#Women Directors
Trailer Watch: Sundance Winner and Oscar Hopeful “Hive” Tells the Story of a Woman-Run Business
Tired of waiting for men to come and save the day, a woman in a Kosovo village decides to make her own fate in “Hive.” A new trailer has arrived for Blerta Basholli’s Sundance winner,...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Darin J. Sallam – “Farha”
Darin J. Sallam is a Jordanian writer and director who has five award winning short films including “Still Alive,” “The Dark Outside,” and “The Parrot,” all of...
Pick of the Day: “Y: The Last Man”
“Y: The Last Man’s” title really should have been retooled. I haven’t read the DC Comics series it’s based on, but the TV adaptation is about a lot more than the last...
Audrey Diwan Wins Venice Film Festival’s Top Prize with Abortion Drama “L’Evénement” (“Happening”)
It’s a wrap on the 2021 Venice International Film Festival and there’s plenty to celebrate. Audrey Diwan became the sixth woman director to claim Venice’s top prize in the...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Laura Samani – “Piccolo Corpo” (“Small Body”)
Laura Samani was born in Trieste, Italy. In 2016, her short film “The Sleeping Saint” premiered at Cannes Cinéfondation and has since gained international acclaim and awards from several...
Tribeca Winner “Jacinta” Lands at Hulu
Hulu is adding a Tribeca Film Festival award-winner to its slate. A press release announced that the streamer landed “Jacinta,” a documentary exploring drug addiction and...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kamila Andini – “Yuni”
Kamila Andini is a mother and filmmaker based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She released her debut feature film, “The Mirror Never Lies,” in 2011 and her second feature, “The Seen and...
Crystal R. Emery Talks “The Deadliest Disease in America,” Her Doc About Racism in Healthcare
Crystal R. Emery is a producer, educator, author, and filmmaker known for producing socially conscious storytelling on a variety of platforms that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit, a cause...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Haya Waseem – “Quickening”
Haya Waseem is a Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker. An alumna of the Director’s Lab program at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre, Weseem began her career as a documentary editor. Her short films...
Trailer Watch: Ry Russo-Young Turns the Camera on Her Own “Nuclear Family”
“Two same-sex parents and children — I don’t think anybody even thought that that happened.” So says one of the interviewees in Ry Russo-Young’s “Nuclear...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kate Dolan – “You Are Not My Mother”
Kate Dolan is an Irish writer and director. She wrote and directed “Little Doll,” a short film that premiered at the Berlinale in 2016. Dolan’s next short film, “Catcalls,”...
Pick of the Day: “Language Lessons”
Described as a “weird little movie made in a very weird time about finding friendship in strange places and accepting love even when you think you may not be worth it” by writer,...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Mounia Akl – “Costa Brava, Lebanon”
Mounia Akl was born in Lebanon. She completed an MFA in directing at Columbia University. Her directorial credits include the shorts “Beirut, I Love You (I Love You...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Shasha Nakhai – “Scarborough”
Shasha Nakhai is a Filipina-Canadian filmmaker. Her directorial projects include documentary shorts “Thirty Eight Minutes,” “18 Roses,” “Paruparo,” “The...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Ruth Paxton – “A Banquet”
Ruth Paxton is a Scottish filmmaker and writer. Her short film “Paris/Sexy,” a grim tragedy about a young caregiver and her brain-damaged father, premiered at the 64th Edinburgh...
Gita Pullapilly on Transforming Undervalued and Discounted Women into “Queenpins”
Gita Pullapilly is an award-winning writer, producer, and director. Along with her collaborator and husband Aron Gaudet, Pullapilly currently has projects with Amazon Films, STX Entertainment,...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Ana Lazarevic – “The Game”
Ana Lazarevic is a writer and director born in Belgrade, Serbia. She holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University. Her short film “The Runner” premiered at the New York Film Festival....
Trailer Watch: Ballerinas Make a Pact in Sarah Adina Smith’s “Birds of Paradise”
Kristine Froseth’s loyalty is no match for her ambition in “Birds of Paradise.” From writer-director Sarah Adina Smith, the ballet drama tells the story of two students attending a...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Aga Woszczyńska – “Silent Land”
Aga Woszczyńska is a director, scriptwriter, and anthropologist. Her short films have screened and won awards at numerous film festivals — including Cannes, Helsinki International Film...
Trailer Watch: Vicky Krieps Is a Filmmaker Questioning Her Choices in Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island”
“Do you think you can create a great body of work and raise a family at the same time?” asks Vicky Krieps in a new trailer for “Bergman Island.” Written and directed by Mia...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Neus Ballús – “The Odd-Job Men”
Neus Ballús is a Catalan film director and scriptwriter. Her first film, “The Plague,” premiered at Berlinale Forum and was nominated for the European Film Awards, LUX Prize, and Goya...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Tea Lindeburg – “As in Heaven”
Tea Lindeburg wrote the TV series “Equinox” for Netflix, as well as the podcast “Equinox 1985” for DR, which was nominated for the Prix Italia 2017. She’s also directed...
London Film Fest Announces Headline Galas & Special Presentations: “Titane,” “The Lost Daughter,” & More
The BFI London Film Festival has announced its complete 2021 program, including the Headline Galas and Special Presentations lineups. Fortunately, women directors are better represented than the...
TIFF 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jenna Cato Bass – “Mlungu Wam” (“Good Madam”)
Jenna Cato Bass is a South African writer, filmmaker, and former magician. Together with Wanuri Kahiu, Bass co-wrote the coming-of-age romance “Rafiki,” which premiered in Cannes’...
Sahraa Karimi Is Making a Film About Her Escape from Afghanistan
“Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” filmmaker Sahraa Karimi is among the tens of thousands of civilians who have fled Afghanistan. Along with her family, she managed to escape first to Istanbul and then make...
TIFF 2021 Preview: Canada’s Colonialist Legacy, the Return of Jane Campion, and More
The 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is nearly upon us. Set to take place September 9-18 and include a mix of in-person and digital events, the fest’s program this...
Becky Read’s “The Fight Before Christmas” Doc Acquired by Apple
One man’s ill-fated mission to bring “Joy to the World” — and specifically his neighborhood — is heading to Apple TV+. The streamer has acquired global rights to...
BFI London Film Fest Announces Official Competition, Just One Title Directed by a Woman
BFI London Film Festival has announced the Official Competition for its 2021 edition. Eight titles are slated to screen, and just one is directed by a woman, amounting to merely 12.5 percent of the...
Trailer Watch: “Mothers of the Revolution” Pays Tribute to the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp
“If you always do as you’re told, then you don’t ever change anything,” an alumna of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp observes in the new trailer for “Mothers of...
Quote of the Day: Jane Campion Says the #MeToo Movement Felt “Like the Berlin Wall Coming Down”
Jane Campion can “feel a change in the weather” since the dawn of the #MeToo movement. During a press conference at Venice Film Festival promoting her first feature in over a decade,...
Joanna Gleason Will Make Feature Writing and Directing Debut with “The Grotto”
Joanna Gleason is making her way from the enchanted forests of fairy tales to “The Grotto.” The actress — who won a Tony for her work in the original run of “Into the...
Kasi Lemmons to Direct Whitney Houston Biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” Naomi Ackie to Star
Just a few weeks after the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” hit theaters there’s word that another female music icon is getting her own feature film. “Harriet” and...
Exclusive: Sundance Winner “Writing with Fire” Acquired by Music Box Films
The story of India’s only women-led news outlet is heading stateside. Women and Hollywood can exclusively reveal that Music Box Films has acquired rights to “Writing with Fire,”...
Trailer Watch: Janet Tobias, John Hoffman, and Nat Geo Present an Intimate Portrait of “Fauci”
For many people, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the sole light in the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has unwaveringly offered the public hope, guidance, and common sense — and reminded us...
Svetlana Cvetko to Direct “One Nation Under Earl,” Shining a Light on Immigrant Stories
Svetlana Cvetko has lined up her next feature. She will follow up “Show Me What You Got,” a romance about three boundary-breaking Millennials released earlier this year, with “One...
Venice 2021 Women Directors: Meet Dina Amer – “Tu Me Ressembles” (“You Resemble Me”)
Dina Amer is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist. She helped produce the Oscar-nominated and Emmy award-winning documentary “The Square,” which chronicled the Egyptian Revolution...
September 2021 Television Preview
It’s that time of the year again, where new shows premiere on every network and we’re reunited with some of our favorites as their new seasons begin. We’re seeing some exciting releases by and...
Venice 2021 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bispuri – “The Peacock’s Paradise”
Laura Bispuri’s first film, “Sworn Virgin,” was presented in Competition at the Berlinale and received the Nora Ephron Prize at Tribeca Film Festival, the Firebird Award at Hong...
“Candyman’s” Nia DaCosta Makes History as First Black Woman Director to Open Pic at Top of Domestic B.O.
Nia DaCosta is adding another milestone to her résumé. She became the first Black woman filmmaker to open a movie at No. 1 at the domestic box office with her latest project,...
September 2021 Film Preview
From a modern-day revamp of a classic fairytale to a comedy about unabashed suburban women who become Robin Hoods of their community, along with an array of socially conscious documentaries and...
Venice 2021 Women Directors: Meet Michale Boganim – “The Forgotten Ones”
Michale Boganim grew up in Israel, in a Moroccan family. Her father was in the Israeli Black Panther movement. She is a graduate of the National Film School in London. Her student film “Dim...
Victoria Mahoney to Direct “Old Guard” Sequel, Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne Reprising Roles
It’s official: Victoria Mahoney is now a member of “The Old Guard.” The filmmaker and history-making “Star Wars” second unit director has been tapped to helm the sequel...
Teaser Watch: Jane Campion Returns to the Big Screen with “The Power of the Dog”
Jane Campion is back with her first feature in over a decade. She’s following up 2009 Abbie Cornish-starrer “Bright Star” with “The Power of the Dog,” a Netflix Western...
Trailer Watch: Grace Van Patten Joins an Army at War with Men in Karen Cinorre’s “Mayday”
Grace Van Patten and Mia Goth debate the difference between heroes and psychopaths in a new trailer for “Mayday,” Karen Cinorre’s fantasy pic about 20th century sirens. After being...
Qiong Wang’s “All About My Sisters” Acquired by Icarus Films
“All About My Sisters” has secured distribution ahead of its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. A press release announced that Icarus Films snagged North American...
Trailer Watch: Maria Schrader’s Sci-Fi Rom-Com “I’m Your Man” Tells the Story of a Scientist and a Robot
Maria Schrader is following up her Emmy-winning portrait of a Hasidic Jewish woman who flees her ultra-orthodox community with a sci-fi rom-com. A trailer has arrived for the “Unorthodox”...
Angel Kristi Williams Talks “Really Love” and Celebrating Black Romance
Angel Kristi Williams is a writer and director. She’s a Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow and was the recipient of the Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship. This year she was...
“Everything I Know About Love” Adaptation: Bel Powley & Emma Appleton to Star, China Moo-Young to Direct
As we previously reported, journalist Dolly Alderton is adapting her hit memoir “Everything I Know About Love” for television. Now there’s word the project — which has been been...
Trailer Watch: “The Big Scary ‘S’ Word” Explores the American Socialist Movement
Yael Bridge demystifies and destigmatizes socialism in “The Big Scary ‘S’ Word,” her feature doc debut. “Socialism is as American as apple pie,” Cornel West...
Susannah Grant Sex Trafficking Drama in the Works at Showtime
Susannah Grant is following up her Emmy-nominated sexual assault drama “Unbelievable” with another small screen project inspired by a harrowing true story. She has a new series in the...
Ninja Thyberg to Write and Direct “Witches of Eastwick” Remake for Warner Bros.
Ninja Thyberg is forming her own coven. The “Pleasure” filmmaker has been tapped to write and direct a remake of the 1987 dark comedy “The Witches of Eastwick” for Warner...