ALL POSTS
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Caroline Catz – “Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes”
A British actor who has worked extensively in television, theater, film, and radio, Caroline Catz is also an accomplished film director and writer. Catz’s films include “A Message to the...
SXSW 2021 Preview: Blackness and Beauty Standards, Selma Blair’s Public Battle with M.S., and More
SXSW 2021 is just around the corner. Set to take place March 16-21, the 35th edition of Austin-based fest is digital this year due to COVID-19. With more than half of the films set to screen in...
Adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s “Kindred” in the Works at FX
The story of Dana Franklin is headed to the small screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, FX has ordered a pilot for “Kindred,” an adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s seminal...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg Pictures Selects 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantees
Chicken & Egg Pictures has selected the grantees for its 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab, Women and Hollywood can confirm exclusively. The program awards a total of $400,000 to first- and second-time...
Kate Taverna on Exploring the Aftermath of the Agent Orange Catastrophe in “The People vs. Agent Orange”
Kate Taverna has edited more than 50 films over her career, including “Asylum” and “Killing in the Name,” which were Academy Award nominees in the Best Short Documentary...
Janet Jackson Two-Night Doc Event Greenlit by Lifetime and A&E
It’s time to dust off your cassette player and blast “Young Love” and “Say You Do”: Janet Jackson is celebrating the 40th anniversary of her first album, “Janet...
Athena Film Festival Announces 2021 Awardees and Grant Winners
The Athena Film Festival (AFF) has announced its 2021 awardees. Dedicated to highlighting films showcasing women’s leadership, the fest is running digitally this year due to COVID-19. AFF 2021...
Patricia Clarkson Will Topline Rachel Feldman’s Lilly Ledbetter Biopic
Rachel Feldman’s political thriller about fair pay whistleblower and activist Lilly Ledbetter has found its leading lady. Patricia Clarkson will take on the titular character in...
Shahrbanoo Sadat Reflects on Showing a Different Side of Afghanistan in “The Orphanage”
Interview by Gabriela Rico Shahrbanoo Sadat is an Afghan writer and director based in Kabul. Her first feature film, “Wolf and Sheep,” was developed with the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence in...
Joana Hadjithomas Talks “Memory Box,” Her Berlinale Drama About Three Generations of Women
Joana Hadjithomas is an artist and filmmaker. She and collaborator Khalil Joreige have directed award-winning films such as “The Lebanese Rocket Society,” “A Perfect Day,” and...
Golden Globes: Chloé Zhao Wins Best Director, Andra Day Named Best Actress in a Drama
Chloé Zhao and Andra Day made history at last night’s Golden Globe Awards. Zhao became the first woman director to claim the Best Director prize since Barbra Streisand took home the honor in...
March 2021 Television Preview
Winter isn’t quite over yet, but Spring TV has definitely arrived. From an Aretha Franklin miniseries to a drama about high school students figuring out who they are, there are plenty of...
Trailer Watch: “Isabel” Tells the Story of the World’s Most-Read Spanish-Language Author
Isabel Allende has written 25 books that have sold 75 million copies, and been translated into 42 languages. She is the world’s most-read Spanish-language author, the scribe of classics...
Pick of the Day: “Test Pattern”
“Test Pattern,” Shatara Michelle Ford’s feature directorial debut, could form an unofficial trilogy with Jessica M. Thompson’s “The Light of the Moon” and Eliza...
Shatara Michelle Ford on Exploring How America “Consistently Fails Black Women” in #MeToo Drama “Test Pattern”
Shatara Michelle Ford is a Black American filmmaker born in rural Arkansas and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Their work explores class, power, womanhood, identity, memory, perception, and race. Her...
Angela Washko Shines a Spotlight on a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Alum in Slamdance Doc “Workhorse Queen”
A recent recipient of the Creative Capital Award, Impact Award at Indiecade, and the Franklin Furnace Performance Fund, Angela Washko’s art practice has been highlighted in The New Yorker, Frieze...
Pick of the Day: “Dead Pigs”
Cathy Yan’s zippy comic book pic “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” was one of the last films to open in theaters before COVID shut everything down, but...
Cathy Yan Reflects on Her “Prescient” Debut Film “Dead Pigs,” and the Evolution of the Film Industry
Cathy Yan’s debut film, “Dead Pigs,” premiered to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018, where it won a Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting, and garnered numerous...
Teaser Watch: Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick Revisit the Allegations and Headlines of “Allen v. Farrow”
Chances are, even if you’re unfamiliar with Mia Farrow as an actress or have never seen a Woody Allen movie, you know about their shared history. Farrow and Allen’s daughter, Dylan...
Nicole Riegel’s Jessica Barden-Starrer “Holler” Lands at IFC Films
Nicole Riegel’s feature debut has found a home. IFC Films acquired North American rights to “Holler,” a coming-of-age drama led by “End of the F*cking World’s”...
Portraits of Metamorphosis: Crowdfunding Picks
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee This week’s crowdfunding picks are a patchwork quilt of womanhood and girlhood, a vibrant assemblage of characters who are either coming of age or undergoing...
Oscars 2021 International Feature Contenders: Meet Barbara Paz – “Babenco: Tell Me When I Die”
Barbara Paz is an award-winning Brazilian actress, producer, and director. In her acting career she has performed in over 25 plays. She is also a popular television star under permanent contract to...
Golden Globe Nominations: Regina King, Chloé Zhao, & Emerald Fennell Land Best Director Nods, Make History
For the first time in its 78-year history, the Golden Globe Awards has recognized more than one woman in its Best Director category. Nominations for the 2021 edition of the awards ceremony were...
Oscars 2021 International Feature Contenders: Meet Julie Schroell – “River Tales”
Julie Schroell is a filmmaker and audiovisual artist living in Berlin. She started her career by directing a series of commissioned films, such as “The Farmer’s Blues” (2011), in...
Céline Cousteau on “Tribes on the Edge,” Her Doc About Indigenous Peoples Protecting Their Land and Lives
Céline Cousteau is a humanitarian and environmental activist working with a variety of media, ranging from documentaries to art, from consulting with corporations and foundations, to public...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kristina Lindström – “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World”
Kristina Lindström is a filmmaker, journalist, and author. She has directed highly acclaimed documentaries including “Astrid Lindgren;” “Palme” with Maud Nycander, awarded two Guldbagge...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Debbie Lum – “Try Harder!”
Debbie Lum is an award-winning filmmaker whose projects give voice to the Asian American experience and other unsung stories. “Seeking Asian Female,” her feature-length directing debut,...
Natalie Qasabian Wins 2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award
Producer Natalie Qasabian has been honored for her work on psychological thriller “Run.” She was presented with the 2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt – “Cusp”
Parker Hill’s thesis film, “One Good Pitch,” premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Her short films “Homing In” and “Sanderson to Brackettville” have...
February 2021 Film Preview
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee This is the first Black History Month since the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others sparked a new wave of activism in the Black Lives...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Natalia Almada – “Users”
Natalia Almada is the recipient of the 2012 MacArthur Genius Award. Her directing credits include “Al Otro Lado” (2005 Tribeca Film Festival), “El General” (2009 Sundance Film...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Marilyn Agrelo – “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street”
Marilyn Agrelo’s directorial debut, “Mad Hot Ballroom,” enjoyed a theatrical run of 24 weeks and became the 25th highest-grossing documentary film. A Broadway version is currently in...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Betsy West and Julie Cohen – “My Name is Pauli Murray”
Betsy West is the Academy Award-nominated director and producer of “RBG” along with Julie Cohen. She is a 21-time Emmy Award winner for her work as an ABC News producer and executive...
Sundance 2021 Directors: Meet Jane Schoenbrun – “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair”
Jane Schoenbrun is a non-binary filmmaker who co-created ongoing touring variety series “The Eyeslicer,” which has screened in hundreds of venues across the world, including MoMA, the Tribeca...
Pick of the Day: “True Mothers”
A sensitive and nuanced exploration of motherhood and adoption, Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” tells the story of two women whose lives collide. We’re first introduced to...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Nikole Beckwith – “Together Together”
Writer and director Nikole Beckwith made her feature film debut at Sundance 2015 with “Stockholm, Pennsylvania,” which earned her a Nicholl Fellowship, Satellite Award, Women’s Image Award, and...
Pick of the Day: “The Long Song”
Being stolen from her mother as a young girl, being renamed “Marguerite” against her will, and deciding whether having a child of her own is worth bringing another soul into bondage are...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Rintu Thomas – “Writing with Fire”
Rintu Thomas is an independent documentary director-producer based in New Delhi, India. She is a 2018 Sundance Institute, Bertha Foundation Fellow, and a 2019 Sundance Stories of Change Fellow. A...
February 2021 Television Preview
Whether you’re in the mood for warm tales of family and friendship or reboots featuring ass-kicking female leads, February’s television offerings have got you covered. From new titles...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Salomé Jashi – “Taming the Garden”
Salomé Jashi was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her documentary “The Dazzling Light of Sunset” was awarded the Main Prize at Visions du Réel’s Regard Neuf Competition as well as at ZagrebDox,...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Erin Vassilopoulos – “Superior”
Erin Vassilopoulos is a New York-based filmmaker whose short films have screened at Sundance, the Berlinale, BFI London Film Festival, and Tribeca. Her directorial feature debut, “Superior,”...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Karen Cinorre – “Mayday”
Karen Cinorre is a writer/director whose work has shown internationally at such venues as the New York Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, and Opera Centrum Amsterdam. She’s currently...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Mariem Pérez Riera – “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”
Mariem Pérez Riera’s first documentary, “Cuando lo pequeño se hace grande,” about the Puerto Ricans who fought against the U.S. Navy presence in the island of Vieques, was...
Sundance 2021 Preview: Tributes to Rita Moreno & Pauli Murray, a Queer Romance, “Passing,” & More
Newly reimagined thanks to COVID-19, this year’s edition of Sundance Film Festival is just around the corner. With nearly 50 percent of features directed or co-directed by women, there are...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sally Aitken – “Playing with Sharks”
Sally Aitken is an Emmy-nominated director and writer, and showrunner of multiple international series. Her award-winning work includes the Camera d’Or-nominated feature documentary “A...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kate Tsang – “Marvelous and the Black Hole”
Kate Tsang is an artist, filmmaker, and Emmy-nominated writer. Tsang’s award-winning shorts have been watched by millions online and broadcast nationally on PBS. Her most notable works are...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Frida Kempff – “Knocking”
Frida Kempff’s films have been screened and awarded at festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Telluride, IDFA, London Film Festival, and Gothenburg. In 2010 she won Cannes’ Jury Prize for...
Trailer Watch: Danielle Macdonald Is An Aspiring Opera Singer in “Falling for Figaro”
Danielle Macdonald is tackling another musical genre after breaking out with 2017’s “Patti Cake$,” the story of an aspiring rap superstar. Her latest film, “Falling for...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Prano Bailey-Bond – “Censor”
Prano Bailey-Bond is a Welsh director and screenwriter. Commissioned by Film4 to direct an episode of their Halloween focused “Fright Bites,” Bailey-Bond’s short...
Rachel Givney’s Jane Austen-Inspired Novel “Jane in Love” Headed for the Big Screen
Jane Austen is set to anchor her own love story. Di Novi Pictures and Amazon Studios have acquired Rachel Givney’s novel “Jane in Love” with plans for a feature adaptation....
Pick of the Day: “How It Feels To Be Free”
Black women have been the backbone of social justice movements throughout history. PBS’ new “American Masters” entry, “How It Feels To Be Free” tells the story of six of...