Weekly Update for August 25: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Served Like a Girl (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Lysa Heslov (Opens in NY and LA)

Director Lysa Heslov’s powerful documentary, “Served Like a Girl,” follows several American women who were wounded in action and are now transitioning from soldier to civilian after serving their country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Struggling with PTSD, homelessness, broken families, divorce, serious illness, and military sexual abuse, these remarkable women harness humor to adapt to the emotional, social, and economic challenges they face, through the Ms. Veteran America competition. Balancing beauty and brawn, they are guided by event founder and veteran Major Jas Boothe, using the competition to regain their identities and way of life that they sacrificed in foreign wars. It is an engaging and honest look at an often unseen veteran reality. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Lysa Heslov.

Polina — Written and Co-Directed by Valérie Müller (Opens in NY)

Trained from an early age by rigorous, perfectionist Professor Bojinski (Aleksey Guskov), Polina (Anastasia Shevtsova) is a promising classic dancer. She is just about to join the prestigious Bolchoï Ballet when she discovers contemporary dance. That throws everything into question on a profound level. Polina leaves it all behind and moves to France to work with famous choreographer Liria Elsaj (Juliette Binoche). Despite her determination and hard work to the point of obsession, Polina just can’t seem to break through. So she moves to Anvers in search of work — and a new life. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Leap! — Co-Written by Carol Noble (U.S. Release)

Paris, 1884. A orphaned girl arrives in Paris from Brittany. Félicie Milliner (Elle Fanning) is 11 and has no money but one big, passionate dream: to become a dancer. With nothing left to lose, Félicie takes a big risk: she “borrows” a spoiled brat’s identity and enters the Opera Ballet School. But how long can she be someone else? Mentored by the tough and mysterious cleaner, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), Félicie learns that talent is not enough — it takes hard work to be better than her ruthless, conniving fellow students. That and friendship. Felicie’s inventive, exhausting, and charismatic best friend Victor (Dane DeHaan) also has a dream: becoming a famous inventor. Together, they both encourage each other to reach for the stars. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Polaroid — Written by Blair Butler

High school loner Bird Fitcher (Kathryn Prescott) has no idea what dark secrets are tied to the mysterious Polaroid vintage camera she stumbles upon, but it doesn’t take long to discover that those who have their picture taken meet a tragic end. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Unleashed (Opens in Limited Release) (Also Available on VOD)

Emma (Kate Micucci), a brilliant but awkward app designer, moves to San Francisco after a massive betrayal by her boyfriend with only her beloved pets in tow. One night, drawn by the light of a Supermoon, Emma’s pets escape into the night and are transformed into full-grown men (played by Justin Chatwin, Steve Howey, and Sean Astin), forcing Emma to reconsider her outlook on dating and hilariously work out her trust issues. (Press materials)

The Villainess

Since she was a little girl, Sook-hee (Ok-bin Kim) was raised to be a deadly assassin. She gladly accepts the chance to start a new life when South Korea’s Intelligence Agency recruits her as a sleeper agent, with the promise of complete freedom after 10 years of service. But soon after taking on her new identity as Chae Yeon-soo, a 27-year-old theater actress, she begins to realize that for someone who has lived as a killer her entire life, normal is no easy task. When two men from her past suddenly appear in her new life, it unlocks dark secrets that should’ve stayed hidden, and the fallout is swift and explosive. (Press materials)

Stasis — Written and Directed by Nicole Jones-Dion (Opens August 29)

After a night out partying and being left behind by friends, Ava (Anna Harr) sneaks back home to find that she’s already safe in bed. But that’s not Ava…it’s someone who looks like her. A time-traveling fugitive has stolen Ava’s body, which makes Ava a virtual ghost, who is silent and invisible to the world. But Ava is not alone. There are other body snatchers secretly living among us, plotting to alter the future — and Ava realizes she must stop them and put the timeline back on course. (Press materials)

The Teacher (Opens August 30)

In a middle school classroom in Bratislava in 1983, a new teacher, Maria Drazdechova (Zuzana Maurery), asks each student to stand up, introduce themselves and tell her what their parents do for a living. It slowly becomes clear that perhaps the pupils’ grades are related to how willing their guardians are to helping her out with her errands, her housecleaning, and other random services. After one of the students attempts suicide, however, the director of the school has no choice but to call for an emergency parents’ meeting to remove the teacher. Because Ms. Drazdechova is also a high-ranking official of the Communist Party, parents are hesitant to sign a petition to transfer her out. In a classroom behind the Iron Curtain, the future of all the families are at stake, as the film examines how each family must wrestle with standing up for what they believe in or silently keeping to the status quo. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Patti Cake$
The Queen of Spain (Available on VOD August 29)
The Ice Cream Truck — Written and Directed by Megan Freels Johnston (Also Available on VOD)
Whitney: Can I Be Me (Documentary)
Marjorie Prime
The Glass Castle
Ingrid Goes West
Annabelle: Creation
Once Upon a Time
A Life in Waves (Documentary)
Kidnap
Step (Documentary) — Directed by Amanda Lipitz
Atomic Blonde
From the Land of the Moon — Co-Written and Directed by Nicole Garcia
Women Who Kill — Written and Directed by Ingrid Jungermann
The Girl Without Hands
The Untamed
The Midwife
Landline — Directed by Gillian Robespierre; Written by Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm
Girls Trip — Co-Written by Tracy Oliver
Wish Upon — Written by Barbara Marshall
Lady Macbeth — Written by Alice Birch
Birthright: A War Story (Documentary) — Directed by Civia Tamarkin; Written by Civia Tamarkin and Luchina Fisher
The Little Hours
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Documentary (Documentary)
Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge — Directed by Marie Noelle; Written by Marie Noelle and Andrea Stoll
Rough Night — Co-Written and Directed by Lucia Aniello
Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White
47 Meters Down (Also Available on VOD)
Lost in Paris — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Fiona Gordon
Megan Leavey — Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Co-Written by Pamela Gray and Annie Mumolo
Beatriz at Dinner
Moka
Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins
Letters from Baghdad (Documentary) — Directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum
Love, Kennedy
The Women’s Balcony — Written by Shlomit Nehama
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Linda Saffire
Paris Can Wait — Written and Directed by Eleanor Coppola
The Wedding Plan — Written and Directed by Rama Burshtein
Manifesto
Hidden Figures — Co-Written by Allison Schroeder

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Beach Rats — Written and Directed by Eliza Hittman (Opens in Limited Release)

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie (Harris Dickinson), an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he begins meeting men at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman. As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Andrea Testa

Buenos Aires, 1977. During the military dictatorship, Francisco Sanctis (Diego Velázquez) receives information about two people sentenced to “disappear.” A quiet middle-aged family man without any political ties, Francisco is stunned by the urgency of his situation. That night he must make a crucial decision: whether or not to risk his own life to save others. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Lemon — Co-Written and Directed by Janicza Bravo (Also Available on VOD)
Whose Streets? (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Sabaah Folayan
The Farthest (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Emer Reynolds
Detroit — Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Bonni Cohen
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Catherine Bainbridge
False Confessions — Co-Directed by Marie-Louise Bischofberger
Swim Team (Documentary) — Directed by Lara Stolman
Pop Aye — Written and Directed by Kirsten Tan
Hare Krishna! The Mantra, The Movement and the Swami Who Started It All (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jean Griesser and Lauren Ross
Obit. (Documentary) — Directed by Vanessa Gould

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

“Logan Lucky”: Claudette Barius /Fingerprint Releasing

Zodiac 12: Five Steps of Love — Co-Written by Kimmie Vu
The Monster Project — Co-Written by Shariya Lynn (Also Available on VOD)
Logan Lucky — Written by Rebecca Blunt
After Love — Co-Written by Fanny Burdino and Mazarine Pingeot
The Fencer — Written by Anna Heinämaa
13 Minutes — Co-Written by Léonie-Claire Breinersdorfer
The Big Sick — Co-Written by Emily V. Gordon
Cars 3 — Co-Written by Kiel Murray

TV Premieres This Week

Disjointed (Premieres August 25 on Netflix)

“Disjointed” is a workplace comedy starring Kathy Bates as a lifelong advocate for legalization who’s finally living her dream as the owner of an LA-area cannabis dispensary. Joining her are three budtenders, her 20-something son, and a deeply troubled security guard. All of them are more or less constantly high. (Press materials)

Whitney: Can I Be Me (Documentary) (Premieres August 25 on Showtime)

Six-time Grammy winner Whitney Houston was one of the most successful female recording artists of all time, but after a troubled marriage to singer Bobby Brown and many years of struggling with addiction, she died suddenly and tragically at age 48. With never-before-seen footage, candid interviews, and gripping performance highlights of many of Houston’s greatest hits, “Whitney: Can I Be Me” will offer a raw and uncensored look at Houston, exploring the impact her life and death had on the people around her and the world of music. (Press materials)

Diana and the Paparazzi (Documentary) (Premieres August 27 on Smithsonian)

In her first years as a royal, Princess Diana was as fascinated with the press as they were with her. She went on to grace every magazine cover and quickly became the most photographed woman in the world. But over the years, the relationship changed, becoming more invasive and dangerous. Decades after her fatal car crash in Paris, we reveal the inside story of Diana’s entanglement with the paparazzi, presented through rarely seen footage and testimony from those who protected her and those who photographed her. (Press materials)

Diana: The Day We Said Goodbye (Documentary) (Premieres August 27 on Smithsonian)

It was a four-mile march witnessed by billions, a cortege from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey, bearing the coffin of Princess Diana. Now, decades later, we look back at the funeral that brought the world together for a day of grieving. We reveal the stories behind the solemn spectacle, from the royal florist devastated by Prince Harry’s card to “Mummy” to the pallbearers’ battle just to stay on their feet. (Press materials)

Raising Bertie — Directed by Margaret Byrne (Documentary) (Premieres August 28 on PBS)

Set in Bertie County, a rural African American-led community in Eastern North Carolina, “Raising Bertie” takes audiences deep into the emotional lives of three boys — Reginald “Junior” Askew, David “Bud” Perry, and Davonte “Dada” Harrell — over six years as they come of age. “Raising Bertie” movingly weaves the young men’s stories together as they try to define their identities, interconnecting narratives of family, youthful innocence, first love, systemic racism, educational inequity, poverty and unemployment, and the will to succeed in the face of formidable odds. (Press materials)

Good Game — Co-Written by Michele Morrow (Premieres August 30 on YouTube Red)

“Good Game” follows a newly formed team of e-sports players trying to make it to the top in the cutthroat world of competitive gaming. (Press materials)

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