Weekly Update for August 12: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Florence Foster Jenkins

Meryl Streep disappears into yet another role, this time as art patron and heiress Florence Foster Jenkins. Jenkins believes she is a world-class singer because no one around her will tell her the truth — their silence seems to have something to do with the fact that she pays for everything, and so bursting her bubble could upset the apple cart. Another reason they keep their mouths shut is that she gets so much enjoyment out of singing. If she’s having that much fun, why does it even matter if she is incredibly bad at it? Streep plays Jenkins as a very vulnerable and needy woman who nonetheless knows exactly what she wants. Hugh Grant portrays her dutiful husband trying to keep the facade going in every way — including the fact that he has a whole different life with his lover (Rebecca Ferguson). The culmination of the film is a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall where you discover that it’s not always the people with perfect pitch who are the ones to bring down the house. (Melissa Silverstein)

My King (Mon Roi) — Co-Written and Directed by Maïwenn

Tony (Emmanuelle Bercot) is admitted to a rehabilitation center after a serious ski accident. Dependent on the medical staff and pain relievers, she takes time to look back on the turbulent ten-year relationship she experienced with Georgio (Vincent Cassel). A difficult process of healing is in front of her — physical work which may finally set her free. (Press materials)

The Model

When emerging fashion model Emma (Maria Palm) gets a chance to pursue her dream of becoming an international top model, she leaves her everyday life in Denmark behind and moves to Paris. At a photo shoot in her new hometown, she meets the attractive photographer Shane White (Ed Skrein) and they fall in love. But their relationship soon turns into a dangerous obsession for Emma. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

The Little Prince (Also Available on Netflix)
Sun Choke (Also Available on VOD)
Bazodee
An Art That Nature Makes — Directed by Molly Bernstein
Let’s Be Evil — Co-Written by Elizabeth Morris (Also Available on VOD)
Equity — Directed by Meera Menon; Written by Amy Fox
Bad Moms
Into the Forest — Written and Directed by Patricia Rozema
Miss Sharon Jones! (Documentary) — Directed by Barbara Kopple
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie — Directed by Mandie Fletcher; Written by Jennifer Saunders
Summertime — Directed by Catherine Corsini; Written by Catherine Corsini and Laurette Polmanss
Lights Out
Nerve — Written by Jessica Sharzer
Ghostbusters — Co-Written by Katie Dippold
Our Little Sister
The Innocents — Directed by Anne Fontaine; Co-Written by Anne Fontaine, Sabrina B. Karine, and Alice Vial
The Shallows
The Neon Demon — Co-Written by Mary Laws and Polly Stenham
Adult Life Skills — Written and Directed by Rachel Tunnard (Playing in the UK)
Finding Dory
The Witness (Documentary)
Me Before You — Directed by Thea Sharrock; Written by Jojo Moyes
Alice Through the Looking Glass — Written by Linda Woolverton
Presenting Princess Shaw (Documentary) (Also Available on VOD)
Maggie’s Plan — Written and Directed by Rebecca Miller
Sunset Song
Love & Friendship
Dark Horse (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Louise Osmond
The Meddler — Written and Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Abortion: Stories Women Tell (Documentary) — Directed by Tracy Droz Tragos

When you watch movies about abortion the politics is always the lead. But in “Abortion: Stories Women Tell” the lead is the voices of the women. The ones who make make the decisions. Some make the decision relatively easily and others struggle with serious reservations. We meet the doctors who support the women as well as the people on the other side of the issue — those who just want to stop abortions at all costs. This is a new and very different take on an issue that has become so politicized we sometimes forget how it affects women on a personal level. This movie reminds us of the bravery and the humanity of the women who walk into clinics to help treat women and those who walk in because it is the right decision for them and their lives. (Melissa Silverstein)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Tracy Droz Tragos.

Disorder — Written and Directed by Alice Winocour (Also Available on VOD)

Following a tour of duty, French Afghanistan veteran Vincent (Matthias Schoenaerts) takes a job in security for a Lebanese financier and his family. When his employer is urgently called away on business, Vincent is left to ensure the safety of his wife Jessie (Diane Kruger) and their child. Vincent battles his own PTSD-fueled paranoia while clinging to the certainty that Jessie and her family are in immediate danger, unleashing a hell-bent determination to protect them at all costs. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Alice Winocour.

When Two Worlds Collide (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Heidi Brandenburg (Opens August 17 in NY)

Set against the backdrop of climate crisis and global recession, “When Two Worlds Collide” centers on a young indigenous activist, Alberto Pizango, fighting to make the voices of indigenous Peruvians heard as the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed. Pizango is accused of conspiracy and inciting violence in this vivid depiction of conflicting political wills. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Heidi Brandenburg.

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Five Nights in Maine — Written and Directed by Maris Curran (Also Available on VOD)
Amateur Night — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Lisa Addario
Olympic, American Prejudice (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Deborah Riley Draper
Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Karen Bernstein
collective: unconscious — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Josephine Decker, and Lauren Wolkstein
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (Documentary) — Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Indian Point (Documentary) — Directed by Ivy Meeropol
Our Kind of Traitor — Directed by Susanna White
Weiner (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Elyse Steinberg
Money Monster — Directed by Jodie Foster

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Blood Father — Co-Written by Andrea Berloff

“Blood Father” stars Mel Gibson as John Link, an ex-convict who fights to protect his estranged daughter from the drug cartel that is hunting her down. John must use his connections from his past life and his skills as an ex-criminal to keep him and his daughter alive. “Blood Father” also stars Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, and William H. Macy. (Press materials)

The Lost Arcade (Documentary) — Co-Written by Irene Chin (Opens in NY)

In the heart of New York’s Chinatown is the Chinatown Fair, a legendary arcade that changed lives by becoming a shelter for a diverse community. (Press materials)

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Nine Lives — Co-Written by Gwyn Lurie
The Infiltrator — Written by Ellen Brown Furman
The BFG — Written by Melissa Mathison

TV Premieres This Week

None

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

God’s Not Dead 2 — August 16 (DVD)