Weekly Update for April 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

A Quiet Passion (Opens in NY; Opens in LA April 21)

Cynthia Nixon delivers a triumphant performance as Emily Dickinson as she personifies the wit, intellectual independence, and pathos of the poet whose genius only came to be recognized after her death. Acclaimed British director Terence Davies (“The Deep Blue Sea”) exquisitely evokes Dickinson’s deep attachment to her close-knit family along with the manners, mores, and spiritual convictions of her time that she struggled with and transcended in her poetry. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

By the Time It Gets Dark — Written and Directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Opens at the Lincoln Center in NY)

Set in Thailand, “By the Time It Gets Dark” encompasses multiple stories whose connections are as spiritual as they are incidental. We meet a pair of actors whose paths take them in very different directions. We meet a young waitress serving breakfast at an idyllic country café, only to later find her employed in the busy dining room of a river cruise ship. And we meet a filmmaker interviewing an older woman whose life was transformed by the political activism of her student years and the Thammasat University massacre of 1976. (Toronto International Film Festival)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Anocha Suwichakornpong.

Find screening info here.

Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White (Opens in Canada)

“Maudie,” based on a true story, is an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passionately, to create art. Unexpectedly, Everett finds himself falling in love. “Maudie” charts Everett’s efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie’s deep and abiding love for this difficult man, and her surprising rise to fame as a folk painter. (Press materials)

The Outcasts — Written by Dominique Ferrari and Suzanne Wrubel (Also Available on VOD)

After falling victim to a humiliating prank by the high school Queen Bee (Claudia Lee), best friends and world-class geeks Mindy (Eden Sher) and Jodi (Victoria Justice) decide to get their revenge by uniting the outcasts of the school against her and her circle of friends. (Press materials)

Altitude (Also Available on VOD)

Gretchen Blair (Denise Richards) is a headstrong FBI agent who goes rogue on a hostage negotiation and is sent packing to a desk job back in DC. By a stroke of luck, she’s upgraded to business class on her flight — but as soon as the plane takes off, her seatmate (Kirk Barker) offers her millions of dollars if she can get him off the plane alive. As his ex-partners (Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Liddell, and Greer Grammar) stage a brutal hijacking, Gretchen finds herself in the fight of her life — choosing sides between two factions of a criminal gang and trying to keep the plane from going down. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

The Assignment (Also Available on VOD)
Bethany (Also Available on VOD)
Queen of the Desert (Also Available on VOD)
Colossal (Opens in Wider Release)
Their Finest — Directed by Lone Scherfig; Written by Gaby Chiappe
The Zookeeper’s Wife — Directed by Niki Caro; Written by Angela Workman
Carrie Pilby — Directed by Susan Johnson; Written by Kara Holden (Also Available on VOD)
Ghost in the Shell
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (Also Available on DirecTV)
All This Panic (Documentary) — Directed by Jenny Gage
God Knows Where I Am (Documentary)
The Levelling — Written and Directed by Hope Dickson Leach
Beauty and the Beast
A Woman, a Part — Written and Directed by Elisabeth Subrin
Personal Shopper
Naam Shabana
Raw — Written and Directed by Julia Ducournau
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nechama
Before I Fall — Directed by Ry-Russo Young; Written by Maria Maggenti
The Last Word
Table 19
Sophie and the Rising Sun — Written and Directed by Maggie Greenwald (Also Available on VOD)
Lovesong — Co-Written and Directed by So Yong Kim
The Lure — Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska
20th Century Women
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder
Toni Erdmann — Written and Directed by Maren Ade
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Julieta
Jackie
Moana — Co-Written by Pamela Ribon
Elle
The Eagle Huntress

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Maura Axelrod (Limited Release)

An art world upstart, provocative and elusive artist Maurizio Cattelan made his career on playful and subversive works that send up the artistic establishment, until a retrospective at the Guggenheim in 2011 finally solidified his place in the contemporary art canon. Director Maura Axelrod’s equally playful profile leaves no stone unturned in trying to figure out: Who is Maurizio Cattelan? (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Maura Axelrod.

Find screening info here.

Heal the Living — Co-Written and Directed by Katell Quillévéré (Opens in NY)

“Heal the Living” follows three seemingly unrelated stories that carefully weave together: A French teenager and his friends on a surfing road trip that leads to tragedy; a woman in another town who learns that her weak heart is beginning to fail and action must be taken; and two teams of doctors and medical experts who struggle through their day-to-day attempts to save lives. Ultimately, it is an impassioned story of personal connections that philosophically, spiritually, and literally plumbs the depths of the human heart. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Katell Quillévéré.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Alive and Kicking (Documentary) — Directed by Susan Glatzer; Written by Susan Glatzer and Heidi Zimmerman (Also Available on VOD)
i hate myself 🙂 (Documentary) — Directed by Joanna Arnow (Also Available on VOD)
Glory — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Kristina Grozeva
David Lynch: The Art Life (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Olivia Neergaard-Holm
The Prison — Written and Directed by Na Hyun
Cezanne and I — Written and Directed by Danièle Thompson
Karl Marx City (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Petra Epperlein
Viceroy’s House — Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Co-Written by Moira Buffini (UK)
Jasper Jones — Directed by Rachel Perkins (Australia)
The Last Laugh (Documentary) — Directed by Ferne Pearlstein
A United Kingdom — Directed by Amma Asante

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Little Boxes — Written by Annie J. Howell (Also Available on VOD)

It’s the summer before sixth grade, and Clark (Armani Jackson) is the new-in-town biracial kid in a sea of white. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act “more black,” he fumbles to meet expectations, while his urban intellectual parents Mack (Nelsan Ellis) and Gina (Melanie Lynskey) also strive to adjust to small-town living. Equipped for the many inherent challenges of New York, the tight-knit family are ill prepared for the drastically different set of obstacles that their new community presents, and soon find themselves struggling to understand themselves and each other in this new suburban context. (Press materials)

Tommy’s Honour — Co-Written by Pamela Marin

“Tommy’s Honour” is based on the powerfully moving true story of the challenging relationship between “Old” Tom and “Young” Tommy Morris, the dynamic father-son team who ushered in the modern game of golf. As their fame grew, Tom (Peter Mullan) and Tommy (Jack Lowden), Scotland’s Golf Royalty, were touched by drama and personal tragedy. At first matching his father’s success, Tommy’s talent and fame grew to outshine his father’s accomplishments and respect as founder of the Open Championship in 1860 with a series of his own triumphs. But in contrast to Tommy’s public persona, his personal turmoil ultimately led him to rebel against both the aristocracy who gave him opportunity and the parents who shunned his passionate relationship with his wife. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

The Ticket — Co-Written by Sharon Mashihi (Also Available on VOD)
Smurfs: The Lost Village — Written by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon
Phillauri — Written by Anvita Dutt
A Dog’s Purpose — Written by Cathryn Michon
The Red Turtle — Co-written by Pascale Ferran

TV Premieres This Week

Junior — Written and Directed by Zoe Cassevetes (Available Now on VICE Video)

A modern coming-of-age story, “Junior” follows high schooler Logan (Lucia Ribisi), a New York transplant living in LA with her divorced mother (Amy Seimetz). The series plays like “Thirteen” or “Kids” for the digital age, as Logan begins filming a documentary about her new friend’s (Kristine Forseth) journey into becoming a “bad girl.” After a random laundromat tryst with a boy who turns out to be her friend’s boyfriend (David Garelik), and meeting her mom’s new boyfriend/Hollywood producer (Eric Johnson), Logan finds herself in not one, but two love triangles. (Press materials)

Watch “Junior” here.

The White Princess — Written by Emma Frost (Premieres April 16 on Starz)

“The White Princess” picks up three days after the conclusion of “The White Queen,” as a new generation ascends to the throne in a tale of power, political divides, family, love, and betrayal. The historical drama is told from the perspective of the women waging the ongoing battle for the English throne: Lizzie (Jodie Comer), Lady Margaret Beaufort (Michelle Fairley), and Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville (Essie Davis). The story begins as one of England’s most politically turbulent times — The War of the Roses — is coming to an end. An uneasy peace is achieved when former King Richard III is defeated at the Battle of Bosworth, and the victor, Henry Tudor, soon-to-be King Henry VII (Jacob Collins-Levy), is married to Lizzie — a princess from a rival house and Richard III’s former lover. (Deadline)

Genius of the Modern World (Documentary Miniseries) (Premieres April 17 on Acorn TV)

Historian Bettany Hughes retraces the lives of three great thinkers whose ideas shaped the modern world — Karl Marx, Frederick Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. (Press materials)

Famous in Love — Created by I. Marlene King and Rebecca Serle (Premieres April 18 on Freeform)

Based on the novel by Rebecca Serle published by Little, Brown, and Company, “Famous In Love” follows ordinary college student Paige (Bella Thorne) as she gets her big break after auditioning for the starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster. She must now navigate her new star-studded life and the highs and lows that come with being the new It Girl in town, as well as balancing her college workload. As her public profile continues to rise and the undeniable chemistry with her new co-star and Hollywood heartthrob Rainer Devon (Carter Jenkins) grows, the more her friendships are strained with her two best friends — particularly Jake (Charlie DePew) who may be more than just her friend. (Press materials)

My Love Affair with the Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Catherine Ryan (Premieres April 18 on WNET)

Narrated by TV-star Mayim Bialik (“The Big Bang Theory,” “Blossom”) and produced by local, multiple Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg, “My Love Affair with the Brain” profiles beloved UC Berkeley professor Marian Diamond, who is one of the under-recognized, outstanding women of science. The film illustrates her scientific accomplishments (many well-known already, even if Dr. Diamond’s role is not) and introduces to the viewer the warm, funny, and thoroughly charming scientist herself, who describes her 60-year career researching the human brain as “pure joy.” (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

Bad at Dancing (Short) — Written and Directed by Joanna Arnow (Vimeo, Available Now)
Quarries — Co-Written by Nicole Marie Johnson (VOD/DVD, Available Now)
Slam — Co-Written by Ludovica Rampoldi (Netflix, April 15)
Don’t Blink — Robert Frank — Written and Directed by Laura Israel (VOD/DVD, April 18)
Love Thy Nature — Written and Directed by Sylvie Rokab (DVD, April 18)
Sleepless — Written by Andrea Berloff (VOD/DVD, April 18)
In the Morning — Written and Directed by Nefertite Nguvu (VOD, April 20)

Follow Women and Hollywood on Twitter @WomenaHollywoodand Melissa Silverstein @melsil.

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