ALL POSTS
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Lindsay MacKay — ‘Wet Bum’
Lindsay MacKay is the writer-director of WetBum, her debut feature film, which was named a Top 10 Finalist in theprestigious Zoetrope Screenwriting Competition. She is a graduate of theDirecting...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Linnea Saasen — ‘Meet Me in Montenegro’
Linnea Saasen was born and raised north of the Arctic Circle in Harstad,Norway. She moved to Oslo to study art before settling in Berlin, where sheworked as a contemporary dancer and performance...
TIFF 14 First Thoughts — The Appetizer Before the Meal
I’ve been on the ground here in Toronto for three days. This is my fourth year, and it’s the first time that the first couple of days didn’t feel like I was going out of my mind. There are a...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Suha Arraf — ‘Villa Touma’
Suha Arraf was born in the Palestinian village of Melyia, near Lebanon. She began her filmmaking career as a documentary producer. Her latest work, Women of Hamas (2010), received 13 awards at...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Marte Vold — ‘Out of Nature’
Marte Vold (b. 1978 in Tromsø, Norway) studied film at Nordland Art andFilm School, attended the National Art Academy in Oslo, and then graduated fromthe Norwegian Film School in 2005. Between 2002...
Weekly Update for September 5: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening Rocks in My Pockets — Written and Directed by Signe Baumane (Opened September 3) Rocks in My Pockets is Signe Baumane’s autobiographical “funny film about...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Lone Scherfig — ‘The Riot Club’
Lone Scherfig was born inCopenhagen and graduated fromthe National Film School of Denmark.Her features Italian for Beginners(2000), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002),Just Like Home (2007), and An...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Isidora Marras- ‘I Am Not Lorena’
Isidora Marras was born in Santiago, Chile, and studied audiovisual direction at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her short films include “Mirada a Vapor” (2008) and “En la Azotea”...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Laura Nix — ‘The Yes Men Are Revolting’
Laura Nix is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles.She has over seventy productioncredits and has directed the featurefilm The Politics of Fur (2002) and twofeature documentaries, The Light inHer Eyes...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Tala Hadid — ‘The Narrow Frame of Midnight’
Tala Hadid was born in London, graduated from Columbia University in NewYork City, and participated in the Sundance Institute Directors Lab. Her filmsinclude the documentary feature Sacred Poet, the...
Joan Rivers: An Appreciation of a Feminist Comedy Revolutionary
Like the rest of the world, I’m really sad about Joan Rivers’ death. I didn’t know her, though I met her once at the press day for the riveting and brilliant documentary about her life, Joan...
Patricia Clarkson and Ruba Nadda to Reteam for HBO Drama
After winning two Emmys for her guest turn as Sarah O’Connor on HBO’s Six Feet Under, Patricia Clarkson is eyeing a return to the premium channel, this time in a starring role. Clarkson is in...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Martine Époque — ‘Coda: The Finale for The Rite of Spring’
Choreographer Martine Époque is the founder of Montreal’s renowned contemporary dance company Groupe Nouvelle Aire and was its Artistic Director from 1968 to 1981. She was also the driving force...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Afia Nathaniel — ‘Dukhtar’
Afia Nathaniel was born in Quetta, Pakistan, grew up in Lahore, and is now based in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from Columbia University’s Film Directing program. She directed the short films...
TIFF Women Directors: Meet Kristina Grozeva (‘The Lesson’)
Kristina Grozeva was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in1976. She graduated from the National Academy for Theater and Film Art with a degree in Film Directing. She and her co-director Petar Valchanov make...
Watch: Melissa Silverstein Talks About Hollywood’s Woman Problem
The best-performing movie of 2013 was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, starring Jennifer Lawrence as the ass-kicking, fast-thinking Katniss Everdeen. And yet we’re still in the position of having...
The Unspoken Biases in Film School
Film school hasbecome an inextricable step in becoming a successful filmmaker. I went to NYU’sTisch School of the Arts and have not regretted it. I know I would not be whereI am today without my...
Fall’s Fab Female Showrunners
“What a wonderful time for women on television!” said Julianna Margulies during her Emmy acceptance speech for The Good Wife last week. The remark, while not untrue, was somewhat undermined by...
‘Kelly & Cal’ Director Jen McGowan on Finding the Perfect Riot Grrrl and the Biggest Challenge for Indie Filmmakers
Delighted at being told sex is back inthe cards during her post-natal check-up, new mom Kelly (Juliette Lewis) hurries home to husbandJosh (Josh Hopkins) — but Josh doesn’t seem so keen on...
Trailer Watch: Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum in ALS Drama ‘You’re Not You’
Oscar season tends to be so dominated by male faces and voices that it’s refreshing to see a film about female-friendship in the mix. In the ALS drama You’re Not You, Hilary Swank and Emmy...
Author Eleanor Catton Establishes Grant So Writers Have “Time to Read”
Eleanor Catton, the youngest ever winner of the Booker Prize for her period saga The Luminaries, has established a grant to provide the next generation of writers with “time to read.” Catton has...
London Film Festival to Feature New Works from Susanne Bier, Céline Sciamma, Debra Granik
With nearly 250 film slated to play, the 58th London Film Festival (October 8–18) will offer audiences an abundance of opportunities to see new work from female filmmakers. Among them are the...
Signe Baumane Boldly Animates Family Depression in ‘Rocks in My Pockets’
Rocksin My Pockets is Signe Baumane’s autobiographical “funny film about depression,” made with papier-mache, stop-motion and hand-drawn animation. The rich, deep, and very original film...
Jessica Chastain Wants More Female Protagonists: “Where is the Scarlett Johansson Superhero Movie?”
After Zero Dark Thirty and The Help, we don’t need any more reasons to love Jessica Chastain, but she’s giving us another one anyway. On a press tour for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,...
UK Government Hires First Woman Head of BBC
As Geena Davis once noted, “It’s ridiculous that we would have the first woman anything in the 21st century.” And yet here we are with the rather welcome news that Rona Fairhead has been...
Ellen Burstyn to Direct Her First Film, Lake Bell Her Second
Ellen Burstyn will join Jodie Foster, Angelina Jolie, and Lake Bell among the (unfortunately not-so-large) ranks of actresses-turned-directors. According to Deadline, the 81-year-old Burstyn will...
September 2014 Film Preview
Froman exclusive Manhattan girls’ prep school where the teachers may or may not bedrinking the blood of their students, to a woman abandoning city life to trek1,700 miles across the Australian...
Some Links To Check Out From Vacation
Happy September. Hope you got some time off. We’re getting ready to share lots of interviews with women directors at the Toronto Film Festival. I’ll be reporting from there. For up to the...
Male Privilege Watch: Man With No Directing Experience to Direct Film With Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett
Women and Hollywood is on vacation this week. While our lights are out, we’ll be reposting our most popular posts of the summer.I was going to tweet this up, but then I paused, because I think it...
Infographic: Women Directors in the Studio System
Women and Hollywood is on vacation this week. While our lights are out, we’ll be reposting our most popular posts of the summer. The director’s chair is one of the most influential thrones in...
Guest Post: Going Back to School with Martha Coolidge’s ‘Valley Girl’
Earlier this month, the hashtag #WomenCallAction flew around the Twittersphere. This live chat hosted by The Women’s International Perspective includedparticipation by director and activist Rachel...
Meet Outlander, the Anti-Game of Thrones
Women and Hollywood is on vacation this week. While our lights are out, we’ll be reposting our most popular posts of the summer.Ever since I heard Starz was adapting Diana Gabaldon’s racy,...
8 Queer Women Films to Watch in 2014
Top Designers Refused to Make Melissa McCarthy’s Oscar Dress
Women and Hollywood is on vacation this week. While our lights are out, we’ll be reposting our most popular posts of the summer. Two Oscar seasons ago, Melissa McCarthy approached a number of top...
Weekly Update for August 22 & 29: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Women and Hollywood is going on vacation next week, so this weekly update encompasses the next two weeks.Films About Women Opening Opening August 22 If I Stay Mia Hall (Chloë Grace Moretz) thought...
Sandra Bullock to Star in and Produce Political Drama ‘Our Brand Is Crisis’
Sandra Bullock is reteaming with Warner Bros., the studio behind Gravity, for her next serious film. Based on Rachel Boynton’s 2005 documentary of the same name, Our Brand is Crisis will focus on...
AFI Expands Directing Workshop for Women Program for Digital Age
It’s a whole new world out there for filmmakers today — and the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) is changing to reflect that fact. This year’s DWW program, sponsored by Will &...
Elisabeth Moss and Michelle Dockery to Star in Psychological Thriller
Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss and Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery have signed on play former best friends in the psychological thriller Queen of Earth. The beloved TV actresses will star as women...
Trailer Watch: Katie Holmes Teaches Children and Criminals Lessons as a Vigilante in ‘Miss Meadows’
Katie Holmes is going back to school (but don’t get too excited; it’s not Capeside High). The former Dawson’s Creek star will be roaming the halls as a teacher this time around in Miss...
Watch: “Women in Refrigerators” Supercut: Female Characters Killed to Give Male Characters Depth
The recent release of a “women in refrigerators” supercut is an infuriating reminder — as if you needed one — of how female characters are (under)utilized and (under)valued onscreen....
‘Masters of Sex’ Renewed for Third Season
Masters of Sex — a show I’ve elsewhere called “Showtime’s best series ever” — has been renewed for a third season. Created by Michelle Ashford, the period drama focuses on...
Trailer Watch: Studio Ghibli’s Eerily Beautiful ‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’
Based on the 10th-century Japanese folktale “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” The Tale of Princess Kaguya depicts the title character’s life from early childhood into adulthood. The animated...
Nicole Holofcener Announces Follow-Up to Enough Said
After making one of her most personal films with Enough Said, Nicole Holofcener is stretching her creative muscles and doing a 180 by taking on a project whose premise didn’t begin with her....
Emma Stone to Make Broadway Debut in ‘Cabaret’
Emma Stone is coming to Broadway. The Help actress will replace Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles in Cabaret when the latter’s extended run in the show comes to an end on November 9. Stone will...
‘To Be Takei’ Director Jennifer Kroot on George Takei’s “Singular Personality” and the Takeis’ “Functional-Dysfunctional” Marriage
Meet the Takeis — George and Brad — two married men who go around the country talking about Star Trek, gay marriage, and other important issues like the Japanese-American internment...
America Ferrara to Host Latino Documentary Series ‘Panoramica’
America Ferrera is returning to TV — this time, in a much more serious role than “Ugly Betty.” Best known for her Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of the titular character in Ugly...
TIFF Announces Julie Taymor and Marjane Satrapi Premieres
As with any huge festival, Toronto FF (September 4–14) has announced its programming in waves. We were initially unimpressed by the paltry number of female filmmakers featured in the main...
Trailer Watch: Susan Sarandon Hunts a Serial Killer in ‘The Calling’
‘May in the Summer’ Writer-Director Cherien Dabis on Hiring Herself to Star in Her Film
May in the Summer is Cherien Dabis’ second film about people who live in two worlds. (Her debut was the Sundance hit Amreeka.) In addition to writing and directing, Dabis went in front of the...
Emmys Rundown: The Good, the Bad, the Gender Disparity
Debbie Reynolds to Be Awarded Life Achievement Honor at SAG Awards
Debbie Reynolds has been chosen as the 2014 recipient of SAG’s most prestigious award, the Life Achievement Award. The honor is bestowed on the basis of the awardee’s career within the industry...