ALL POSTS
Docu-Series About Hollywood’s Gender Inequality to Air on Epix
Gender inequality has persisted in Hollywood since the early days of the silver screen, but it’s only in recent years that the mainstream media has devoted much attention to sexism on screen and...
Horizon Awards Winners Named: Four Young Female Filmmakers to Watch
The winners of the 2016 Horizon Award have been announced. This year’s recipients are emerging filmmakers Macarena (Macqui) Gaona, Shanice Malakai Johnson, Juliette Gosselin and Florence...
Meera Menon’s Female-Led Wall Street Drama ‘Equity’ Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics
Meera Menon’s banker drama “Equity” has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The deal took place on the day before the film’s world premiere at Sundance 2016. “Breaking Bad”...
Saoirse Ronan to Star in Greta Gerwig’s Directorial Debut ‘Lady Bird’
A double dose of good news: As previously announced, Greta Gerwig is set to make her solo directorial debut, and now we know that Saoirse Ronan will star in it. “Lady Bird” will see the...
The Academy Steps Up to the Diversity Challenge in a Big Way
Sundance is in full swing but the big news today came out of LA, where Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and CEO Dawn Hudson, with the support of the Board of Governors, unveiled radical changes...
Watch: Elizabeth Banks, Retta and More Tell Abortion Stories
Actresses from the big and small screen are speaking out about abortion in a new series of videos launched by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The Draw the Line monologues, which feature stars...
The Investigative Fund Names Inaugural Doc Award Winners: Lyric R. Cabral and Elizabeth Lo
The Investigate Fund, a New York-based award-winning nonprofit journalism organization, has unveiled the winners of its inaugural documentary film contest. Directors Lyric R. Cabral...
Chicken & Egg Pictures Announces Recipients of Its Inaugural Breakthrough Filmmaker Award
Documentary filmmakers Kristi Jacobson, Julia Reichert, Yoruba Richen, Elaine McMillion and Michèle Stephenson have been named the five recipients of Chicken & Egg Pictures’...
Quote of the Day: Marielle Heller on How Male and Female Directors Are Perceived Differently
Marielle Heller recently received some well-deserved love from the DGA for her critically acclaimed directorial debut, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl." Heller, who also penned the script for...
Netflix Buys Sian Heder’s ‘Tallulah,’ Starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney
Sian Heder’s feature directorial debut "Talluhlah" has found a home prior to its world premiere at Sundance just over a week away. Netflix is reported to have spent somewhere in the...
Tessa Thompson May Join Natalie Portman and Gina Rodriguez in Sci-Fi ‘Annihilation’
Tessa Thompson ("Creed," "Dear White People") has reportedly been approached to join Natalie Portman and Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin") in...
18 Most Anticipated Films By and About Women in 2016
2016 is rushing swiftly upon us, so to kickstart celebrations, here’s a heads-up on 18 of the most exciting female-centric/women-directed films to watch out for in the coming months. Do...
The Top 10 Film/TV Moments for Queer Women in 2015
In a year when marriage equality became the law of the land, Hollywood — particularly film — was playing some catch-up when it came to LGBT representation. TV came into the year already...
Women in Film Announces 30th Annual Finishing Fund Recipients
Three narrative features, four documentary features and a pair of shorts — all from female filmmakers — have been selected to receive Women in Film’s finishing funds this year....
Guest Post: Closing the Confidence Gap One Female Hero at a Time
Last year, while working on the edit of my film “Bleeding Heart,” I heard the phrase “the confidence gap” for the first time. The confidence gap seemingly explains why women haven’t broken...
Moving the Needle on Hollywood’s Gender Disparity: 4 Solutions
Under media pressure and the threat of possible government intervention, Hollywood seems to finally be taking its female-protagonist and woman-director problems more seriously. Forty-four industry...
Films by 15 Queer Female Filmmakers To Stream This Thanksgiving
With the prospect of a long holiday weekend surrounded by family and/or loved ones ahead, the question naturally arises of what to do with all that free time after digesting your turkey (or Tofurky,...
“The Hunting Ground,” “Meru,” “Something Better to Come” Nominated for PGA’s Top Doc Award
Two documentaries directed/co-directed by female filmmakers have been nominated for the Producers Guild of America’s nonfiction award. Hanna Polak’s “Something Better to Come,” a portrait...
Apply for the Roger Ebert Fellowship for Film Criticism
During the press tour for “Suffragette,” Meryl Streep brought renewed attention to the gender lopsidedness plaguing film criticism. Here’s one way emerging female (and male) critics can get...
The All-White THR Actress Roundtable Is a Perfect Example of #HollywoodSoWhite
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter postedits annual actress roundtable, and not surprisingly — but certainly disappointingly — all of the eight performers on the cover were white. Steven...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sabrina Schmidt Gordon — ‘BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez’
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon is a documentary producer, editor and director from NYC. Her editing debut won an Emmy for WGBH (public broadcasting from Boston), and she has continued to distinguish herself...
Guest Post: Producer Lydia Dean Pilcher on the Great Conundrum Facing Feminist Progress in Hollywood Today
With “Suffragette” now in theaters, what lessons can we glean from this powerful story in thecurrent struggle for gender equality in Hollywood? While women in entertainment certainly aren’t...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Amy Berg — ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’
Amy Berg is a critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. She was nominated for an Academy Award and a DGA Award (Outstanding Directorial Achievement in...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Erika Frankel — ‘King Georges’
Erika Frankel most recently produced “The Home Team” (SXSW, AFI DOCS 2014), “Annie: It’s the Hard Knock Life” (PBS 2013) and “Frontrunners” (SXSW, Oscilloscope 2008; Sundance Channel...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Hillevi Loven — ‘Deep Run’
Hillevi Loven is a filmmaker, producer and still photographer based in Brooklyn. She is making her feature-film-directing debut with “Deep Run.” In collaboration with NYU anthropologist Natasha...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Molly Bernstein — ‘An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell’
Molly Bernstein was the director, producer and editor of “Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay,” about the great magician, actor and “scholar of the unusual.” She has...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sharon Shattuck — ‘From This Day Forward’
Sharon Shattuck is a filmmaker and animator. She is the co-creator of the New York Times Op-Docs series “Animated Life,” which illustrates historical moments of scientific discovery using...
Kim Longinotto on Her Long Career and the Role of (Lack of) Confidence in Her Filmmaking
For over thirty years, Kim Longinotto has made acclaimed documentaries that have won awards from BAFTA, the Sundance Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, among others....
Systemic Change in Hollywood: So What Do We Do Now?
Earlierthis week, Reese Witherspoon spoke at the Glamour Women of the Year event, and in her fantastic, passionate, feminist speech, she talked about whyshe started Pacific Standard, her production...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Emily Abt — ‘Daddy Don’t Go’
Filmmaker Emily Abt was one of Variety Magazine’s “Top 10 Directors to Watch” and has produced and directed documentaries for PBS, OWN, MTV, Showtime and the Sundance Channel. Abt earned her...
Weekly Update for November 6: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Miss You Already — Directed by Catherine Hardwicke; Written by Morwenna Banks — Women and Hollywood’s Pick of the Week In a year filled with great...
Catherine Hardwicke on the Universalness of ‘Miss You Already’ and Her Next Female-Centric Projects
It might seem puzzling that filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke isn’t more of a household name considering her achievements. Thanks to 2008’s “Twilight,” she held the record as the female director...
33% of 2015 Oscar-Submitted Docs Directed by Women
Of the 124 documentary features submitted for the 2016 Oscar race, 41, or exactly a third, are directed or co-directed by women. Nine of thosee 41 films are co-directed with a male helmer. Half of...
Alexandra Shiva on ‘How to Dance in Ohio,’ Her Coming-of-Age Doc About Teens with Autism
“How to Dance in Ohio” is a portrait of young adults on the autism spectrum in the months leading up to a formal dance. After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, it will...
Producer Mehret Mandefro on How Her Bride-Abduction Drama ‘Difret’ Shows that Change Can Happen
In “Difret,” 14-year-old Hirut (Tizita Hagere) is kidnapped while walking home from school and forced into marriage by an older man she doesn’t know — and who’s willing to do whatever...
Reed Morano on ‘Meadowland,’ Working with Olivia Wilde and Motherhood Discrimination
When cinematographer Reed Morano was invited to join the prestigious American Society of Cinematography (ASC) in 2013, she became their youngest-ever member. The revered director of photography...
Happy Friday: Ava DuVernay’s Glorious Speech at the ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards
Ava DuVernay gave one hell of a speech at the 22nd annual ELLE Women and Hollywood Awards this week. The “Selma” director, who was honored at the event, echoed Toni Morrison’s description of...
Tribeca Enterprises and Chanel Launch New Program for Women Filmmakers, Participants Announced (UPDATED)
UPDATE: Anna Martemucci won the $75,000 Tribeca Chanel grant to make her short, “One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure.” The deciding jury included Julianne Moore, Patricia Clarkson, Mary...
A Scholar’s Reflections on Women Directors: Discrimination and Mentorship, Then and Now
October is WomenDirectors Month on Turner Classic Movies, and my stint as a co-host has been awonderful excuse to revisit over 100 years of women directors and their films. Forthe first 20+ years of...
2015 DOC NYC Lineup is 38% Female-Helmed; Hillary Rodham Clinton to Appear at Fest
DOC NYC’s 2015 lineup has been announced, and of 104 features screening, 39 are directed or co-directed by women — a figure that amounts to 38% of the programming. Last year, women helmed 43...
15% of Oscars Submissions for 2016’s Best Foreign Language Film Category Directed by Women
Twelve films directed or co-directed by women have been submitted by their respective countries for the 2016 Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Those dozen works make up about 15% of...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Hanna Polak — ‘Something Better to Come’
Hanna Polak is an Oscar-nominated director. She has worked on various movies as producer, director, cinematographer and still photographer. In 2002, she was awarded Best Producer of Documentary and...
Female Teenage BFF Inmates From Liz Garbus’ Doc ‘Girlhood’ to Get Movie Treatment
A narrative feature based on the two subjects of Liz Garbus’ 2003 documentary “Girlhood,” young female inmates Shanae Watkins and Megan Stahl, is in the works. The project, titled “Hood...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Gavron — ‘Suffragette’
Sarah Gavron’s feature film debut was “Brick Lane,” which earned her a BAFTA nomination, a BIFA nomination and The Alfred Dunhill Talent Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Prior to this,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lyric R. Cabral — ‘(T)ERROR’
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker committed to reporting stories seldom seen in mainstream media. Her documentary work has been supported by artist grants from the BBC,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Karyn Kusama — ‘The Invitation’
Karyn Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, “Girlfight,” in 1999. The film won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It went on...
Study: “Female Directors Face a Fiscal Cliff in Their Careers Soon After Making a Short Film”
“Making a short film might be both the launch and the pinnacle of [many female filmmakers’] careers,” concludes a comprehensive new study that looks at how often women start on unequal terrain...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mor Loushy — ‘Censored Voices’
Mor Loushy graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2007 and has been working as a freelancer ever since. Her debut film, “Israel Ltd.,” world-premiered at International...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Ondi Timoner — ‘BRAND: A Second Coming’
Director and producer Ondi Timoner won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice — for “Dig!” (2004), about the collision of art and commerce through the story of two bands, and “We Live in...
‘Addicted to Fresno’ Director Jamie Babbit on Hiding Pregnancies and Embracing Diversity
There’s been a lot of talk lately about Judy Greer’s summer of tiny, thankless roles, in which she plays characters designed to be instantly forgettable in “Tomorrowland,” “Entourage,”...
‘The Second Mother’ Director Anna Muylaert Speaks Out About Film-Festival Sexism
“Men think it’s lovely if a woman makes a lovely film that nobody sees.” That’s the scathing highlight of the interview writer-director Anna Muylaert gave to Women and Hollywood when her...