Weekly Update for May 22: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films You Can Watch from Home

Due to the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent restrictions, Women and Hollywood is shifting its focus to online content. We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

(Please keep in mind that these dates are subject to change.)

FILMS ABOUT WOMEN COMING TO STREAMING/VOD

On the Record (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick; Written by Amy Ziering, Sara Newens, and Kirby Dick

“On the Record” presents the powerful and haunting story of music executive Drew Dixon as she grapples with her decision to become one of the first women of color, in the wake of #MeToo, to come forward and publicly accuse hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual assault. The documentary chronicles not only Dixon’s story but that of accusers Sil Lai Abrams and Sheri Sher.

“On the Record” will be available on HBO Max May 27.

Military Wives – Written by Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn

“Military Wives”

“Military Wives” is inspired by an actual group of women who formed an on-base choir while their partners were deployed. That provides the backbone of the story, but most of the film’s charms, and drama, come courtesy of the ladies’ personal lives. Some of them, like uptight de facto leader Kate (Kristin Scott Thomas), have been through several deployments and have an idea of how to get through them with their sanity intact. Others, such as the newlywed Sarah (Amy James-Kelly), are experiencing this for the first time and are wracked with dread and anxiety. Nearly all of them are dealing with other issues, too — Lisa (Sharon Horgan), for example, is contending with a rebellious teen daughter on top of missing and worrying about her husband. While Scott Thomas and Horgan anchor the film, “Military Wives” is a true ensemble, and everyone in the cast has a moment to shine. You can feel the camaraderie — not only among the characters, but between the actresses as well. And the music, especially the quintessential climactic performance toward the end, is joyful and moving. (Rachel Montpelier)

“Military Wives” is now available for rent or purchase on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon. It’s also streaming on Hulu.

Lucky Grandma – Directed by Sasie Sealy; Written by Sasie Sealy and Angela Cheng

“Lucky Grandma”

In the heart of Chinatown, New York, an ornery, chain-smoking, newly widowed 80-year-old grandma (Tsai Chin) is eager to live life as an independent woman, despite the worry of her family. When a local fortune teller (Wai Ching Ho) predicts a most auspicious day in her future, Grandma decides to head to the casino and goes all in, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck — suddenly attracting the attention of some local gangsters. Desperate to protect herself, Grandma employs the services of a bodyguard from a rival gang (Corey Ha) and soon finds herself right in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.

“Lucky Grandma” is now screening via virtual cinemas.

Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (Documentary) – Directed by Elizabeth Carroll

Featuring extensive interviews with Diana Kennedy and famed chefs José Andrés, Rick Bayless, Gabriela Camara, and Alice Waters, “Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy” provides an intimate look at the leading expert on Mexican cuisine. The author of nine acclaimed cookbooks and a two-time James Beard Award winner, Diana is called the “Julia Child of Mexico,” but the feisty cook prefers “The Mick Jagger of Mexican Cuisine.”

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Elizabeth Carroll.

“Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy” is now screening via virtual cinemas.

Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Goldstein

“Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl”: DOC NYC

Blending performance footage with verité style sequences, “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl” is both a no-punches-pulled look at an artist in flux who manages to come out on top, and at an industry that proves its own gender bias at every opportunity. The film is structured around songs and lyrics, as they are written and performed by Kate Nash, to tell its unfolding story.

“Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl” is now screening via virtual cinemas.

Joan of Arc

Ten-year-old Lise Leplat Prudhomme commands the center of this inventive reimagining of the story of Joan of Arc, a sequel to the 2017 musical “Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc.” Joan, compelled by visions of God, leads the French charge against invading English forces, and is later captured and put on trial for heresy. As singer-songwriter Christophe’s synthesizers slice through the droll stillness, Joan comes into her own, gaining a gravitas that makes her a force to be reckoned with.

“Joan of Arc” is now screening via virtual cinemas.

I Will Make You Mine – Written and Directed by Lynn Chen

“I Will Make You Mine”

Rachel (Lynn Chen) lives in idle luxury with a cheating husband; Professor Erika (Ayako Fujitani) juggles career demands while raising her daughter, Sachiko (Ayami Riley Tomine); and struggling musician Yea-Ming (Yea-Ming Chen) is still chasing a fast-fading dream. Three women who could not be more different have one thing in common: their flawed romantic history with singer-songwriter Goh Nakamura. When the amiable but unreliable Goh ambles back into town and into their lives, the past comes roaring back.

“I Will Make You Mine” will be available on VOD platforms May 26.

Funny Pains (Documentary)

Woman, stand-up comic, writer, producer, bipolar, Californian. Wendi Starling takes on New York City stages with her very personal, raw, funny, and inspiring comedy material, making the Big Apple her home and becoming one of the most active and funny women in the industry. On her journey, “Funny Pains” explores the ups and downs that come with pursuing comedy in NYC, how she deals with tragic old wounds, and how those wounds start to show up into her material.

“Funny Pains” will be available on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon May 26. Find more viewing info here.

tender (Short) – Written and Directed by Felicia Pride

After an unexpected one night stand, two women (Farelle Walker and Trishauna Clarke) at very different stages of their lives, share an even more intimate morning after.

“tender” is now available online.

FILMS ABOUT WOMEN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON STREAMING/VOD

“Buffaloed”

FILMS MADE BY WOMEN COMING TO STREAMING/VOD

The Roads Not Taken – Written and Directed by Sally Potter

“The Roads Not Taken”

Sally Potter is one of the world’s most interesting filmmakers. She’s made films with shoestring budgets, and some bigger movies as well. Some are great, some not so much — but they are always intriguing. “The Roads Not Taken” is a movie about memory. Leo (Javier Bardem) is suffering from some undefined dementia. He’s become incapable of taking care of himself. His daughter, Molly (Elle Fanning), comes to take him to two different doctors appointments. No longer living in the present, Leo keeps revisiting his past and the decisions he’s made. The pic, which premiered at the Berlinale, is an exploration of love, loss, and how we come to terms with our choices. (Melissa Silverstein)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sally Potter.

“The Roads Not Taken” will be available for rent or purchase on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon May 26.

The Social Ones – Written and Directed by Laura Kosann

“The Social Ones”

A love letter to our generation, this mockumentary comedy follows five social media celebrities preparing for a group cover shoot four weeks away. The film takes you inside the lives of the Influencer stars of the issue in the weeks leading up to the photo-shoot. All goes awry when one of them has a social-media induced breakdown that forces all to face the question of why we are all so consumed with social media. Are we humans or handles?

“The Social Ones” is now available for rent or purchase on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon. Find additional viewing info here.

A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps (Documentary) – Directed by Alana DeJoseph; Written by Shana Kelly

Narrated by Annette Bening, “A Towering Task” tells the remarkable story of the Peace Corps and takes viewers on a journey of what it means to be a global citizen. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave young Americans the opportunity to serve their country in a new way by forming the Peace Corps. Since then, more than 200,000 of them have traveled to more than 60 countries to carry out the organization’s mission of international cooperation. Nearly 60 years later, Americans — young and old alike — still want to serve their country and understand their place in the world; current volunteers work at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues facing the global community. Yet the agency has struggled to remain relevant amid sociopolitical change. More than once it had to fight for its very existence, and now — between COVID, a rise in nationalist sentiment, and deep cuts to governmental-agency budgets — the Peace Corps is again confronting a crisis of identity: What role should it play around the world and in the lives of engaged citizens?

“A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps” is now screening via virtual cinemas

Endgame 2050 (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Sofia Pineda Ochoa

What will the future be like in the year 2050? A mere three decades away, most of us hope to still be around. “Endgame 2050” blends narrative and documentary to imagine a hypothetical future: people coping with harsh food and water shortages, runaway climate change, fishless oceans, and civil unrest. Featuring Moby and prominent scientists, the film lays out the reality that, unless we take responsibility and act urgently now, we are hastening our own destruction and that of virtually all other life on the planet.

“Endgame 2050” will be available on YouTube May 23.

FILMS MADE BY WOMEN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON STREAMING/VOD

“Ovid and the Art of Love”

Ovid and the Art of Love – Written and Directed by Esmé von Hoffman (VOD)
The Dalai Lama: Scientist (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Dawn Gifford Engle (VOD)
Tokyo Godfathers – Written by Keiko Nobumoto and Satoshi Kon (VOD)
I Love You, Stupid – Directed by Laura Mañá (Netflix)
The Color of Medicine: The Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital (Documentary) – Directed by Joyce Marie Fitzpatrick and Brian Shackelford (VOD)
Graves Without a Name (Documentary) – Written by Agnès Sénémaud and Rithy Panh (VOD)
The Traitor – Written by Valia Santella, Ludovica Rampoldi, Marco Bellocchio, and Francesco Piccolo (VOD)
Bull – Directed by Annie Silverstein; Written by Annie Silverstein and Johnny McAllister (VOD)
The Infiltrators (Documentary) – Directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera (Virtual Cinemas)
Ordinary Love – Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (VOD)
The Flood – Written by Helen Kingston (VOD)
Circus of Books (Documentary) – Directed by Rachel Mason (Netflix)
Pot Luck (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Jane Wells (VOD)
Abe – Written by Lameece Isaaq and Jacob Kader (VOD)

TV PREMIERES

Homecoming (Season 2 Premieres May 22 on Amazon Prime)

“Homecoming”

With its interrogation of capitalism, the military industrial complex, and corporate culture, “Homecoming” feels especially prescient now, during the COVID-19 crisis. If nothing else, a global clusterfuck is the perfect time to be skeptical, even suspicious, of corporations and government institutions. Janelle Monáe succeeds Julia Roberts’ as series lead in Season 2. She, like Roberts’ character last season, is struggling with memory loss and trying to figure out exactly how she is connected to the Geist Group. Along the way, several familiar faces pop up, including the ambitious, conflicted Audrey Temple (the always wonderful Hong Chau). There’s not much more I can say without giving away the podcast adaptation’s twists and turns. But I will mention that this season deals directly with what success can be like for career-driven women, women of color in particular. Roberts sticks around as executive producer on Season 2 of “Homecoming,” but on-screen, the story is firmly Monáe and Chau’s. The cliffhangers and mysteries are definitely compelling, but the portrayals of women doing whatever it takes to prosper, that’s what makes this season worth watching. (RM)

AKA Jane Roe (Documentary) (Premieres May 22 on FX)

“AKA Jane Roe” is a portrait of Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” whose unwanted pregnancy led to the 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade. The documentary unravels the mysteries closely guarded by McCorvey throughout her life. Considered too divisive and unpredictable by many in the pro-choice movement, McCorvey stunned the world in 1995 when she switched sides to crusade against her own case, as an anti-abortion firebrand. In candid one-on-one interviews, filmed across the last year of her life, McCorvey reveals the truth behind her astonishing story.

Control Z – Created by Adriana Pelusi, Miguel García Moreno, and Carlos Quintanilla (Premieres May 22 on Netflix)

When a hacker begins releasing students’ secrets to the entire high school, the socially isolated but observant Sofía (Ana Valeria Becerril) works to uncover his/her identity.

Lance (Two-Part Documentary) – Directed by Marina Zenovich (Premieres May 24 on ESPN)

“Lance”

“Lance” is a fascinating, revealing, comprehensive chronicle of one of the most inspirational — and then infamous — athletes of all time. Based around extensive interviews and conversations with Lance Armstrong, the two-part, four-hour film tells the story of the cyclist’s rise out of Texas as a young superstar; his harrowing battle with testicular cancer; his recovery and emergence as a global icon with his seven consecutive Tour de France titles; and then his massive fall after he was exposed in one of the largest doping scandals in history. Armstrong, along with a collection of family, teammates, friends, rivals, and journalists, all reflect on his story, creating a fascinating character study, capturing a unique chapter of sports history, and insisting the audience make its own interpretations about the many different sides of a complex saga.

I Was Lorena Bobbitt (TV Movie) – Directed by Danishka Esterhazy; Written by Barbara Nance (Premieres May 25 on Lifetime)

“I Was Lorena Bobbitt”

Lorena Bobbitt became a household name and made tabloid headlines when, after years of abuse by her husband, she cut off his penis with a knife in 1993. Now nearly 30 years later, Lorena tells her story, and hers alone, for the first time. This film follows her journey from a wide-eyed, immigrant bride to a battered wife into an unlikely media sensation. “I Was Lorena Bobbitt” also documents her ultimately emerging as a strong, thoughtful woman who has devoted her life to advocating for other abused women. Dani Montalvo and Luke Humphrey star.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (Comedy Special) – Written by Hannah Gadsby (Premieres May 26 on Netflix)

“Hannah Gadsby: Douglas”

Emmy and Peabody award-winning comedian Hannah Gadsby stopped the comedy world in its tracks with her genre bending show, “Nanette.” With “Douglas,” Gadsby returns for her second special and digs deep into the complexities of popularity, identity, and her most unusual dog encounter.

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (Docuseries) – Directed by Lisa Bryant (Premieres May 27 on Netflix)

Epstein accuser Haley Robson speaks out in “Filthy Rich”: Netflix

Leading up to his 2019 arrest, mysterious tycoon Jeffrey Epstein was accused of abusing women and underage girls for decades, assembling a network of enablers to help carry out and cover up his crimes. Epstein came from humble beginnings yet managed to lie and manipulate his way to the top of the financial world. He eventually gained tremendous wealth and power while running an international sex trafficking ring. The serial sex abuser made a secret plea deal with the government in 2008, avoiding a potential life sentence, and continued to abuse women. With their frightening firsthand accounts, Epstein’s accusers are the leading voices in the four-part docuseries “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.” By revealing their emotional scars, some for the very first time, the sisterhood of survivors intend to stop predators — and the American justice system — from silencing the next generation.

Love Life (Premieres May 27 on HBO Max)

Anna Kendrick stars in a fresh take on the romantic comedy, in an anthology series about the journey from first love to lasting love, and how the people we’re with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever.

THE GIRLS CLUB IS OFFERING THE FIRST MONTH FREE

Founded by Women and Hollywood publisher and founder Melissa Silverstein, the Girls Club is a community for women creatives, culture-changers, and storytellers to connect, create, network, advocate, support, and redefine entertainment.

These are trying times. We realize that COVID-19 is affecting the health, safety, and livelihood of many folks in the industry, and want to offer a space for folks to come together amidst all of the uncertainty. With that goal in mind, the Girls Club is offering the first month free to those who sign up.

If you identify as a woman and would like an invitation to this community, please email girlsclubnetwork@gmail.com and let us know a bit about who you are and what you do.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK

Kaling in “Late Night”: Emily Aragones

Vicky Jenson to Direct Musical Fantasy “Spellbound” for Skydance Animation
Hot Docs 2020 Preview: LGBTQ Parents, Surfer Girls, & More
S.J. Clarkson to Direct Sony Pic Featuring Mystery Female Marvel Character
Apply Now: Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab
Submit Now: Women In Film, ReFrame, and IMDbPro’s Curbside Shorts Filmmaking Challenge
Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor Tapped to Pen “Legally Blonde 3”
FemmePower Productions Introduces New Platform for Queer Content
Human Rights Watch Film Festival’s Digital Lineup Is 73 Percent Women-Directed

Note: All descriptions are from press materials, unless otherwise noted.

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