Weekly Update for October 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Certain Women — Written and Directed by Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt directs an ensemble cast led by Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, and Laura Dern in this stirring look at three women striving to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer (Dern) who finds herself contending with both office sexism and a hostage situation; a wife and mother (Williams) whose determination to build her dream home puts her at odds with the men in her life; and a young law student (Stewart) who forms an ambiguous bond with a lonely ranch hand (newcomer Lily Gladstone). As their stories intersect in subtle but powerful ways, a portrait emerges of flawed but strong-willed individuals in the process of defining themselves. (Press materials)

The Handmaiden

“The Handmaiden” is a ravishing crime drama inspired by the novel “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters. Having transposed the story to 1930s-era colonial Korea and Japan, the film presents a gripping and sensual tale of a young Japanese Lady (Min-hee Kim) living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman, Sookee (Tae-ri Kim), who is hired as Lady Hideko’s new handmaiden. But Sookee is also secretly involved in a conman’s (Ha Jung-woo) plot to defraud Lady Hideko of her large inheritance. (Press materials)

Christine (Opens in NY and Toronto)

Rebecca Hall stars in “Christine,” the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at her local Sarasota, Florida news station, feels like she is destined for bigger things and is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position in a larger market. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss (Tracy Letts), who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker (Michael C. Hall) initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Rita Coburn Whack (Opens in NY, LA, and San Francisco)

This intimate and personal portrait of Dr. Maya Angelou’s life is a touching and moving tribute to her legacy. Dr. Angelou has become a global symbol of peace, humility, and freedom — but parts of her story are not well known. Events of history, culture, and the arts shaped Dr. Angelou’s life and how she, in turn, helped shape our own worldview through her autobiographical literature and activism. “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise” celebrates Dr. Angelou by weaving her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining civil rights moments. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Rita Coburn Whack.

Find screening info here.

Aquarius

Clara (Sônia Braga), a 65-year-old widow and retired music critic, is the last resident of the Aquarius, one of the few buildings of its age and character that remains in the rapidly changing seaside Recife neighborhood. Now that the other apartments have been swept up by a company with ambitious plans for redevelopment, pressures to move on surround Clara from all sides. But she has pledged to leave only upon death, and will engage in a cold war with the developers to keep a home that has been a silent witness to her entire life. The resulting confrontation is mysterious, frightening, and nerve-wracking, tingeing even Clara’s most familiar routines with the tension of a thriller. But it is her passion for those close to her, for music, for her memories of past loves, and hunger for future ones, that makes the film a tremendous kaleidoscope of life’s pleasures and our reasons for defending them. (Press materials)

Miss Hokusai — Written by Miho Maruo (Opens in NY and LA)

As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the famous painter Hokusai (Yutaka Matsushige), his daughter O-Ei (Anne Watanabe) toils diligently inside his studio, unknown to the public. Her masterful portraits, dragons, and erotic sketches — sold under her father’s name — are coveted by upper crust Lords and journeyman printmakers alike. Despite her talent and fiercely independent spirit, O-Ei struggles under the domineering influence of her father and is ridiculed for lacking the life experience that she is attempting to portray in her art. “Miss Hokusai’s” lively Edo (present-day Tokyo) is filled with yokai spirits, dragons, and conniving tradesmen, while O-Ei’s relationships with her famously impetuous father and blind younger sister provide a powerful emotional underpinning to this rollicking and sumptuously-animated feminist coming-of-age tale. (Press materials)

Little Sister (Opens in NY, Denver, Modesto, CA, and Chattanooga, TN) (Also Available on VOD)

October, 2008. Young nun Colleen (Addison Timlin) is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.” On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, North Carolina, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abound. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from Iraq. During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. “Little Sister” is a schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

First Girl I Loved (Opens October 18) (Also Available on VOD)

On assignment for her high school yearbook, social misfit Anne (Dylan Gelula) charmingly hits it off with the beautiful star of the softball team, Sasha (Brianna Hildebrand). But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton (Mateo Arias), about her new crush, he reveals a hidden jealousy that threatens more than just the girls’ budding romance. (Press materials)

Jacqueline Argentine (Opens October 18)

A filmmaker (Wyatt Cenac) introduces us to the subject of his documentary — Jacqueline Dumont (Camille Rutherford), a young Frenchwoman who claims to have uncovered a covert assassination conspiracy. While unsure of the eccentric Jacqueline’s veracity, the filmmaker nonetheless enlists a couple of interns to travel to the holistic retreat in Argentina where she’s hiding out to explore her claims and film her story. (Sundance Film Festival)

Films About Women Currently Playing

The Girl on the Train — Written by Erin Cressida Wilson
Friend Request
The Great Gilly Hopkins (Also Available on VOD)
Under the Shadow (Also Available on VOD)
American Honey — Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold
Denial
Maximum Ride — Co-Written by Angelique Hanus
Queen of Katwe — Directed by Mira Nair
The Dressmaker — Written and Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse
Girl Asleep — Directed by Rosemary Myers
Sand Storm — Written and Directed by Elite Zexer
100 Years (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Melinda Janko (opening in NY)
Bridget Jones’s Baby — Directed by Sharon Maguire; Co-Written by Helen Fielding and Emma Thompson
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?
a beautiful now — Written and Directed by Daniela Amavia
As I Open My Eyes — Directed by Leyla Bouzid; Written by Leyla Bouzid and Marie-Sophie Chambon
Cameraperson (Documentary) — Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Author: The JT LeRoy Story (Documentary)
White Girl — Written and Directed by Elizabeth Wood
Morgan
Fatima
Mia Madre — Co-Written by Valia Santella
A Tale of Love and Darkness — Written and Directed by Natalie Portman
Ixcanul
Florence Foster Jenkins
My King (Mon Roi) — Co-Written and Directed by Maïwenn
Equity — Directed by Meera Menon; Written by Amy Fox
Bad Moms
Nerve — Written by Jessica Sharzer
Ghostbusters — Co-Written by Katie Dippold
Our Little Sister
The Innocents — Directed by Anne Fontaine; Co-Written by Anne Fontaine, Sabrina B. Karine, and Alice Vial
Finding Dory

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

None

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

13th (Documentary) — Directed by Ava DuVernay (Also Available on Netflix)
Newtown (Documentary) — Directed by Kim A. Snyder
37 — Written and Directed by Puk Grasten (Also Available on VOD)
All in Time — Co-Written and Co-Directed by Marina Donahue (Also Available on VOD)
Silver Skies — Written and Directed by Rosemary Rodriguez (Opens in Florida)
What’s Revenge — Directed by Kat Hunt
The Red Pill (Documentary) — Directed by Cassie Jaye
Among the Believers (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Hemal Trivdei
The Last Film Festival — Co-Written and Directed by Linda Yellen
Generation Startup (Documentary) — Directed by Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life — Co-Written by Kara Holden
Being 17 — Co-Written by Céline Sciamma
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — Written by Jane Goldman
Masterminds — Co-Written by Emily Spivey
Mr. Church — Written by Susan McMartin
Nine Lives — Co-Written by Gwyn Lurie
The BFG — Written by Melissa Mathison

TV Premieres This Week

Haters Back Off — Co-Executive Produced by Colleen Ballinger and Gigi McCreery (Series Premieres October 14 on Netflix)

The oddball family life of Miranda Sings, an incredibly confident, totally untalented star on the rise who continues to fail upward by the power of her belief that she was born famous, it’s just no one knows it yet. (Press materials)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again — Co-Executive Produced by Gail Berman (Musical Special Premieres October 20 on Fox)

A reimagining of the original movie, the two-hour event follows sweethearts Janet (Victoria Justice, “Victorious”) and Brad (Ryan McCartan, “Liv & Maddie,” “Heathers the Musical”), who stumble upon Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s (Laverne Cox, “Orange Is the New Black”) bizarre abode. Frank-N-Furter, a sexually ambiguous, flirtatious mad-scientist, is holding an annual Transylvanian science convention to showcase the birth of Rocky Horror (Staz Nair, “Game of Thrones”) — a muscle-bound specimen created solely to fulfill Frank’s desires. Also featured in the event is Tim Curry, the original Frank-N-Furter, as the show’s Criminologist Narrator. (Press materials)