FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil – Written by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster
There’s a lot of awesome woman power on-screen in this sequel to 2014’s “Maleficent.” Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, and the great Michelle Pfeiffer light up the screen in a tale of revenge and love and the usual Disney fare. But this one has a dark twist. Pfeiffer portrays the vengeful, power-hungry Queen Ingrith. On the night her son becomes engaged to Fanning’s Aurora, she puts a spell on her husband, King John (Robert Lindsay), and gets everyone to blame Maleficent, which as you can imagine does not go over well. Maleficent gets injured and is saved by Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a creature similar to herself. As she convalesces, she learns that there is a whole race of enchanted flying creatures who have been the targets of genocide and forced into hiding. There are overt political messages of tolerance throughout “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Kids won’t get it, but the parents who accompany them hopefully will. (Melissa Silverstein)
Find screening info here.
Greener Grass – Written and Directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe (Opens in NY and LA) (Also Available on VOD)
“Greener Grass”
This is the perfect horror movie if you, like me, find upper-middle-class passive-aggression and one-upmanship much more unsettling than ghosts or monsters. With a visual aesthetic reminiscent of “Edward Scissorhands,” “Greener Grass” is a bizarre satire of the American Dream. Starring, written, and directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe, the film is more of a series of related vignettes than a plot-driven pic, but basically it’s the story of best friends experiencing a status shift in their quasi-idyllic community. Jill’s (DeBoer) star is slowly fading while Lisa’s (Luebbe) is rising. Going into specifics would ruin the film’s magic but suffice to say the women’s journeys are surreal AF. Side note: They’ll also be super helpful if you’re out of Halloween costume ideas. (Rachel Montpelier)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe.
Terminator: Dark Fate (Opens October 23 in the UK)
Twenty-seven years after the events of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” a new, modified liquid metal Terminator (Gabriel Luna) is sent from the future by Skynet in order to terminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a hybrid cyborg human (Mackenzie Davis), and her friends. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) comes to their aid, as well as the original Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), for a fight for the future.
Find screening info here.
The Cave (Documentary)
“The Cave”: National Geographic
In war-torn Syria, in a hidden underground field hospital, a female-led team of medical professionals and civilian caregivers works tirelessly to provide much-needed medical assistance to an embattled population. Showing this everyday courage in practice, “The Cave” follows Dr. Amani, a 30-year-old aspiring pediatrician. Her medical studies interrupted by war, she leads a team serving the needs of Al Ghouta’s populace, battered by the Syrian civil war’s aerial bombardments and chemical warfare.
Serendipity (Documentary) – Directed by Prune Nourry; Written by Prune Nourry and Alastair Siddons (Opens in NY and LA)
“Serendipity”
Multi-disciplinary French artist Prune Nourry has gained international recognition for her thought-provoking, educational, and often times humorous projects exploring bioethics through sculpture as well as video, photography, and performance. At the young age of 31, Prune is diagnosed with breast cancer. She starts documenting her treatment and its effect on her own body, turning her medical odyssey into an epic artistic adventure as she discovers new meaning in her impressive body of work and its serendipitous relationship to her own survival.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Prune Nourry.
Miss Virginia – Written by Erin O’Connor (Also Available on VOD)
“Miss Virginia”
Based on a true story, “Miss Virginia” stars Uzo Aduba as an impoverished single mother who is losing her 15-year-old son to the rough streets of Washington, D.C. Unwilling to see him drop out and deal drugs, she places him in a private school. But when she can’t afford tuition, she launches a movement to change the system that is destroying him and thousands like him. Attacked and threatened by those who don’t want change — from corrupt politicians to the local drug lord — Virginia must discover depths of strength she never knew she had.
The Elephant Queen (Documentary) – Directed by Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble
The African savanna elephant is the world’s largest animal and one of the few species that live in a matriarchal society. “The Elephant Queen” introduces us to Athena, a 50-year-old “tusker” — a now rare elephant whose tusks grow long enough to reach the ground — who is queen of her herd. These animals live in the arid lands of Africa, where food and water are scarce and there is a precarious balance between life and death. We join them as their “green season” watering hole is drying up, and Athena is weighing the dangerous trek to the oasis that is their dry-season refuge, a precarious journey particularly for the youngest elephants. Throughout their adventure, we witness their lives, the challenges they face, and the complex ecosystem that depends on them for survival.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Victoria Stone.
Home (Documentary) – Directed by Jen Randall (Opens in the UK)
Between 2011 and 2015, UK adventurer Sarah Outen traversed the globe. Sarah’s incredible four-year odyssey saw her travel for over 20,000 miles. As she migrated between cultures, climates, and landscapes under her own power, Sarah’s inspirational voyage was followed by thousands. Woven out of hundreds of hours of footage from the expedition, “Home” intimately and unflinchingly captures Sarah’s journey: the kindness of strangers, the wonders of the wild, the savagery of the elements, the near-death experiences, the demons of her emotional trauma and PTSD, and her discovery of love for a farmer called Lucy. “Home” is a story of heart and soul, of hardship and joy, and one woman’s trek towards true emotional acceptance.
Find screening info here.
Netizens (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Cynthia Lowen (Opens October 22) (Also Available on VOD)
“Netizens”
After their lives are overturned by vicious online harassment, “Netizens” follows three women as they confront the Internet’s wild west. This timely 96-minute documentary features prominent Brooklyn attorney Carrie Goldberg and author of “Nobody’s Victim,” who was the target of revenge porn; Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency and subject of the “Gamergate” attacks; and Tina Reine, a businesswoman whose career is destroyed by reputation-harming websites created by an ex-boyfriend. Lowen tackles the scourge of internet harassment, including revenge porn, cyber-stalking, threats of violence, privacy invasions, impersonation, and hacking. While law enforcement and tech companies lag far behind the crimes, “Netizens” bears witness as the film’s subjects seek justice on their own terms.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Cynthia Lowen.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING
Unlikely (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Jaye Fenderson and Adam Fenderson
In the U.S. less than 50 percent of students who start college ever finish, making America’s college completion rates among the worst in the world. Now there are more than 35 million Americans who started college but never finished, leaving them saddled with debt, and behind their peers in earning power. Featuring interviews with LeBron James, Howard Schultz, and our nation’s leading voices in education, this penetrating and personal new film investigates America’s college dropout crisis through the lives of five diverse students as they fight for a second chance at opportunity and highlights the innovators reimagining higher education for the 21st century.
Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace (Documentary) – Written and Directed by April Wright (Opens October 24 in LA)
The 100-year history of how the movie experience evolved so quickly from nickelodeons to the studio system and huge movie palaces of the teens and ’20s, to their eventual decline through present day, including current preservation efforts. Other countries built palaces for their royalty — in the U.S., we built them to see movies.
Find screening info here.
QT8: Quentin Tarantino, The First Eight (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Tara Wood (Screening in Select Theaters October 21 Only)
Quentin Tarantino’s bloody, talky, nonlinear films pull together dozens of influences to form bracingly original cinematic events. In a Hollywood that worships at the altar of franchises and remakes, Tarantino’s films are the best kind of tent poles — wholly unique cinematic visions from a filmmaker at the peak of his powers. As Tarantino’s newest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” arrives to praise and controversy, filmmaker Tara Wood takes us on a journey through the first eight wildly divergent films that Tarantino has helmed, narrated by the actors and collaborators who have worked with him.
Find screening info here.
TV PREMIERES
Living with Yourself – Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (Premieres October 18 on Netflix)
“Living with Yourself” is an inventive existential comedy that asks — do we really want to be better? Miles (Paul Rudd) is a man struggling in life. When he undergoes a novel spa treatment that promises to make him a better person, he finds he’s been replaced by a new and improved version of himself. As he deals with the unintended consequences of his actions, Miles finds he must fight for his wife Kate (Aisling Bea), his career, and his very identity.
The Yard (Premieres October 18 on Netflix)
After a fateful domestic clash, a devoted mother finds herself in prison and fighting to survive in hopes of reuniting with her daughter.
Sid & Judy (Documentary) – Written by Claire Didier and Stephen Kijak (Premieres October 18 on Showtime)
A revealing new look at legendary entertainer Judy Garland 50 years after her tragic, untimely death, fusing the unpublished recollections of producer, manager, and third husband Sid Luft, with film clips, rare concert footage, and Judy’s own inimitable words. What emerges is a complex portrait of a woman whose vulnerabilities were exploited by an industry she helped to build but whose resilience and extraordinary talent made her the quintessential icon.
Patsy & Loretta (TV Movie) – Directed by Callie Khouri; Written by Angelina Burnett (Premieres October 19 on Lifetime)
“Patsy & Loretta”: Jake Giles Netter
“Patsy & Loretta” is based on the untold true story of the friendship between two of country music’s greatest icons, Patsy Cline (Megan Hilty) and Loretta Lynn (Jessie Mueller). When they first met, Patsy was already one of the biggest stars in country music while Loretta was just a coal miner’s daughter, starting off with little to her name but a $17 guitar. Instead of seeing Loretta as competition, Patsy took Loretta under her wings to help her make it in Nashville. Soon, they became close friends, touring together, bonding over their husband troubles, and commiserating on being females in the male-dominated music business.
Expedition Amelia (Documentary Special) (Premieres October 20 on National Geographic)
Deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard attempts to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance in an effort to end speculation about what actually happened to her.
Catherine the Great (Miniseries) (Premieres October 21 on HBO)
“Catherine the Great”: Hal Shinnie/HBO
After spending our lives seeing mostly men in power positions, it is a welcome relief to watch “Catherine the Great” starring Helen Mirren. Catherine, the Russian empress who came to power in a coup where her husband was killed by her henchmen, is just as ruthless as any man. She is surrounded by a court of hangers-on who are constantly plotting against her — she never knows whom she can trust. The first two episodes of the four-part miniseries trace the beginning of Catherine’s relationship with Grigory Potemkin (Jason Clarke), a military advisor who becomes her lover and confidante. I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops over the final two episodes. I’m also excited to keep watching a show that understands that women are just as complex as men — and just as capable of being vain and merciless. (MS)
Blowin’ Up (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal (Premieres October 21 on PBS)
“Blowin’ Up”
Working within a broken criminal justice system, a team of rebel heroines work to change the way women arrested for prostitution are prosecuted. With intimate camerawork that lingers on details and brings the Queens criminal courtroom to life, “Blowin’ Up” celebrates acts of steadfast defiance, even as it reveals the hurdles these women must face.
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Stephanie Wang-Breal.
Jenny Slate: Stage Fright (Comedy Special) – Directed by Gillian Robespierre; Written by Jenny Slate (Premieres October 22 on Netflix)
Comedian and actress Jenny Slate’s first Netflix original comedy special “Stage Fright” gives the audience an inside look at the comedian’s world. Interspersed within her hilarious stand-up set, Jenny shares personal clips of her childhood and interviews with her family in an intimate look at her life. Jenny overcomes her stage fright while telling stories about her visit to a midnight Catholic Mass and the ghosts that haunted her childhood home.
The Cry (Miniseries) – Written by Jacquelin Perske (Premieres October 23 on Sundance)
“The Cry”
The disappearance of a baby from a small coastal town in Australia is the catalyst for a journey into the disintegrating psychology of a young couple (Jenna Coleman and Ewen Leslie) as they deal with an unthinkable tragedy under both the white light of public scrutiny and behind closed doors.
Sistas (Premieres October 23 on BET)
“Sistas” revolves around a group of single black females as they navigate their “complicated” love lives, careers, and friendships through the ups-and-downs of living in a modern world.
Saudi Women’s Driving School (Documentary) – Directed by Erica Gornall (Premieres October 24 on HBO)
In June 2018, women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive legally for the first time. Set at The Saudi Driving School in the capital city of Riyadh, which caters exclusively to women, this documentary follows Saudi women as they embrace a new way of life and the freedom that comes from being behind the wheel. Through intimate interviews and revealing verité footage, the eye-opening film captures how women’s lives are changing in Saudi Arabia, the hope that they have for greater gender equality, and the challenges they face in a Kingdom that appears to be making strides forward but continues to silence and jail female activists.
VOD/STREAMING RELEASES
The Laundromat (Netflix, October 18)
Angel of Mine – Directed by Kim Farrant (VOD, October 22)
Blinded by the Light – Directed by Gurinder Chadha; Written by Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Sarfraz Manzoor (VOD, October 22)
Blue – Directed by Gabriela Ledesma; Written by Gabriela Ledesma and Callie Schuttera (VOD, October 22)
The Kitchen – Written and Directed by Andrea Berloff (VOD, October 22)
The Other Story (VOD, October 22)
The Return of Martin Guerre – Written by Natalie Zemon Davis, Daniel Vigne, and Jean-Claude Carrière (VOD, October 22)
Satanic Panic – Directed by Chelsea Stardust (VOD, October 22)
The Sentence (Documentary) (VOD, October 22)
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines – Written by Mairghread Scott (VOD, October 22)
WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD IN THE NEWS
Why the Oscars, Emmys and Tonys Are Not Ready for They and Them (The New York Times)
Mill Valley Film Festival Interviews w/Emily Best & Melissa Silverstein (Bitch Talk Podcast)
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BLOG
Kaling in “Late Night”
Oscars: 16 Percent of Films Submitted to Feature Animation Race Are Directed by Women
Fighting for Her Community: Women in Film at the 2019 BFI London Fest
Screenwriter Denise Meyers Named Inaugural Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Athena List Dev Grant
Quote of the Day: Mindy Kaling Calls the Women of Hollywood “Gate Crashers”
Time’s Up Joins Forces with Latinx House Initiative
Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo Share the Booker Prize
Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards: “Knock Down the House,” “One Child Nation,” & More Up for Honors
BFI London Film Fest Winners Include “Atlantics” and “White Riot”
DOC NYC Announces 2019 Program, 29 Percent of Features in Competition Are Women-Directed
Women Making History: Crowdfunding Picks
Note: All descriptions are from press materials, unless otherwise noted.
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