Weekly Update for November 17: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

The Breadwinner — Directed by Nora Twomey; Written by Anita Doron and Deborah Ellis

Parvana (Saara Chaudry) is an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. When her father is wrongfully arrested, Parvana cuts off her hair and dresses like a boy in order to support her family. Working alongside her friend Shauzia (Soma Chhaya), Parvana discovers a new world of freedom — and danger. With undaunted courage, Parvana draws strength from the fantastical stories she invents, as she embarks on a quest to find her father and reunite her family. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Nora Twomey.

Find screening info here.

A Fantastic Woman

Marina and Orlando are in love and planning for the future. Marina (Daniela Vega) is a young waitress and aspiring singer. Orlando (Francisco Reyes) is 20 years older than her, and owns a printing company. After celebrating Marina’s birthday one evening, Orlando falls seriously ill. Marina rushes him to the emergency room, but he passes away just after arriving at the hospital. Instead of being able to mourn her lover, suddenly Marina is treated with suspicion. The doctors and Orlando’s family don’t trust her. A detective investigates Marina to see if she was involved in his death. Orlando’s ex-wife forbids her from attending the funeral. And to make matters worse, Orlando’s son threatens to throw Marina out of the flat she shared with Orlando. Marina is a trans woman and for most of Orlando’s family, her sexual identity is an aberration, a perversion. So Marina struggles for the right to be herself. She battles the very same forces that she has spent a lifetime fighting just to become the woman she is now — a complex, strong, forthright, and fantastic woman. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Big Sonia (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Leah Warshawski (Opens in NY)

In the last store in a defunct shopping mall, 91-year-old Sonia Warshawski — great-grandmother, businesswoman, and Holocaust survivor — runs the tailor shop she’s owned for more than 30 years. But when she’s served an eviction notice, the specter of retirement prompts Sonia to resist her harrowing past as a refugee and witness to genocide. A poignant story of generational trauma and healing, “Big Sonia” also offers a laugh-out-loud-funny portrait of the power of love to triumph over bigotry, and the power of truth-telling to heal us all. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Leah Warshawski.

Find screening info here.

Mr. Roosevelt — Written and Directed by Noël Wells (Opens in LA; Opens in NY November 22)

Emily (Noël Wells), a talented but hard-to-classify comedic performer, left behind her home and boyfriend to pursue career opportunities in LA. When a loved one falls ill, Emily rushes back to Austin where she’s forced to stay with her ex-boyfriend (Nick Thune) and his new-and-improved girlfriend (Britt Lower), a totally together woman with a five-year plan. Though Emily is the same, everything else is different: her house has been smartly redecorated, her rocker boyfriend is training to be a real estate agent, and her old haunts show serious signs of gentrification. Holed up in her own guest room, Emily — who has no idea what she’ll be doing five days from now, let alone five years — is forced to question everyone’s values: are they sell-outs or have they just figured out what makes them happy? And is she following her dreams or is she just a self-absorbed loser? (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Noël Wells.

Find screening info here.

Soufra (Documentary) (Opens in LA)

“Soufra” follows the inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur Mariam Shaar — a refugee who has spent her entire life in the 69-year-old Burl El Barajneh refugee camp south of Beirut, Lebanon. (Press materials)

On the Beach at Night Alone

An actress (Min-hee Kim) wanders around a seaside town, pondering her relationship with a married man. (Press materials)

Tumhari Sulu

Sulochana, aka Sulu (Vidya Balan), essays the role of a beautiful, enthusiastic, and happy-go-lucky Mumbai housewife whose routine life changes when she unexpectedly lands herself with the exciting job of a night RJ (radio jockey) on a leading radio station. (Press materials)

Nails (Also Available on VOD)

Recovering after a terrible accident, Dana (Shauna Macdonald) is exposed to a dark and malevolent spirit within her hospital room, a terrifying presence called Nails who is intent on her destruction. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Films About Women Currently Playing

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

A Bride for Rip Van Winkle
Gold Star — Written and Directed by Victoria Negri (Also Available on VOD)
Bitch — Written and Directed by Marianna Palka (Also Available on VOD)
Thelma
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird — Written and Directed by Greta Gerwig
Most Beautiful Island — Written and Directed by Ana Asensio (Also Available on VOD)
Wait for Your Laugh (Documentary)
Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride (Documentary) — Directed by Robyn Symon (Also Available on VOD)
The Light of the Moon — Written and Directed by Jessica M. Thompson
A Bad Moms Christmas
Mansfield 66/67 (Documentary)
Wexford Plaza — Written and Directed by Joyce Wong
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (Documentary) — Directed by Sophie Fiennes (UK)
Maya Dardel — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Magdalena Zyzak
Félicité — Co-Written by Delphine Zingg
All I See Is You
The Divine Order — Written and Directed by Petra Volpe
Novitiate — Written and Directed by Margaret Betts
Tragedy Girls
Jane (Documentary)
I Am Not a Witch — Written and Directed by Rungano Nyoni (UK)
Happy Death Day
The Florida Project
Dina (Documentary)
My Little Pony: The Movie — Co-Written by Meghan McCarthy and Rita Hsiao
Chavela (Documentary) — Directed by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
Battle of the Sexes — Co-Directed by Valerie Faris
Victoria & Abdul
Friend Request
Home Again — Written and Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Dolores (Documentary)
Tulip Fever
Leap! — Co-Written by Carol Noble
The Teacher
Kidnap
Maudie — Directed by Aisling Walsh; Written by Sherry White
Lost in Paris — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Fiona Gordon
Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

Mudbound — Co-Written and Directed by Dee Rees (Also Available on Netflix)

Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” is an epic story of two families pitted against one another by a ruthless social hierarchy, yet bound together by the shared farmland of the Mississippi Delta. “Mudbound” follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Meanwhile, Hap (Rob Morgan) and Florence Jackson (Mary J. Blige) — sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations — struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face. The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Cook Off! — Co-Directed by Cathryn Michon; Co-Written by Cathryn Michon and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Also Available on VOD)

Reality-show shenanigans mix with the fiery-and-fierce world of competitive baking in the deliciously sly mockumentary “Cook Off!” As a buffet of quirky contestants prepare for the renowned Van Rookle Farms Cooking Contest, the heat is on to win a one million dollar prize. The filmmakers follow them as the foodie media and celebrity judges descend on a hotel convention area to see which contestants rise, which ones fall, who will reveal their true nature, and who will find love with the contest’s costumed Muffin Man mascot. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Saving Capitalism (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Sari Gilman (Available November 21 on Netflix)

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich meets with Americans from all walks of life as he chronicles a seismic shift in the nation’s economy. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Rebels on Pointe (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart
Qarib Qarib Singlle — Directed by Tanuja Chandra; Written by Tanuja Chandra and Gazal Dhaliwal
Requiem for a Running Back (Documentary) — Directed by Rebecca Carpenter
Destination Unknown (Documentary) — Directed by Claire Ferguson
The Departure (Documentary) — Co-Written and Directed by Lana Wilson
The Party — Written and Directed by Sally Potter (UK)
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women — Written and Directed by Angela Robinson
Faces Places (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Agnès Varda
Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton (Documentary) — Directed by Rory Kennedy (Also Available on VOD)
Loving Vincent — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Dorota Kobiela
Viceroy’s House — Written and Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Co-Written by Moira Buffini
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (Documentary) — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Catherine Bainbridge

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None.

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Song of Granite — Co-Written by Sharon Whooley
Let There Be Light — Co-Written by Sam Sorbo
Kingsman: The Golden Circle — Co-Written by Jane Goldman
Logan Lucky — Written by Rebecca Blunt

TV Premieres This Week

Tim & Faith: Soul2Soul (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Jane Lipsitz (Premieres November 17 on Showtime)

Includes live performances from Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s 2017 Soul2Soul world tour as well as an intimate look inside their relationship. Never before seen interviews are presented alongside behind-the-scenes footage, capturing their chemistry on and off the stage. (Press materials)

Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders (Documentary Miniseries) — Co-Directed by Allison Berg (Premieres November 18 on Sundance)

“Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders” draws from the first-hand accounts of relatives, family friends, townspeople, and law enforcement — some of whom have never spoken publicly before. In addition to commentary from surviving Clutter family members, there are new insights from Paul Dewey, son of Alvin Dewey, who was the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s lead detective on the case; Gerald Clarke, Truman Capote’s biographer and friend; and actor Scott Wilson, who played murderer Richard “Dick” Hickock in the Academy Award-nominated motion picture, among others. The series also presents never-before-seen details such as original photographs, audio recordings, and documents from the case, as well as memoirs and letters from the murderers and their families. (Press materials)

The Secret Life of Lance Letscher (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Sandra Adair (Premieres November 19 on Ovation)

The film is a deeply personal and psychological portrait of internationally-known collage artist Lance Letscher, told through his memories of triumph and trauma. (Press materials)

Baltimore Rising (Documentary) — Directed by Sonja Sohn (Premieres November 20 on HBO)

In the wake of Freddie Gray’s death in police custody, peaceful protests and destructive riots erupted in Baltimore as the city awaited the fate of six police officers involved in the incident. “Baltimore Rising” follows activists, police officers, community leaders, and gang affiliates, who struggle to hold their city together. (Press materials)

Marvel’s Runaways — Co-Created by Stephanie Savage (Premieres November 21 on Hulu)

Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. What if you found out they actually were? “Marvel’s Runaways” is the story of six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other but who must unite against a common foe — their parents. (Press materials)

VOD/DVD Releasing This Week

After Love — Co-Written by Fanny Burdino and Mazarine Pingeot (VOD/DVD, November 21)
Beach Rats — Written and Directed by Eliza Hittman (VOD/DVD, November 21)
Leap! — Co-Written by Carol Noble (VOD/DVD, November 21)
Lemon — Written and Directed by Janicza Bravo (DVD, November 21)
Unleashed (DVD, November 21)
The Villainess (VOD/DVD, November 21)