Woman-directed films ‘Coda,’ ‘Hive’ and more win big at Sundance Film Festival
Opportunities led to accolades at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. As previously reported, Sundance achieved gender parity this year: Across 139 films and projects, 50%, or 69, were directed by one or more women; 4%, or six, were directed by one or more non-binary individuals; 50%, or 70, were directed by one or more artists […]
Read MoreChloe Zhao becomes first woman to receive Palm Springs International Film Awards’ Director of the Year
The “Nomadland” helmer is the first female director to receive the Director of the Year honor in the 32-year history of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, according to Variety.
Read MoreWomen directed half of the selections for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Sundance Film Festival – which usually takes place in Park City, Utah – is not only going digital at festival.sundance.org but also is offering in-person socially distanced screenings and events at drive-in theaters, independent arthouses and other venues around the country.
Read MoreGotham Awards nominations: All nominees for best feature come from women directors
In the best feature category, all five nominated films come from women directors: “The Assistant” from Kitty Green, “First Cow” from Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Eliza Hittman, “Nomadland” from Chloé Zhao and “Relic” from Natalie Erika James.
Read More‘Wonder Women’ Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins reteaming for epic ‘Cleopatra’
The historical drama will be penned by Laeta Kalogridis (“Shutter Island”), which means we will finally get a major motion picture that tells Cleopatra’s story from a female perspective.
Read MoreTilda Swinton and Ann Hui to receive Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement
The decision was made by the Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia upon recommendation of the director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera.
Read MoreInaugural rePRO by mama.film virtual film festival to explore women’s reproductive healthcare, bodily integrity and more
All feature films playing the festival are directed by women, and all filmmakers, including the shorts filmmakers, are being paid to screen their films. The pay-what-you-can film ticket proceeds for films at the festival will be converted to donations to be split evenly among five beneficiary nonprofit organizations: SisterSong, Endometriosis Foundation of America, Center for Reproductive Rights, URGE and Trust Women.
Read MoreCate Blanchett and her Dirty Films production company ink first-look deal with New Republic Pictures
New Republic Pictures is led by Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer. Oliver, who received a Best Picture Academy Award nod in 2011 for “Black Swan,” formed New Republic in 2017. The company was big in the mix in this year’s Oscars, having backed the films “1917” and “Rocketman” last year.
Read MoreIFC acquires North American rights to fact-based WWII female spy drama ‘A Call to Spy’
“A Call to Spy” was produced by, written by and stars Sarah Megan Thomas (“Equity”), who portrays real-life American spy Virginia Hall, who had a wooden leg. The fact-based period picture takes place at the onset of WWII, as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered a new spy agency, the Special Operations Executive, to recruit and train female spies.
Read MoreMarie Curie biopic ‘Radioactive’ debuting on Amazon Prime
The film stars Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”) and chronicles the achievements of the Polish-French physicist and chemist: Curie discovered radium and polonium, became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and became the first and only person to win the acclaimed honor twice.
Read More‘American Masters – Unladylike2020: The Changemakers’ to premiere Friday on PBS as part of women’s suffrage centennial
The women highlighted in “American Masters – Unladylike2020: The Changemakers” are Martha Hughes Cannon, the country’s first female state senator; Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress; Mary Church Terrell, a leader in the anti-lynching movement and a founder of the NAACP; Jovita Idar, a journalist and president of the first Mexican American women’s civil rights organization; and Zitkála-Šá, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, who lobbied for U.S. citizenship, voting rights, and sovereignty for American Indians a century ago.
Read MoreJessica Alba star in new Netflix action film ‘Trigger Warning,’ to be directed by Mouly Surya
Considered a potential franchise launcher, Alba will star as a traumatized veteran who inherits her grandfather’s bar. She encounters a moral quandary after uncovering the truth behind his death.
Read MoreIFC Films acquires Jessica Swale’s directorial feature debut ‘Summerland,’ starring Gemma Arterton
The period drama stars Gemma Arterton (“Their Finest,” “Vita and Virginia”), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Motherless Brooklyn,” “Belle”), Penelope Wilton (“Downton Abbey,” “Pride and Prejudice”), and Tom Courtenay (“45 Years,” “Doctor Zhivago”).
Read MoreSeveral female filmmakers featured in Amazon’s ‘Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection’
Amazon Prime Video and SXSW have announced that the “Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection” will launch on Monday, with 39 films, including narrative and documentary features, short films and episodic titles.
Read MoreAward-winning indie film producer Karin Chien teams up with Louverture Films
Chien is a four-time Independent Spirit Award nominee, the recipient of the Independent Spirit Producer’s Award and the Cinereach Producing Fellowship, and the producer of 10 independent feature films.
Read More‘Joker’ and ‘Chernobyl’ composer Hildur Guðnadóttir to follow historic awards sweep with Rewire Festival performance
While Guðnadóttir is the first woman to win in the best original score category as we’ve known it for the past two decades, she is not the first woman to win an Academy Award for score: Marilyn Bergman shared a best original song score Oscar with her husband Alan Bergman and Michel Legrand for their work on “Yentl” in 1984. Female composers Rachel Portman and Anne Dudley won the best original musical or comedy score Oscars back to back in 1996 and 1997 for their scores on “Emma” and “The Full Monty,” respectively.
Read MoreCate Blanchett named president of Venice International Film Festival jury
Led by the Australian actor/producer, the jury will decide on the Golden Lion for best film and other awards. The decision was made by the board of directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, based on the recommendation of festival director Alberto Barbera.
Read MoreRecord number of movies directed by women added to National Film Registry
The 2019 registry selections span a century of filmmaking, from 1903 to 2003. The oldest film in this year’s class depicts footage of immigrants arriving in New York at Ellis Island, and the newest film on the list is the documentary “Fog of War,” in which former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara reexamines his role in shaping American military and foreign policy.
Read MoreJessica Chastain to star in comedy-drama ‘Losing Clementine’
The story follows renowned, razor-tongued artist Clementine Pritchard (Chastain) who has decided she’s had enough of life. After ditching her prescriptions, she gives herself 31 days to tie up loose ends – finish one last painting, make nice with her ex-husband, find a home for her cat – before she kills herself.
Read MoreMother-daughter filmmaking team of Swati Bhise and Devika Bhise share the story of an Indian icon with ‘The Warrior Queen of Jhansi’
Devika Bhise told NBC News she had always heard about her mother’s lifelong interest in the historical figure. She said the film also provides an important opportunity to show viewers a different side of India, since many Western depictions of South Asia could be described as “poverty porn.” But she noted that in the 1800s India had one of the strongest and wealthiest economies in the world.
Read MoreFilmmaker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan named Oxfordian of the Year
The documentary is about Shakespeare’s identity and the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who traveled in 1575-76 to Venice and throughout Italy, where he collected the experiences that are reflected in the works of Shakespeare.
Read MoreNetflix adding short film ‘Sitara: Let Girls Dream,’ from two-time Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, to growing slate of animated titles for families
Known for her work in films that highlight the inequality of women, Obaid-Chinoy is the only female director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37, and her work has been screened around the world. “Saving Face” (HBO), which chronicles the lives of survivors of acid violence, won the 2012 Oscar for Best Documentary Short, earning Pakistan’s first Academy Award. “A Girl in the River: The Price for Forgiveness” (HBO), which delves into honor killings in Pakistan, won the 2015 Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
Read MoreSpanish filmmaker Sonia Sebastian casts Penelope Ann Miller and Dermot Mulroney in ‘The Virgin of Highland Park’
Now based in Los Angeles, Sebastian premiered her second directorial effort, “Freelancers Anonymous,” an English-language feature produced by Full Spectrum Features in Chicago, and recognized with the gender-parity stamp from ReFrame and IMDbPro.
Read MoreJuliette Binoche to receive European Achievement in World Cinema honor
Binoche is a three-time European Film Award winner, who received best European actress honors in 1992 for Léos Carax’s “The Lovers on the Bridge” and in 1997 for Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient,” the same role that won her an Oscar for best supporting actress. In 2001, Binoche garnered the European Film Award ‘s audience award as best European actress for her effervescent performance in Lasse Hallström’s “Chocolat,” which also earned her an Oscar nomination.
Read MoreEmma Thompson, Ellen Burstyn, Gaia Wise to co-star in Livia De Paolis femme-focused ‘Peter Pan’ spin-off ‘The Lost Girls’
Oscar winners Ellen Burstyn and Emma Thompson, along with Thompson’s daughter Gaia Wise, are set to co-star in the film adaptation of “The Lost Girls,” a femme-focused coming-of-age spin-off on J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of “Peter Pan.”
Read MoreWelcome to The Week In Women, an AWFJ Network Blog authored by Brandy McDonnell
An Alliance of Women Film Journalists blog.