Eight of the 15 films advancing in the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards are directed by women. Oscar voting ended January 14 and official nominees are announced January 22.
Author: Georgiana E. Presecky
The Wife expands to 150 theaters
The Wife expanded to 150 theaters the weekend of January 11, following Glenn Close’s win for Best Actress at the Golden Globes. Sony Pictures Classics re-released the film after its initial August run the same weekend Close tied Lady Gaga for Best Actress at the 24th Annual Critics Choice Awards January 13. At both ceremonies,…
Golden Globes acceptance speeches laud female creators
There were many triumphant moments for women at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, despite very few female writers and directors being represented in film categories. Many winning actresses used their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to champion female creators. On the television side, Best Actress Rachel Brosnahan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel thanked many women…
WGA nominates one woman and 20 men for feature film writing
The Writer’s Guild of America announced nominees for its annual awards January 7. Writers of 10 feature films are nominated for best screenplay, but Can You Ever Forgive Me? co-writer Nicole Holofcener is the only woman of 21 writers. The documentary screenplay category is a slight improvement, with Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth) and Dava Whisenant…
Golden Globes Preview: Female-directed features snubbed
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has once again neglected to acknowledge female filmmakers in its pool of Golden Globe nominees. For the fourth year in a row, no women are nominated for best director. Only five women have ever been nominated in this category, and Barbra Streisand is the only winner (for Yentl in 1984).…
‘Saving Daisy’ seeks to raise awareness for trauma survivors
Ella Fairon will direct the short documentary Saving Daisy, following sexual assault survivor Daisy Coleman through treatment for her post-traumatic stress disorder. Viewers first met Coleman in the Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy, which told parallel stories about the trauma associated with sexual assault. Saving Daisy will largely focus on eye movement desensitization reprocessing, a…
Lewinsky has last word in female-directed docuseries
The A&E docuseries The Clinton Affair premiered November 18, the first in a six-part series reexamining the former president’s controversial affair with Monica Lewinsky. The show marks 20 years since Clinton’s impeachment process began in December 1998, in which he was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his relationship…
Screen adaptations a rarity for female authors
Widows and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald both hit theaters November 15, with the latter earning $9.1 million on its opening night according to early Deadline reports. Both films are written by best-selling authors - Widows by Gillian Flynn and Fantastic Beasts by JK Rowling. Their screenplays are entirely original, not adapted from novels.
New database gives history's women artists ‘A Space of Their Own’
The Advancing Women Artists Foundation will launch A Space of Their Own, an online database of more than 600 female artists working from the 15th and 19th centuries. The illustrated online space “will become something of a virtual museum, providing the public with access to paintings that might otherwise languish in museum storage,” according to…
Hulu streams the year’s best from female filmmakers
Streaming service Hulu isn’t just for rewatching every new episode of The Good Place for the third time (although I highly recommend doing that). In addition to its same-day streaming of network and cable shows, premium original content like the Stephen King-inspired series Castle Rock and the award-winning phenomenon The Handmaid’s Tale, a Hulu subscription…
This week in WIF: recapping the week for women in film
There’s a lot to catch up on from the world of women in film. Recapping October’s biggest moments for female directors and characters: #IfAWomanDirected: The Twitter account for the streaming service FilmStruck prompted its followers with this tweet Oct. 22: “#ifawomandirected _______, then ________.” The hashtag quickly took off, with Twitter users looking at films…
Complex parental relationships a dominant theme at Chicago International Film Festival
Though the festival is offering a variety of notable foreign films from female directors now through Oct. 21, FF2 has selected three of our favorites from France, Italy and Spain - all of which display the complex relationships between parents and their children, the past and the present.
Nobel Peace Prize winners the focus of award-winning documentaries
Both winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize are the subject of recent documentaries from female filmmakers. Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad are recipients of the 2018 award, according to Thursday’s announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Mukwege is a gynecologist who co-founded a treatment center in the Congo to help women in post-rape…
Nine inspiring quotes from TIFF's #ShareHerJourney rally
The Share Her Journey rally for women in film was held Saturday morning at The Toronto International Film Festival. Share Her Journey is TIFF’s five-year commitment to increase opportunities for women to develop skills and create films through various programs.
Contributing Editor Georgiana E. Presecky
As FF2 Media’s Contributing Editor/Social Media Manager, I post daily on Twitter (@FF2_Media) and Facebook, not only to promote our reviews, interviews and feature stories, but also to connect with our audience and the filmmakers we support. Expanding our audience and finding people who are just as passionate about supporting women in film as we…
New research reaffirms why gender matters in film criticism
Thumbs Down 2018: Film Critics and Gender, And Why It Matters reaffirms what most female critics already know - men comprise 68 percent of all reviewers.
70th Emmy Awards: Female creative nominees down 18 percent from last year
The nominees for the 70th Emmy Awards were announced July 12 in Los Angeles with a lower number of female writers and directors recognized than last year. Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series nominated the most women in creative categories, with 43 percent female nominees. Stefani Robinson, the only woman on the writing staff of…
‘Little Women’ has cinematic staying power 150 years after book
News of Greta Gerwig’s rumored Little Women adaptation for Colombia Pictures lit up the Internet June 29, with a powerhouse cast of Oscar-nominated actors in talks to play the familiar characters.
New Class of AMPAS Members is 49 % Female!
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 928 new members June 25, 49 percent of which are women.
Pixar releases 20th male-directed feature film
Out this Friday, Incredibles 2 is the 20th feature film released in the 23-year history of Pixar. The animation studio has made headlines in recent months with the exit of co-founder John Lasseter and the team behind Toy Story 4 stepping down due to perceived mistreatment of women and people of color.
‘We are a mighty tribe’: Female directors make up ‘Half the Picture’
Amy Adrion’s Half the Picture is an informative, eye-opening documentary about the startling gender imbalance that exists among film and television directors.
To the pants: 'Sisterhood' celebrates 13th anniversary
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was released June 1, 2005, but its message of friendship still means something to the generation who grew up with it. Based on Ann Brashares’ series of novels and co-written by Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler, the film follows four best friends spending their first summer apart and exchanging…
Onscreen Queens: Gender disparity in royal biopics
Prince Harry’s May 19 royal wedding to American actress and activist Meghan Markle is dominating mainstream media and giving royal enthusiasts an excuse to revisit their favorite English stories in preparation for the big day. Though Netflix’s excellent first two seasons of The Crown would be a great place to start, there have been a…
'Troll Inc.' sheds light on malicious Internet users
Director George Russell’s Troll Inc. is available on VOD May 22, putting the focus on Internet trolls who have become commonplace in today’s “fake news”-fueled media market. The foundation of the documentary is an extended interview with Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer, a well-known hacker who was charged with multiple computer crime felonies and is known for…
Marvel in search of more female directors
Avengers: Infinity War is out today, the first meeting of dozens of characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This includes Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, who has appeared in six MCU films since Iron Man 2 in 2010. All six were directed by men, from Jon Favreau to Joss Whedon to Infinity War directors Anthony and…
Five Netflix originals created by women set for April
Five new films distributed exclusively by Netflix will be available for streaming in April. Olivia Newman’s First Match dropped on the streaming platform March 30 after its initial premiere at Austin’s South by Southwest. Based on Newman’s original short film, the story follows Mo, the only girl on her high school wrestling team who uses the…
Iannucci authors travel guide for film fans
FF2 Media Senior Contributor Lisa Iannucci recently authored the book On Location: A Film and TV Lover’s Travel Guide, published by Globe Pequot Press.
BAFTAs barely acknowledge female filmmakers
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced its BAFTA winners February 18 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with very little recognition for female nominees in major categories. I Am Not a Witch writer-director Rungango Nyani (above, with producer Emily Morgan) is the only woman winner recognized outside of the acting categories,…
'Love, Simon' is a breath of fresh YA air
Love, Simon is coming out March 16, and it’s everything the young adult film genre needs and more.
Greta Gerwig nominated for best director Oscar
Lady Bird writer-director Greta Gerwig is the first female nominee in the best director category at the Academy Awards since Kathryn Bigelow in 2010.