ALL POSTS
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Janicza Bravo — “Lemon”
Janicza Bravo wrote and directed “Gregory Go Boom,” a Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning short film. Her other credits include “Man Rots from the Head,” “Woman in Deep,” and an episode of...
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...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Ramona S. Diaz — “Motherland”
Ramona S. Diaz is an award-winning Asian-American filmmaker. Her film credits include “Spirits Rising,” “Imelda,” “The Learning,” and “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Michelle Latimer— “Rise”
Michelle Latimer is a Métis/Algonquin filmmaker based in Toronto, as well as a programmer, actor, and activist. Her previous directorial efforts include “Choke,” a Sundance Special Jury...
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...
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...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Marianna Palka — “Bitch”
Sundance Film Festival alum, humanist filmmaker, and proud Scotswoman Marianna Palka has previously directed the features “Good Dick” (2008), “I’m the Same” (2014), and “Always Worthy”...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Christina Clusiau — “Trophy”
Christina Clusiau is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and photojournalist based in Brooklyn, NY. In 2013, Clusiau co-founded Reel Peak Films, a production company specializing in short and...
Guest Post: Capturing History As It Happens in the Obama White House
Guest Post by Amy Entelis Shortly after Election Day 2016, CNN began filming inside the Obama White House to tell a story we thought had never previously been told: What is it like to work for the...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Neasa Ní Chianáin — “In Loco Parentis”
Neasa Ní Chianáin started directing in 2001 with television documentaries. Her previous credits include the award-winning “Frank Ned & Busy Lizzie,” which won the Best Feature award at The...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Susan Froemke— “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman”
Susan Froemke is a four-time Emmy winner and non-fiction filmmaker with over thirty films to her credit, including Academy Award-nominated HBO documentary film “Lalee’s Kin,” “Grey...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sabaah Folayan — “Whose Streets?”
Sabaah Folayan is a storyteller and activist based in Brooklyn, New York. She was a lead organizer for The Millions March, one of the largest marches for racial justice in New York history. “Whose...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Gillian Robespierre — “Landline”
Gillian Robespierre is a filmmaker born and raised in New York City. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts, Film and Video Program. Her first feature, “Obvious Child,” premiered at...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kyoko Miyake — “Tokyo Idols”
Born in Japan, Kyoko Miyake studied history at Tokyo University and then moved to Britain to research the history of witchcraft at Oxford. Her film “Brakeless” won a Peabody Award after airing...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kirsten Tan — “Pop Aye”
Kirsten Tan is a writer, director, and cinematographer. Her work has screened at film fests across the world, including Singapore, Rotterdam, and Toronto. Tan has won numerous international awards,...
“Hidden Figures” Screenwriter Sells Scripted Drama to E!
“Hidden Figures” co-writer Allison Schroeder is on a roll. The Golden Globe-nominated NASA drama earned the top spot at the box office this weekend (as it did last weekend), and now there is...
TruTV Picks Up Comedy Series Created by, Starring Amy Sedaris
Amy Sedaris is making your next favorite TV show. The actress and comedian has landed a 10-episode straight-to-series pickup from truTV for an untitled, half-hour comedy she created and stars in,...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors Preview: Films About Pioneers, Dancers, and Nuns
“Step” The Sundance Film Festival kicks off January 19, and like all major fests, the program is rather overwhelming. There are lots of options, and plenty of projects worth checking out. We’ve...
Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller Discuss Nudity and Feminism in Oscar Favorite “Toni Erdmann”
“Toni Erdman” is one of the most lauded films of 2016. It was won many critics awards and was named best film of the year by multiple international critics associations, including Sight &...
Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell on Identity, Loss, and Growth in “Claire in Motion”
Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell’s s debut feature, “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts,” premiered at SXSW in 2011 and went on to play over thirty festivals. Awards include the Alfred P. Sloan...
Natalie Portman Says Ashton Kutcher Was Paid 3x More on “No Strings Attached”
Sexism strikes again. During an interview with Marie Claire UK, Oscar winner and “Jackie” star Natalie Portman revealed that her “No Strings Attached” co-star, Ashton Kutcher, was paid...
2017 Bitch List Highlights Diverse Scripts That Pass the Bechdel Test
The annual Bitch List, which works to highlight unproduced feature film and television screenplays that pass the Bechdel Test, has just been released. For those not in the know, the Bechdel Test was...
Athena Film Festival Announces its 2017 Lineup: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Fits,” & More
The Athena Film Festival has released its seventh annual lineup. The 2017 edition of the fest, which is dedicated to celebrating female leaders in the real life and the fictional world, will feature...
Denmark Faces Another Disappointing Year For Female Director Representation
Denmark, home of such lauded female directors as Susanne Bier and Lone Scherfig, is sadly headed for another disappointing year for Danish female directors. Though the country is known for being...
How I Went from Assistant to On-Set Writer-Producer in a Year and Rocked It
Jennifer Coté on location in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, during filming of USA Network’s “Eyewitness.” Guest Post by Jennifer Coté Juxtaposing snapshots of my life from one year ago with where I...
A Reflection on 2016 and a Promise for 2017
Friends, Let’s not pretend that 2016 hasn’t been a tough year. But as I wrote after the election, we here at Women and Hollywood are deeply committed to continuing and expanding our work in...
Berlinale’s Panorama Program is 55% Women-Directed (So Far)
The Berlin International Film Festival has announced 11 films for its 2017 Panorama program, and six of them are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 55 percent of the slate. While...
The Best Women-Centric Films of 2016
“Arrival” We’re huge fans of many female-led films this year, and were especially pleased to see some real-life heroines have their stories depicted on the big screen. The women behind...
Nina Simone to Receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Iconic singer-songwriter and civil rights activist Nina Simone will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy at the 2017 Special Merit Awards, Variety reports....
The Most Feminist Moments and Exciting Developments of 2016
Viola Davis in “How to Get Away with Murder” In many ways, 2016 was a terrible year, and with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence en route to the White House, the...
The Best Women-Directed Films of 2016: “American Honey,” “The Fits,” & More
“American Honey” Women directors may not have made a major impact at the box office this year, but they absolutely helmed some of the year’s finest films. With subjects as varied as a traveling...
“The Bad Kids’” Principal Talks Education, Oprah, and Leadership
We’re incredibly excited to see Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman” and Brie Larson in “Captain Marvel,” but as high school principal Vonda Viland proves, you don’t have to be a superhero to...
Women in TV: The Best of 2016
This year has been a shit show of unimaginable proportions, and we’re not sure how we would have made it without the help of funny women on TV. In celebration of the end of the longest 365 days...
Breaking the Mold: December 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Lipstick the Series” This month’s crowdfunding picks are all about breaking the mold. From a documentary set during the modern women’s movement to the second season of a popular web series...
Why Isn’t Casey Affleck Being Asked About Sexual Harassment Accusations?
Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday and just as expected, Casey Affleck scored a nod for his role in “Manchester by the Sea.”...
Annapurna’s Megan Ellison to Receive PGA’s Visionary Award
Megan Ellison has been selected by the Producers Guild of America as the 2017 recipient of the Visionary Award, Variety reports. The producer, whose credits include “20th Century Women,” “Zero...
“Queen Sugar” Season Finale Was the Night’s #1 Cable Telecast for Women
“Queen Sugar’s” first season concluded on OWN Wednesday, November 30, and many viewers tuned in to see what the Bordelon siblings got up to. OWN announced that it had ordered a second season...
Trailer Watch: Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman Tell “Big Little Lies”
When someone asks “Exactly how psychotic do you think I am?” you’re probably better off not giving an answer. The first full trailer has been released for “Big Little Lies,” HBO’s...
Gilmore? Gil-less: Was “Gilmore Girls” Always Like This?
I guess it’s true what they say. You can’t go back to Stars Hollow again. I’ll admit, this is one I’ve been looking forward to maybe a little too much. Ever since it was announced that Amy...
December 2016 Film Preview
“Hidden Figures” ‘Tis the holiday movie season once more, Women and Hollywood readers! This is the time of year to escape designated family time by going to your local theater and choosing from...
Putting it All Out in the Open: Crowdfunding Picks
“Netizens” A lot of social and cultural issues stem from those in power refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. In our crowdfunding picks, two documentaries delve into topics that are...
Michelle Yeoh Joins the “Star Trek: Discovery” Crew
The new and upcoming Star Trek series, “Star Trek: Discovery,” has added a new cast member, and we couldn’t be more excited about this addition to the cast. As THR reports, Michelle Yeoh will...
Project for Women Directors Sabotaged By a One Man’s Complaint
The news coming out of North Carolina’s theater scene is slightly confusing, but what it sounds like is a classic case of sexist sabotage. As IndyWeek reports, on Tuesday of last week, Jerome...
Catching Up with “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’s” Lauren Graham & Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham are best known as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the quick-witted, close-knit mother-daughter pair in “Gilmore Girls.” The popular series, which ended in 2007 after...
Shonda Rhimes Honored with International Emmy Founders Award
Who runs the world? Shonda Rhimes. The TV mogul, creator, and producer will be receiving a special honor at the International Emmy Awards Gala this coming Monday, The Seattle Times reports. Tony...
Winners Announced for Women In Film’s Film Finishing Fund
Women In Film has revealed the winners of the 31st annual Film Finishing Fund grant program. The non-profit organization received more than 250 submissions from 22 countries, Deadline reports. Four...
Weekly Update for November 18: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Moana” Films About Women Opening This Week The Edge of Seventeen — Written and Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig “The Edge of Seventeen” A look at what it’s like to grow up as a young...
Houda Benyamina on What Inspired Her Award-Winning Drama “Divines”
After completing her diploma at ERAC (Acting School for the Cannes Region), Houda Benyamina gained training as a director through the 1000 Faces association, which she founded in 2006 as a way of...
Screen NSW Makes Amazing Strides Toward Gender Equality
Screen NSW (New South Wales) announced its 50:50 by 2020 Gender Target for female writers, producers, and directors one year ago. The industry has since undergone a dramatic change, and is now “on...
Zadie Smith’s “Swing Time” Set for Television Adaptation at the BBC
Author Zadie Smith’s novel “Swing Time” has been picked up by the BBC for a television adaptation, ScreenDaily reports. Smith will adapt the book herself, along with her husband, writer Nick...
Oscars 2017 Foreign Language Contenders: Meet Paula van der Oest — “Tonio”
Paula van der Oest is a screenwriter and director. Her works have screened at film festivals around the world. She was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category for her...