Tonight Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman director to ever win an Academy Award for Best Director or for Best Motion Picture.  Three have been nominated for Best Director – but none have ever won before tonight.  Such a groundbreaking night for equality.  We’ve only just begun!!

MoviesByWomen.com officially supports Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director for HURT LOCKER at the upcoming 2010 Academy Awards.  Bigelow (born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, working in the science fiction, action and horror genres. She won the 2009 Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for directing her latest motion picture, The Hurt Locker, the first woman to do so. She was nominated for the  2009 Golden Globe and we hope she will win the Oscar for her direction of that film. In 2010, she became the fourth woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director after Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties (1976), Jane Campion for The Piano (1993) and Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003).

The Hurt Locker Press Reviews New York Times “The Hurt Locker,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow from a script by Mark Boal, is the best non-documentary American feature made yet about the war in Iraq. – A.O. Scott

Roger Ebert “The Hurt Locker” is a spellbinding war film by Kathryn Bigelow, a master of stories about men and women who choose to be in physical danger. She cares first about the people, then about the danger.

The Hollywood Reporter The definitive film about the U.S. involvement in Iraq has yet to be made, and “The Hurt Locker” doesn’t aspire to compete in the category. Tensely action-packed and muscularly directed by Kathryn Bigelow, this tale of an elite U.S. army bomb disposal unit in Baghdad is a familiar story in new clothes, targeted at the young male demographic. – Deborah Young

Variety War may be hell, but watching war movies can also be hell, especially when they don’t get to the point. Often gripping at a straight thriller level, but increasingly weakened by its fuzzy (and hardly original) psychology, Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” centered on an elite U.S. bomb squad in Baghdad, doesn’t bring anything new to the table of grunts-in-the-firing-line movies. – Derek Elley

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FEATURES DIRECTED by WOMEN

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>> PREMIERING week of November 20, 2009

Buy opening weekend tickets for films directed by women.

++ William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe directed by
Emily and Sarah Kunstler
Opens in L.A.

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Edit Studio Sale!! Get a New Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (great
for a Final Cut Pro edit bay!!) with phat-monitors and studio
quality speakers, an Apple G5 dual-processor, Multi-format VCR/DVD,
Samsung SyncMaster monitors, Unused Adobe software, and LOTS
more tech equipment! Also available: an awesome office leather
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www.moviesbywomen.com
FEATURES DIRECTED by WOMEN

————————————————
>> PREMIERING week of November 13, 2009

Buy opening weekend tickets for films directed by women.

++ The Hand of Fatima directed by Augusta Palmer
Opens in New York

++ William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
directed by Emily and Sarah Kunstler
Opens in New York

++ Ten9Eight directed by Mary Mazzio
Opens in New York

++ The Good Soldier directed by Lexy Lovell & Michael Uys

++ The Little Traitor directed by Lynn Roth

++ Love Hurts directed by Barra Grant
Read the rest of this entry »

www.moviesbywomen.com
FEATURES DIRECTED by WOMEN

————————————————
>> PREMIERING week of November 6, 2009

Buy opening weekend tickets for films directed by women.

++ Act of God directed by Jennifer Baichwal
Opens in N.Y.

++ Died Young, Stayed Pretty directed by Eileen Yaghoobian
Opens in L.A.

++ The Wedding Song directed by Karin Albou
Opens in L.A.

Current but check your local listings.

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>> SPONSORSHIP

If you’re interested in placing an ad for sponsorship, please
email us for rates. If you have a newsworthy event that you’d
like to be considered for an upcoming blog listing, podcast, or
FWGroup event, simply reply to this email.

————————————————

Edit Studio Sale!! Get a New Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (great
for a Final Cut Pro edit bay!!) with phat-monitors and studio
quality speakers, an Apple G5 dual-processor, Multi-format VCR/DVD,
Samsung SyncMaster monitors, Unused Adobe software, and LOTS
more tech equipment! Also available: an awesome office leather
chair set, antique lamps, perfect-condition Ikea desks, tables
and so much more! Amazing prices – will negotiate.
Contact info@flamingangelfilms.com for our full list w/photos
or call (323) 463-1996 for more information.
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REVIEW Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire/ (Link to IMDB.com)

Last night I had the opportunity to see PRECIOUS with a Q&A after with director Lee Daniels by John Singleton at the Director’s Guild of America in Los Angeles, CA.  PRECIOUS is based on a novel called PUSH, but I prefer the name PRECIOUS for the film.  Daniels produced MONSTER’S BALL, THE WOODSMEN, and SHADOWBOXER.  He’s a very talented filmmaker in many ways, but PRECIOUS left me with the most incredible unsettled feeling that has lingered throughout this entire day.

PRECIOUS is a 355-pound teenage girl living in the most horrendous circumstances.  As the film unravels, we see the horrors she has faced in her life.  The film is amazing and awful all at once not due to poor filmmaking, but because the content is so disturbing.  I think it is a MUST WATCH film and don’t want to make my words “awful” make it seem like the filmmaking is awful – far from it.  I do have issues with several aspects of the film’s plot, but all of this is insignificant compared to the outrageously outstanding performances from the lead unknown actress playing Precious (Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe).  Additionally, Mariah Carey shocked me with her moving portrayal of a New York City social worker.  Without makeup for the role, I often questioned myself about whether it was really Mariah since I did not know she was such an excellent actress.  Finally, the uber-talented Mo’Nique delivers a tour-de-force show as her abusive mother.  These are all Oscar-winning performances and each actress should be able to be awarded one of her own.

Lee Daniels took a risk making this film and he should be applauded for making such a moving and disturbing movie.  This is real-life and it’s incredible that this is not a documentary.  In the Q&A, John Singleton mentioned that te film reminded him of the Italian neo-realist style.  I agree that it is along those lines, but it takes life much deeper and more frightening than any Italian neo-realist film I’ve ever seen.

I do want to warn anyone that has had an abusive past since this movie could easily shake up many memories and emotions for anyone with PTSD.  I also want to say that the type of horrors that Precious faced are not just experienced in the African-American community – this is a universal story which is likely why its success confounded the director who had originally only planned it to play well with black audiences.  I do have some fundamental issues with the film, but if I allow myself to be lost in the story and characters then the great debates in my mind are quieted.

The one nagging question I have about this project is this – would the film be equally accepted and successful if a female filmmaker had made it?  Sadly, I don’t think it would.  I believe that it would not have received as much press or accolades.  But that said, I am glad that someone told this story.

www.moviesbywomen.com

FEATURES DIRECTED by WOMEN

————————————————

++ PREMIERING week of October 29, 2009

Buy opening weekend tickets for films directed by women.

+ No women-directed films premiering this weekend

Current but check your local listings.

\===================================/

++ SPONSORSHIP

If you’re interested in placing an ad for sponsorship, please
email us for rates. If you have a newsworthy event that you’d
like to be considered for an upcoming blog listing, podcast, or
FWGroup event, simply reply to this email.

————————————————

Edit Studio Sale!! Get a New Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (great
for a Final Cut Pro edit bay!!) with phat-monitors and studio
quality speakers, an Apple G5 dual-processor, Multi-format VCR/DVD,
Samsung SyncMaster monitors, Unused Adobe software, and LOTS
more tech equipment! Also available: an awesome office leather
chair set, antique lamps, perfect-condition Ikea desks, tables
and so much more! Amazing prices – will negotiate.

Contact info@flamingangelfilms.com for our full list w/photos
or call (323) 463-1996 for more information.
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Todd McCarthy of Variety reviews Jane Campion’s latest film “Bright Star,” as a “beautifully made film possessing solid appeal for specialized audiences in most markets” and that its director, Campion, “…brings piercing insight into the emotions and behaviors of her characters.”

Read the full review here:

Bright Star Review – Variety Magazine

BRIGHT STAR (2009)

A Pathe, Screen Australia, BBC Films and the UK Film Council presentation in association with the New South Wales Film and Television Office and Hopscotch International of a Jan Chapman production in association with Carole Hewitt. (Internationa sales: Pathe International, London.) Produced by Chapman, Hewitt. Executive producers, Francois Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, Christine Langan, David M. Thompson. Directed, written by Jane Campion, with research from the biography “Keats” by Andrew Motion.

“Fanny Brawne” – Abbie Cornish
“John Keats” – Ben Whishaw
“Mr. Brown” – Paul Schneider
“Mrs. Brawne” – Kerry Fox
“Toots” – Edie Martin
“Samuel” – Thomas Brodie-Sangster
“Maria Dilke” – Claudie Blakley
“Charles Dilke” – Gerard Monaco
“Abigail” – Antonia Campbell-Hughes

Camera (Technicolor), Greig Fraser; editor, Alexandre de Franceschi; music, Mark Bradshaw; production, costume designer, Janet Patterson; supervising art director, David Hindle; art director, Christian Huband; set decorator, Charlotte Watts; sound (Dolby Digital), John Midgley; make-up and hair designer, Konnie Daniel; line producer, Emma Mager; assistant director, Mike Elliott; casting, Nina Gold.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (competing), May 15, 2009.

Running time: 119 MIN.

We currently have a Production Internship position available.  We will offer credits, networking opportunities and awesome experience.  We’re seeking teammates for hands-on-training in each of these three areas: editing, producing, writing (online and for Podcasts), and website maintenance.  Applicants must be willing to commit at least 15 hrs per week and MUST have a down-to-earth attitude, an excitement to learn, and a strong desire to WORK in the industry.   Additionally, candidates must be highly motivated, organized, Mac & PC proficient and be willing to work.    Email resumes to: danielle@flamingangelfilms.com.  Please note “internship via MBW” in subject of email.

We’re in the middle of a website upgrade which will include a new section on film reviews written by our readers.  While this portion of our site is being built we’d love to hear from you – if you’d like to send in film reviews on any movie with strong women leads, women directors, or writers – send them to us and we’ll publish them right here.  The film can be hitting theaters, DVD, or even a webseries or podcast. >> MOVIESBYWOMEN.COM.