Weekly Update for April 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Unforgettable — Directed by Denise Di Novi; Co-Written by Christina Hodson

Katherine Heigl stars as Tessa Connover, who is barely coping with the end of her marriage when her ex-husband, David (Geoff Stults), becomes happily engaged to Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) — not only bringing Julia into the home they once shared but also into the life of their daughter, Lily (Isabella Rice). Trying to settle into her new role as a wife and a stepmother, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her put her own troubled past behind her. But Tessa’s jealousy soon takes a pathological turn until she will stop at nothing to turn Julia’s dream into her ultimate nightmare. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (Documentary) (Opens in NY)

In 1960, Jane Jacobs’ book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds, with its exploration of the consequences of modern planners’ and architects’ reconfiguration of cities. Jacobs was also an activist, who was involved in many fights in mid-century New York to stop “master builder” Robert Moses from running roughshod over the city. This film retraces the battles for the city as personified by Jacobs and Moses, as urbanization moves to the very front of the global agenda. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Letters from Baghdad (Documentary) — Directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum (Opens in the UK)

“Letters from Baghdad” is the story of a true original — Gertrude Bell — sometimes called the “female Lawrence of Arabia.” Voiced and executive produced by Tilda Swinton, the film tells the dramatic story of this British spy, explorer, and political powerhouse. Bell travelled widely in Arabia before being recruited by British military intelligence during WWI to help draw the borders of Iraq and as a result helped shape the modern Middle East. Using stunning, never-seen-before footage of the region, the film chronicles her extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British colonial power. Told entirely in the words of Gertrude Bell and her contemporaries, from their intimate letters, private diaries, and official documents, the film takes us into a past that is eerily current. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum.

Noor — Co-Written by Ishita Moitra Udhwani, Althea Kaushal, and Shikhaa Sharma

Noor (Sonakshi Sinha) is a journalist who juggles her work, love, and personal life on a day-to-day basis. One day, Noor’s life takes a dramatic turn when she comes across an eye-opening investigative news story. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

A Quiet Passion
By the Time It Gets Dark — Written and Directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong
Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White (Canada)
The Outcasts — Written by Dominique Ferrari and Suzanne Wrubel (Also Available on VOD)
Altitude (Also Available on VOD)
Colossal
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
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
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

Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Lydia Tenaglia (Opens in NY and LA)

“Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent” explores the remarkable life of Jeremiah Tower, one of the most controversial and influential figures in the history of American gastronomy. Tower began his career at the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1972, becoming a pioneering figure in the emerging California cuisine movement. After leaving Chez Panisse, Tower went on to launch his own legendary Stars Restaurant in San Francisco. Stars was an overnight sensation and soon became one of America’s top-grossing U.S. restaurants. After several years, Tower mysteriously walked away from Stars and then disappeared from the scene for nearly two decades, only to resurface in the most unlikely of places: New York City’s fabled but troubled Tavern on the Green. There, he launched a journey of self-discovery familiar to anyone who has ever imagined themselves to be an artist. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Lydia Tenaglia.

Find screening info here.

Tomorrow (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Mélanie Laurent

As mankind is threatened by the collapse of the ecosystems, Cyril, Mélanie, Alexandre, Laurent, Raphäel, and Antoine, all in their thirties, explore the world in search of solutions that can save their children and future generations. Using the most successful experiments in every area (agriculture, energy, habitat, economy, education, democracy, and so on) they try to put back together the puzzle which may tell a new story of the future. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The Penguin Counters (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Harriet Gordon Getzels (Opens in NY)

Armed with low tech gear and high minded notions that penguin populations hold the key to human survival, Ron Naveen lays bare his 30 year love affair with the world’s most pristine scientific laboratory: Antarctica. Famed as a place that wants you dead, this film follows a rag tag team of field biologists to some of the harshest corners of the planet, where they track the impact of climate change and ocean health by counting penguin populations. From the tip of Argentina to the ominous Deception Island, “The Penguin Counters” is a treacherous, heart-warming journey by a 21st century Dr. Dolittle who dreams of conserving this stunning but fragile region for future generations. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Obit. (Documentary) — Directed by Vanessa Gould (Opens in NY April 26)

How do you condense a lifetime into 500 words? Digging into the endless details of the luminaries, icons, and leaders of our day, often with only a few short hours until deadline, New York Times obituary writers wrestle with how to elegantly and respectfully shape the story of a life. Step inside “the morgue” — a catacomb-like archive of meticulously ordered files and photographs that provide the raw material for a constant flow of high-profile obituaries. Meet the writers who toil at the juncture of past and present. While the job may seem morbid, they are ultimately reporting on life. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Vanessa Gould.

Find screening info here.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Maura Axelrod
Heal the Living — Co-Written and Directed by Katell Quillévéré
Alive and Kicking (Documentary) — Directed by Susan Glatzer; Written by Susan Glatzer and Heidi Zimmerman (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

Free Fire — Co-Written by Amy Jump

Set in a colorful yet gritty 1970s Boston, “Free Fire” opens with Justine (Brie Larson), a mysterious American businesswoman, and her wise-cracking associate Ord (Armie Hammer) arranging a black-market weapons deal in a deserted warehouse between IRA arms buyer Chris (Cillian Murphy) and shifty South African gun runner Vernon (Sharlto Copley). What starts as a polite if uneasy exchange soon goes south when tensions escalate and shots are fired, quickly leading to a full-on Battle Royale where it’s every man (and woman) for themselves. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

The Promise — Co-Written by Robin Swicord

Empires fall, love survives. When Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between Michael and Ana’s boyfriend, Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth. As the Ottoman Empire crumbles into war-torn chaos, their conflicting passions must be deferred while they join forces to get their people to safety and survive themselves. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Little Boxes — Written by Annie J. Howell (Also Available on VOD)
Tommy’s Honour — Co-Written by Pamela Marin
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

Girlboss — Created by Kay Cannon (Premieres April 21 on Netflix)

Sophia (Britt Robertson), an anarchist misfit, discovers a passion for fashion, becoming an unlikely businesswoman in the process. As her business grows, however, she has to learn to cope with life as her own boss. (Press materials)

Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On (Docuseries) — Produced by Rashida Jones, Jill Bauer, and Ronna Gradus (Premieres April 21 on Netflix)

Porn has gone mainstream; the question is, can we handle it? This exploration of the intersection of sex and technology is told through the stories of the people whose lives are defined by the current explosion of internet porn — whether they’re creating it, consuming it, or both. (Press materials)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (TV Movie) (Premieres April 22 on HBO)

Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne star in this adaptation of Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed, bestselling nonfiction book of the same name. Told through the eyes of Henrietta Lacks’ daughter Deborah Lacks (Winfrey), the film chronicles her search, along with journalist Skloot (Byrne), to learn about the mother she never knew and understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. (Press materials)

Mary Kills People — Created by Tara Armstrong; Directed by Holly Dale (Premieres April 23 on Lifetime)

A single mother Mary Harris (Caroline Dhavernas, “Hannibal”), is an ER doctor by day. But, by night, she and her partner (Jay Ryan, “Top of the Lake”), a former plastic surgeon, moonlight as underground angels of death and help terminally ill patients slip away on their own terms. (Press materials)

Nightmare on Everest (Documentary Special) — Directed by Karen McGann (Premieres April 24 on Smithsonian)

What should have been the trip of a lifetime soon turned into a nightmare that would claim the lives of thousands and leave survivors trapped in the remote corners of the Himalayas. Join us as we look at the massive 2015 earthquake that struck Nepal and shook the world. We reveal remarkable stories of survival, from the Kathmandu Valley to Mount Everest. We also detail the split-second decisions that resulted in life or death, presented in the words of those who were there and through footage recorded before, during, and after the tragedy. (Press materials)

Great News — Created by Tracey Wigfield; Written by Tracey Wigfield and Ashley Wigfield (Premieres April 25 on NBC)

The “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” team of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, along with Emmy-winning “30 Rock” writer Tracey Wigfield, return to NBC with a promising new comedy. Katie (Briga Heelan, “Ground Floor”) was raised by an overly involved mom who always told her she was destined for greatness. But now at 30 and feeling stuck in her career, Katie is starting to have some doubts. Meanwhile her mother, Carol (Andrea Martin, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), is also looking for a change. After 30 years of being a stay-at-home mom, Carol decides that it’s never too late to follow your dreams and lands an internship at her daughter’s news show. This is Katie’s worst nightmare, until she comes to realize that with her biggest cheerleader at her side, she and her mom both might just make it after all. (Press materials)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Premieres April 26 on Hulu)

Adapted from the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized “return to traditional values.” As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids — where anyone could be a spy for Gilead — all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

Catfight (VOD/DVD, April 25)
The Girl from the Brothel — Co-Written and Directed by Ilaria Borrelli (DVD, April 25)
The Girl with All the Gifts (VOD/DVD, April 25)
Underworld: Blood Wars — Directed by Anna Foerster (VOD/DVD, April 25)

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

To contact Women and Hollywood, email melissa@womenandhollywood.com.