Weekly Update for April 6: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Miracle Season — Co-Written by Elissa Matsueda

Based on the inspiring true story of West High School girls’ volleyball team. After the tragic death of the school’s star player Caroline “Line” Found, the remaining team players must band together under the guidance of their tough-love coach in hope of winning the state championship. (Press materials)

Find screening info and tickets here.

Where Is Kyra? — Written by Darci Picoult

“Where Is Kyra?”: Killer Films/Little Minx

“Where Is Kyra?” tells the story of Kyra Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer), a middle-aged divorcée who moves into her elderly mother’s Brooklyn apartment while she looks for work, and tries to get back on her feet. When her mother suddenly dies, Kyra is left without any support, both emotional and financial, and finds herself with very few options — none of them good. Despite a blossoming affair with a sympathetic neighbor (Keifer Sutherland) with struggles of his own, Kyra can’t accept that her once-tidy life has fallen apart, and she resorts to increasingly desperate measures to hold onto what little she has left. (Press materials)

Shelter (Opens in LA)

Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent (Neta Riskin), is sent to Germany to protect Mona (Golshifteh Farahani), a Lebanese informant recovering from plastic surgery to assume her new identity. Together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg, the relationship that develops between the two women is soon exposed to the threat of terror that is engulfing the world today. (Press materials)

Pandas (Documentary)

At Chengdu Panda Base in China, scientists are dedicated to protecting the species by breeding adult Giant Pandas in order to introduce cubs into the wild. This film follows one such researcher, whose passion leads her to initiate a new technique inspired by a black bear program in rural New Hampshire. What starts as a cross-culture collaboration becomes a life-changing journey for an American biologist who crosses an ocean to join her, a scientist from Inner Mongolia, and a very curious female cub named Qian Qian, born in captivity. (Press materials)

Find screening info and tickets here.

Big Fish & Begonia

There is a mystical race of beings that control the tide and the changing of the seasons. But one of these beings, a young girl named Chun, wants to experience the human world, not simply observe it. When she turns 16, Chun is allowed to transform into a dolphin and explore the human world. However, she soon learns this world is a dangerous place. Chun is nearly killed in a vortex, but saved by a human boy at the cost of his own life. Moved by his kindness and courage, she decides to give the boy life again, but this power comes at a price. Chun will have to face adventure and sacrifice in order to protect the boy’s soul until it is ready to return to the human world. (Press materials)

Orbiter 9 (Available on Netflix)

A woman who’s been alone on a spaceship her whole life becomes enamored with an engineer who suddenly enters her life and upends her universe. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Gemini
All I Wish — Written and Directed by Susan Walter (Also Available on VOD)
Finding Your Feet — Co-Written by Meg Leonard
Acrimony
Tomb Raider — Co-Written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Unsane
Beauty and the Dogs — Written and Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
Midnight Sun
Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist (Documentary) — Directed by Lorna Tucker (UK)
I Got Life! — Co-Written and Directed by Blandine Lenoir (UK)
Mary Magdalene — Written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett (UK)
The Happys
Apocalypsis
A Wrinkle in Time — Directed by Ava DuVernay; Written by Jennifer Lee
Thoroughbreds
Meditation Park — Written and Directed by Mina Shum (Canada) (Also Available on Netflix)
Claire’s Camera
Red Sparrow
Oh Lucy! — Written and Directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi
Annihilation
Dark River — Written and Directed by Clio Barnard (UK)
November
Double Lover
Tehran Taboo
Winchester
A Fantastic Woman
The Post — Co-Written by Liz Hannah
Vazante — Co-Written and Directed by Daniela Thomas
In the Fade
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In Between — Written and Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water — Co-Written by Vanessa Taylor
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Alexandra Dean
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird — Written and Directed by Greta Gerwig

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

“You Were Never Really Here”: Amazon Studios

You Were Never Really Here — Written and Directed by Lynne Ramsay

A traumatized veteran (Joaquin Phoenix), unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered, leading to what may be his death trip, or his awakening. (Press materials)

Find screening info and tickets here.

Blockers — Directed by Kay Cannon

When three parents (Leslie Mann, John Cena, and Ike Barinholtz) stumble upon their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity at prom, they launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Kay Cannon.

Find screening info and tickets here.

6 Balloons — Written and Directed by Marja-Lewis Ryan (Available on Netflix)

Over the course of one night, a woman (Abbi Jacobson) drives across LA with her heroin addict brother (Dave Franco) in search of a detox center, with his two-year-old daughter in tow. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Marja-Lewis Ryan.

Sun Dogs — Directed by Jennifer Morrison (Available on Netflix)

A young man (Michael Angarano), determined to be a military hero, ends up on a misguided adventure with his family, and new friend Tally (Melissa Benoist), which leads him to the most unlikely realization of how he can courageously “save lives.” (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jennifer Morrison.

Spiral (Documentary) — Directed by Laura Fairrie

Anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, and physical and verbal assaults against Jews are on the rise throughout Europe, particularly in France. In response to rising tensions and fears, many in the Jewish community decide to leave. Others, like lawyer Julien, remain behind to fight back against those who would fan the flames of hate, like popular comedian Dieudonné, known for his signature inverted Nazi salute. Director Laura Fairrie presents an urgent, alarming look at the impact of this free reign of hatred on the lives of ordinary people. (DOC NYC)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Laura Fairrie.

The 4th Company — Written and Co-Directed by Mitzi Vanessa Arreola (Available on Netflix)

In a violent prison in 1970s Mexico, a young inmate lands a spot on a football team that doubles as an enforcer squad for a corrupt administration. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Outside In — Co-Written and Directed by Lynn Shelton (Also Available on VOD)
Keep the Change — Written and Directed by Rachel Israel
Our Blood Is Wine (Documentary) — Directed by Emily Railsback
Itzhak (Documentary) — Directed by Alison Chernick
The Party — Written and Directed by Sally Potter
Forever My Girl — Written and Directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf
Faces Places (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Agnès Varda

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Fourplay — Co-Written by Emanuela Galliussi
Pacific Rim Uprising — Co-Written by Kira Snyder and Emily Carmichael
Ismael’s Ghosts — Co-Written by Léa Mysius and Julie Peyr
A Bag of Marbles — Co-Written by Alexandra Geismar
Love, Simon — Co-Written by Elizabeth Berger
The Leisure Seeker — Co-Written by Francesca Archibugi
The 15:17 to Paris — Written by Dorothy Blyskal
The Insult — Co-Written by Joëlle Touma
The Greatest Showman — Co-Written by Jenny Bicks

TV Premieres This Week

Paterno (TV Movie) — Co-Written by Debora Cahn (Premieres April 7 on HBO)

“Paterno” centers on Penn State’s Joe Paterno in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. After becoming the winningest coach in college football history, Paterno’s (Al Pacino) legacy is challenged and he is forced to face questions of institutional failure in regard to the victims. (Press materials)

Killing Eve — Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Premieres April 8 on BBC America)

Starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve” centers on two women: Eve (Oh) is a bored, whip-smart, pay-grade MI5 security officer whose desk-bound job doesn’t fulfill her fantasies of being a spy. Villanelle (Comer) is a mercurial, talented killer who clings to the luxuries her violent job affords her. Penned by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”) and based on the novellas by Luke Jennings, “Killing Eve” will follow these two women, equally obsessed with each other, as they go head to head in an epic game of cat and mouse. (Press materials)

Howards End (Miniseries) — Directed by Hettie Macdonald (Premieres April 8 on Starz)

An adaptation of E.M. Forster’s masterpiece, “Howards End” follows two independent and unconventional sisters (Hayley Atwell and Philippa Coulthard) seeking love and meaning in an ever-changing world. Also starring Matthew Macfadyen, Tracey Ullman, and Julia Ormond. (Press materials)

The Art of the Shine (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Stacey Tenenbaum (Premieres April 9 on PBS)

You might pass them on the sidewalk, at the mall, or at the airport. They’re the shoe shiners, purveying an old school trade that seems like something out of the “Mad Men” era, out of step with our fast-paced, disposable consumer culture. But for the “shiners” in Stacey Tenenbaum’s joyous and quirky film, “The Art of the Shine,” shining shoes is a calling and a passion, a way to be one’s own boss and connect with other people from all walks of life. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Stacey Tenenbaum.

In Contempt — Created by Terri Kopp (Premieres April 10 on BET)

Erica Ash stars as Gwen Sullivan, an opinionated attorney whose passion for her job and clients make her arguably the most talented Public Defender in her district. (Press materials)

America Inside Out with Katie Couric (Docuseries) (Premieres April 11 on National Geographic)

Katie Couric: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube

Katie Couric’s new series, “America Inside Out,” will follow her as she travels the country to sit down with the people shaping the most pivotal, evolving, contentious, and often confusing topics in American culture today. From interviewing founding members at the violent and terror-filled “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville to spending time with young, female Muslim entrepreneurs in Brooklyn to an in-depth look at America’s white working class, Couric enlists cultural icons and regular folks to help her look past the noise, politics, and individual discomfort to understand the complicated truth about the complexities of religion, race, technology, and cultural norms, while highlighting the humanity beneath the surface. (Press materials)

GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II (Documentary) — Directed by Lisa Ades; Written by Maia Harris (Premieres April 11 on PBS)

“GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II” tells the profound and unique story of the 550,000 Jewish men and women who served in World War II. Through the eyes of the servicemen and women, the film brings to life the little-known story of Jews in World War II — as active participants in the fight against Hitler, bigotry, and intolerance. These brave men and women fought for their nation and their people, for America and for Jews worldwide. Like all Americans, they fought against fascism, but they also waged a more personal fight — to save their brethren in Europe. After years of struggle, they emerged transformed, more powerfully American and more deeply Jewish, determined to continue the fight for equality and tolerance at home. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

Axis — Directed by Aisha Tyler (VOD/DVD, April 10)
The Greatest Showman — Co-Written by Jenny Bicks (VOD/DVD, April 10)
Mighty Ground (Documentary) — Directed by Delila Vallot (VOD/DVD, April 10)
Molly’s Game (DVD, April 10)
Proud Mary (VOD/DVD, April 10)
The Tribes of Palos Verdes — Written by Karen Croner (DVD, April 10)