#Women Directors
Trailer Watch: Mélanie Laurent and Lou de Laâge Reteam for “The Mad Women’s Ball”
“I don’t belong here,” Lou de Laâge insists in a trailer for “The Mad Women’s Ball.” Set to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in...
Nia Long Joins Lili Reinhart in Wanuri Kahiu’s “Plus/Minus”
Wanuri Kahiu’s latest has added another cast member. Nia Long is set to appear in Lili Reinhart-starrer “Plus/Minus.” Variety broke the news. Penned by April Prosser, the romantic...
Pick of the Day: “Lorelei”
First-time feature director Sabrina Doyle told us that “Lorelei” is the result of her desire to “make a film about working-class people that shows their resilience, their inner...
Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s SXSW Winner “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)” Lands at BET Her
Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s award-winning drama exploring homelessness in the age of COVID-19 has found a home. BET landed rights to “I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking)” and is...
Pick of the Day: “The Pursuit of Love”
The new miniseries “The Pursuit of Love” features two storytelling tropes that tend to annoy me: the juxtaposition of the free spirited woman and her wallflower best friend, and the woman...
Tonys Set to Honor Graciela Daniele, the Director & Choreographer Will Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
The Tony Awards is set to recognize a 10-time nominee with a major honor. Deadline reports that Graciela Daniele will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to theater at the...
August 2021 Film Preview
A history-making Sundance winner and a biopic about the Queen of Soul are among the most anticipated titles hitting theaters this August. Kicking off this month’s releases is “Pray...
Jane Campion’s “Power of the Dog,” Cannes Winner “Unclenching the Fists,” & More Added to TIFF Lineup
More films have been added to the Toronto International Film Festival’s 2021 lineup. An additional three titles will screen as Gala Presentations, two of which are directed or co-directed by...
Trailer Watch: Sundance Winner “Writing with Fire” Spotlights an Indian Newspaper Run by Women
“In our region a Dalit woman journalist was unimaginable. Over the last 14 years, we’ve changed that perception,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Writing with...
Megan Park SXSW Winner “The Fallout” Will Debut on HBO Max, Jenna Ortega & Maddie Ziegler Star
Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Megan Park’s feature directorial debut. The winner of a grand jury and audience award at SXSW, “The Fallout” tells the story...
Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” Will Be New York Film Fest’s Centerpiece Film
The 59th New York Film Festival (NYFF) has named Jane Campion’s latest, “The Power of the Dog,” as its Centerpiece selection. A press release has announced the Western is set to...
Grace Parra Janney Developing Mexican-American Family Comedy for ABC, Eva Longoria to Direct Pilot
Eva Longoria and writer-comedian Grace Parra Janney are collaborating on an ABC comedy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Parra Janney is writing a family comedy “inspired by her own Mexican...
Garrett Bradley to Direct Adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” for A24
Garrett Bradley’s taking inspiration from another trailblazer. The Oscar-nominated “Time” director is set to follow up her Naomi Osaka Netflix docuseries with an adaptation of...
Outfest LA LGBTQ Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup, Will Close with “Fanny: The Right to Rock”
Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival has announced its 2021 lineup. Set to take place August 13-22, this year’s program features nearly 200 films. Titles set to screen include Natalie...
Venice Film Fest Announces 2021 Competition Slate, 24 Percent of Films Are Directed by Women
Venice Film Festival has announced its 2021 lineup. The 78th edition of the fest will see see 21 titles competing for the fest’s highest honor, the Golden Lion, and five of them are directed or...
Trailer Watch: Lucy Walker Chronicles the 2018 California Wildfires in “Bring Your Own Brigade”
Lucy Walker’s latest sees the Oscar-nominated filmmaker investigating the deadliest week of wildfires in California history. “The world is waking up to the hellish realization that all...
Whoopi Goldberg & Danielle Deadwyler to Star in Chinonye Chukwu’s Mamie Till-Mobley Biopic
Whoopi Goldberg and Danielle Deadwyler (“Watchmen”) have joined the cast of Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” which follows Mamie Till-Mobley in the aftermath of the murder of...
Trailer Watch: Billie Piper Makes Her Directorial Debut with Anti-Rom-Com “Rare Beasts”
“Marriage, babies. these days we wait and wait for everything to align with the stars and it just doesn’t happen,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Rare Beasts.”...
Pick of the Day: “Playing with Sharks”
I’d never heard of Valerie Taylor before “Playing with Sharks,” but Sally Aitken’s loving tribute makes a compelling case for why the pioneer in underwater filmmaking and...
Trailer Watch: Natalie Morales Celebrates Long-Distance Friendship in SXSW Winner “Language Lessons”
Borders and distance can’t keep Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass apart in “Language Lessons,” a tribute to long-distance friendship. The comedy sees Cariño (Morales), a Spanish...
“Cousins” Directors Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith on Exploring Indigenous Identity and Resilience
Ainsley Gardiner (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Whakatōhea), has produced more than a dozen short and feature films, documentaries, and television drama series. Her first short...
rePRO Film Fest Lineup Includes “On the Divide,” “Fly So Far,” & Other Titles Exploring Reproductive Justice
rePRO Film Fest has announced its 2021 lineup. Now in its second edition, rePRO is the only festival in the world dedicated to reproductive justice and advocates for “women’s (cis, trans,...
Alanis Obomsawin to Receive TIFF Tribute Award for Bridging Social Impact and Cinema
Alanis Obomsawin is set to be honored at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, singer, and activist has been named as the recipient of the...
Marie Amiguet Snow Leopard Doc “The Velvet Queen” Acquired by Oscilloscope Following Cannes Premiere
Marie Amiguet’s search for snow leopards is coming to theaters. Oscilloscope snagged U.S. rights to “The Velvet Queen” (“La Panthere des neiges”), a documentary that sees Amiguet...
Venice: Chloé Zhao, Cynthia Erivo, Sarah Gadon, and Virginie Efira Will Serve in Fest’s Main Jury
Last year Chloé Zhao received Venice Film Festival’s top honor, the Golden Lion. This year the “Nomadland” writer-director will return as a member of the upcoming edition’s...
Trailer Watch: Isabelle Huppert Is an Evil Stepmother in Anne Fontaine’s Carnal Fairy Tale “White as Snow”
Anne Fontaine gives “Snow White” a modern makeover in “White as Snow,” a sexually charged take on the classic fairy tale. The dark comedy tells the story of Claire (Lou de...
TIFF Starts Unveiling Gala & Special Presentation Programs, 28 Percent of Titles Directed by Women
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the first selections in its two highest-profile programs, Gala and Special Presentations. The 46th edition of the fest will include...
Sophia Nahli Allison Directing Follow-Up Special to Civil Rights Docuseries “Eyes on the Prize”
For her next project, Oscar-nominated “A Love Song for Latasha” filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison will embark on a journey begun by Henry Hampton’s Peabody-winning civil rights...
Debra Granik Bringing Una LaMarche YA Novel “Like No Other” to the Big Screen
Debra Granik is taking on a new genre. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker will make her first foray into the YA world with a feature adaptation of “Like No Other,” Una LaMarche’s 2014 novel...
Pick of the Day: “How It Ends”
It’s the end of the world and Zoe Lister-Jones is feeling anything but fine in “How It Ends,” an apocalyptic Sundance comedy that sees the multi-hyphenate reuniting with the star of...
Trailer Watch: Rep. Barbara Lee Has Been “Speaking Truth to Power” Throughout Her Career
“I see myself more as a public servant, not necessarily a politician,” Congresswoman Barbara Lee tells us in the trailer for “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power.” From...
San Sebastian Film Fest Announces First Batch of Competition Titles, Majority Hail from Women Directors
San Sebastian Film Festival has announced its first Competition titles, and — so far — the program is dominated by women directors. Of nine titles set to screen, six are helmed by women,...
“Titane” Wins Palme d’Or, Julia Ducournau Becomes Second Woman Director to Take Home Cannes’ Top Honor
Lady Palme finally has some company. Julia Ducournau is following in Jane Campion’s footsteps and giving Cannes’ history books a much-needed, long-delayed makeover. Her second feature,...
Cannes: Kira Kovalenko’s “Unclenching the Fists” Wins Top Prize in Un Certain Regard Sidebar
“Unclenching the Fists” has clenched the Grand Prize in Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard sidebar, Deadline reports. Written and directed by Kira Kovalenko, the Russian drama is...
Bentonville 2021: 71% of Competition Lineup Directors Are Women, 75% BIPOC/AAPI, 33% LGBTQIA+
Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) has announced its 2021 program, and the Geena Davis-led event promises to be an inclusive celebration of talent on both sides of the camera. Seventy-one percent of...
Janicza Bravo Tapped to Direct FX Adaptation of Octavia Butler’s “Kindred”
Janicza Bravo is set to bring a beloved sci-fi novel to the small screen hot on the heels of adapting a viral Twitter thread. The “Zola” filmmaker is taking inspiration from Octavia...
“Bridgerton’s” Julie Anne Robinson & Adjoa Andoh Reteam for Adaptation of Vanessa Riley’s “Island Queen”
Julie Anne Robinson is celebrating her Emmy nomination for directing “Bridgerton” by reteaming with one of the smash hit’s stars. She’s optioned “Island Queen,”...
Pick of the Day: “No Ordinary Man”
In January 1989, jazz musician Billy Tipton died from a bleeding ulcer with his son, Billy Tipton, Jr., by his side. When the paramedics arrived, they and the younger Tipton discovered Billy —...
Trailer Watch: A Māori Family Finds Their Way Back to One Another in “Cousins”
“People go away or they die — your land, that’s where you belong,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Cousins.” The drama is based on Patricia Grace’s...
Noora Niasari to Direct Historical Drama “Raya”
Noora Niasari is bringing “Raya” to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Iranian-Australian filmmaker has been tapped to write and direct an adaptation of Mahsa...
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola” Acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s debut feature has found a home following its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A press release announced...
The Future of Film Is Female Announces Spring 2021 Grant Recipients
The Future of Film Is Female (FOFIF) has awarded its latest round of funding. The org, which supports female filmmakers with financial support, exhibition, and promotion, presented Spring 2021 grants...
Emmy Nominations: “I May Destroy You,” “Hacks,” “Pen15,” and More
“I May Destroy You’s” egregious snub at this year’s Golden Globe Awards remains as infuriating as ever, but Michaela Coel’s acclaimed drama is getting major love from...
Anna Kendrick, Wunmi Mosaku, & Kaniehtiio Horn Will Star in Mary Nighy Thriller “Alice, Darling”
Anna Kendrick is teaming up with Mary Nighy for Lionsgate’s “Alice, Darling,” a thriller that marks Nighy’s feature directorial debut. Currently in production in Canada, the...
Trailer Watch: Kristine Stolakis Exposes the Toll of Gay Conversion Therapy in “Pray Away”
Kristine Stolakis pulls back the curtain on the “ex-gay movement” in “Pray Away,” a doc exploring how former leaders of Exodus International, the largest conversion therapy...
Cannes 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kira Kovalenko – “Unclenching the Fists”
Kira Kovalenko was born in Nalchik, Russia. She graduated from Alexander Sokurov’s directing workshop at Kabardino-Balkarian State University in 2015. She made her feature directorial debut in 2016...
“Black Widow” Scores Largest Domestic Box Office Opening Since COVID-19
After years of growing frustration and mounting pressure among fans desperate for a standalone Black Widow pic, “Black Widow” has finally arrived, and box office receipts prove that there...
Adele Lim Making Directorial Debut with R-Rated Comedy, Ashley Park to Star
Adele Lim is stepping into the director’s chair. The “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Crazy Rich Asians” scribe is set to make her directorial debut with an R-rated...
Cannes 2021 Women Directors: Meet Luàna Bajrami – “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar”
Self taught, Luàna Bajrami acquired experience through her collaborations with different filmmakers while practicing writing, editing, and directing through numerous amateur short film projects....
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie Team Up for “Barbie,” Shooting Kicks Off in 2022
Greta Gerwig’s last film saw her re-imagining an iconic novel, and now she’s set to put a fresh spin on an iconic toy. The “Little Women” helmer has officially signed on to...
Pick of the Day: “Black Widow”
Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow made her MCU debut in 2010’s “Iron Man 2.” In the intervening 11 years, she’s joined the Avengers, saved the world half a dozen times, and...