Weekly Update for September 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You

Films About Women Opening This Week

Queen of Katwe — Directed by Mira Nair

For ten-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) and her family, life in the impoverished slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle. Her mother Harriet (Lupita Nyong’o) is fiercely determined to take care of her family and works tirelessly selling vegetables in the market. When Phiona meets Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), a soccer player turned missionary who teaches local children chess, she is captivated. As Phiona begins to succeed in local chess competitions, Katende teaches her to read and write. She quickly advances through the ranks in tournaments, but breaks away from her family to focus on her own life. Her mother eventually realizes that Phiona has a chance to excel and teams up with Katende to help her daughter fulfill her extraordinary potential and escape a life of poverty. (Press materials)

The Dressmaker — Written and Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse

“The Dressmaker” tells the story of the beautiful and talented Tilly Dunnage (Kate Winslet). After years of working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly returns home to the Australian outback to reconcile with her eccentric mother Molly (Judy Davis). Armed with her sewing machine and haute couture style, Tilly transforms the women of the town, exacting sweet revenge on those who did her wrong. (Press materials)

Listen to Women and Hollywood’s podcast with director Jocelyn Moorhouse and producer Sue Maslin.

Audrie & Daisy (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Bonni Cohen (Also Available on Netflix)

Audrie and Daisy, two high school girls in different towns across America, were sexually assaulted by boys they thought were friends. Both girls experienced social media bullying and were stigmatized — and both attempted suicide. Tragically, Audrie took her own life, but Daisy survived. By juxtaposing their stories and drawing connections between the two teenage girls, the filmmakers illuminate the larger societal epidemic of sexual assault that has been exacerbated by today’s technologies. (Sundance Film Festival)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Bonni Cohen.

Find screening info here.

Girl Asleep — Directed by Rosemary Myers (Opens in LA; Opens in NY September 30)

In this vibrant portrayal of Australian adolescence, Greta Driscoll’s (Bethany Whitmore) bubble of obscure loserdom is burst when her parents throw her a surprise 15th birthday party and invite the whole school. Perfectly content being a wallflower, suddenly Greta’s flung far from her comfort zone into a distant, parallel place — a strange world that’s a little frightening and a lot weird, but where can she find herself. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Rosemary Myers.

Beauty And The Beast (La Belle et la Bête) — Co-Written by Sandra Vo-Anh

In 1810, a financially-ruined merchant (André Dussollier) exiles himself in the countryside with his six children. Among them is Belle (Léa Seydoux), his youngest daughter, a joyful girl full of grace. One day, during an arduous journey, the merchant stumbles across the magical domain of the Beast (Vincent Cassel), who sentences him to death for stealing a rose. Feeling responsible for the terrible fate which has befallen her family, Belle decides to sacrifice herself and take her father’s place. At the Beast’s castle, it is not death that awaits Belle, but a strange life in which fantastical moments mingle with gaiety and melancholy. When night falls, the Beast’s past is revealed to her bit by bit in her dreams. Armed with her courage, ignoring every danger, and opening her heart, Belle manages to release the Beast from his curse. And, in doing so, she discovers true love. (Press materials)

Sand Storm — Written and Directed by Elite Zexer (Opens September 28 in NY; Opens in LA on October 7)

Desert noon in a Bedouin village in Southern Israel. Jalila (Ruba Blal) is hosting an awkward celebration — the marriage of her husband to a second, much younger wife — while trying to conceal the insult that boils inside her. Her daughter Layla (Lamis Ammar) is preoccupied with a different matter: her secret, strictly forbidden love affair with Anuar (Jalal Masrwa) was just discovered. Jalila believes that the world is harsh and cruel; the only way to win is to keep your mouth shut, your head as high as possible, and struggle within the traditional world’s limits. Layla believes that there are no limits to the world surrounding her; everything can be hers if she wishes hard enough. When their family falls apart and everything they believe in shatters, the two women are forced to start seeing the world from each other’s eyes. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Elite Zexer.

Find screening info here.

Honeytrap — Written and Directed by Rebecca Johnson (Opens in NY)

Girlhood and gang culture collide in “Honeytrap” as 15-year old Layla (Jessica Sula) contends with bullying at a new school by transforming herself inside and out. The teen’s compulsive journey for love and acceptance soon becomes fatal in this cautionary tale based on headline news. (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Rebecca Johnson.

Find screening info here.

Dirty 30 — Written by Mamrie Hart and Molly Prather (Also Available on VOD)

Lifelong friends Kate (Mamrie Hart), Evie (Grace Helbig), and Charlie (Hannah Hart) are in a rut. Kate spends her days at a middling job and her nights alone or on failed dates. Evie is married with in-laws from hell, wandering from one charitable cause to the next. Charlie has the girl of her dreams but just can’t seem to pull her business (or her act) together. On the eve of Kate’s 30th birthday, she agrees to let Evie and Charlie throw her a party. But what’s supposed to be a simple celebration becomes a wild who’s who of past and present, and things quickly spiral out of control. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

100 Years (Documentary) — Written and Directed by Melinda Janko (Opens in LA; Opens in NY October 14)

When Elouise Cobell, a petite Blackfeet warrior from Montana, started asking questions about missing money from government-managed Indian Trust accounts, she never imagined that one day she would be taking on the world’s most powerful government. But what she discovered as Treasurer of her tribe was a trail of fraud and corruption leading all the way from Montana to Washington, DC. “100 Years” is the story of her 30-year fight for justice for the 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral rich lands were grossly mismanaged by the United States Government. In 1996, Cobell filed the largest class action lawsuit ever filed against the federal government. For 15 long years, and through three presidential administrations, Elouise Cobell’s unrelenting spirit never quit. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Too Big For the World (Documentary) — Co-Directed by Hanna Aneröd (Opens in LA)

Irene, 50-years-old and a mother of three, has a lifelong dream to be the biggest bodybuilder in the world, but the most prominent competitions in the world are removing female bodybuilding. “Too Big For the World” is a film about discrimination and society’s fear of strong and muscular women. (Press materials)

1000 Rupee Note (Opens in NY)

Budhi, a widow, lives in a small village in Maharashtra, India. Her only son, a young farmer, has committed suicide. Though poor and left alone in the world, she leads a cheerful life. She is particularly fond of her neighbor, young Sudama with whom she shares the small pleasures of life. A local politician gives her a few 1000 rupee notes at an election rally. She and Sudama go shopping at the nearby market with her newfound wealth, but fate has other plans for them. (Press materials)

Films About Women Currently Playing

Bridget Jones’s Baby — Directed by Sharon Maguire; Co-Written by Helen Fielding and Emma Thompson
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (Documentary) — Directed by Deborah S. Esquenazi (Opens in NY, Texas, and Nebraska; Opens in LA September 26)
Miss Stevens — Co-Written and Directed by Julia Hart
Wild Oats — Co-Written by Claudia Myers
Moments of Clarity — Co-Written by Kristin Wallace (Also Available on VOD)
Tanna
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? (Opens in NY, Phoenix, LA, and Washington, DC)
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 (Opens in NY; Opens in LA September 30)
Cameraperson (Documentary) — Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Author: The JT LeRoy Story (Documentary)
White Girl — Written and Directed by Elizabeth Wood
Morgan
Naam Hai Akira
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
Miss Sharon Jones! (Documentary) — Directed by Barbara Kopple
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie — Directed by Mandie Fletcher; Written by Jennifer Saunders
Summertime — Directed by Catherine Corsini; Written by Catherine Corsini and Laurette Polmanss
Lights Out
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
Maggie’s Plan — Written and Directed by Rebecca Miller

Films Directed by Women Opening This Week

My Blind Brother — Written and Directed by Sophie Goodhart (Also Available on VOD)

Bill (Nick Kroll) has always lived in the shadow of his brother Robbie (Adam Scott), a handsome athlete and local hero who happens to be blind. Their sibling rivalry reaches a fever pitch when both men fall for the same woman (Jenny Slate). (Press materials)

Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with Sophie Goodhart.

Find screening info here.

Generation Startup (Documentary) — Directed by Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade

“Generation Startup” takes us to the front lines of entrepreneurship in America, capturing the struggles and triumphs of six recent college graduates who put everything on the line to build startups in Detroit. Shot over 17 months, it’s an honest, in-the-trenches look at what it takes to launch a startup. (Press materials)

Find screening info here.

Chicken People (Documentary) — Directed by Nicole Lucas Haimes

In a high-stakes world where a single broken feather can mean a shattered dream, “Chicken People” follows the trials and tribulations of those who breed exotic birds in the world of competitive poultry. This feature documentary is about three remarkably rich and diverse personalities who come together to compete in their shared passion to raise the perfect chicken. The film follows the struggles and triumphs of these characters, along with a wide array of competitors — both human and chicken — from the Ohio National Poultry Show to the Dixie Classic in Tennessee. (Press materials)

Films Directed by Women Currently Playing

Our Kind of Traitor — Directed by Susanna White

Films Written by Women Opening This Week

None

Films Written by Women Currently Playing

Mr. Church — Written by Susan McMartin
Finding Altamira — Co-Written by Olivia Hetreed (Also Available on VOD)
London Road — Written by Alecky Blythe
Come What May — Co-Written by Laure Irrmann
Nine Lives — Co-Written by Gwyn Lurie
The Infiltrator — Written by Ellen Brown Furman
The BFG — Written by Melissa Mathison

TV Premieres This Week

Iliza Shlesinger: Confirmed Kills (Comedy Special) (Premieres September 23 on Netflix)

The stand-up sensation tackles TV’s “Shark Tank,” what it means to be a woman, and how to deal with the lawless party goblin that lives in us all. (Press materials)

Van Helsing (Series Premieres September 23 on Syfy)

Vanessa Helsing (Kelly Overton, “True Blood”), distant relative of famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, is resurrected only to find that vampires have taken over the world. She is humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost. (Press materials)

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