#Women Directors
Watch: Bella Ramsey Shares Her Passions in “Catherine Called Birdy” Clip, Lena Dunham Directs
After 13 years in development, we finally have a glimpse of Lena Dunham’s adaptation of Karen Cushman’s 1994 historical YA novel, “Catherine Called Birdy.” Teen Vogue...
Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Directorial Debut Heading to IFC, Jessie Buckley, Fiona Shaw, & Vicky Krieps Star
“Hot Milk” has found a home. A press release confirms that the adaptation of the bestselling Deborah Levy novel, which marks renowned screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s directorial...
Alexandra Billings and Reem Morsi Team Up for “Queen Tut”
“Transparent” alumna Alexandra Billings is set to star in and exec produce “Queen Tut.” Described by Deadline as a “trans revolutionary indie feature,” the project...
Julianne Moore, Sandra Oh, & Lynne Ramsay Teaming Up for Margaret Atwood Adaptation “Stone Mattress”
Another Margaret Atwood adaptation is on the way, this time with Lynne Ramsay at the helm. Deadline confirms the “You Were Never Really Here” filmmaker is directing “hot Cannes...
Trailer Watch: Tatiana Maslany Is “She Hulk: Attorney at Law”
Tatiana Maslany is bidding farewell to the Clone Club and joining the Marvel empire. The Emmy-winning “Orphan Black” alumna toplines “She Hulk: Attorney at Law.” “Whose...
Cannes 2022 Women Directors: Meet Charlotte Vandermeersch – “The Eight Mountains”
Charlotte Vandermeersch is an acclaimed Belgian stage and screen actress. She also sings and writes for film and theater. In 2011 she wrote a version of the screenplay of “The Broken Circle...
Cannes 2022 Women Directors: Meet Emily Atef – “More Than Ever” (“Plus Que Jamais”)
Emily Atef is a French-Iranian director born in Berlin. Her first feature film, “Molly’s Way,” won the Best Screenplay Award at the Munich Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at...
Frances O’Connor’s “Emily” Lands at Bleecker Street, Emma Mackey Stars in the Emily Brontë Biopic
From dishing out sex advice in bathroom stalls to immortalizing Catherine and Heathcliff’s love story, “Sex Education” star Emma Mackey takes on the role of an iconic author in...
Lisa Cortés Making a Little Richard Documentary for CNN Films & HBO Max, Dee Rees Producing
Less than a month after she inked a first-look deal with Blue Ant Studios — and announced she’s working on a docuseries about women in hip-hop, a drama about Black and Indigenous women...
Léa Seydoux Will Topline Audrey Diwan’s English-Language Debut “Emmanuelle”
Léa Seydoux has signed on to topline Audrey Diwan’s third feature, “Emmanuelle.” The erotically-charged story will mark Diwan’s English-language debut and her follow-up to...
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley Reunite for Thea Sharrock’s “Wicked Little Letters”
Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are set to re-team less than one year after the release of “The Lost Daughter.” Their performances in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feature directorial debut...
Trailer Watch: Emma Thompson Announces Her Sexual Bucket List in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
“There are nuns out there with more sexual experience than me,” says Emma Thompson in a new trailer for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.” From director Sophie Hyde, the...
Megan Stalter Set to Lead Hannah Pearl Utt’s “Cora Bora”
Best known for her role as a talent agent’s incompetent assistant on “Hacks,” Megan Stalter is set to step out of the office and into the limelight in “Cora Bora,”...
Trailer Watch: Rebeca Huntt Explores Her Identity and Trauma in “Beba”
“You are now entering my universe,” announces Rebeca Huntt in a new trailer for “Beba.” “I am the lens, the subject, and the authority.” The doc sees the...
Pick of the Day: “The Essex Serpent”
I have not read “The Essex Serpent” by Sarah Perry, so I don’t know if the snake it’s named for is real, a metaphor, regional folklore, or some combination of the three. I do...
Emerald Fennell and Rosamund Pike Team Up for “Saltburn”
Emerald Fennell is collaborating with another Academy Award-nominated actress. The “Promising Young Woman” breakout, who landed an Oscar for writing the revenge thriller as well as nods...
Siân Heder to Receive American Film Institute’s Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal
Siân Heder is set to accept yet another honor following a whirlwind awards season that culminated in the “CODA” writer-director landing a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and the...
Jennifer Phang to Direct Disney+ “Descendants” Sequel “The Pocketwatch”
Jennifer Phang is joining the “Descendants” franchise. A press release announced that she’s been tapped to helm “The Pocketwatch” (working title), a sequel to the...
Trailer Watch: “Bitterbrush” Follows Two Women Herding Cattle in the American West
“I love this work. I love this lifestyle,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Bitterbrush.” Emelie Mahdavian’s documentary follows Hollyn Patterson and Colie Moline, two...
Lindsey Beer Inks Overall Deal with Paramount, Slate Includes “Susie Thunder”
Lindsey Beer is celebrating the wrap of her directorial debut, a “Pet Sematary” prequel, by entering a pact with the studio behind the pic. She’s signed a first-look deal with...
Sabrina Jaglom’s “Jane” Lands at Blue Fox Entertainment, Madelaine Petsch Stars in the YA Thriller
Madelaine Petsch is set to wreak havoc on another high school. Best known for her role as Cheryl Blossom, Queen Bee on The CW’s “Riverdale,” she leads “Jane,” a YA...
Léa Mysius’ “The Five Devils” Acquired by Mubi Ahead of Cannes Premiere
Léa Mysius’ latest, “The Five Devils,” has secured distribution ahead of its world premiere at Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight section. According to a press release, Mubi...
Jodie Comer Boards Cannes Market Apocalyptic Thriller “The End We Start From,” Mahalia Belo to Direct
Jodie Comer has lined up her next project, hot off the heels of the end of “Killing Eve.” Deadline broke the news that she has signed on to star in thriller “The End We Start...
Documentary Departments at BBC and Channel 4 Commit to 50 Percent Women Directors
The documentary departments at the BBC and Channel 4 have both committed to 50 percent women director hires across their respective outputs. According to Deadline, they follow the current affairs...
Trailer Watch: Lola Quivoron’s Cannes Pic “Rodeo” Teases the Underground World of Dirt Bike Riding
Among the films set to premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the upcoming Cannes film festival is “Rodeo,” Lola Quivoron’s narrative feature directorial debut. Now, thanks to...
Maris Curran’s Doc “Jeannette” Among Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Fest’s 2022 Lineup
The Inside Out Toronto 2S (two spirit) LGBTQ+ Film Festival has announced its lineup for its 32nd edition, which will take place May 26-June 5. The program will showcase almost 130 films, including...
Maryam Touzani’s Cannes Pic “The Blue Caftan” Acquired by Films Boutique
We’re still more than a week out from Cannes 2022 but its films are already being picked up for distribution. Among them are Maryam Touzani’s sophomore feature, “The Blue...
Tamara Lawrance Boards “Get Millie Black” from HBO and Channel 4, Tanya Hamilton to Direct
Tanya Hamilton (“Night Catches On”) is set to direct a new co-production from HBO and the U.K.’s Channel 4, a six-part drama series set primarily in Kingston, Jamaica. According to...
Renée Webster’s “How to Please a Woman” & More Secure Distribution Ahead of Cannes Market
A slew of women-directed films have just landed distribution deals ahead of their respective screenings at the Cannes film market later this month — they are WWII drama “The...
Pick of the Day: “Happening”
Shortly after I watched “Happening,” a French drama about a student trying to obtain an illegal abortion in 1963, a draft Supreme Court decision signaling the overturning of Roe v. Wade...
Georgia Oakley’s Feature Directorial Debut “Blue Jean” Set for Sales at Cannes Marketplace
The latest news out of Cannes teases a new directorial debut to look forward to. Deadline reports that “Blue Jean,” written and directed by Georgia Oakley, is among the many enticing...
Cannes Market: Elizabeth Banks to Star in Medical Drama “A Mistake” from Writer-Director Christine Jeffs
Elizabeth Banks is somehow finding time in her busy slate as an actor, director, and producer to star in medical drama “A Mistake,” to be helmed by New Zealand-born filmmaker Christine...
Watch: rePRO Film Presents Conversation with Audrey Diwan, Director of Abortion Drama “Happening”
As the news this week has made abundantly clear, abortion and reproductive justice are under siege in the United States. Irony of ironies, that means “Happening” — the award-winning...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Laura Ángel Córdoba – “Ernesto, Gracias”
Laura Ángel Córdoba was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and migrated to Costa Rica. She has participated in over 30 documentary projects focusing on a wide variety of topics in Costa Rica, Panama,...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Kathryn Ferguson – “Nothing Compares”
Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson is an award-winning director whose innovative and boundary-pushing documentary work has screened globally. She was nominated for the Grand Prix award at Clermont-Ferrand...
Meg Ryan to Direct & Star in “What Happens Later,” Bleecker Street Lands Rights to the Rom-Com
Meg Ryan is set to direct her second feature and returning to the genre she’s best known for. The “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally…” actress will...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Patty Ivins Specht – “Deconstructing Karen”
Patty Ivins Specht is an Emmy award winning producer, director, and writer who has made several documentaries about womanhood, including “Hungry,” “Mean Girls: Mind Games,”...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Bogna Kowalczyk – “Boylesque”
Bogna Kowalczyk currently works as a creative art director, director, and animator at Warsaw Production. Since 2009 she has been directing animated films and music videos and has supported dozens of...
Trailer Watch: Florence Pugh Starts Doubting Utopia in Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling”
Ever since her critical success in 2019 with comedy “Booksmart,” Olivia Wilde’s directorial follow-up has been hotly anticipated — especially once details started to emerge...
Trailer Watch: Stargirl Keeps Spreading Her Magic in Julia Hart’s “Hollywood Stargirl” Sequel
Sometimes we just need a little bit of magic in our lives — enter Stargirl Caraway (Grace VanderWaal), the free-spirited, ukelele-playing teenager who, in Julia Hart’s...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Pauline Beugnies – “The End of Innocence” (“Petites”)
Pauline Beugnies is an author, photographer, and director from Belgium. For 10 years, she has been documenting the emancipation of youth in Egypt in multiple forms: photo exhibitions, 2012 web...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Pilar Moreno & Ana Endara – “For Your Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Museum”
Pilar Moreno is a visual artist from Spain and based in Panama, whose art projects address social and political issues. Her previous credits include documentaries “Reinas” — which...
May 2022 Film Preview
Where one might expect a heavy slate of mom-centric films in honor of Mother’s Day, this month’s releases buck expectations, relying primarily on darker, sometimes more unsettling, themes —...
Lexi Alexander in Production on Netflix Martial Arts Pic “Absolute Dominion”
Deadline reports that filmmaker Lexi Alexander is currently in production on a new martial arts feature film set in a post-apocalyptic future. Alexander is directing from a script she wrote, which...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Zaynê Akyol – “Rojek”
Zaynê Akyol’s first feature documentary, “Gulîstan, Land of Roses,” was selected by 80 international film festivals, earning 50 nominations and winning 12 awards, including the...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Lina Rodriguez – “Mis Dos Voces” (“My Two Voices”)
Colombian/Canadian filmmaker Lina Rodriguez is the writer-director of narrative features “Señoritas” and “This Time Tomorrow,” which have been showcased in festivals and...
May 2022 Television Preview
Mysteries and action series abound this month, with intrepid protagonists navigating dangerous worlds and overcoming all odds to complete their respective missions. Whether it’s a Jewish...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Hanna Polak – “Angels of Sinjar”
A producer, director, and cinematographer, Polish filmmaker Hanna Polak received an Academy Award and a News and Documentary Emmy nomination for the documentary short “The Children of...
Katie Aselton’s Diane Keaton-Starrer “Mack & Rita” Acquired by Gravitas Premiere
Gravitas Ventures is launching a new theatrical release label, and the first title on its docket is Katie Aselton’s third feature. Deadline reports that Gravitas Premiere has acquired...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Jacquelyn Mills – “Geographies of Solitude”
Jacquelyn Mills is an award-winning filmmaker from Cape Breton Island and based in Montreal. Her film “In the Waves” premiered at Visions du Réel and was theatrically released at...
Exclusive: A Woman Falls for the Wife of the Man She’s Having an Affair with in “Anaïs in Love” Clip
A graduate student meets the latest object of her affection — who also happens to be the wife of a man she’s having an affair with — in Women and Hollywood’s exclusive clip of...