Films About Women Opening This Week
Appropriate Behavior — Written and Directed by Desiree Akhavan
For Shirin (Desiree Akhavan), being part of a perfect Persian family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual, and her ex-girlfriend, Maxine (Rebecca Henderson), can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. Even the six-year-old boys in her moviemaking class are too ADD to focus on her for more than a second. Following a family announcement of her brother’s betrothal to a parentally approved Iranian prize catch, Shirin embarks on a private rebellion involving a series of pan-sexual escapades, while trying to decipher what went wrong with Maxine. (Press materials)
Listen to Women and Hollywood’s podcast with Desiree Akhavan.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Akhavan and Appropriate Behavior producer Cecilia Frugiuele.
Still Alice
Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Alice and her family find their bonds thoroughly tested. Her struggle to stay connected to who she once was is frightening, heartbreaking, and inspiring. (Press materials)
Pretty Rosebud — Written by Chuti Tiu
Everyone thinks Cissy (Chuti Tiu) has the perfect life — except Cissy. Striving to be the “good girl” at home and at work has left her on the verge of a breakdown. A childless marriage to a handsome architect has gone stale, while questions about babies pepper every well-meaning conversation with family and friends. The cultural abyss dividing Cissy and her traditional Asian parents drives her to a desperate act of survival, defying societal taboos and awakening something so primal it is both shocking and revelatory. (Press materials)
Veronika Decides to Die — Directed by Emily Young; Co-Written by Roberta Hanley
After a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika (Sarah Michelle Gellar) awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializes in controversial treatments, Veronika learns that she has only weeks to live. (Press materials)
Films About Women Currently Playing
Vessel (doc) — Directed by Diana Whitten
Something, Anything
Beloved Sisters
Annie — Co-Written by Aline Brosh McKenna
Two Days, One Night
Big Eyes
Life Partners — Directed by Susanna Fogel; Written by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (doc) — Directed by Mary Dore
Zero Motivation — Written and Directed by Talya Lavie
The Babadook — Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1
Beyond the Lights — Written and Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Dear White People
Films Directed by Women Opening This Week
Little Accidents — Written and Directed by Sara Colangelo
When a teenage boy goes missing in a small town already devastated by a fatal mining accident, three strangers find themselves drawn together in a tangle of secrets, lies, and the collective grief of the community. Reeling from the disappearance of her son, Diane (Elizabeth Banks) finds herself drifting away from her husband (Josh Lucas), a mining-company executive whose role in the accident has made her family the prime target for the town’s anger. When she forms a dangerous bond with the sole survivor of the disaster (Boyd Holbrook), truths will be uncovered that threaten to tear apart the few remaining threads holding the town together. (Press materials)
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
Druid Peak — Written and Directed by Marni Zelnick
Farewell Herr Schwarz (doc) — Directed by Yael Reuveny
It’s All So Quiet — Written and Directed by Nanouk Leopold
Selma — Directed by Ava DuVernay (opens wide)
Unbroken — Directed by Angelina Jolie
Citizenfour (doc) — Directed by Laura Poitras
Awake: The Life of Yogananda (doc) — Directed by Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman
Films Written by Women Opening This Week
Spare Parts — Written by Elissa Matsueda
Spare Parts is a true-life story about four Hispanic high-school students who form a robotics club under the leadership of their school’s newest teacher, Fredi (George Lopez). With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts, and a dream, this rag-tag team goes up against the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT. On their journey, they learn not only how to build a robot — but to build a bond that will last a lifetime. (Press materials)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies — Co-Written by Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh
On DVD and VOD This Week
Lucy
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs (doc) — Directed by Grace Lee
Moved — Written and Directed by Julie Sharbutt
White Bird in a Blizzard
