#Women Directors
June 2021 Film Preview
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee Since the 1969 Stonewall Uprising members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies have celebrated Pride Month every June, honoring the social, cultural, and...
Trailer Watch: Mary J. Blige Reflects on the Legacy of “My Life” in New Doc
Mary J. Blige is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her most influential work. The nine-time Grammy winner and Oscar-nominated singer and actress reflects on her 1994 album “My Life” in...
Jodie Foster Will Receive Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes This Year
Jodie Foster is joining the likes of Agnès Varda, Jane Fonda, and Jeanne Moreau. The actress, director, and producer is set to receive Cannes Film Festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or,...
Athena Film Festival Now Accepting Submissions
Attention filmmakers and writers: Do you have a short film, feature script, or TV pilot about amazing women leaders? Submissions are now open for the 2022 Athena Film Festival (AFF), the 2022 Athena...
Exclusive: A Woman Fights for Her Rights in Teona Strugar Mitevska’s “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya” Trailer
A woman in small-town Macedonia defies tradition and challenges the patriarchy in “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya.” Based on a true story, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s satire sees...
Jude Weng Comedy “Leftover Daughters” in Development at NBC
After stints on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Good Place,” and “Black-ish,” Jude Weng is getting her own series. Deadline reports that NBC has put “Leftover...
Sophia Banks Will Direct Survival Thriller “Street Rat Allie”
Sophia Banks has lined up her next gig. Currently in post-production on her feature debut, Michelle Monaghan-starrer “Black Site,” Banks has been tapped to helm survival thriller...
Trailer Watch: Jamila Wignot Honors a Visionary Choreographer & the Boundlessness of Black Joy in “Ailey”
“When I was 14 I discovered the theater and it touched something in me — but there was nobody Black,” says Alvin Ailey in a new trailer for Jamila Wignot’s...
June 2021 Television Preview
Summer TV kicks off in earnest this June — a boatload of new and returning projects by and about women are set to debut, including a comedy about an all-Muslim women punk band, a darkly funny...
Amma Asante Attached to Write and Direct “Levittown” Limited Series
Amma Asante is set to tell another story inspired by true events. The “A United Kingdom” and “Belle” helmer is signed on to pen a series adaptation of David Kushner’s...
Poorna Jagannathan to Star in Megan Griffiths’ “I’ll Show You Mine”
Poorna Jagannathan is set to topline Megan Griffiths’ latest feature. The “Never Have I Ever” actress will play an author who “has made a career of examining her own...
Anna Kendrick and Chloe Okuno Book a Date with a Serial Killer in Netflix Pic “Rodney & Sheryl”
Anna Kendrick’s quest for love is taking an unexpected turn. The “Love Life” star and exec producer is booking a date with a serial killer for her next project. The Oscar-nominated...
Pick of the Day: “Port Authority”
When we asked writer-director Danielle Lessovitz why she wanted to make “Port Authority,” she told us, “I wanted to write about a connection, both romantic and familial, that...
Pick of the Day: “Plan B”
Given its subject matter and raunchy sense of humor, Natalie Morales’ teen comedy “Plan B” will probably draw comparisons to “Booksmart” and “Unpregnant.”...
Regina Hall Will Star in Adamma Ebo’s Megachurch Comedy “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul”
Regina Hall is taking a break from Wall Street to lead a megachurch. The “Black Monday” actress has been tapped to star in “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul,” Adamma Ebo’s...
Barbara Shearer Directing Ghislaine Maxwell Docuseries for Peacock
Barbara Shearer is bringing the story of alleged Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to Peacock. She directed the three-part docuseries “Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell,”...
AFI DOCS Reveals 2021 Program, 52 Percent of Films Are Directed By Women
AFI DOCS has once again reached gender parity. This year’s lineup includes 77 films from 23 countries, with 52 percent of the titles directed by women, 40 percent by BIPOC directors, and 18...
Niki Caro and Charlize Theron Team Up for Netflix Pic About Gender Equality in Surfing
Niki Caro is returning to the sea to tell another female-led story about overcoming odds. The “Whale Rider” breakout, who most recently helmed Disney’s live-action...
Elizabeth Banks Will Direct, Produce, and Appear in Series Adaptation of “Red Queen” at Peacock
Elizabeth Banks is adding yet another project to her slate. The multi-hyphenate is attached to direct, appear in, and exec produce a series adaptation of Victoria Aveyard’s novel “Red...
Elisabeth Moss, Michelle MacLaren, & Daina Reid Will Direct Apple’s Series Adaptation of “Shining Girls”
Elisabeth Moss is expanding her directing résumé. Deadline reports that the Emmy-winning “Handmaid’s Tale” star is set to share directing duties on “Shining Girls”...
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” Renewed for Season 3 at HBO
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” *clap clap* is getting another season *clap clap*. A press release has confirmed Robin Thede’s groundbreaking sketch series has been renewed for Season 3...
Trailer Watch: “No Ordinary Love” Shines a Light on Domestic Abuse
Two desperate women plot to escape their abusive marriages in “No Ordinary Love,” Chyna Robinson’s feature debut. “My inspiration for this romantic thriller came as I interviewed...
Trailer Watch: “Ahead of the Curve” Pays Tribute to Curve Magazine and Explores Lesbian Visibility
“There wasn’t a glossy magazine for lesbians anywhere,” says Melissa Etheridge in a trailer for “Ahead of the Curve.” Featuring interviews with celebs and activists...
Teaser Watch: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, & Gemma Chan Are Immortal Superheroes in Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals”
Chloé Zhao is following up her intimate portrait of a modern-day nomad with a Marvel blockbuster. The history-making “Nomadland” director’s latest, “Eternals,” is...
Abby Ginzberg’s Barbara Lee Doc “Speaking Truth to Power” Acquired by Greenwich Entertainment
It can be hard to remember in times like this, but there are actually people in Congress who are on the right side of history. A documentary about one of them has landed at Greenwich Entertainment, a...
Women’s Secret Histories: Crowdfunding Picks
One of the best ways to learn about the world and its many peoples is by listening to stories. When underrepresented groups are given the chance to share — and to be heard — it can...
Guest Post: Do We Have to Choose Between Directing and Motherhood?
Guest Post by Sasha Joelle Achilli I was 24 when I started working in the TV documentary film world. I never thought that one day I would have the opportunity to make a living from traveling the...
Dawn Porter Named 2021 Guggenheim Honoree by American Film Institute
Dawn Porter is following in Barbara Kopple, Laura Poitras, and Freida Lee Mock’s footsteps. AFI Docs, the American Film Institute’s documentary film festival, announced that it will...
Pick of the Day: “In Treatment”
Ten years after its Season 3 finale, HBO therapy drama “In Treatment” returns for its fourth season with a different protagonist. Uzo Aduba takes the reins from Gabriel Byrne as the star of...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jana Matthes and Andrea Schramm – “Tacheles – The Heart of the Matter”
Jana Matthes and Andrea Schramm work as directors and producers for arte, 3sat, ARD, and ZDF. After studying journalism in Leipzig and directing in Potsdam-Babelsberg, they founded Schramm Matthes...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2021 Women Directors: Meet Brooke Swaney – “Daughter of a Lost Bird”
“Daughter of a Lost Bird” is Brooke Swaney’s first feature documentary. She recently made the Blacklist’s Inaugural Indigenous List with “Tinder On The Rez” along with...
Trailer Watch: A Film Censor Investigates Her Sister’s Disappearance in “Censor”
Described by writer-director Prano Bailey-Bond as an exploration of “how memory, films, reality, and fiction interact,” “Censor” is set in 1985 and tells the story of Enid (Niamh...
Caroline Link on Standing Up to Fascism with Her New Film “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit”
When Caroline Link first read the children’s book “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” as a young girl, she was immediately drawn to the story. The semi-autographical novel by Judith...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2021 Women Directors: Meet Ashley O’Shay – “Unapologetic”
Ashley O’Shay is a Chicago-based DP and documentarian whose work focuses on illuminating marginalized voices. Most recently, she filmed the final episode of Dr. Martens’ “Tough As You”...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Hudson Demands “Respect” in Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin Biopic
Told that “singing is sacred” and that she has “a talent they call genius,” a young Aretha Franklin is taught that “what’s most important is that you are treated...
Dawn Porter to Direct Multi-Part ESPN Doc About Title IX’s Impact on Women in Sports
Dawn Porter has yet another project in the works. Earlier this month it was announced that the Emmy-nominated director would helm “Tulsa and the Red Summer,” a documentary about the 1921...
Issa Rae Is Rebooting “Project Greenlight” at HBO Max
Issa Rae is spearheading a “Project Greenlight” reboot at HBO Max. The Emmy-nominated “Insecure” co-creator and star is set to appear in every episode of the...
Lindsey Beer Will Direct “Pet Sematary” Follow-Up at Paramount Players
“Pet Sematary” is rising from the grave. A new installment of the franchise is in the works at Paramount Players. Lindsey Beer is set to make her directorial debut with the follow-up to...
Agnieszka Holland Will Join Seventh Row’s Next Lockdown Film School Conversation
Seventh Row, a non-profit cinema publication, will welcome Agnieszka Holland for its next Lockdown Film School event. A livestreamed series of conversations with filmmakers, Lockdown Film School has...
Garrett Bradley’s Naomi Osaka Documentary Will Open AFI Docs
Garrett Bradley’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated portrait of a modern-day abolitionist is set to open AFI Docs 2021. The fest will host the world premiere of the “Time”...
Pick of the Day: “Us Kids”
Described by director Kim S. Snyder as “a coming-of-age story about a bunch of regular teenage kids who live their lives against the backdrop of this horrendous national issue of gun violence,”...
Pick of the Day: “The Perfect Candidate”
I don’t have a whole lot in common with Dr. Maryam Alsafan (Mila Al Zahrani), the titular character in Haifaa Al Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate.” She is a doctor, while I am...
Saela Davis & Anna Rose Holmer to Direct Psychological Drama “God’s Creatures,” Emily Watson to Star
Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer are re-teaming for a psychological horror pic. “The Fits” collaborators are currently in production on A24’s “God’s Creatures,”...
Kristine Stolakis Conversion Therapy Doc “Pray Away” Lands at Netflix
“Pray Away” has found a home ahead of its world premiere at next month’s Tribeca Film Festival. Deadline reports that Netflix snagged rights to Kristine Stolakis’ conversion...
Regina King to Direct and Produce “Bitter Root” Comic Adaptation
Regina King is following up her Oscar-nominated feature directorial debut with a comic adaptation. Deadline reports that the “One Night in Miami” helmer has closed a deal with Legendary...
Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein’s “How It Ends” Lands at MGM American International Pictures
Zoe Lister-Jones’ journey to the last party on the last day on Earth has found a home. Variety reports that MGM’s American International Pictures label snagged rights to “How It...
Dawn Porter and National Geographic Join Forces on Tulsa Massacre Doc “Rise Again”
Dawn Porter’s latest documentary delves into one of the worst incidents of racial violence in the United States — yet one that is routinely left out of the history books. “Rise...
Jessica Ellis on Telling a Different Kind of Story About Women in the Woods in “What Lies West”
Jessica Ellis is an award-winning screenwriter making her feature debut as a writer-director with “What Lies West.” She’s an AFI graduate, has won the Sloan Fellowship, the Black...
Hot Docs Winners: “One of Ours,” “Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy,” & More
The 28th edition of Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival has come to a close. The fest announced the winning films in this year’s official competition and the recipients of...
“Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters” Acquired by Kino Lorber
Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz’s tribute to “D-Man in the Waters,” a trailblazing ballet inspired by the AIDS crisis, has secured distribution. Kino Lorber scored North American...
Guest Post: How Women Inspired Me to Pay It Forward and Become a Mentor
By Mimi Chakarova I was 21 when I first met her. I was carrying a large portfolio case, sweating all the way from the train station to her gallery. I can’t tell you what she wore that day. All I...