ALL POSTS
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Jessica M. Thompson— “The Light of the Moon”
Jessica M. Thompson is an Emmy-nominated Australian filmmaker who lives in New York City. She’s made several award-winning short films alongside Carlo Velayo, including “Hike,” “Percepio,”...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Laura E. Davis and Jessica Kaye — “Inheritance”
Laura E. Davis is a writer, director, and story consultant. Her previous credits include the award-winning feature “Thin Air,” a short film starring Sarita Choudhury (“Homeland”), and a...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Reeder— “Signature Move”
Jennifer Reeder constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma, and coping. Her award-winning narratives borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music...
Jill Soloway Producing Women’s Rodeo Drama for Amazon
Jill Soloway is teaming up with Amazon again. The “Transparent” creator will produce a limited series about a women’s rodeo alongside Andrea Sperling for Amazon’s streaming platform,...
SXSW 2017 Women Directors: Meet Chris Shellen — “Spettacolo”
Chris Shellen is a writer and filmmaker based in California. She produced the award-winning documentary “Marwencol” and co-authored the companion art book, “Welcome to Marwencol,” which was...
Trailer Watch: A Romance Takes a Sinister Turn in Cate Shortland’s “Berlin Syndrome”
What begins as a picturesque romance quickly becomes a horrifying nightmare in Cate Shortland’s “Berlin Syndrome.” A newly released international trailer for the thriller introduces us to...
Ferne Pearlstein on Tackling Taboos in Comedy in “The Last Laugh”
Ferne Pearlstein is is a prize-winning cinematographer, a feature film editor, and a writer/director whose work has won numerous awards and been screened and broadcast around the world. In 2003...
Amanda Lipitz’s Dance Doc “Step” Gets a Release Date
The “Lethal Ladies” are set to dance their way into theaters. Fox Searchlight has announced a release date for “Step,” Amanda Lipitz’s inspirational documentary about a step dance...
Kristen Stewart in Negotiations to Star in Survival Thriller “Underwater”
It’s looking like Kristen Stewart will topline a new blockbuster. After well-reviewed turns in indies like “Certain Women,” “Still Alice,” and “Clouds of Sils Maria,” the actress is in...
52 A-Listers Join Forces to Tackle Hollywood Gender Inequality
Fifty-two Hollywood powerhouses are fed up with the lip service paid to Hollywood’s gender problem, and are determined to enact major, industry-wide change. “Studio and agency insiders,...
Weekly Update for February 17: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“XX” Films About Women Opening This Week XX (Anthology) — Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, Sofia Carrillo, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark (St. Vincent), and Jovanka Vuckovic; Co-Written by Roxanne...
Marjane Satrapi to Direct Marie Curie Biopic
Marjane Satrapi is set to bring another graphic novel to the big screen. The “Persepolis” filmmaker will direct Working Title’s “Radioactive,” based on Lauren Redniss’ graphic nonfiction...
So Yong Kim on the Blurred Lines Between Friendship and Romance in “Lovesong”
So Yong Kim is an award-winning Korean-American independent filmmaker. In 2006 Kim received the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her debut feature, “In Between Days.” Her...
STX Options “The New Neighbors” Spec, Leslye Headland Set to Direct
Leslye Headland is gearing up to direct her third feature film. The “Bachelorette” and “Sleeping with Other People” writer-director is attached to helm “The New Neighbors,” Deadline...
New Directors/New Films Festival Announces 2017 Lineup
The lineup for the 46th annual New Directors/New Films Festival (ND/NF) has been announced. A joint effort of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, ND/NF will...
Niki Caro to Direct Disney’s Live-Action “Mulan”
Welcome to the $100 million club, Niki Caro. The “McFarland, USA” director is reteaming with Disney to helm its live-action “Mulan” remake, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. With this gig,...
Berlinale 2017 Women Directors: Meet Rubika Shah — “White Riot: London”
Rubika Shah is a director, writer, and journalist. She has directed a number of documentary shorts for the BBC which explore the works of Spike Lee, Gore Vidal, and others. Her documentary short...
Netflix Updates: Kate McKinnon, “Anne of Green Gables,” and “Casting JonBenét” News
Kate McKinnon in “Ghostbusters”: Sony Pictures Netflix continues its world domination. With so many projects forthcoming, the streaming giant is releasing news on a steady basis. Thanks to a...
Broadway Star Cynthia Erivo to Play Harriet Tubman in Upcoming Biopic
Cynthia Erivo is going from the stage to the big screen. According to Variety, the Broadway actress and singer will play Harriet Tubman in a new biopic, currently titled “Harriet.” Set to begin...
WIFT Germany Announces Berlinale Event with Lone Scherfig
If you find yourself in Berlin this coming Saturday, you should consider attending “How to Attract Audiences in a Changing Cinema Landscape – Fresh Ideas for Storytelling and Outreach.” The...
Trailer Watch: Kristen Stewart Is Waiting for a Sign in “Personal Shopper”
The latest trailer for “Personal Shopper” is here and sees protagonist Maureen (Kristen Stewart) buying haute couture and running errands for her boss, Kyra. “Kyra’s very high-profile,”...
Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Band Aid” Acquired by IFC Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide
“Band Aid” just got its big break. IFC Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions obtained the rights to the comedy from writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones, IndieWire reports. IFC Films...
Sarah Paulson to Topline “Lost Girls” Adaptation Directed by Liz Garbus
Sarah Paulson is tackling another famous crime story. “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” star will topline “Lost Girls,” an Amazon Studios thriller inspired by the so-called...
Weekly Update for February 3: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” Films About Women Opening This Week This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (Documentary) — Directed by Barbara Kopple (Opens in NY and LA; Available on...
New Research Shows Number of Women Directors Hasn’t Changed Over the Last Decade
Our sentiments exactly, Ava DuVernay: Democracy Now!/YouTube A new study from USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity, & Social Change (MDSC) Initiative found that the past 10 years have seen little...
Saoirse Ronan to Play a Refugee in “Sweetness in the Belly” Adaptation
Last year Saoirse Ronan earned an Oscar nomination for playing a young Irish immigrant who moves to New York in “Brooklyn,” and now the actress has signed on to portray another protagonist who...
CBS Orders Pilot from Katie Couric and Jenny Lumet
We all know Katie Couric as a respected veteran TV journalist and producer. And now we’ll know her as a TV drama series executive producer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS has ordered a...
Marielle Heller’s Next Movie Begins Filming, Melissa McCarthy Stars
Like many, we fell in love with Marielle Heller’s award-winning directorial debut, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” The writer-director’s next project, Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever...
February 2017 Film Preview
“A United Kingdom” There may or may not be love in the air this February, but one thing is certain: there is an abundance of female-led horror on the screen. There are, of course, some lighter...
Janelle Monaé, Issa Rae Among Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Honorees
Essence has announced the honorees of its 2017 Black Women in Hollywood Awards. Musician and “Hidden Figures” star Janelle Monaé, “Insecure’s” Issa Rae, “How to Get Away with...
Weekly Update for January 27: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Films About Women Opening This Week Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Picking up immediately after the events of “Resident Evil: Retribution,” Alice (Milla...
Support Female Cinematographers: Recommendations for 2017 Viewing
Women accounted for just five percent of the cinematographers who worked on the top 250 highest-grossing films of 2016, and a female cinematographer has never been nominated for an Oscar. Because...
Trailer Watch: A Doctor Saves Lives Around the World in “The Resilient Heart”
As Valentine’s Day approaches, heart-shaped paper cutouts and candies are everywhere, as are cards waxing philosophical about love’s impact on the actual heart. We talk so much about the heart...
Refinery29 & TNT Team Up for Return of Women-Focused Shatterbox Anthology
Refinery29 is partnering up with TNT the return of Shatterbox Anthology, its women-focused short film series. According to a press release, Shatterbox “provides a platform for the next cycle of...
Trailer Watch: Melanie Lynskey is a Vigilante in “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”
Ruth (Melanie Lynskey, “Togetherness”) is struggling to exist in a world with so many selfish, entitled jerks in “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” a Netflix original film that...
Weekly Update for January 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Starless Dreams” Films About Women Opening This Week Starless Dreams (Documentary) (Opens in NY) A haunting portrait of stolen childhood, “Starless Dreams” plunges us into the lives of...
Teaser Watch: Kitty Green’s “Casting JonBenét” Will Give You Goosebumps
“My name is Anna and I’m auditioning for the role of JonBenét Ramsey,” a young aspiring actress announces in a newly released clip from Kitty Green’s “Casting JonBenét.” What comes out...
Trailer Watch: “Motherland” Welcomes Us to the Busiest Maternity Ward on Earth
“I admit I’m crazy. Why wouldn’t I be?” a patient asks in the new trailer for “Motherland.” “The children come one after another. I don’t have enough love to give all of them. I wish...
Amanda Kernell’s “Sami Blood” Lands U.S. Distribution
Amanda Kernell’s “Sami Blood” has secured North American distribution prior to its U.S. premiere at Sundance on January 20. Synergetic Distribution snagged the rights to the coming-of-age...
Guest Post: What I Learned from Documenting the Aftermath of Sandy Hook
Guest Post by Kim A. Snyder Chronicling the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was without a doubt the most daunting endeavor I’ve ever undertaken in my twenty years as a...
Trailer Watch: There’s No Tomorrow for Zoey Deutch in Ry Russo-Young’s “Before I Fall”
“Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow. But for some of us, there’s only today,” explains Samantha (Zoey Deutch, “Why Him?”), the teen protagonist of “Before I Fall.” A new trailer has...
Barbara Kopple’s “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” Gets Release Date
Barbara Kopple’s latest project has a release date. Following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” will launch February 8 on...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg Pictures Announces Breakthrough Filmmaker Award Recipients
Chicken & Egg Pictures has announced the recipients of the second Breakthrough Filmmaker Award, which includes a $50,000 unrestricted grant and a year-long creative support and mentorship...
“Heathers” Anthology Series Green Lit at TV Land
TV Land The “Heathers” reboot has officially been ordered to series at TV Land, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The dark comedy will mark the network’s first hourlong original series. While...
CIR Launches Glassbreaker Films for Female Documentary Filmmakers
The Center for Investigative Reporting has announced the launch of Glassbreaker Films, a new film studio “intended to support and empower women in documentary filmmaking.” Glassbreaker Films was...
Trailer Watch: “The Lure” Makes Mermaids Frightening Again
Mermaids have always been frightening creatures of mythology, and now, Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska’s “The Lure” brings back the horror lost to Disney princesses, with an added fun,...
Trailer Watch: Women Will Make You Scream with Horror Anthology “XX”
Horror anthology film “XX” is a breath of fresh air in the male-dominated genre: The feature utilizes an all-female directing team. A new trailer has been released for the project, and the...
Trailer Watch: Riley Keough & Jena Malone are BFFs in So Yong Kim’s “Lovesong”
If and when the line between platonic and romantic gets blurred, it’s unlikely that a friendship will ever be the same. A trailer for So Yong Kim’s “Lovesong” has been released, and it hints...
Weekly Update for January 6: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Underworld: Blood Wars” Films About Women Opening This Week Underworld: Blood Wars — Directed by Anna Foerster The next installment in the blockbuster franchise, “Underworld: Blood...
January 2017 Film Preview
“Underworld: Blood Wars” January is good month for fans of female-led action films. Both the “Underworld” and “Resident Evil” franchises are releasing their latest chapters. Even those...
The Best Documentaries By and About Women in 2016
“13th” So many standout documentaries by and about women have been released this year. The films that follow are just some of our many favorites. These award-winning docs explore political...