FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING
Where Hands Touch – Written and Directed by Amma Asante
“Where Hands Touch” is a coming of age story set in the most brutal of times: Germany, 1944. Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), the 15-year old daughter of a white German mother (Abbie Cornish, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri”) and a black African father, meets Lutz (George MacKay, “11.22.63”), a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi soldier, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly changing world. As her mother strives to protect her from the horrors that she could face as a mixed-race German citizen, Leyna is forced to forge her own path as the war goes on and the Nazis increase their atrocities over the Jews and all dissidents. Can she find an ally in Lutz, himself battling a fate laid out before him that he is hesitant to embrace? (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Amma Asante.
Find screening info here.
A Simple Favor – Written by Jessica Sharzer
“A Simple Favor”
“A Simple Favor,” a stylish post-modern film noir, centers around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy blogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend, Emily’s (Blake Lively), sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily’s husband, Sean (Henry Golding), in this thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
The Children Act (U.S. Premiere) (Also Available on DirecTV)
As her marriage to Jack (Stanley Tucci) founders, eminent High Court judge Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) has a life-changing decision to make at work: should she force a teenage boy, Adam (Fionn Whitehead), to have the blood transfusion that will save his life? Her unorthodox visit to his hospital bedside has a profound impact on them both, stirring strong new emotions in the boy and long-buried feelings in her. (Press materials)
Bel Canto (Available on VOD September 21)
“Bel Canto”
Roxane Coss (Julianne Moore), a famous American soprano, travels to South America to give a private concert at the birthday party of rich Japanese industrialist Katsumi Hosokawa (Ken Watanable). Just as a handsome gathering of local dignitaries convenes at Vice-President Ruben Ochoa’s (Eddie Martinez) mansion, the house is taken over by guerrillas demanding the release of their imprisoned comrades. Their only contact with the outside world is through Red Cross negotiator Messner (Sebastian Koch). (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Lizzie
“Lizzie”
Chloë Sevigny stars as Lizzie Borden, the notorious woman at the heart of one of the most enduring mysteries in American history. After a lifetime of loneliness, Lizzie finds a kindred spirit in housemaid Bridget Sullivan (Kristen Stewart) and their secret intimacy sparks an unthinkable act. “Lizzie” explores the days leading up to the savage crimes in a dark tale of repression, exploitation, and thwarted dreams. (Press materials)
MDMA – Written and Directed by Angie Wang (Also Available on VOD)
“MDMA”: Ron Koeberer/Firehorse Films
It’s 1984, and a gorgeous, young working-class woman, Angie Wang (Annie Q; “Alex Strangelove”) from Newark, NJ, is about to start her freshman year at a prestigious San Francisco university. Raised by her strict father in an urban neighborhood, the sudden jolt from hardship to privileged campus life proves to be a challenge for Angie. When her financial aid is cut, she uses her book and street smarts, along with school resources, to synthesize the growing popular drug, Ecstasy. Angie becomes one of the West Coast’s largest distributors of X, cutting deals on campus and in posh nightclubs. Her dual life as the Asian “model minority” co-ed and profit-driven drug dealer is further complicated by her desire to help Bree (Aalyrah Caldwell), a girl from one of the Bay Area’s most infamous ghettos who reminds her of her own dark past. Angie lives the high life until her recklessness instigates a sudden tragedy from which she may not recover. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Lost Child – Directed by Ramaa Mosley; Written by Ramaa Mosley and Tim Macy (Opens in NY and LA) (Available on VOD September 18)
“Lost Child” follows an army veteran, Fern (Leven Rambin, “The Path”), who returns home in order to look for her brother, only to discover an abandoned boy lurking in the woods behind her childhood home. After taking in the boy, she searches for clues to his identity, and discovers the local folklore about a malevolent, life-draining spirit that comes in the form of a child. (Press materials)
Don’t Leave Home (Also Available on VOD)
After recently unveiling her new sculptural exhibit on Irish urban legends, artist Melanie Thomas (Anna Margaret Hollyman, “Mr. Roosevelt”) is contacted by Father Alistair Burke, a reclusive Irish priest who, legend has it, once painted the portrait of a young girl who later disappeared on the very day her image vanished from the painting. Now, summoned by Burke and his cohort to the Irish countryside for a special art commission, Melanie eagerly accepts the offer, never stopping to consider that some urban legends might be true. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Warning Shot – Written by Breanne Mattson
Audrey (Tammy Blanchard), a single mother to daughter Cheyenne (Onata Aprile), is trapped in a constant struggle to make ends meet. When her grandfather passes away, she inherits the family’s farmhouse, for which the lucrative water rights are coveted by Calvin (Bruce Dern) — a longtime business rival of Audrey’s grandfather. Calvin’s own grandson, Bobby (David Spade), is on a mission to prove that he can take on the family business, and decides to take matters into his own hands. In this high-stakes thriller, we witness the strength of a mother doing everything within her power to protect her young daughter. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Four Hands (Available on VOD September 25)
“Four Hands” follows sisters Sophie and Jessica after they witness a brutal crime as children. Jessica promises the younger Sophie that she will always protect her, but as they grow older, this promise becomes an obsession. As adults, Jessica suffers from paranoia and sees threats to her and her sister everywhere. But Sophie wants to live a normal life without fear and without her sister, and instead wants to become a pianist and fall in love. When the perpetrators from their youth are released from prison after 20 years, Jessica is shocked and wants to confront them. After an accident changes everything, Jessica’s promise to always protect her little sister turns into an existential nightmare. (Press materials)
Revenge Is a Promise (Opens in NY)
This social conscience thriller is about a courageous Afro-Caribbean girl from Haiti (Jolina Jean-Paul) who is trapped inside a human-trafficking network in the United States. She chooses to risk her life in order to gain her freedom and expose an explosive conspiracy, whereby unsuspecting illegal immigrants are routinely murdered in an elaborate, multi-million-dollar life-insurance racket. (Press materials)
Spoor – Directed by Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik; Written by Agnieszka Holland and Olga Tokarczuk (September 20 Only in NY)
“Spoor”: Robert Palka
In a remote mountain village, granola-ish Duszejko (Mandat-Grabka) — teacher, astrologer, animal rights activist, and all around cool old lady — becomes embroiled in a murder mystery when she proposes a radical theory behind the recent deaths of a number of local hunters. Could the animals of the forest really be rising up in revenge? “Spoor” will open the “Kino Polska: New Polish Cinema” film series at BAMcinématek. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
FILMS MADE BY WOMEN OPENING
“I Think We’re Alone Now”
I Think We’re Alone Now – Directed by Reed Morano (Opens in NY and LA) (Opens in Wide Release and Available on VOD September 21)
Del (Peter Dinklage) is alone in the world. After the human race is wiped out, he lives in his small, empty town, content in his solitude and the utopia he’s methodically created for himself — until he is discovered by Grace (Elle Fanning), an interloper whose history and motives are obscure. Worse yet, she wants to stay. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Reed Morano.
Find screening info here.
The Land of Steady Habits – Written and Directed by Nicole Holofcener (Also Available on Netflix)
“The Land of Steady Habits”: TIFF
Anders Hill (Ben Mendelsohn), long ensconced in “the land of steady habits” — the affluent hamlets of Connecticut that dot the commuter rail line — is finally ready to reap the rewards of a sensible life. Into his mid-50s and newly retired, his grown son’s college tuition paid in full, Anders decides he’s had enough of steady habits: he leaves his wife (Edie Falco), buys a condo, and waits for freedom to transform him. Stripped of the comforts of his previous identity, Anders embarks on a clumsy, and heartbreaking, journey to reconcile his past with his present. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Nicole Holofcener.
Science Fair (Documentary) – Directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster; Written by Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster, and Jeff Plunkett
“Science Fair” follows nine high school students from around the globe as they navigate rivalries, setbacks and, of course, hormones, on their journey to compete at The International Science and Engineering Fair. As 1,700 of the smartest, quirkiest teens from 78 different countries face off, only one will be named Best in Fair. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Cristina Costantini.
Find screening info here.
A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. – Written by Samantha Tanner and Qasim Basir
On the night of the 2016 Presidential election, Cass (Omari Hardwick), an L.A. club promoter, takes a thrilling and emotional journey with Frida (Meagan Good), a Midwestern visitor. She challenges him to revisit his broken dreams — while he pushes her to discover hers. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable (Documentary) – Directed by Sasha Waters Freyer (Opens in NY September 19)
“What is a photograph?” Garry Winogrand asks in his iconic, gravelly Bronx accent. Winogrand was a compulsive street photographer — although he hated that term — working for decades in NYC, then in Texas and California, to create a huge body of work that comprise an encyclopedic portrait of America. During his lifetime he was celebrated as a favorite of MoMA curator John Szarkowski, and criticized for his book, “Women Are Beautiful,” and then more-or-less forgotten after his untimely death at age 56. Winogrand left behind so many unseen images — more than 10,000 rolls of film and over 250,000 pictures — that it has taken until now for the full measure of his artistic legacy to emerge. (Press materials)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sasha Waters Freyer.
Find screening info here.
A Wizard’s Tale – Written by Alicia Núñez Puerto and Jim Hecht (Also Available on VOD)
Balloon kingdoms, dopey police dragons, and happy wizards are exactly how Terry (Toby Kebbell) remembers his Grandmother’s wacky fairy tales — except they are real and definitely not as cheerful. (Press materials)
Letter from Masanjia (Documentary) – Written by Caylan Ford and Leon Lee (Opens in NY and LA)
“Letter from Masanjia”: Flying Cloud Productions
When an American mom discovers an SOS note stashed in a package from Kmart, she never imagines it will lead to the closure of Masanjia, China’s most notorious labor camp. When news of the note goes viral, the writer, a Chinese engineer who had been jailed for his spiritual beliefs, fears for his life and his family’s safety. Realizing the spotlight is a chance to further expose the brutality of the Chinese regime, he decides to make a film about the harsh reality of being a human rights defender in China, risking his life in the process. For over a year, Sun Yi, the SOS writer, details his entire story on film as he revisits his torturous past at Masanjia and is hotly pursued by authorities. (Press materials)
Find screening info here.
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (Documentary) – Written by Maya Krinsky and RaMell Ross
Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” allows the viewer an emotive impression of the Historic South — trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously a testament to dreaming — despite the odds. (Press materials)
TV PREMIERES
“Sorry for Your Loss”
Sorry for Your Loss – Created by Kit Steinkellner (Premieres September 18 on Facebook Watch)
“Sorry for Your Loss” stars Elizabeth Olsen as Leigh Shaw, a young widow struggling to put her life back together in the wake of her husband’s unexpected death. Simultaneously devastating and uplifting, the series dives into grief as an unavoidable, universal, transformative part of life. Leigh’s journey will teach us that grief is not something merely to endure, medicate away, or “muscle through,” but an essential part of the human experience. (Press materials)
I Feel Bad – Created by Aseem Batra (Special Sneak Preview September 19 on NBC; Officially Premieres October 4)
“I Feel Bad”: Evans Vestal Ward/NBC
Emet (Sarayu Blue) is the perfect mom, boss, wife, friend, and daughter. OK, she’s not perfect. In fact, she’s just figuring it out like the rest of us. Sure, she feels bad when she has a sexy dream about someone other than her husband, or when she pretends not to know her kids when they misbehave in public, or when she uses her staff to help solve personal problems. But that’s OK, right? Nobody can have it all and do it perfectly. From executive producer Amy Poehler comes a modern comedy about being perfectly OK with being imperfect. (Press materials)
Dead Lucky – Created by Ellie Beaumont and Drew Proffitt (Premieres September 20 on Sundance Now)
When an armed robber with a history of murder resurfaces in Sydney, an under pressure Sergeant Gibbs (Rachel Griffiths) and her trainee Charlie Fung (Yoson An) race to catch him before he wreaks havoc across the city. (Press materials)
VOD/STREAMING RELEASES
Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray (Documentary) – Written and Directed by Kristi Zea (Streaming on PBS.org Until October 5)
WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD IN THE NEWS
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PICKS OF THE WEEK FROM WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
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Aleshea Harris to Adapt Her Award-Winning Play “Is God Is” for the Screen
Research: Losses for Women Onscreen and Off in 2017-18 TV Season
Les Moonves Out as Chairman and CEO of CBS, Still Not Taking Accountability
Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale” Wins Two Awards at Venice
TIFF Becomes Latest Fest to Sign the Gender Parity Pledge
Study: Women Wrote Only 21% of Reviews on 2015-17’s Top Films, POC Just 17%
Fall 2018 Film Preview
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