Writer-director Kendell Goldberg, making her feature debut with Jeff Tries to Save the World (an extension of the short she made in college). Despite it’s big title, Goldberg has created an intimate and sweet story about Jeff (played by Jon Heder in one of his best performances) who takes great pleasure in his work as…
Category: Features
Women directors shut out of early award nominations
Despite the supposed advances for women in the entertainment industry fueled by the #MeToo movement of 2017, the first round of awards cycle nominations show little progress for acknowledging female directors.
Watch at Home: ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ & more from female filmmakers
From Editor-in-Chief Jan Lisa Huttner: It is an honor to introduce our newest team member, Danielle Solzman (Managing Editor of Solzy at the Movies). Danielle's mission is to track films as they migrate from theatres in Manhattan to home screens everywhere (either on DVD, VOD &/or Streaming). So add FF2's "Watch at Home" link to your weekly…
Danish director Pernille Fischer talks inspiration behind ‘Becoming Astrid’
Swedish author Astrid Lindgren is mostly remembered for Pippi Longstocking and Karlsson-on-the-Roof book series. Her numerous titles have been translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. Now, everyone will have a chance to see what teenage Astrid’s life was before she became this literary giant - Becoming Astrid opened November 23…
'The Long Dumb Road' offers modern take on buddy-road movie
For audiences who love annual viewings of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, there’s a new road comedy out in select theaters and on-demand. The Long Dumb Road is a bit of left turn from Hannah Fidell, whose previous dramas A Teacher and 6 Years, focused on deeply flawed women. The Long Dumb Road may be a…
‘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…
DOC NYC: Sarah Teale & Lisa F. Jackson talk 'Patrimonio'
Each and every year at DOC NYC Film Festival, the films are extraordinary, providing insight and knowledge about topics, many of which were previously unknown. This year, we have a classic David versus Goliath tale in Baja Sur, Mexico thanks to the dedicated talent and determination of filmmakers Sarah Teale and Lisa F. Jackson with…
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.
DOC NYC: ‘Care to Laugh’ shows humor, hope of caregivers
In Care to Laugh, comic Jesus Trejo balances his life each and every day as he cares for his elderly parents and perfects his art as a comedian in Los Angeles. Care to Laugh will play at the DOC NYC Film Festival on Wednesday, Nov. 14 and Thursday, Nov. 15.
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…
DOC NYC: 'The Providers' hopes to bridge healthcare divide
The bottleneck remains in these parts of the country, even with dedicated providers, including those documented in Laura Green and Anna Moot-Levin’s new film, The Providers. Focusing on the El Centro Family Health clinics in New Mexico, the staff of doctors, nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistance work to provide the care their neighbors deserve.
DOC NYC: Gudrun Schyman talks 'The Feminist: a Swedish Inspiration'
DOC NYC and New York Women in Film & Television presented the International premiere of The Feminist: a Swedish Inspiration on Saturday, November 10 at Cinepolis Chelsea. Produced by Helene Granqvist and directed by Hampus Linder, the documentary is an intimate portrait of Gudrun Schyman—a living icon among feminist supporters in Sweden. As a candid politician,…
Netflix adds films by women to November roster
While you’re getting your Thanksgiving pants ready for the holiday season, be sure to check out these films (written and directed by women) streaming on Netflix this November.
'Distant Constellation' captures essence of disappearing community
Filmed over a six-year period, Shevaun Mizrahl’s debut film Distant Constellation required a slow and steady approach. The meditative film focuses on the final years of several seniors living in a Istanbul retirement home, all while the neighborhood they live in is being torn down and redeveloped.
Alicia Malone’s ‘The Female Gaze’ highlights essential movies from female filmmakers
Film reporter and author Alicia Malone highlights 52 female-directed films in her new book, “The Female Gaze.” She argues that the male lens and perspective is objectifying women in film rather than showing women as they are.
DOC NYC ‘is all the stronger for acknowledging’ women directors
Out of the 135 features, 62 of them -- or 46 percent -- have female directors or co-directors, an increase at the festival compared to both 2016 and 2017. “We have typically had representation of female filmmakers at 40 percent or more over the past several years,” said Basil Tsiokos, director of programming.
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…
Normalizing the conversation around medical marijuana in 'Weed the People'
Abby Epstein brings to our attention a documentary about a subject few know to think twice about: cannabis as a life-saving drug. Having been marked as a schedule I level drug, it has had a bad reputation for the past 100 years. Blinded by this, we are turned away from any possible benefits that this…
A political firebrand gets his closeup in Toby Perl Freilich’s 'Moynihan'
15 years after Moynihan’s death, directors Toby Perl Freilich and Joseph Dorman released Moynihan, a comprehensive and incisive documentary chronicling the life and career of the Washington fixture. Here, Freilich talks to FF2 about digging into Moynihan’s past, revisiting his polemic work, and fighting to preserve his legacy.
'On Her Shoulders' captures the struggle after survival
Just a few weeks ago Nadia Murad made headlines when she became the first Iraqi to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her work helping victims of genocide and human trafficking. Her advocacy comes from her own devastating experience as a victim of Yazidi genocide and being taken into slavery by members of ISIS for…
Films by women directors are few, but memorable at NYFF
The New York Film Festival of the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) sets the standard for the best arthouse films in the U.S. The 56th annual festival opened September 28, 2018, and ran through October 14. This year’s included a modest number of women directors, but, as Ruth Gordon wrote in the classic Pat…
Nia DaCosta's 'Little Woods' the heart of Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival wraps up today after featuring an excellent 12-day lineup, 30 percent of which was directed by women. Female characters and their creators played a central role in this year’s festival, from documentaries to foreign language features, but it was the following films directed by women that made the most impact.…
‘What They Had’ resonates on deeply personal level
What They Had, starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner and Robert Forster premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and has continued on the festival circuit over the last year.
Maryam Keshavarz's 'Viper Club' vividly captures mother's nightmare
Susan Sarandon stars as Helen, the mother of an adult son (Julian Morris) and journalist whose been kidnapped by a terrorist group. Forced by government to remain silent in the face of ransom demands, she turns to her son’s internet community of journalists for support.
'What They Had' tells a story of family with an undercurrent of feminism
It may not be past Halloween yet, but we probably already have the holiday family tearjerker of the year. In January of this year, writer-director Elizabeth Chomko (a playwright and actress) premiered her family drama What They Had to Sundance Film Festival audiences.
Chicago International Film Festival screens best from Vietnam, Dominican Republic
Continue to support more female filmmakers by attending Ash Mayfair’s The Third Wife (Vietnam), Natalia Cabral’s film Miriam Lies (Dominican Republic, Spain), Laura Bispuri’s film Daughter of Mine (Italy) and Sudabeh Mortezai’s film Joy (Austria). For more information on the CIFF, please visit their site.
'Private Life' explores a couple's mutual mid-life crisis in the face in infertility
Private Life focuses on the painful, sometimes absurd, experience of trying to have children later in life, starring Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn as a couple hoping to become parents and Kayli Carter as their step-niece and potential egg donor.
'After Everything' looks at love before, during and after illness
If the romantic comedy is a dying genre, Hannah Marks (best known as an actress) and Joey Power are hoping to revive it with their fresh new film, After Everything.
CIFF this week: ‘Olympia’ and ‘Core of the World’ part of Women in Cinema
In part one of FF2 Media’s “Best of the Fest” coverage for the 54th Annual Chicago International Film Festival, we covered several interesting films directed by women. CIFF will run through October 21 at the AMC River East Theater. Support female filmmakers by attending the festival and screening McKenzie Chinn’s Olympia (United States) and Natalya…