FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING
The Wife – Written by Jane Anderson (Opens in NY and LA)
After nearly 40 years of marriage, Joan and Joe Castleman (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) are complements. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as Great American Novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm, and diplomacy into the private role of Great Man’s Wife. Joe is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed and prolific body of work. Joe’s literary star has blazed since he and Joan first met in the late 1950s. “The Wife” interweaves the story of the couple’s youthful passion and ambition with a portrait of a marriage, 30-plus years later — a lifetime’s shared compromises, secrets, betrayals, and mutual love. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jane Anderson and Meg Wolitzer.
Find screening info here.
Juliet, Naked – Written by Tamara Jenkins, Evgenia Peretz, and Jim Taylor
“Juliet, Naked”: Alex Bailey
Annie (Rose Byrne) is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) — an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke). When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – Directed by Susan Johnson; Written by Sofia Alvarez (Available on Netflix)
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them — all at once? Lara Jean Song Covey’s (Lana Condor, “X-Men: Apocalypse”) love life goes from imaginary to out of control when the love letters for every boy she’s ever loved — five in all — are mysteriously mailed out. Based on the bestselling YA novel by Jenny Han. (Press materials)
The Ranger – Directed by Jenn Wexler; Written by Jenn Wexler and Giaco Furino (Opens in NY; Opens in LA September 7)
“The Ranger”
After a run-in with the cops at a punk show goes sideways, Chelsea (Chloe Levine) and her pals flee the city in search of a place to lay low. Running to the security of Chelsea’s old, abandoned family cabin in the woods, they fall under the watchful eye of an overzealous park ranger (Jeremy Holm) who holds a secret from Chelsea’s past. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s Interview with Jenn Wexler.
Find screening info here.
Memoir of War (Opens in NY; Opens in LA August 24)
“Memoir of War”
It’s 1944 Nazi-occupied France, and Marguerite (Mélanie Thierry) is an active Resistance member along with husband Robert (Emmanuel Bourdieu) and a band of fellow subversives. When Robert is deported to Dachau by the Gestapo, Marguerite becomes friendly with French Nazi collaborator Rabier (Benoît Magimel) to learn of her husband’s whereabouts. But as the months wear on with no news of her husband, Marguerite must begin the process of confronting the unimaginable. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Down a Dark Hall (Also Available on VOD)
Kit (AnnaSophia Robb), a difficult young girl, is sent to the mysterious Blackwood Boarding School when her heated temper becomes too much for her mother to handle. Once she arrives at Blackwood, Kit encounters eccentric headmistress Madame Duret (Uma Thurman) and meets the school’s only other students, four young women also headed down a troubled path. While exploring the labyrinthine corridors of the school, Kit and her classmates discover that Blackwood Manor hides an age-old secret rooted in the paranormal. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
The Rest I Make Up (Documentary) – Directed by Michelle Memran (One Week Only in NY; Opens August 23)
“The Rest I Make Up”
Maria Irene Fornes is one of America’s greatest playwrights and most influential teachers, but many know her only as the ex-lover of writer and social critic Susan Sontag. The visionary Cuban-American dramatist constructed astonishing worlds onstage, writing over 40 plays and winning nine Obie Awards. At the vanguard of the nascent Off-Off Broadway experimental theater movement in NYC, Fornes is often referred to as American theater’s “Mother Avant-Garde.” When she gradually stops writing due to dementia, an unexpected friendship with filmmaker Michelle Memran reignites her spontaneous creative spirit and triggers a decade-long collaboration that picks up where the pen left off. The duo travels from New York to Havana, Miami to Seattle, exploring the playwright’s remembered past and their shared present. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING
“A Whale of a Tale”
A Whale of a Tale (Documentary) – Directed by Megumi Sasaki (Opens in NY; Opens in LA August 24)
In 2010, Taiji, a sleepy fishing town in Japan, suddenly found itself in the worldwide media spotlight. “The Cove,” a documentary denouncing the town’s longstanding whale and dolphin hunting traditions, won an Academy Award and almost overnight, Taiji became the go-to destination and battleground for activists from around the world. Can a proud 400-year-old whaling tradition survive a tsunami of modern animal-rights activism and colliding forces of globalism vs. localism? (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Mile 22 – Written by Lea Carpenter
James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) is an operative of the CIA’s most highly-prized and least-understood unit. Aided by a top-secret tactical command team, Silva must retrieve and transport an asset who holds life-threatening information to Mile 22 for extraction before the enemy closes in. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Blaze – Written by Sybil Rosen and Ethan Hawke
“Blaze”
“Blaze” is inspired by the life of Blaze Foley (Ben Dickey), the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw music movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three different periods of time, braiding re-imagined versions of Blaze’s past, present, and future. The different strands explore his love affair with Sybil Rosen (Alia Shawkat); his last, dark night on earth; and the impact his songs and death had on his fans, friends, and foes. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Breaking & Exiting – Written by Jordan Hinson (Also Available on VOD)
Harry (Milo Gibson), a charming house thief, gets more than he bargains for during an attempted burglary when he stumbles upon Daisy (Jordan Hinson) and decides to save her from herself, sending both of them into a darkly comedic journey of self-discovery and love. (Press materials)
Watch it on VOD here.
TV PREMIERES
“Disenchantment”
Disenchantment (Premieres August 17 on Netflix)
In “Disenchantment,” viewers will be whisked away to the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland, where they will follow the misadventures of hard-drinking young princess Bean (Abbi Jacobson), her feisty elf companion Elfo (Nat Faxon), and her personal demon Luci (Eric André). Along the way, the oddball trio will encounter ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses, and lots of human fools. (Press materials)
Ultraviolet (Premieres August 17 on Netflix)
The series follows the life of a 30-year-old woman (Ola Serafin) who is forced by circumstances to leave her husband and London, and return to her hometown of Lódz. While driving her car one night, she witnesses a dramatic situation that looks like suicide, but which she finds highly suspicious. The police seem to be indifferent to the case. Desperate, Ola looks for help on the internet, where she finds a group of amateur detectives that solve criminal cases the police are unable to. (Press materials)
Esme & Roy (Children’s Program) – Created by Amy Steinberg and Dustin Ferrer (Premieres August 18 on HBO)
“Esme & Roy,” the first new animated series from the makers of “Sesame Street” in more than a decade, follows a young girl, Esme (Millie Davis), and her best monster friend, Roy (Patrick McKenna), on their adventures as the best monster babysitters in Monsterdale. (Press materials)
Mystery Road (Miniseries) – Directed by Rachel Perkins (Premieres August 20 on Acorn TV)
“Mystery Road”: John Platt
Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) is assigned to investigate a mysterious disappearance on an outback cattle station. Soon, Jay’s investigation uncovers a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community. (Press materials)
Deadwind – Written by Kirsi Porkka, Rike Jokela, and Jari Olavi Rantala (Premieres August 23 on Netflix)
“Deadwind”
When Sofia Karppi (Pihla Viitala), a detective in her 30s who is trying to get over her husband’s death, discovers the body of a young woman on a construction site, she triggers a chain of events that threatens to destroy her life again. (Press materials)
VOD/STREAMING RELEASES
I Can I Will I Did – Written and Directed by Nadine Truong (VOD, August 21)
PICKS OF THE WEEK FROM WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
“Crazy Rich Asians”
Sarajevo Film Festival Signs 5050×2020 Pledge
Meg Wolitzer and Jane Anderson on “The Wife’s” 14-Year Journey to the Screen
Growing Pains: Crowdfunding Picks
Quote of the Day: “Crazy Rich Asians’” Awkwafina on the Power of Representation
More “Designing Women” Could Be On the Way
TIFF Adds More Galas and Special Presentations: Pics from Sam Taylor-Johnson, Veena Sud, & More
Women Working in the Arts: August’s VOD and Web Series Picks
Quote of the Day: Oscar-Nominated DP Rachel Morrison on Working While Pregnant
Guest Post: “Crazy Rich Asians” and Sandra Oh’s Emmy Nod Are Major Milestones for Asian-Americans
EWA Pens Open Letter to Venice Film Festival About Lack of Women Directors
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