Weekly Update for August 26: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Equal Means Equal (Documentary) — Directed by Kamala Lopez; Written by Kamala Lopez and Gini Sikes

“Equal Means Equal” offers an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today. Examining both real-life stories and precedent-setting legal cases, director Kamala Lopez uncovers how outdated and discriminatory attitudes inform and influence seemingly disparate issues, from workplace harassment to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault to the foster care system, and the healthcare conglomerate to the judicial system. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Kamala Lopez

Find screening info here.

Black Women in Medicine (Documentary) — Directed by Crystal Renée Emery (Opens in NY)

The first feature documentary of its kind, “Black Women in Medicine” chronicles the unsung journeys of black female doctors who have risen above inequality to excellence and leadership in their fields. As it explores race and the gender inequities impacting the contemporary physician, the film also replaces negative, stereotypical imagery — the false and debasing historical narrative regarding race, ethnicity, gender, and character — with positive images of successful black women. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Ace the Case: Manhattan Mystery

Left in the care of her teenage brother Miles (Aaron Sauter) while their mom is out of town, ten-year-old Olivia Haden (Ripley Sobo) takes her dog Charlie for a late-night walk and witnesses a brazen kidnapping. But when she tells Miles what she has seen, he dismisses her, and when she reports it to the NYPD, only a sympathetic detective named Dottie (Susan Sarandon) will even listen. Without solid evidence, there’s nothing Dottie can do, so the intrepid tween sets out to solve the crime herself. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Fatima (Opens in NY)

Fatima (Soria Zeroual) is a divorced woman holding down several menial jobs while trying to raise her two teenage daughters. She emigrated from North Africa to France at age 20, but a number of years later she struggles to speak enough French to communicate with her own daughters, Nesrine (Zita Hanrot) and Souad (Kenza-Noah Aïche), whose lives she is tirelessly devoted to improving. Nesrine is trying to strike a balance between cramming for her pre-med exams and dating, while the younger and more rebellious Souad is testing her limits and her mother’s patience by acting out. Facing veiled racism, suspicion, awkwardness, and shame on a daily basis, Fatima discovers that the perfect outlet for her frustrations is also the best way to tell her daughters how she really feels. (Press materials)

Remember the Goal

A young female coach (Allee Sutton Hethcoat) takes over the cross-country team at an all-girls private Christian school and attempts to lead them to the state title. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Black Songbird — Written and Directed by Raquel Deloatch

Blinded by ambition to find the killers of her childhood friends and advance her career, rookie journalist Knight Daye (Jenique Bennett) is recruited by the FBI to go undercover as a party hostess at a club that fronts for organized crime. Knight enters the glamorous world, but soon learns that there is something more sinister lurking behind all the glamour. (Press materials)

Mia Madre — Co-Written by Valia Santella

A harried filmmaker (Margherita Buy) tries to juggle the demands of her latest movie with a personal life in shambles. The star of her film, a bombastic American actor (John Turturro), presents nothing but headaches and her crew is close to mutiny. Away from the shoot, Margherita tries to hold her life together as her mother’s illness progresses and her teenage daughter grows ever more distant. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

A Tale of Love and Darkness — Written and Directed by Natalie Portman
Ixcanul
Kate Plays Christine (Documentary)
Florence Foster Jenkins
My King (Mon Roi) — Co-Written and Directed by Maïwenn (Opens in LA)
Equity — Directed by Meera Menon; Written by Amy Fox
Bad Moms
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
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

The Intervention — Written and Directed by Clea DuVall

Control freak bride-to-be Annie (Melanie Lynskey) gathers her group of thirtysomething friends at the picturesque Savannah family summer home of sisters Jessie (Clea DuVall) and Ruby (Cobie Smulders). She plans to convince Ruby and her workaholic husband Peter (Vincent Piazza) that their relationship has turned irreparably toxic. Joined by Annie’s easygoing fiancé (Jason Ritter), Jessie’s partner (Natasha Lyonne), as well as the reluctant Jack (Ben Schwartz), and his sprightly 22-year-old girlfriend (Alia Shawkat), the group makes fumbling attempts to jump-start the intervention throughout the booze-fueled weekend, while resolutely refusing to deal with their own vices and regrets. (Press materials)

Listen to Women and Hollywood’s podcast with Clea DuVall.

Space Dogs: Adventure to the Moon — Co-Directed by Inna Evlannikova

Blast off for fun! Pushok (Kira Buckland), a pup astronaut, is on a mission to the moon to find his trapped father. Defying all odds, Pushok blasts off on a rocket to rescue his family and quickly crosses paths with a macho monkey and an alien on the way. (Press materials)

The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Tilda Swinton (Opens August 31)

Four different directors craft four different shorts studying the English artist and thinker John Berger. Each essay film takes different aspects of Berger’s life in the Haute-Savoie, and combine ideas and motifs from Berger’s own work with the atmosphere of his mountain home. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

A Small Good Thing (Documentary) — Directed by Pamela Tanner Boll
No Asylum: The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank’s Story (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Paula Fouce
When Two Worlds Collide (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Heidi Brandenburg
Five Nights in Maine — Written and Directed by Maris Curran (Also Available on VOD)
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (Documentary) — Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Our Kind of Traitor — Directed by Susanna White

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

The Lost Arcade (Documentary) — Co-Written by Irene Chin
Nine Lives — Co-Written by Gwyn Lurie
The Infiltrator — Written by Ellen Brown Furman
The BFG — Written by Melissa Mathison

TV Premieres This Week

Unwanted Guest (TV Movie) (Premieres August 27 on Lifetime)

On the last night of school, one of Christine’s (Valentina Novakovic) classmates is found dead and the police are unable to identify any suspects. In light of the recent tragedy and with a killer still on the loose, Christine decides to invite Amy (Kate Mansi) to spend the holidays with her instead of staying on campus during the break. However, the happy holidays quickly turn into a nightmare when Amy starts to obsess and wreak havoc on her welcoming hosts. (Press materials)