her Applebroog” (Documentary) — Directed by Beth B (Opens in NY)
This deeply personal portrait of acclaimed New York-based artist Ida Applebroog was shot with mischievous reverence by her filmmaker daughter, Beth B. Born in the Bronx to Orthodox Jewish émigrés from Poland, Applebroog, now in her 80s, looks back at how she expressed herself through decades of drawings and paintings, as well as her private journals. With her daughter’s encouragement, she investigates the stranger that is her former self, a woman who found psychological and sexual liberation through art. As Beth B finds a deeper understanding of her mother as a human being, Applebroog shares a newfound appreciation for her own provocative work.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Beth B.
June 17
“Finding Dory”
“Finding Dory” reunites the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way. The all-new big-screen adventure dives into theaters in 2016, taking moviegoers back to the extraordinary underwater world from the original film.
“Parched” — Written and Directed by Leena Yadav (Opens in LA, NY, and San Jose)
In a remote desert community of North West India widowed Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee), her vivacious best friend Lajjo (Radhika Apte), and the erotic dancer Bijli (Surveen Chawla) unapologetically talk about men, sex, and life as they struggle under the oppressive rules of their traditional village ways. But when Rani is tasked to find a teenage bride for her entitled fifteen-year-old son, they begin to question this status quo that favors men, sends child brides to abusive husbands, and ostracizes women for being educated and opinionated.
“No Stranger Than Love” (Also available on VOD)
What is stranger than the big hole that opens up in Lucy Sherrington’s (Alison Brie) living room floor? As it turns out, love.
“Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)” — Written and Directed by Eva Husson
George (Marilyn Lima), a pretty teen girl, falls in love with Alex (Finnegan Oldfield). To get his attention, she initiates a game with their friends, discovering, testing, and pushing the limits of their sexuality. When the nature of their activities is revealed, each of them deals with the scandal in radically different ways. Faced with the implosion of their value systems, they move on by reassessing their priorities, finding love, and their real desires.
June 22
“Nuts!” (Documentary) — Directed by Penny Lane (Opens in NY)
“Nuts!” is a feature length documentary directed by Penny Lane about Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, an eccentric genius who built an empire in Depression-era America with a goat testicle impotence cure and a million watt radio station. Using animated reenactments, interviews, archival footage, and a hilariously unreliable narrator, “NUTS!” traces Brinkley’s rise from poverty and obscurity to the heights of celebrity, wealth and influence in Depression-era America. Along the way, he transplants tens of thousands of goat testicles; amasses an enormous fortune; is (sort of) elected Governor of Kansas; builds the world’s most powerful radio station; invents junk mail, the infomercial, the sound-truck and Border Radio; hosts some epic parties; and annoys the heck out of the establishment, until finally his audacious actions force the federal government to create regulations to stop him. How he does it, and what happens when it all comes crashing down, is the story of “NUTS!”
June 24
“The Neon Demon” — Co-Written by Mary Laws and Polly Stenham
When aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
“Septembers of Shiraz” — Written by Hanna Weg (Also available on VOD)
A thriller based on the New York Times notable book, this is the story, based on true events, of a secular Jewish family caught in the Islamic revolution in Iran — and their heroic journey to overcome and ultimately escape from the deadly tyranny that swept their country and threatened to extinguish their lives at every turn. Starring Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody.
“T-Rex” (Documentary) (Opens in NY)
“T-Rex” is an intimate coming-of-age story about a new kind of American heroine. For the first time, Women’s Boxing is included in the 2012 Olympics. Fighting for the gold from the U.S. is Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, the youngest competitor at just 17 years old. From the hard knock streets of Flint, Michigan, Claressa is undefeated and utterly confident. Her fierceness extends beyond the ring. She protects her family at any cost, even when their instability and addictions threaten to derail her dream.
June 29
“The Shallows”
In the taut thriller “The Shallows,” when Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark. Though she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of Nancy’s ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude.
