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
The High Note – Directed by Nisha Ganatra; Written by Flora Greeson
Dakota Johnson lights up the screen as Maggie, the long-suffering assistant to legendary singer Grace Davis, who is played by Tracee Ellis Ross in a role that reminds us she is Diana Ross’ daughter. Ross, who is so great on “Black-ish,” plays a stereotypical diva superstar. The singer is mean and self-centered, and that’s in part due to the fact that she hasn’t written and recorded an original song in many years. Her manager (Ice Cube ) is excited to book her a Las Vegas residency à la Celine Dion. Unbeknownst to everyone, Maggie is an aspiring producer who has done a mix of a Grace Davis album on her own time. “The High Note’s” best scenes are the ones that deviate from more conventional, clichéd territory — a real highlight comes when Grace talks about the pressures of being an over-40 black female singer. She is scared about her future in the biz — or lack thereof. It’s not easy being a woman of color who is a performer, especially one who has been successful for so long. Once Grace’s façade is pierced, she becomes so much more interesting, as does the film. (Melissa Silverstein)
“The High Note” is now available for rent on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon. Find more viewing info here.
Papicha – Directed by Mounia Meddour; Written by Mounia Meddour and Fadette Drouard
“Papicha”
Nedjma (Lyna Khoudri) is a university student during the Algerian Civil War. Although she’s studying French, her passion is fashion design. Defying religious conservatism, she custom-makes dresses for her peers that are examples of individual expression. Attacks on civilians are on the rise from fundamentalist Islamist sects, and a shocking incident drives Nedjma to stage a unique protest: a fashion show centered around repurposing the haik, a traditional veil, into secular garments.
“Papicha” is now screening via virtual cinemas.
Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own (Documentary)
“Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own”: Itinerant Pictures
“Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own” is an artistic biography of one of the few women in the world working in monumental sculpture. Von Rydingsvard’s work has been featured in the Venice Biennale and is held in the collections of some of the world’s great museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. But she may be best-known for work in public spaces — imposing pieces painstakingly crafted with complex surfaces. The film goes behind the scenes with von Rydingsvard, as she and her collaborators — cutters, metalsmiths, and others — produce new work, including challenging commissions in copper and bronze, and delves into the artist’s personal life, and how it has shaped her work.
“Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own” is now virtually screening via Film Forum. It will hit additional virtual cinemas June 5.
The Price of Desire – Written and Directed by Mary McGuckian
“The Price of Desire” tells a triangular tale of insidious chauvinism in a film about the remarkable bisexual Irish artist, architect, and designer Eileen Gray (Orla Brady). Set substantially in and around her most abiding work, the iconic villa E-1027, it explores how the egotistical “Father of Modernism,” Le Corbusier (Vincent Perez) controversially defaced its walls and with that, effaced her moral right to be recognized as its architect, going so far as to erase her actual ownership of the physical house she so lovingly created for her lover, his friend, Jean Badovici (Francesco Scianna).
“The Price of Desire” will be available on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon June 2.
Feral – Written by Priscilla Kavanaugh, Jason Mendez, and Andrew Wonder
At once an examination of loneliness and the masks we wear to face the world, “Feral” tells the story of Yasmine (Annapurna Sriram), a young woman living in the tunnels underneath Manhattan, struggling to overcome her past as she meets other city dwellers fending for their own lives.
“Feral” will be available on VOD platforms including Apple TV June 2.
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON STREAMING/VOD
“Lucky Grandma”
On the Record (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick; Written by Amy Ziering, Sara Newens, and Kirby Dick (HBO Max)
Military Wives – Written by Rachel Tunnard and Rosanne Flynn (VOD)
Lucky Grandma – Directed by Sasie Sealy; Written by Sasie Sealy and Angela Cheng (Virtual Cinemas)
Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (Documentary) – Directed by Elizabeth Carroll (Virtual Cinemas)
Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl (Documentary) – Directed by Amy Goldstein (Virtual Cinemas)
Joan of Arc (Virtual Cinemas)
I Will Make You Mine – Written and Directed by Lynn Chen (VOD)
Funny Pains (Documentary) (VOD)
Alice – Written and Directed by Josephine Mackerras (Virtual Cinemas)
Buffaloed – Directed by Tanya Wexler (VOD)
Seberg – Written by Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel (Amazon Prime)
Fourteen (Virtual Cinemas)
How to Build a Girl – Directed by Coky Giedroyc; Written by Caitlin Moran (VOD)
Clementine – Written and Directed by Lara Jean Gallagher (Virtual Cinemas)
Valley Girl – Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg; Written by Amy Talkington (VOD)
Yeva – Written and Directed by Anahid Abad (Vimeo)
Mother’s Little Helpers – Written and Directed by Kestrin Pantera (VOD)
CRSHD – Written and Directed by Emily Cohn (Virtual Cinemas)
On a Magical Night (Virtual Cinemas)
The Half of It – Written and Directed by Alice Wu (Netflix)
South Mountain – Written and Directed by Hilary Brougher (VOD)
Becoming (Documentary) – Directed by Nadia Hallgren (Netflix)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (VOD, Disney+)
Saint Frances – Written by Kelly O’Sullivan (VOD)
Better Days – Written by Wing-Sum Lam, Yuan Li, and Yimeng Xu (VOD)
Thousand Pieces of Gold (Restoration) – Directed by Nancy Kelly; Written by Anne Makepeace (Kino Marquee)
To the Stars – Directed by Martha Stephens; Written by Shannon Bradley-Colleary (VOD)
The Assistant – Written and Directed by Kitty Green (VOD)
The Photograph – Written and Directed by Stella Meghie (VOD)
A Secret Love (Documentary) – Written by Alexa L. Fogel, Chris Bolan, and Brendan Mason (Netflix)
Selah and The Spades – Written and Directed by Tayarisha Poe (Amazon Prime)
Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint (Documentary) – Directed by Halina Dyrschka (Kino Marquee)
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (Documentary) (Film Forum)
Beanpole (VOD, Film Forum)
Sea Fever – Written and Directed by Neasa Hardiman (VOD)
Fleabag Live (Taped Theater Production) – Directed by Vicky Jones; Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Amazon Prime, Soho Theatre On Demand)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Written and Directed by Eliza Hittman (VOD)
Invisible Life – Written by Inés Bortagaray, Karim Aïnouz, and Murilo Hauser (Amazon Prime)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Written and Directed by Céline Sciamma (VOD, Hulu)
Blow The Man Down – Written and Directed by Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole (Amazon Prime)
Emma. – Directed by Autumn de Wilde; Written by Eleanor Catton (VOD)
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) – Directed by Cathy Yan; Written by Christina Hodson (VOD)
The Invisible Man (VOD)
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN COMING TO STREAMING/VOD
Stage: The Culinary Internship (Documentary) – Directed by Abby Ainsworth
“Stage: The Culinary Internship” follows a group of interns during a nine-month apprenticeship at one of the best restaurants in the world, Mugaritz. While the restaurant’s notorious avant-garde cuisine and creative working environment elevates these young hopefuls to think outside the confines of a kitchen, ultimately, not everyone can handle the heat.
“Stage: The Culinary Internship” is now screening via virtual cinemas.
Searching Eva (Documentary) – Directed by Pia Hellenthal
“Searching Eva”
Adam, 25 — drifter, Berliner, pet-owner, poet, sex worker, virgo, addict, feminist, model — declared privacy an outdated concept at the age of 14. This is the tale of a young person growing up in the age of the internet, turning the search for oneself into a public spectacle. Through his fragmented personalities, you see the emergence of a generation, in which the concept of a fixed identity has grown old.
“Searching Eva” will be available on VOD platforms including Apple TV and Amazon June 2.
The Infiltrators (Documentary) – Directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera
“The Infiltrators”
“The Infiltrators” is a docu-thriller that tells the true story of young immigrants who are detained by Border Patrol and thrown into a shadowy for-profit detention center — on purpose. Marco and Viri are members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of radical DREAMers who are on a mission to stop unjust deportations. And the best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention. However, when Marco and Viri attempt a daring reverse “prison break,” things don’t go according to plan. By weaving together documentary footage of the real infiltrators with re-enactments of the events inside the detention center, “The Infiltrators” tells an incredible and thrilling true story in a genre-defying new cinematic language.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Cristina Ibarra.
“The Infiltrators” is now screening via virtual cinemas. It will be available on VOD platforms including Apple TV June 2.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON STREAMING/VOD
The Roads Not Taken – Written and Directed by Sally Potter (VOD)
The Social Ones – Written and Directed by Laura Kosann (VOD)
A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps (Documentary) – Directed by Alana DeJoseph; Written by Shana Kelly (Virtual Cinemas)
Endgame 2050 (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Sofia Pineda Ochoa (YouTube)
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)
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)
Bull – Directed by Annie Silverstein; Written by Annie Silverstein and Johnny McAllister (VOD)
Ordinary Love – Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (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
Central Park – Created by Nora Smith, Loren Bouchard, and Josh Gad (Premieres May 29 on Apple TV+)
“Central Park”
In this animated musical comedy, Owen Tillerman (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and his family live an unconventional life in New York’s bustling Central Park, which Owen manages. Now, they’ll have to fend off a wealthy hotel heiress who wants to turn the park into condos.
Royalties – Directed by Amy Heckerling (Premieres June 1 on Quibi)
“Royalties” is a satirical take on the oft-untold story of songwriters behind the world’s biggest hits. The show follows the ascent of a ragtag songwriting duo — Sara (Kether Donohue) and Pierce (Darren Criss) — as they navigate the strange and hilarious challenges of creating a truly great song, week after week.
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story – Created by Alexandra Cunningham (Premieres June 2 on USA Network)
“Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story”: Isabella Vosmikova/USA Network
“Dirty John” will once again give fans another shocking drama based on an epic true tale of love, betrayal, and death. Amanda Peet and Christian Slater portray the scorned lovers, Betty and Dan Broderick, as their marriage turned into what Oprah deemed one of “America’s messiest divorces” even before it ended in double homicide.
Can You Hear Me? – Created by Florence Longpré (Premieres June 4 on Netflix)
“Can You Hear Me?”
Three friends in a low-income neighborhood (Florence Longpré, Mélissa Bédard, and Ève Landry) find humor and hope in their lives as they grapple with bad boyfriends and their dysfunctional families.
In My Skin – Created and Written by Kayleigh Llewellyn; Directed by Lucy Forbes (Premieres June 4 on Hulu)
“In My Skin”
Sixteen-year-old Bethan (Gabrielle Creevy) deals with the anxieties and insecurities of teenage life, along with the stark reality of a home life that is far removed from what she projects to her friends.
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
Tamar-kali: Scott Ellison Smith
Composer to Watch: Tamar-kali of “Shirley,” “The Assistant,” and “Mudbound”
Weinstein Accuser Sarah Ann Masse and Alexa Polar Collaborating on #MeToo-Themed Drama
Exclusive: A Biologist Learns About Her Own Body in a Clip of “The Dilemma of Desire”
June 2020 Film Preview
Lifetime and Variety Team Up to Celebrate Women on Frontlines of COVID-19 Crisis
“Tuca & Bertie” Revived for Season 2 at Adult Swim
Hot Docs Shorts Spotlight: Projects Featuring Protests, Aquaculture Magicians, & More
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.
