Weekly Update for January 19: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Mary and the Witch’s Flower — Co-Written by Riko Sakaguchi

Mary (Ruby Barnhill) is a plain, young girl, stuck in a rural British village with her great-aunt Charlotte (Lynda Baron) and seemingly no adventures or friends in sight. But a chance encounter with a pair of mysterious cats leads Mary into the nearby forest, where she finds an old broom stuck in the overgrowth of nearby tree, and the strange blue glow of the fly-by-night flower, a rare plant that blossoms only once every seven years. As the broom comes to life and lifts Mary high into the skies, she discovers a mysterious school for witches above the clouds. But the charming headmistress Madam Mumblechook (Kate Winslet) and bumbling Doctor Dee (Jim Broadbent) are not all that they appear, in a twisting tale that reveals even the most ordinary-seeming children are capable of the most extraordinary adventures. (Press materials)

Find tickets and screening info here.

Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba (Documentary)

“Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba”: EKE Pictures

“Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba” introduces a new generation to Miriam Makeba, South African singer and anti-apartheid activist, the voice and the hope of Africa. Using rare archival footage of her performances, interviews, and intimate scenes filmed over the years, this powerful documentary expertly exposes the biography of a unique person, a world icon. Friends and colleagues, some of whom knew her since she started performing in the dance halls of South Africa, together with her grandchildren Zenzi Monique Lee and Nelson Lumumba Lee, allow us to learn about the remarkable journey of Miriam Makeba, “Mama Africa.” (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Step Sisters (Available on Netflix)

Jamilah (Megalyn Echikunwoke) has her whole life figured out. She’s the president of her sorority, captain of their champion step dance crew, is student liaison to the college dean, and her next move is on to Harvard Law School. She’s got it all, right? But when the hard-partying white girls from Sigma Beta Beta embarrass the school, Jamilah is ordered to come to the rescue. Her mission is to not only teach the rhythmically-challenged girls how to step dance, but to win the Steptacular, the most competitive of dance competitions. With the SBBs’ reputations and charter on the line, and Jamilah’s dream of attending Harvard in jeopardy, these outcast screw-ups and their unlikely teacher stumble through one hilarious misstep after another. Cultures clash, romance blossoms, and sisterhood prevails as everyone steps out of their comfort zones. (Press materials)

The Midnight Man (Also Available on VOD)

A girl (Gabrielle Haugh) and her friends find a game in the attic that summons a creature known as the Midnight Man, who uses their worst fears against them. (Press materials)

Ridge Runners

When a 12-year-old girl goes missing, detective Rachel Willow (Jennica Schwartzman) discovers that human trafficking can happen anywhere, even in her small town. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Proud Mary
Vazante — Co-Written and Directed by Daniela Thomas
My Art — Written and Directed by Laurie Simmons
Lover for a Day — Co-Written by Caroline Deruas-Garrel and Arlette Langmann
A Woman’s Life — Co-Written by Florence Vignon (UK)
Inside (Also Available on VOD)
In Between — Written and Directed by Maysaloun Hamoud
Molly’s Game
Insidious: The Last Key
Pitch Perfect 3 — Directed by Trish Sie; Co-Written by Kay Cannon
In the Fade
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Permanent — Written and Directed by Colette Burson
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water — Co-Written by Vanessa Taylor
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Alexandra Dean
The Breadwinner — Directed by Nora Twomey; Written by Anita Doron and Deborah Ellis
Big Sonia (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Leah Warshawski
On the Beach at Night Alone
Thelma
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird — Written and Directed by Greta Gerwig
A Bad Moms Christmas
Novitiate — Written and Directed by Margaret Betts
Jane (Documentary)
The Florida Project

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Forever My Girl — Written and Directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf

“Forever My Girl” tells the story of country music superstar Liam Page (Alex Roe) who left his bride, Josie (Jessica Rothe), at the altar, choosing fame and fortune instead. However, Liam never got over Josie, his one true love, nor did he ever forget the small community where he was born and raised. When he unexpectedly returns to his hometown for the funeral of his high school best friend, Liam is suddenly faced with the consequences of all that he left behind. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Kate McIntyre Clere (Opens in NY and LA)

This groundbreaking film reveals the truth surrounding Australia’s love-hate relationship with its beloved icon. The kangaroo image is proudly used by top companies, sports teams, and tourist souvenirs, yet as they hop across the vast continent, many consider them pests to be shot and sold for profit. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

The Open House — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Suzanne Coote (Available on Netflix)

A teenager (Dylan Minnette) and his mother (Piercey Dalton) find themselves besieged by threatening forces when they move into a new house. (Press materials)

Blockbuster — Co-Written and Directed by July Hygreck (Available on Netflix January 24)

Jeremy and Lola decide to film their everyday life in the style of a diary. The reason behind it is that Jeremy’s father has cancer, and is bedridden at the hospital. Through his son’s videos, he can witness firsthand the young couple’s happiness, his own private favorite TV show. But when Lola (Charlotte Gabris) discovers that she has been a bet in a stupid game initiated by Jeremy (Syrus Shahidi), she leaves him, putting an end to the show. Jeremy will do everything it takes to win her back, going as far as forming a fake gang of superheroes. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Freak Show — Directed by Trudie Styler; Co-Written by Beth Rigazio (Also Available on VOD)
Goldbuster — Directed by Sandra Kwan Yue Ng
The Party — Written and Directed by Sally Potter (UK)
Faces Places (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Agnès Varda
Loving Vincent — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Dorota Kobiela

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

Delirium — Co-Written by Lisa Clemens (Also Available on VOD)

The Hell Gang, an exclusive group of friends, promise a schoolmate that he can join their gang if he can just make it to the porch of a legendary mansion that has a dark and sinister past. Others have tried but none have made it within sight of the mansion before fleeing back in terror. Eddie (Ian Bamberg), who is rigged with a camera to prove he did it, does not return at all. Five members of the gang must now go in to find him. They set off, confident that Eddie is trying to prank them. But what they find in the old mansion is even more terrifying than the campfire stories and legends of the murdered children that once lived there. (Press materials)

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

The Post — Co-Written by Liz Hannah
The Insult — Co-Written by Joëlle Touma
A Demon Within — Co-Written by Michelle Beyda-Scott and Helene Gonze (Also Available on VOD)
The Greatest Showman — Co-Written by Jenny Bicks
The Man Who Invented Christmas — Written by Susan Coyne
Let There Be Light — Co-Written by Sam Sorbo

TV Premieres This Week

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Tracy Heather Strain (Premieres January 19 on PBS)

Award-winning filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain examines the activism and art of Lorraine Hansberry beyond her best-known play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” The film features interviews with Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Harry Belafonte, and Louis Gossett Jr., narration by award-winning actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and the voice of Tony Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose as Hansberry. The result is a timely and revealing portrait of an activist and artist whose popular recognition has, until now, remained long overdue. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Tracy Heather Strain.

ABBA: When All Is Said and Done (Documentary Special) — Written and Co-Directed by Storm Theunissen (Premieres January 20 on Reelz)

In 1999 “Mamma Mia,” the smash hit stage musical based on ABBA’s music, opened in London. Benny and Bjorn, the Swedish super-group’s songwriters were back on top, but where were ABBA’s women? Agnetha Faltskog was one of the world’s best-known women but had turned her back on fame and Frida Lyngstad may have gone from orphan to princess but her life had fallen apart. This is the untold story of the two different women in the words of ABBA’s close circle and the women themselves. (Press materials)

Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story (TV Movie) (Premieres January 20 on Lifetime)

Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in “Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story,” a Lifetime feature based on the life of drug lord Griselda Blanco, a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine trade. In her lifetime, Griselda’s drug distribution network spanned across the United States and she was suspected of ordering over 200 murders. (Press materials)

The Resident — Co-Created by Amy Holden Jones and Hayley Schore (Premieres January 21 on Fox)

“The Resident” centers on an idealistic young doctor who begins his first day under the supervision of a tough, brilliant senior resident who pulls the curtain back on all of the good and evil in modern day medicine. Lives may be saved or lost, but expectations will always be shattered. (Press materials)

Bellevue — Created by Jane Maggs and Adrienne Mitchell (Premieres January 23 on WGN America)

Thrilling and eerie, “Bellevue” is a mystery set in a small blue-collar town with a lot of “good people” who “live right” and take it upon themselves to make sure the neighbors do too. Driving the series is Detective Annie Ryder (Anna Paquin), a cop whose intense and brazen personality has always been at odds with her hometown. When a transgender teen goes missing, Annie dives in to unravel the disappearance that suggests foul play, despite finding herself in a difficult position as she must cast suspicion on people she has known all her life. As the case pulls her further away from her family, she is also confronted by a mysterious person from her past with disturbing answers and a terrifying need to get inside her head. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

The Revival — Directed by Jennifer Gerber (VOD/DVD, January 23)
Act & Punishment (Documentary) (VOD, January 23)
Félicité — Co-Written by Delphine Zingg (DVD, January 23)
Red Trees (Documentary) — Directed by Marina Willer; Co-Written by Marina Willer and Leena Telén (VOD/DVD, January 23)
The Woman Who Left (VOD/DVD, January 23)