ALL POSTS
Kirsten Dunst to Direct Dakota Fanning in “The Bell Jar”
Kirsten Dunst is set to helm her debut feature. The “Fargo” star and Emmy nominee is bringing an adaptation of Sylvia Plath’s influential 1963 novel “The Bell Jar” to the big-screen. Dunst...
Nanfu Wang on Activism, Sex Work, and Human Rights in “Hooligan Sparrow”
Interview by Diana Martinez Nanfu Wang was born in a remote farming village in Jiangxi Province, China. Wang is a recipient of the Sundance Documentary Fund and the Bertha Britdoc Journalism Fund...
Apply Now for the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship Through The Black List
If you’re an aspiring screenwriter and member of The Black List, here’s some good news: For the fourth year of the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, two screenwriters instead...
Weekly Update for July 15: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Ghostbusters” Films About Women Opening This Week Ghostbusters — Co-Written by Katie Dippold “Ghostbusters” bursts onto the screen with several of our country’s funniest...
Ramona Diaz Honored by Docs In Progress Inspiration Award
The Documentary Inspiration Awards will honor filmmaker Ramona Diaz. Docs in Progress, a D.C. area-based non-profit, will host a special evening to celebrate Diaz and learn from her in an intimate...
Trailer Watch: Clea DuVall’s “The Intervention” is the New Millennium’s “The Big Chill”
First-time feature film director Clea DuVall has taken some of your favorite TV actors, put them in a blender, and created the amazing ensemble cast that makes up “The Intervention.” In the...
“Deadpool’s” Brianna Hildebrand and “X-Men’s” Alexandra Shipp Join Forces for “Tragedy Girls”
Two comic book heroines are set to team up for a new horror comedy with an enticing premise. “Deadpool’s” Brianna Hildebrand and “X-Men: Apocalypse’s” Alexandra Shipp will star in...
Weekly Update for July 1: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Our Kind of Traitor” Films About Women Opening This Week The Innocents — Directed by Anne Fontaine; Co-Written by Anne Fontaine, Sabrina B. Karine, and Alice Vial (Opens in NY...
Trailer Watch: Ellen Page Makes Desperate Choices as “Tallulah”
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that’s what faces Ellen Page in the new trailer for Netflix’s original feature “Tallulah.” The film, according to its official synopsis,...
Trailer Watch: Women Get Their Own Narratives in “Abortion: Stories Women Tell”
Much like the intense gun-safety debate going on around the country today, abortion remains a hot topic despite the fact that it was legalized decades ago. Women still have difficulty accessing...
Erin Moriarty and Danika Yarosh Join Helen Hunt for Sports Movie “Live Like Line”
Erin Moriarty and Danika Yarosh have been cast in the upcoming volleyball film “Live Like Line,” Deadline reports, with Helen Hunt playing their coach. Moriarty played Woody Harrelson’s teen...
Ashleigh Murray and Rachel Crow Set for Netflix’s “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train”
Relative newcomers Ashleigh Murray (“Younger”) and Rachel Crow (“Fred: The Show”) will star in the Netflix caper comedy flick “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train,” Shadow and...
Nicole Kidman to Star in Big Screen Version of Anna Ziegler’s “Photograph 51”
Playwright Anna Zielger will adapt her play “Photograph 51” for the big screen, The Tracking Board reports, and Nicole Kidman, who starred in the 2015 West End production, is attached to star....
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” Takes Home Top Honors at Sheffield Doc/Fest
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” has been named the grand prize winner of Sheffield Doc/Fest. The documentary is a curated collection of extraordinary footage that Johnson has assembled over...
Nicole Kidman Joins “Top of the Lake” Season 2 with Elisabeth Moss and Gwendoline Christie
Oz’s biggest movie star is joining our favorite Australia-set series. Deadline reports that Nicole Kidman has signed on to Season 2 of Jane Campion’s feminist mystery series “Top of the...
Frameline, San Fran LGBTQ Film Fest’s Features Lineup is Nearly 50% Women-Directed
LGBTQ film festivals are always something to celebrate, but especially when women-directed films feature prominently in the program, as both groups are underrepresented on the film festival circuit...
“O.J.: Made In America” Producer Caroline Waterlow on Race, Marcia Clark, and Domestic Abuse
Women and Hollywood spoke with Caroline Waterlow, producer of the highly anticipated “O.J.: Made in America,” one of Sundance 2016’s biggest hits. Described as a masterpiece by many critics,...
Sexist Comment of the Day: Studio Ghibli Producer Explains Why They Don’t Hire Women to Direct
Perpetuating stereotypes is never a good thing — but especially in the context of an interview with one of the world’s most prominent publications. The Guardian asked Studio Ghibli producer...
Trailer Watch: “Jesus Camp” Directors Tackle TV Icon in “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You”
A newly released trailer for Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” introduces the doc’s subject by saying, “He has been around approximately forever.”...
Trailer Watch: Atheist Doctor Teams Up with Nuns in Anne Fontaine’s “The Innocents”
A newly released trailer for European writer-director Anne Fontaine’s latest offering, “The Innocents,” has been released. The drama centers on a young, atheist French Red Cross doctor (Lou de...
Anna Rose Holmer on Hysteria and Collaboration in Her Genre-Blending Dance Film “The Fits”
Anna Rose Holmer was listed as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film 2015.” She recently produced Jody Lee Lipes’ “Ballet 422” and Mike Plunkett’s “Salero.”...
Effie Brown on “Project Greenlight,” Inclusiveness, and Loving Comic Book Films
You’d have to have been living under a rock for the past year to not know about the whole Effie Brown, Matt Damon, “Project Greenlight,” “Did he really say that? Oh god he did,” debacle....
LA Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Meet Tracy Wares — “Political Animals”
Tracy Wares has made documentaries on five continents. She’s worked on projects such as “Bomb It,” “Gay Republicans,” and “Smokin’ Fish.” Wares’ work has aired on ABC, PBS,...
LA Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Meet Alexi Pappas — “Tracktown”
Alexi Pappas completed her thesis in poetry at Dartmouth College where she graduated magna cum laude before running off to compete in the 2012 Olympic Track & Field Trials. Alexi then joined the...
Trailer Watch: “Wiener-Dog” Brings Everyone Together
Dawn Wiener is back…sort of. “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” which starred Heather Matarazzo as a character named Dawn Wiener, won the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize in 1995, and...
Nanfu Wang’s “Hooligan Sparrow” Doc Gets Theatrical Release
Nanfu Wang’s award-winning documentary “Hooligan Sparrow” will be released theatrically in LA and NY this July. The film debuted at Sundance 2016. Wang told Women and Hollywood that...
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” Acquired by Janus Films
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” has been acquired by Janus Films after a successful run on the festival circuit. The distributor picked up all North American rights to the documentary, which...
Summer 2016 Preview
“Me Before You” by Eboni Boykin and Diana Martinez This summer will be packed with a broad range of films by and about women for your enjoyment as you escape the summer heat. Kicking off the...
Inside Out 2016 Women Directors: Meet Cecilia Aldarondo — “Memories of a Penitent Heart”
Cecilia Aldarondo holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and is an Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Skidmore College. She was the inaugural recipient of the Roberto Guerra Documentary...
Weekly Update for May 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Maggie’s Plan” Films About Women Opening This Week Maggie’s Plan — Written and Directed by Rebecca Miller (Opens in LA and NY) Greta Gerwig’s name is now pretty much synonymous...
Trailer Watch: Anna Gunn Demands “Equity”
Anna Gunn starred as Skyler White on the hit AMC series “Breaking Bad” for the show’s entire run and was on the receiving end of a lot of sexist criticism for the role. The barrage of death...
Cannes 2016 Women Directors: Meet Shirley Abraham — “The Cinema Travellers”
“The Cinema Travellers” is Shirley Abraham’s feature directorial debut. The documentary was co-directed by Amit Madheshiya. The film premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on...
Sophie Hyde to Direct Adaptation of Cult Fave “Animals”
Australian director Sophie Hyde has announced her follow-up project to Sundance-winner “52 Tuesdays.” She’ll helm an adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth’s 2014 novel “Animals,” a cult...
Ellen Burstyn and Laura Dern to Star in Jennifer Fox’s “The Tale”
Ellen Burstyn and Laura Dern have signed on to star as a mother and daughter in Jennifer Fox’s “The Tale.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Tale” centers on Jennifer (Dern), “a...
Cannes 2016: “Toni Erdmann” Director Maren Ade Calls for 50% Quotas for Female Directors
Maren Ade is just one of three female directors in the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival this year, and like many of us, she’s demanding more. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter,...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest Lineup Over 50% Female-Directed
The lineup for the 2016 Human Rights Watch Film Festival has been revealed, and 10 of the 18 features being screened are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to 56 percent of the slate....
Cannes 2016: Jodie Foster Opens “Women in Motion” Program at Cannes
Jodie Foster will open the second “Women in Motion” program at the Cannes Film Festival, which begins today. Foster is at the festival promoting her film “Money Monster,” which is screening...
Rosemary Myers’ “Girl Asleep” Acquired by Oscilloscope
The U.S. rights to Rosemary Myer’s debut feature, “Girl Asleep,” have been acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Set in Australia in the 1970s, the coming-of-age tale centers on Greta...
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin on Hollywood After 50 and “Grace and Frankie” Season 2
“Grace and Frankie”: Netflix Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s resumes are long and illustrious, and of course include “9 to 5,” the popular feminist tale they made together in the 70s. Both are...
Female Cinematographers Band Together to Form CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX
Female cinematographers are banding together to form a new, supportive group called CINEMATOGRAPHERS XX, which will “help the crews behind the camera be more reflective of the stories they create,...
Kristen Stewart, Gabourey Sidibe to Make Directorial Debuts, America Ferrera to Produce with…
Kristen Stewart, Gabourey Sidibe to Make Directorial Debuts, America Ferrera to Produce with Refinery29 Kristen Stewart: Gage Skidmore/Wiki Commons Digital lifestyle company Refinery29 returned to...
Hot Docs 2016 Women Directors: Meet Laura Dunn— “The Seer”
Laura Dunn started making documentaries in response to her undergraduate experience at Yale University. Through a chronicle of labor strikes on campus, “The Subtext of a Yale Education” examines...
May 2016 Film Preview
“Gayby Baby” There’s an array of choices to support female-centric and/or women-directed films in May. The month kicks off with “Gayby Baby,” a documentary that explores the increased...
Elisabeth Moss Will Star in Adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Mad Men” and “Top of the Lake” star Elisabeth Moss has signed on to an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Streaming service...
Hot Docs 2016 Women Directors: Meet Heidi Brandenburg — “When Two Worlds Collide”
Heidi Brandenburg co-founded Yachaywasi Films to explore social and environmental issues and challenge audiences to rethink preconceptions. Born in Paraguay and raised in Peru and Germany, she now...
Hot Docs 2016 Women Directors: Meet Anjali Nayar — “Gun Runners”
Anjali Nayar’s award-winning filmmaking and journalism work has explored myriad topics, ranging from climate change to political activism to pop culture. In her fractionally fictional documentary,...
Penélope Cruz to Star in Toni Kalem’s “Layover”
Penélope Cruz is set to hit the road in Toni Kalem’s “Layover.” The Oscar-winner will play a traveling saleswoman who, according to the release, goes “on the lam from her life.” Claire...
“Viktoria” Director Maya Viktova on the Difficult Journey To Make Her Directorial Debut
Maya Viktova is a writer-director and producer. In 2008, she executive produced Kamen Kalev’s debut feature “Eastern Plays,” which premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2009 and...
Women In Film Los Angeles Now Accepting Grant Applications
Female filmmakers, are you ready for some cash? Women In Film Los Angeles has begun accepting applications for their 2016 Finishing Fund grants. The entry period opened yesterday and WIF will be...
Trailer Watch: “The Fits” Turns Hysteria Into Dance
To film her directorial debut, “The Fits,” director Anna Rose Holmer scoured the West End of Cincinnati to cast real, non-actor teenagers for added authenticity. The resulting energy is clear...
Trailer Watch: “Weiner” Sex Scandal Rocks the Political World
A trailer has finally landed for Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman’s political sex scandal doc “Weiner.” The feature took home the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this...