FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING
Ánimas – Written and Directed by Laura Alvea and Jose F. Ortuño (Available on Netflix)
When her best friend Abraham’s father is killed in a mysterious accident, a young woman named Alex (Clare Durant) has eerie visions that become increasingly terrifying, sending her on a hallucinatory descent into hell.
Liberating Hollywood (Film Series) (Playing in LA Through February 23)
This series showcases the wide variety of narrative films directed by women who began their careers during the 1970s. Working across production cultures — from low-budget exploitation to the Hollywood studio — these women made their mark in one of the most mythologized eras of American cinema.
Find more information here.
Love Sonia (Opens in the UK)
“Love Sonia”
“Love Sonia” tells the heartfelt and brave story of Sonia (Mrunal Thakur), a young Indian village girl whose life irrevocably changes when she is entrapped into the vicious global sex trade network.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING
The Invisibles – Written by Alejandra López and Claus Räfle (Opens in NY and LA)
While Goebbels infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, some 1,700 managed to survive in Nazism’s capital until liberation. This docudrama traces the stories of four real-life survivors who learned that sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. While moving between cinemas, cafés, and safe houses, they dodged the Gestapo and a dense network of spies and informants, knowing that certain death was just one mistake away.
Find screening info here.
The Wild Pear Tree – Written by Ebru Ceylan, Akin Aksu, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Opens January 30 in NY)
“The Wild Pear Tree”
Sinan (Aydin Doğu Demirkol), an aspiring writer, returns home after university hoping to scrape together enough money to publish his first novel. He wanders the town encountering old flames and obstinate gatekeepers and finds his youthful ambition increasingly at odds with the deferred dreams of his gambling-addict father (Murat Cemcir). As his own fantasies mingle with reality, Sinan grapples with the people and the place that have made him who he is.
Find screening info here.
The Gandhi Murder – Written by Ralitza Ivanova (Opens January 30)
“The Gandhi Murder” is a conspiracy theory period movie based on true events that led to the eventual assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The movie demonstrates a violent India, at the backdrop of a non-violent Gandhi, and hard-line fanatic mind-sets beginning to grow roots in an India divided on the basis of religion. The feature tells the story of three police officers in different parts of India, who, well aware of the intelligence that Gandhi’s life in under threat, must take key decisions that would eventually either save the Mahatma, or the country.
Bricked – Written and Directed by Aleshia Cowser (Currently Playing in Select Theaters)
A high school graduate (Tracy Campbell) finds himself in turmoil within his family as he battles coping with bipolar disorder.
Find screening info here.
A Silent Voice – Directed by Naoko Yamada; Written by Reiko Yoshida (Limited Theatrical Run on January 28 and 31)
“A Silent Voice”
After transferring into a new school, a deaf girl, Shoko Nishimiya, is bullied by the popular Shoya Ishida. As Shoya continues to bully Shoko, the class turns its back on him. Shoko transfers and Shoya grows up as an outcast. Alone and depressed, the regretful Shoya finds Shoko to make amends.
Find screening info here.
TV PREMIERES
“Black Earth Rising”: BBC
Black Earth Rising (Premieres January 25 on Netflix)
“Black Earth Rising” is a contemporary thriller that follows the journey of Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel), a Rwandan orphaned by the genocide, raised in London by an adoptive mother and trying to discover the truth of her past.
Four More Shots Please! – Created by Rangita Pritish Nandy (Premieres January 25 on Amazon Prime)
“Four More Shots Please!”
“Four More Shots Please!” revolves around the lives of four very different women, each fighting their own individual battles and tackling life as it comes. Based in the southern tip of Mumbai, the city that never sleeps, these four friends get together every couple of days to binge talk and get smash drunk at their favorite garage bar, “Truck.” It’s the magic of pure, unadulterated, and yet sometimes flawed, friendship.
Kingdom – Written by Kim Eun-hee (Premieres January 25 on Netflix)
In a kingdom defeated by corruption and famine, a mysterious rumor of the king’s death spreads, as does a strange plague that renders the infected immune to death and hungry for flesh. The crown prince (Ju Ji-hoon), fallen victim to a conspiracy, sets out on a journey to unveil the evil scheme and save his people.
Sydney to the Max (Premieres January 25 on Disney)
“Sydney to the Max”
Set in the present day with flashbacks to the 1990s, the comedy revolves around outgoing middle schooler Sydney Reynolds (Ruth Righi) who lives with her single dad Max (Ian Reed Kesler) and with her progressive grandmother Judy (Caroline Rhea) — three generations under one roof.
Finding the Asshole (Short Film Series) – Created by Melissa Stephens and Tom DeTrinis; Written and Directed by Melissa Stephens (Premieres January 25 on Vimeo)
“Finding the Asshole” explores the mundane minutiae of the human condition to show how we’re all assholes. Chapter 1 explores the assholes of boutique clothing, Chapter 2 explores all the ways in which you can be an asshole when simply walking on a sidewalk, and Chapter 3 delves into parties and horror and all of the crossover asshole cliches lurking about.
Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin’ (Comedy Special) – Written by Amanda Seales (Premieres January 26 on HBO)
“Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin'”: HBO
Comedian Amanda Seales presents her stand-up debut special, “I Be Knowin.’” In this hour-long set, Seales shares from her memories of romance in high school up to what it means to be a 30-year-old black woman in America today.
I Am the Night (Miniseries) – Directed by Patty Jenkins, Victoria Mahoney, and Carl Franklin (Premieres January 28 on TNT)
“I Am the Night”
Inspired by the life of Fauna Hodel and set in 1965, “I Am the Night” is about Pat (India Eisley), a young woman who finds out she’s adopted and sets out to find her birth mother. Her biological grandfather is Dr. George Hodel (Jefferson Mays), a rich, well-regarded gynecologist with some very dark secrets. In fact, journalist Jay Singletary (Chris Pine, reuniting with his “Wonder Woman” director) torpedoed his career by reporting on Hodel’s alleged misdeeds. Jay — now working the sleazy stringer circuit to pay the bills — eventually teams up with Pat, aka Fauna, to find out the truth about her family. As intriguing as “I Am the Night’s” central mystery is, it’s Pat’s struggle with her own identity that makes the show. She’s a light-skinned mixed-race girl being raised by a black single mother (Golden Brooks) in a small Nevada town. Like the other black citizens, she is routinely mistreated and harassed. But, for those who don’t know her, Pat passes for white. Things get even more complicated when Pat realizes she’s adopted and was born Fauna Hodel. Her birth certificate says her mother is white and her father is black. And that’s just the beginning of her journey. (Rachel Montpelier)
VOD/STREAMING RELEASES
“The Wife”
Indivisible – Written by Cheryl McKay, David G. Evans, and Peter White (VOD, January 29)
Mobile Homes (VOD, January 29)
Suspiria (VOD, January 29)
The Wife – Written by Jane Anderson (VOD, January 29)
WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD IN THE NEWS
Oscar nominations: Asians are shut out, again. So are female directors. What gives? (USA Today)
Female Directors Snubbed, Again, in 2019 Oscar Nominations (Vanity Fair)
PICKS OF THE WEEK FROM WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”: Annapurna
Chicken & Egg Award Winners and (Egg)celerator Lab Participants Announced
Quote of the Day: Mindy Kaling & Nisha Ganatra on the Importance of Opening Doors for Others
Exclusive: Women Take the Lead in Trailer for the 2019 Athena Film Festival
Quote of the Day: Regina King Says We Have to Give Women “More First Shots”
Oscar Noms 2019: Another All-Male Directing Category
Sundance 2019 Preview: Films About Late Night Writers, Cliques, Toni Morrison, and More
PGA Awards 2019: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Being Serena” Win Big
Guest Post: Why My Sisters and I Shared Our Story of Childhood Sex Abuse in a Documentary
Flipping the Script: Crowdfunding Picks
Vicky Jewson on Telling the Story of a Female Bodyguard in Noomi Rapace-Starrer “Close”
Note: All descriptions are from press materials, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Women and Hollywood on Twitter @WomenaHollywood and Melissa Silverstein @melsil.
To contact Women and Hollywood, email melissa@womenandhollywood.com.
