Films About Women Opening This Week
Lolo — Directed by Julie Delpy; Written by Julie Delpy and Eugenie Grandval (Opens in NYC)
Violette (Julie Delpy), a 40-year old workaholic with a career in the fashion industry falls for a provincial computer geek, Jean-Rene (Danny Boon), while on a spa retreat with her best friend. Though Jean-Rene faces a major challenge: he must win the trust and respect of Violette’s teenage son, Lolo (Vincente Lacoste), who is determined to wreak havoc on the couple’s fledging relationship and remain his mother’s favorite. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Julie Delpy
Hello, My Name is Doris — Co-Written by Laura Terruso
After a lifetime of being overlooked and ignored, a woman of a certain age (Sally Field) finds her world turned upside down by a handsome new co-worker (Max Greenfield) and a self-help seminar that inspires her to take a chance on love in “Hello, My Name is Doris,” a witty and compassionate late-life coming-of-age-story. (Press materials)
Marguerite — Co-Written by Marcia Romano
Paris, 1920s. Marguerite Dumont (Catherine Frot) is a wealthy woman, lover of the music and the opera. She loves to sing for her friends, although she’s not a good singer. Both her friends and her husband (André Marcon) have kept her fantasy. The problem begins when she decides to perform in front of a real audience. (IMDb)
10 Cloverfield Lane
Waking up from a car accident, a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) finds herself in the basement of a man (John Goodman) who says he’s saved her life from a chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable. (IMDb)
River of Grass — Written and Directed by Kelly Reichardt (Opens in NYC)
“River of Grass,” Kelly Reichardt’s darkly funny 1994 debut feature, brought the writer-director back to the setting of her adolescence, the suburban landscape of southern Florida, where she grew up with her detective father and narcotics agent mother. Shot on 16mm, the story follows the misadventures of disaffected house-wife Cozy, played by Lisa Bowman, and the aimless layabout Lee, played by up-and-comer Larry Fessenden, who also acted as a producer and the film’s editor. Described by Reichardt as “a road movie without the road, a love story without the love, and a crime story without the crime,” “River of Grass” introduces viewers to a director already in command of her craft and defining her signature style. (Press materials)
The Student Nurses — Directed by Stephanie Rothman (Opens in NYC)
The sole female filmmaker in a renowned boys’ club, Stephanie Rothman made a small, but significant series of subversive exploitation films. One of her greatest films is the ensemble drama “The Student Nurses,” which forgoes cheap psychologizing and sexual gratuity for a nuanced take on the professional and personal options faced by women. Though she was recognized at the time by some astute critics, it’s only recently that Rothman’s work has been unequivocally acknowledged for what it is: incisive, funny, and bursting with ideas and a crucial counter to the overwhelmingly male vision of the American seventies. (Press materials)
Eye in the Sky
“Eye in the Sky” stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare. (Press materials)
Miracles From Heaven — Directed by Patricia Riggen (Opens March 16)
“Miracles From Heaven” is based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. When Christy (Jennifer Garner) discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired. (Press materials)
Films About Women Currently Playing
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Trapped (Documentary) — Directed by Dawn Porter; Written by Sari Gilman and Dawn Porter
Zootopia
Camino
Emelie
The Other Side of the Door
Ava’s Possessions (Also on VOD)
Cemetery of Splendour
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Also streaming on Netflix)
Jack of the Red Hearts — Directed by Janet Grillo; Written by Jennifer Deaton
A Country Called Home — Co-Written and Directed by Anna Axster (Also available on VOD)
The Truth and the Teller — Co-Written by Patty Moynahan and Nevie Owens
The Witch
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Neerja — Co-Written by Sanyukta Shaikh Chawla
How To Be Single — Co-Written by Dana Fox and Abby Kohn
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The 5th Wave — Co-Written by Susannah Grant
The Boy
The Lady in the Van
The Forest — Co-Written by Sarah Cornwell
Joy — Story by Annie Mumolo
45 Years
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Sisters — Written by Paula Pell
Janis: Little Girl Blue (Documentary) — Directed by Amy Berg
The Danish Girl — Written by Lucinda Coxon
Carol — Written by Phyllis Nagy
Mustang — Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven; Written by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour
Brooklyn
Grandma
Films Directed by Women Opening This Week
City of Gold (Documentary) — Directed by Laura Gabbert
“City of Gold” chronicles Pulitzer Prize-winning restaurant critic Jonathan Gold’s relationship to his beloved and sprawling metropolis, Los Angeles. Gold has long been adored in his hometown for his cultural writing about LA’s hidden culinary treasures; he was one of the first critics to review small family owned restaurants in far-flung ethnic enclaves with as much passion as the haute cuisine establishments of Beverly Hills. With a stroke of his pen, he’s changed the lives of countless immigrant chefs, newly discovered by voracious foodies who avidly track his reviews. (Press materials)
Yalom’s Cure (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Sabine Gisiger (Opens in LA)
Bestselling author, popular scholar and existentialist Irvin D. Yalom is one of the most influential living psychotherapists. This cinematic feature is more than a classic biography. Together with Dr. Yalom we travel in an existential journey through the many layers of the human mind while he shares his fundamental insights and wisdom. Dr. Yalom’s books sold millions of copies worldwide and critics describe him as: mind-bending, stunning, inspiring, haunting, life-changing. (Press materials)
Films Directed by Women Currently Playing
They Will Have To Kill Us First (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Johanna Schwartz
Here Come the Videofreex! (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jenny Raskin
Marguerite and Julien — Co-Written and Directed by Valerie Donzelli
Songs My Brothers Taught Me — Written and Directed by Chloé Zhao
King Georges (Documentary) — Directed by Erika Frankel (Also Available on VOD)
Kung Fu Panda 3 — Co-Directed by Jennifer Yuh
Heart of a Dog (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Laurie Anderson
Films Written by Women Opening This Week
The Young Messiah — Co-Written by Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh
Inspired by Scripture and rooted in history, this story imagines a year in the boyhood of Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal). Remaining true to the character of Jesus revealed in the Bible, “The Young Messiah” is an inspirational story about the childhood of the Savior for the whole family. (Press materials)
Films Written by Women Currently Playing
London Has Fallen — Co-Written by Katrin Benedikt
Race — Co-Written by Anna Waterhouse
Tumbledown — Written by Desi Van Til
In the Shadow of Women — Co-Written by Caroline Deruas and Arlette Langman
Concussion — Co-Written by Jeanne Marie Laskas
The Good Dinosaur — Written by Meg LeFauve
Room — Written by Emma Donoghue
Labyrinth of Lies/Im Labyrinth des Schweigens — Co-Written by Elisabeth Bartel
TV Premieres This Week
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Premieres March 12 on HBO)
Filmed before a live audience at Cafe Brasil in New Orleans, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” features six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald in her history-making, tour de force performance as the jazz icon. Originally written for off-Broadway by Lanie Roberston in 1987, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” tells [Billie] Holiday’s life story through the songs that made her famous, including “God Bless the Child,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Strange Fruit” and “Taint Nobody’s Biz-ness.” (Press materials)
Crowded — Created by Suzanne Martin (Premieres March 15 on NBC)
After 20 years of parenting, empty nesters Mike (Patrick Warburton) and Martina (Carrie Preston) are finally reclaiming their wild side. But when both of their two grown daughters (Miranda Cosgrove and Mia Serafino) unexpectedly move back in and Mike’s parents (Stacy Keach and Carlease Burke) scratch their plans to spend their golden years in Florida, their roost is full again. (Press materials)
Happy Valley: Season 2 — Created by Sally Wainwright (Premieres March 16 on Netflix)
The BAFTA-winning series stars Sarah Lancashire (“Last Tango in Halifax”) as Sgt. Catherine Cawood, the altruistic head of the police department in West Yorkshire’s Calder Valley. In season two, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) — the man she believes is responsible for her daughter’s death — is now behind bars, but he continues to haunt Catherine as she rebuilds her life. Meanwhile, detective John Wadsworth (Kevin Doyle) has his own set of problems, and despite being in prison, Tommy forms a bond with a mysterious female admirer (Shirley Henderson,Variety)
VOD/DVD Releasing This Week
Happily Ever After — Written and Directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin (VOD, March 15)
A young documentary filmmaker (Janet Montgomery) turns her camera on her former best friend (Sara Paxton), a seemingly carefree bride-to-be, in this delightful comedy-drama about family and secrets — and best friends forever. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s guest post from Joan Carr-Wiggin
Women of ’69, Unboxed (Documentary) is a riveting tale of women who broke the chains of social conventions during a time of assassinations, civil rights demonstrations, the Vietnam War and the emergence of second-wave feminism. (Press materials) (VOD, March 15)
Brooklyn (DVD, March 15)
The Armor of Light (Documentary) — Directed by Abigail E. Disney (VOD, March 15)
Sisters — Written by Paula Pell (DVD, March 15)
Carol — Written by Phyllis Nagy (DVD, March 15)
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip — Co-Written by Randi Mayem Singer (DVD, March 15)
