Weekly Update for March 8: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING

Captain Marvel – Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck; Written by Anna Boden, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and Ryan Fleck

The highly anticipated first Marvel movie with a female lead, “Captain Marvel” starring Brie Larson does not disappoint. And there are other exciting milestones in this film. This is the first MCU title with a female helmer, co-director Anna Boden, and the first with a female composer, Pinar Toprak. Aside from all the women power here, what moved me about the film was that — after all the work to get a female superhero movie from Marvel — it didn’t feel anything but normal. Gender is not an issue. In fact, “Captain Marvel” is the origin story for all the MCU superhero movies that came before. Set in 1995, this film is also a tale of female friendship. Captain Marvel only discovers who she really is thanks to her bond with Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). She’s a fighter pilot and she becomes the most powerful Avenger there is. (Melissa Silverstein)

Find screening info here.

Time for Ilhan (Documentary) – Directed by Norah Shapiro (Also Available on VOD)

“Time for Ilhan”

Ilhan Omar, a young, hijab-wearing mother of three, takes on two formidable opponents in a highly contested race for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature. Up against a 43-year incumbent, Ilhan is the “outsider” — a Muslim, refugee, woman of color — who seeks to challenge the party’s status quo while simultaneously defying lingering gender norms within her own Muslim community. A fresh and timely take on the classic American Dream, “Time for Ilhan” offers an inspiring, stereotype-busting portrait of one of America’s brightest new political stars, at the start of her meteoric ascent from political newcomer to becoming one of the first Muslim women in the U.S. Congress.

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Norah Shapiro.

Find screening info here.

Gloria Bell

“Gloria Bell”

An English-language remake of 2013’s “Gloria,” “Gloria Bell” sees Julianne Moore taking on the titular role. Divorced with two adult children, Gloria spends her days at a conventional office job, but it’s the night she lives for. Gloria loves hitting the dance floor at nightclubs in LA. During one such night out she meets Arnold (John Turturro), who is also divorced with grown kids. The comedy sees the pair bonding over poetry and paintball, but it’s not all smooth sailing for the new couple. Trying to integrate Arnold into her family’s life proves more challenging than Gloria anticipated, and her kids are rightly concerned about what kind of man their mother is dating. Gloria is a joy to be around, and a joy to watch. Long before the credits roll, you really feel like you know her — and are rooting for her. “Gloria Bell” is a beautiful showcase for Moore, who masterfully portrays the subtleties of Gloria’s emotional state and arc as she experiences something akin to a late-life coming-of-age. (Laura Berger)

Find screening info here.

Ferrante Fever (Documentary) – Written by Laura Buffoni and Giacomo Durzi (Opens in NY)

Filmed between Italy and the United States, “Ferrante Fever” is born from the same passion that devours the readers of Elena Ferrante, the “faceless writer” whose novels have sold more than five million copies worldwide. The film is not looking to uncover the truth behind the pseudonym. Instead, it hopes to discover the secret to her success, the nature of the fever that conquered the world over the course of 12 years. Exceptional witnesses (Hillary Clinton, Roberto Saviano, Jonathan Franzen) provide answers, but so do the writer’s own words, and the places and the protagonists in her novels.

Find screening info here.

And Then There Was Eve – Directed by Savannah Bloch; Written by Colette Freedman and Savannah Bloch (Opens in LA) (Available on VOD March 12)

Alyssa (Tania Nolan), a successful photographer, wakes one morning to find her apartment ransacked and her husband mysteriously missing. Left without even a photograph to offer the police, she turns to his colleague Eve (Rachel Crowl), a talented jazz pianist with a flirtatious charm and disarming grace. Eve helps her confront her husband’s longtime struggle with depression and to, over time, accept his absence. While getting to know this woman through such unusual circumstances, Alyssa is surprised to find herself falling in love again.

Starfish (Opens March 13 in NY)

“Starfish”

Aubrey (Virginia Gardner) is a young woman suffering from the death of a close friend. When a mysterious signal from an unknown dimension summons the end of days, its appears as if only Aubrey is left on earth. Trapped in the apartment of her recently deceased best friend, the only clue she has is a single cassette left behind after her friend’s death, labeled: “THIS MIXTAPE WILL SAVE THE WORLD.” Thrust into a mystery orchestrated by her friend and stricken with grief, Aubrey begins to piece the clues together, uncovering a series of tapes all with pieces of the mystery signal. Along the way, progress is impeded when monstrous creatures begin to overrun the world and enclose in on her. Aubrey is forced to fight off the encroaching creatures and move beyond her own crippling grief in order to find the remaining tapes. But will completing the signal save the world?

Find screening info here.

Juanita (Available on Netflix)

“Juanita”

Fed up with her deadbeat grown kids and marginal urban existence, Juanita (Alfre Woodard) takes a Greyhound bus to Paper Moon, Montana where she reinvents herself and finds her mojo.

We Are Boats (Opens in LA; Opens in NY March 15)

Lives intertwine and connect when Francesca (Angela Sarafyan) navigates through the living world by encountering strangers at the exact moment she needs to, sending their lives on either a better course towards happiness or setting the wheels in motion towards a tragic end — all while she secretly searches for a loved one that she never had the chance to say goodbye to.

Find screening info here.

Lady J (Available on Netflix)

When her love affair with a lustful marquis takes a sudden turn, a wealthy widow (Cécile de France) concocts a scheme to get revenge with help from a younger woman (Alice Isaaz).

Walk. Ride. Rodeo. (Available on Netflix)

“Walk. Ride. Rodeo.” tells the incredible true story of Amberley Snyder (Spencer Locke), a nationally ranked rodeo barrel racer who defies the odds after barely surviving a car accident that leaves her paralyzed from the waist down.

FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING

I’m Not Here – Directed by Michelle Schumacher; Written by Michelle Schumacher and Tony Cummings (Also Available on VOD)

Steve (J.K. Simmons) is haunted by his past as every object in his home, every sound he hears reminds him of a specific event in his life. Steve connects the events of his life to discover how he ended up alone and broken. As he relives each significant memory, he understands the generational issues that have held him captive like his father before him. Can he move past the pain and forgive his trespassers, and more importantly, forgive himself?

Find screening info here.

Tale of Tales – Written by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya and Yuri Norstein (Opens March 13 in NYC for One Week Only)

Celebrated as one of the greatest animated films of all time. An adorable wolf, a minotaur, a cat, and a fish populate a small boy’s world in which soldiers leave for war, never to return, and a baby suckles at his mother’s breast. Snow falls on apple trees as 20 million Russians disappear…

Find screening info here.

TV PREMIERES

“¡Las Sandinistas!” will air

Made in Heaven – Created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti (Premieres March 8 on Amazon Prime)

“Made in Heaven” chronicles the lives of Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan (Arjun Mathur), two wedding planners in Delhi. India is a potent blend of old and new. Tradition jostles with modern aspirations against the backdrop of a Big Fat Indian Wedding, revealing many secrets and many lies. The supposedly liberal fabric of the upper crust unravels as the duo navigate through arranged marriages, dowry transactions, and virginity tests.

The Case Against Adnan Syed (Docuseries) – Directed by Amy Berg (Premieres March 10 on HBO)

A four-part documentary series, “The Case Against Adnan Syed” explores the 1999 disappearance and murder of 18-year-old Baltimore County high school student Hae Min Lee, and the subsequent conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed — a case brought to global attention by the hugely popular “Serial” podcast.

Now Apocalypse – Written by Karley Sciortino and Gregg Araki (Premieres March 10 on Starz)

While on quests to pursue love, sex, and fame with his friends in LA, Ulysses’ (Avan Jogia) premonitory dreams make him question the possible presence of a dark and monstrous conspiracy.

¡Las Sandinistas! – Directed by Jenny Murray (Premieres March 10 on WORLD Channel)

Going by history books and pop culture, you’d think that men started and finished every revolution. “¡Las Sandinistas!” brings the women of Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista Revolution front and center. Jenny Murray’s documentary focuses on their issues, their leadership, and how they were integral to the cause. It also spends plenty of time highlighting how sexist their male compatriots were, and how the women had to ignore and rise above it because they believed in the movement. These Sandinista women are truly impressive and it’s great that their contributions are finally on the record. (MS)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jenny Murray.

VOD/STREAMING RELEASES

“If Beale Street Could Talk”

A Classy Broad: Marcia’s Adventures in Hollywood (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Anne Goursaud (VOD, Available Now)
Brave Girl Rising (Short) – Directed by Martha Adams and Richard E. Robbins; Written by Warsan Shire (Girl Rising, March 8)
If Beale Street Could Talk (VOD, March 12)
Daughter of Mine – Directed by Laura Bispuri; Written by Laura Bispuri and Francesca Manieri (VOD, March 12)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Written by J.K. Rowling (VOD, March 12)
Jane and Emma – Directed by Chantelle Squires; Written by Melissa Leilani Larson (VOD, March 12)
London Fields – Written by Roberta Hanley and Martin Amis (VOD, March 12)
Mortal Engines – Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson (VOD, March 12)
Second Act – Written by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Justin Zackham (VOD, March 12)
Woodsrider (Documentary) – Directed by Cambria Matlow (VOD, March 12)