#Women Directors
“Song Without a Name” Is Peru’s Pick for Oscars’ International Feature Category
“Song Without a Name” could be heading to the Oscars. Peru has submitted Melina León’s debut feature as their pick for the International Feature Film category at the 2021 Academy...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with Alexandra Pelosi & Sheila Nevins About “American Selfie”
Alexandra Pelosi and Sheila Nevins will discuss their Showtime documentary “American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself” at the next Girls Club event. The conversation will take place...
Trailer Watch: “Elyse” Confronts Her History of Trauma Following a Psychotic Blackout
“I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind and I don’t know what to do about it. Everyone thinks there’s something wrong with me,” the eponymous character of...
Karena Evans to Direct Inaugural Episodes of HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” Reboot
Karena Evans will introduce a new generation of viewers to Manhattan’s upper elite. She’s been tapped to helm the pilot and second episode of HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl”...
Hurricane Maria Doc “Landfall” Acquired by PBS’ “POV,” Gets a Trailer
“Landfall” is coming to PBS. A press release announced that “POV” snagged U.S. broadcast rights to Cecilia Aldarondo’s documentary tracing the aftermath of Hurricane...
“Charter” Named Sweden’s Pick for Oscars’ International Feature Category
“Charter” is an Oscar hopeful. Sweden has submitted Amanda Kernell’s second feature in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2021 Academy Awards, a press release from...
Claire Foy-Starrer “Dust” Picked Up by Searchlight
The Claire Foy-starring horror-thriller “Dust,” first introduced at Cannes’ Virtual Market in June, has been acquired. According to Variety, rights to the Dust Bowl-set project have...
Trailer Watch: “Transhood” Follows Four Transgender Kids’ Coming-of-Age Stories
“What I really hope is that people realize we’re human. We’re not, like, some exotic species. We have human emotions — that’s what matters,” says one of the...
Trailer Watch: A Young Gay Man Comes of Age in ’70s Sri Lanka in Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy”
A boy is pulled in different directions as political tensions mount in 1970s Sri Lanka in Deepa Mehta’s latest, “Funny Boy.” A trailer has arrived for the ARRAY Releasing title,...
“True Mothers,” “Funny Boy,” & “And Tomorrow the Entire World” Join International Oscar Race
Naomi Kawase is entering the Oscar race. Japan selected the Cannes regular’s latest offering, “True Mothers,” as its pick for the International Feature category at the 93rd edition...
Weekly Update for October 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD Kaali Khuhi – Directed by Terrie Samundra; Written by Terrie Samundra and David Walter Lech “Kaali Khuhi” Shivangi (Riva...
Jodie Turner-Smith Will Portray Anne Boleyn in Channel 5 Psychological Thriller
Jodie Turner-Smith is heading to King Henry VIII’s mind-fuck of a court. The “Queen & Slim” actress will play Anne Boleyn in a three-part “convention-defying” drama from...
Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, & Kate Mara Join Abortion Drama “Call Jane,” Phyllis Nagy Directing
Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Mara are set to “Call Jane.” Deadline reports that they have boarded the long-in-the-works drama about the Jane Collective, a real 1960s...
Trailer Watch: Drew Barrymore Stars Alongside Drew Barrymore in Jamie Babbit’s “The Stand In”
Drew Barrymore pulls double duty in a new trailer for “The Stand In.” Directed by Jamie Babbit, the comedy tells the story of Candy, an actress, and Paula, her stand in. Barrymore plays...
Pick of the Day: “The Donut King”
With “The Donut King,” director Alice Gu hopes to “challenge any preconceived notions of what a refugee is, or looks like, and that the film helps put a human face on refugees and...
Alice Gu Sees Her Doc “The Donut King” as the “Quintessential American Dream Story”
Alice Gu launched her career as a still photographer/cinematographer. Shooting docs has taken her from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to touring with rock bands throughout Europe, to following the...
Andrea Savage to Direct Feature Adaptation of “Georgia Mertching Is Dead”
Andrea Savage is bringing “Georgia Mertching Is Dead” to the screen. The “I’m Sorry” creator and star has been tapped to direct a feature adaptation of Catya...
“What We Wanted” Is Austria’s Pick for Oscars’ International Feature Category
Another woman-directed film has joined the Oscar race in the International Feature category. Screen Daily confirmed that Austria submitted Ulrike Kofler’s fertility drama “What We...
IDA Doc Awards Announce Shortlists for Best Feature and Best Short: “Time,” “Boys State,” & More
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced shortlists for the Best Feature and Best Short categories at the 36th Annual IDA Documentary Awards, which will be presented at a...
November 2020 Film Preview
By Shayna Maci Warner and Tatiana McInnis November is a varied, exciting month for women-forward filmmaking, sprinkled with dystopian thrillers, glimpses into grief and trauma-fueled paranoia, and...
Mira Nair’s “A Suitable Boy” Coming to Acorn TV
“A Suitable Boy” is coming stateside. A press release announced that AMC Networks’ Acorn TV snagged exclusive U.S. and Canada premieres of the Mira Nair-directed period drama, which...
Emma Thompson to Topline Sophie Hyde’s Sexual Awakening Comedy “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
For her next gig, Emma Thompson is getting her groove back. The Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter is set to star in Sophie Hyde’s “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a comedy about...
Victoria Mahoney Will Direct Kerry Washington-Starrer “Shadow Force” for Lionsgate
Victoria Mahoney has lined up another genre pic. Back in June she signed on to helm “Kill Them All,” the story of a woman on a revenge campaign with a high body count, for Paramount, and...
Pick of the Day: “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine”
Sarah Cooper became a household name by lip-synching some of Trump’s more incomprehensible COVID-19 remarks. With those viral videos, she was able to lay bare just how unqualified Trump is for...
Ava DuVernay and Sydney Freeland Team Up for Native American Drama at NBC
A history-making series could be coming to NBC. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is developing a drama about a Native American family — “a first for network...
Trailer Watch: “Dear Santa” Goes Behind the Scenes of the Postal Service’s Operation Santa Program
Volunteers join forces with the United States Postal Service to help kids’ Christmas dreams come true in “Dear Santa,” a look inside the USPS’s 100-year-old Operation Santa...
Sara Wolitzky on Exploring “Reawakened Feminist Energy and Organizing” in “Not Done: Women Remaking America”
Sara Wolitzky is a documentary filmmaker. In 2012, she helped launch the multi-platform documentary series MAKERS, which chronicles the U.S. and global women’s movement and the stories of hundreds...
Weekly Update for October 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD The Craft: Legacy – Written and Directed by Zoe Lister-Jones In Blumhouse’s continuation of the cult hit “The Craft,” an eclectic...
Trailer Watch: “Us Kids” Fight to End Gun Violence
Kim A. Snyder is back with another documentary about gun violence. She’s following up 2016’s “Newtown,” a portrait of Newtown, Connecticut, one year after the shooting at...
Trailer Watch: A Family Reconnects After 17 Years in “Farewell Amor”
A family reunites after nearly two decades apart in a new trailer for “Farewell Amor.” Written and directed by Ekwa Msang, the drama sees Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, “The...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with Susanne Bier About “The Undoing”
Susanne Bier will discuss her HBO limited series “The Undoing” at the next Girls Club event. The conversation will take place Tuesday, October 27, at 4 p.m. EST and is open to the public....
Trailer Watch: “The Donut King” Explores the Power of the American Dream
A trailer has dropped for “The Donut King,” Alice Gu’s portrait of Ted Ngoy, AKA the Donut King, a Cambodian refugee who arrived in America in 1975 with nothing and built a donut...
“Flashdance” Series Reboot in the Works at Paramount+ from Angela Robinson and Tracy McMillan
Take out your legwarmers and pump up the volume on Irene Cara’s anthem: “Flashdance” is getting a second life. Deadline reports that an updated take on the classic 1983 dance pic is...
Offering a “Brave Space to Create Unapologetically”: Crowdfunding Picks
This round of crowdfunding picks shares a focus on representing and tackling a range of intersecting social and cultural issues. They rely on humor, fantasy, and, of course, Zoom, to address the...
Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season” Will Debut on Hulu, Kristen Stewart Stars
Clea DuVall’s holiday-themed queer rom-com will debut on Hulu. The streamer snagged domestic rights to Kristen Stewart-starrer “Happiest Season.” According to Deadline, Sony...
Trailer Watch: Kaley Cuoco May Be a Murderer in “The Flight Attendant”
“I’m a crazy, drunk flight attendant, not a killer,” says Kaley Cuoco in a new trailer for “The Flight Attendant.” HBO Max’s comedic thriller sees the “Big...
Pick of the Day: “Surge”
One of the few good things to come out of the 2016 election was the subsequent onslaught of women running for office, organizing political campaigns, and participating in grassroots activism —...
Diane Warren, Susan Stroman, & Weinstein Survivor Louisette Geiss Join Forces for #MeToo Musical
Screenwriter and Harvey Weinstein accuser Louisette Geiss is teaming up with 11-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren and Tony-winning theater director and choreographer Susan Stroman to tell...
“Wildfire” Writer-Director Cathy Brady Wins £50,000 Bursary at BFI London Film Festival
“Wildfire’s” hot streak continues. Cathy Brady’s feature directorial debut has already been programmed at the Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival,...
Sabrina Van Tassel on Uncovering Flaws in the System in “The State of Texas vs. Melissa”
Sabrina Van Tassel is a French-American film director and journalist. As an investigative reporter, Van Tassel has directed more than 45 documentary films over the last 15 years for major television...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with Lydia Dean Pilcher About “Radium Girls” & “A Call to Spy”
Lydia Dean Pilcher will discuss “Radium Girls” and “A Call to Spy” at the next Girls Club event. The conversation will take place Wednesday, October 21, at 3 p.m. EST and is open...
Catherine Eaton on “The Sounding,” Her Film About a Woman Fighting for Her Voice and Freedom
Catherine Eaton is a writer, director, and actor. She was chosen for Tribeca’s Through Her Lens Lab and Grant for her pilot “On the Outs,” and was selected as a Shadowing Director...
Kelly Oxford’s “Pink Skies Ahead” Lands at MTV Studios
Kelly Oxford’s feature debut has secured distribution. A press release announced that MTV Studios snagged worldwide rights to “Pink Skies Ahead,” which made its world premiere at...
Queer Family Felicitations: VOD and Web Series Picks
Queer family is an amorphous unit not quite like any other. For one thing, its permutations are endless; family could be anything from blood relatives, to acquaintances who look out for each other...
Weekly Update for October 16: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Opening
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD What the Constitution Means to Me (Filmed Stage Production) – Directed by Marielle Heller; Written by Heidi Schreck As Amy Coney...
Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” Lands at Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing
Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing has acquired Deepa Mehta’s latest. An adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s coming-of-age novel of the same name, “Funny Boy” will launch on Netflix in...
Pick of the Day: “Belly of the Beast”
Though it’s most closely associated with Nazi Germany, eugenics has a history stateside as well. And it’s not just a thing of the past. “Belly of the Beast” tells the story of...
Rubika Shah on Exploring the Power of Grassroots Activism in the Punk Scene in “White Riot”
Rubika Shah is a writer-director and Screen International Star of Tomorrow. Her films have screened at Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, and Hot Docs. Her mini-doc about David Bowie, “Let’s...
Pick of the Day: “What the Constitution Means to Me”
As I write this, the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings are winding down. Described as “unashamedly pro-life” and a self-proclaimed constitutional originalist, she will most likely...
Study: The Number of Women Writers & Directors Screening Indie Films at Fests Continues to Rise
Women keep reaching new historic highs as writers and directors of indie films screening at major festivals. A new study from Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, of the Center for the Study of Women in Television...
DOC NYC’s 2020 Lineup Announced, 52 Percent of Features in Competition Are Directed by Women
DOC NYC has announced the lineup for its eleventh edition. “Fifty-seven features (53% of the lineup) are directed or co-directed by women and 36 by BIPOC directors (34% of the feature...