FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING
Little Woods – Written and Directed by Nia DaCosta
This Tribeca winner sees Tessa Thompson playing a woman facing a handful of crises in Little Woods, North Dakota. Ollie (Thompson) is trying to make it through her last few days of probation after getting caught running prescription pills over the border. She’s hardworking, level-headed, and committed to changing her life, but she can’t seem to catch a break: her mom just died, her sister Deb (Lily James, “Cinderella”) is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, and their mother’s house is about to be foreclosed on unless they can come up with the cash to settle the mortgage. Ollie needs money, and she needs it fast. Refreshingly realistic but never preachy, “Little Woods” is an immersive experience that encourages audiences to imagine walking in these women’s shoes. (Laura Berger)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Nia DaCosta.
Find screening info here.
Fast Color – Directed by Julia Hart; Written by Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz
“Fast Color”
Our conception of a superhero — save Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther — has been cemented as a white man who saves the world, usually while wearing a costume. “Fast Color,” from director and co-writer Julia Hart, challenges that notion. Set in a near future where water is scarce, the film is the story of a family of black women with superhuman abilities. Those abilities have caused them to run and hide from agents bent on studying — and hindering — them. The movie is an intergenerational drama about mothering and the sacrifices women make for their children. (Melissa Silverstein)
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (Documentary) – Directed by Pamela B. Green; Written by Pamela B. Green and Joan Simon (Opens in LA; Opens in NY April 26)
Pamela B. Green’s energetic film about pioneer filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché is both a tribute and a detective story, tracing the circumstances by which this extraordinary artist faded from memory and the path toward her reclamation.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Pamela B. Green.
Find screening info here.
Rafiki – Directed by Wanuri Kahiu; Written by Wanuri Kahiu and Jenna Cato Bass
“Rafiki”
In an ideal world, “Rafiki” would not be this significant. It’s a coming out story. We’ve seen it before, yet the film is incredibly important because it is the first Kenyan drama to address the issue. The film, directed by Wanuri Kahiu, was banned in its home country. It’s the story of two girls who fall in love and all the societal and political issues that prevent them from expressing that love openly. “Rafiki” is another reminder of how far we still have to go in this world in order to truly achieve equality. (MS)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Wanuri Kahiu.
Find screening info here.
Family – Written and Directed by Laura Steinel (Opens in NY and LA)
“Family”
Kate Stone (Taylor Schilling) is career-focused, and enjoys her life that way. Her brash attitude keeps relationships at arm’s length, making her an outcast in her own right. When her estranged brother calls asking her to babysit her tween niece, Maddie (Bryn Vale), Kate reluctantly agrees to help. But babysitting overnight unexpectedly turns into a week, and Kate’s life spins into chaos. As Maddie reveals stories of being bullied and of wanting to run away and be a Juggalo, the two form a unique bond.
Someone Great – Written and Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Available on Netflix)
“Someone Great”
Aspiring music journalist Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has just landed her dream job at an iconic magazine and is about to move to San Francisco. Rather than do long distance, her boyfriend of nine years (Lakeith Stanfield) decides to call it quits. To nurse her broken heart, Jenny gathers up her two best friends, Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow), for one outrageous last adventure in New York City.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Red Joan – Written by Lindsay Shapero (Also Available on VOD)
Joan Stanley (Judi Dench) is a widow living out a quiet retirement in the suburbs when, shockingly, the British Secret Service places her under arrest. The charge: providing classified scientific information — including details on the building of the atomic bomb — to the Soviet government for decades. As she is interrogated, Joan relives the dramatic events that shaped her life and beliefs: her student days at Cambridge, where she excelled at physics while challenging deep-seated sexism; her tumultuous love affair with a dashing political radical (Tom Hughes); and the devastation of World War II, which inspired her to risk everything in pursuit of peace.
Daddy Issues – Directed by Amara Cash (Also Available on VOD)
Maya (Madison Lawlor), a 19-year-old queer pixie, spends her days working on her art and cyberstalkng her insta-crush, the sexually fluid fashion designer Jasmine (Montana Manning). One night Maya boldly meets Jasmine IRL, there’s an insta-spark and the two begin an inspiring romantic relationship that gives Maya her first taste of true love and Jasmine the inspiration she needs to jump-start her career. It’s all gumdrops and fairytales until Maya discovers Jasmine’s in a codependent relationship with a neurotic sugar daddy. What started as a dream come true turns into a beautiful nightmare.
Find screening info here.
Breaking Habits (Documentary) (Also Available on VOD)
Cheated by her stealing polygamist husband of 17 years, once high-flying corporate exec Christine Meeusen fled penniless with her three young children as her American Dream began to unravel. Determined to make a living for her family, she discovered the lucrative business of cannabis farming and met her calling as founder of medicinal-marijuana empire Sisters of the Valley. Shedding her former life, Christine became Sister Kate; on a mission to provide her products to those in need. Fighting off the county sheriff, and protecting her crop from deadly black market thieves, “Breaking Habits” is a story of rebellion, hope, and revival.
Grass (Opens in NY; Opens in LA April 24)
“Grass”
In the corner of a small café, Areum (Kim Minhee) sits typing on her laptop. At the tables around her, other customers enact the various dramas of their lives. A young couple charge each other with serious crimes, an old man tries to rekindle a flame with a younger woman, a narcissistic filmmaker works to put together his next project — all while Areum types. Is she merely writing what she hears? Or is she hearing what’s been written?
Find screening info here.
Naples in Veils – Written by Valia Santella, Ferzan Ozpetek, and Gianni Romoli (Available on VOD April 23)
In a Naples suspended between magic and superstition, madness and rationality, a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime.
Finding Julia – Written by Ha Phuong, Kieu Chinh, Minh Ngoc Nguyen, and Andrew Craft
In Manhattan, Eurasian acting student Julia Chamonix (Ha Phuong) is unable to enjoy the privileged life she shares with her doting father. Haunted by the tragic early death of her mother — a former star actress and singer in Vietnam — and likewise haunted by a secret desire she has to hide from the world, Julia struggles in her acting studies under renowned coach Igor (Richard Chamberlain). However, her ambitions to emulate her mother’s success are thwarted by her severe difficulties with the English language. Her only confidante is her wise Vietnamese grandmother, but even with her she limits what she confides. Meanwhile she begins to experience recurrent nightmares in which she relives the car accident that killed her mother. Caught between two very different cultures, East and West, Julia questions if she will ever fit in anywhere.
Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse (Available on VOD April 23)
In a remote Alpine village in the 15th century, the orphan Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) grows up to become a marked woman. The scapegoat of ancient superstitions and monstrous misogyny, this self-styled witch begins to assert her otherworldly birthright. The plague she conjures makes human cruelty look pathetic and small by comparison.
Find screening info here.
Okko’s Inn – Written by Reiko Yoshida (Special Release April 22 and 23)
“Okko’s Inn”: Media Castle
After losing her parents in a car accident, Okko goes to live in the countryside with her grandmother, who runs a traditional Japanese inn built on top of an ancient spring said to have healing waters. While she goes about her chores and prepares to become the inn’s next caretaker, Okko discovers there are spirits who live there that only she can see — not scary ones, but welcoming ghosts who keep her company, play games, and help her navigate her new environment. The inn’s motto is that it welcomes all and will reject none, and this is soon put to the test as a string of new guests challenge Okko’s ability to be a gracious host. But ultimately Okko discovers that dedicating herself to others is the key to taking care of herself.
Find screening info here.
Aurora – Written by Gin De Mesa and Yam Laranas (Available on Netflix April 25)
The passenger ship Aurora mysteriously collides into the rocky sea, threatening an entire island. A young woman and her sister must both survive by finding the missing dead for a bounty.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING
“Hail Satan?”
Hail Satan? (Documentary) – Directed by Penny Lane
With unprecedented access, “Hail Satan?” traces the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple and its enigmatic leader, Lucien Greaves, are calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Penny Lane.
Find screening info here.
The Curse of La Llorona – Written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis
In 1970s Los Angeles, La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez) is stalking the night — and the children. Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope to survive La Llorona’s deadly wrath may be a disillusioned priest and the mysticism he practices to keep evil at bay, on the fringes where fear and faith collide.
Find screening info here.
TV PREMIERES
American Masters: Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable (Documentary) – Directed by Sasha Waters Freyer (Premieres April 19 on PBS)
“Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable”
Decades before digital technology transformed how we make and see pictures, Garry Winogrand made over one million of them with his 35mm Leica camera, creating an encyclopedic portrait of America from the late 1950s to the early 1980s in the process. When he died suddenly at age 56, Winogrand left behind more than 10,000 rolls of film — more than a quarter of a million pictures. With unprecedented access to Winogrand’s estate and the cooperation of his gallery, “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable” tells the story of an artist whose rise and fall was — like America’s in the late decades of the 20th century — larger-than-life, full of contradictions, and totally unresolved.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sasha Waters Freyer.
Brené Brown: The Call to Courage (Documentary Special) (Premieres April 19 on Netflix)
With humor and empathy, Brené Brown discusses what it takes to choose courage over comfort in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty.
Gentleman Jack – Created and Written by Sally Wainwright; Directed by Sally Wainwright, Sarah Harding, and Jennifer Perrott (Premieres April 22 on HBO)
“Gentleman Jack”
Set in the complex, changing world of 1832 Halifax, West Yorkshire — the cradle of the evolving Industrial Revolution — “Gentleman Jack” focuses on landowner Anne Lister (Suranne Jones), who is determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, by reopening the coal mines and marrying well. The charismatic, single-minded, swashbuckling Lister — who dresses head-to-toe in black and charms her way into high society — has no intention of marrying a man.
1969 (Documentary Miniseries) – Directed by Jeanmarie Condon (Premieres April 23 on ABC)
“1969” weaves together rarely told stories of the moon landing, the Manson murders, the Chappaquiddick scandal, and Woodstock with that of Nixon’s first year in office, John Lennon’s Bed-Ins for Peace, FBI shootouts with black activists, and the Stonewall Uprising. The six-part series features gripping first-hand accounts of how these events came together at the same dizzying, chaotic time.
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson – Directed by Alice Mathias and Akiva Schaffer (Premieres April 23 on Netflix)
In this new sketch show, Tim Robinson and guests spend each segment driving someone to the point of needing — or desperately wanting — to leave.
VOD/STREAMING RELEASES
“Destroyer”
The God Inside My Ear (VOD, April 19)
Destroyer – Directed by Karyn Kusama (VOD, April 23)
Escape Room – Written by Maria Melnik and Bragi F. Schut (VOD, April 23)
PICKS OF THE WEEK FROM WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
Justine Triet’s “Sibyl” is one of the main competition selections: CedricSartore
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson on Gina Rodriguez-Starrer “Someone Great” & Telling Women’s Stories
Four Women-Directed Films Will Screen in Cannes’ Main Competition. That’s Not Good Enough.
Yolande Zauberman Will Chair Cannes’ Golden Eye Jury
Peabody 2019 Documentary Honorees: “The Judge,” “The Apology,” & More
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Tapped to Do Touch Ups on “Bond 25” Script
Sandra Oh, “The Good Fight,” Leah Remini, & More Among 2019 Gracie Award Winners
Jackie Sibblies Drury Wins Drama Pulitzer for “Fairview”
Sundance Film Festival: London to Open with “Late Night”
Cannes 2019 Official Poster Honors Agnès Varda
Anna Deavere Smith Will Be Signature Theatre’s Playwright in Residence Next Season
Note: All descriptions are from press materials, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Women and Hollywood on Twitter @WomenaHollywood and Melissa Silverstein @melsil.
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