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Toward the end of his life, film critic Roger Ebert saved some of his most lavish praise for a young graduate of Columbia University who devoted his early career to making the kinds of movies not often promoted in the USA. Ramin Bahrani came straight out of the Ken Loach school of progressive storytelling, focusing on the lives and struggles of working-class people, the poor, and the displaced.

If you hurry, you can catch what may be Bahrani’s most crucial movie – 99 Homes – before it leaves Netflix at the end of April.

I don’t know if 99 Homes – released in 2014, a year after Ebert’s death – is Bahrani’s best movie. His three-picture run between 2005 and 2008, which included Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and Goodbye Solo, is as good an early trio as you will find from an American director in the 21st century.

The first two are...

One of the best American film producers of the last forty years died a few months ago. Lynda Obst, who began her film career in the 1980s and went on to produce more than a dozen major feature films, was 74. I had the pleasure of getting to know her at a film festival back in the mid-‘90s. She had just released the blockbuster comedy Sleepless in Seattle and was in the final stages of getting Robert Zemeckis’ sci-fi film Contact across the finish line.

Ms. Obst was very kind to me when discussing a small coming-of-age story I had written about competitive kayaking, but put an end to any dreams I may have had about attracting her involvement in the project by saying, “This is a two-million-dollar movie. I can’t even make a movie today for under fifty million.”

For context, this is back when fifty million was considered a lot of money.

Has Marvel’s hunt for a “Captain Marvel” director come to an end? According to Variety, yes, thanks to a report that “Half Nelson” and “Mississippi Grind” filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have been tapped to direct the Brie Larson-starring superhero feature.

Read More: Why Brie Larson Is the Perfect Pick for Captain Marvel – Girl Talk

The outlet reports that “the studio had met with several contenders and sources say the studio not only wanted to make sure that the search was thorough but that the script was in the right shape before tapping who would direct it.” Marvel made it clear early on that it was a priority for the film to be directed by a woman. The film’s script, focused on Air-Force-pilot-turned-superhero Carol Danvers, is currently being written by Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman.

Variety adds, “The studio was looking for a unique point of...

A very happy International Women’s Day (and, related, Happy A Day Without A Woman those exercising their ability to strike in order to help highlight the important contributions made by women in the workplace and the world at large) to all of our readers! With this important day in mind, we’ve assembled a list of films, all currently streaming online, that would not exist without the female creators (writers, directors, sometime-stars, and more) who crafted them. It’s just a taste — a nibble, really — of some of the industry’s best examples of forward-thinking, female-driven work.

Read More: IndieWire Stands With Women: 27 TV Shows Created by Women, Starring Women, That We Absolutely Love

Take a peek, and appreciate the power of women and their strong-as-hell creativity and drive.

“Paris Is Burning” (Netflix)

Jennie Livingston’s incisive, intimate and wildly entertaining documentary about New York City “drag ball culture...

“Krisha” was the big winner at the inaugural American Independent Film Awards, taking home the prizes for Best Film, Director (Trey Edward Shults), Original Screenplay (Shults) and Lead Performance (Krisha Fairchild). Anna Rose Holmer’s “The Fits” was the Best Film runner-up and was nominated in 12 different categories, while Robert Greene won two different awards for “Kate Plays Christine.”

The Aifa’s voting body consists of festival programmers and film critics, who cast their ballots in 14 different categories online. Full results below.

Read More: ‘It Comes at Night’ Teaser Trailer: The Director of ‘Krisha’ Returns with More Psychological Madness

Best Film

10) “White Girl” (Elizabeth Wood)

09) “Always Shine” (Sophia Takal)

08) “The Other Side” (Roberto Minervini)

07) “Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party” (Stephen Cone)

06) “The Eyes of My Mother” (Nicolas Pesce)

05) “Little Sister” (Zach Clark)

04) “The Invitation” (Karyn Kusama)

03) “Kate Plays Christine” (Robert Greene)

02) “The Fits” (Anna Rose Holmer)

01) “Krisha” (Trey Edward Shults)

Best Director

Trey Edward Shults,...

As the definition of an independent film has shifted with the ever-expanding budget divide in American filmmaking — particularly Hollywood cutting back on its mid-range projects — when it comes time for awards season, it’s often only the highest profile of “indie films” that get recognized. While we do our best to recognize the films that often get unfortunately, a new awards has launched that honors the best of truly independent American cinema, featuring films all under a $1 million budget.

Aptly titled the American Independent Film Awards (aka AIFAs), they were voted on by international film festival programmers, U.S. based film festival programmers, and North American film critics (including yours truly.) “First and foremost, we would like to thank all film producers and distribution companies who helped us identify qualifying films and outline the categories. We’d also like to thank the international and American based film festival programmers, and...

Kering has expanded its six year old role in cinema collaboration to supporting the ‘Women at Sundance’ this year which includes The Sundance Fellowship Program which provides year-long support to a diverse group of six selected female filmmakers.

Cecilia Aldarondo, Elyse Steinberg, Rebecca Green, Janicza Bravo, Elizabeth Wood, and Laurens Grant

Although the six women chosen as Sundance Fellows are at various stages in their careers, all are actively attempting to fulfill their potential and create sustainable careers in a highly competitive environment.

Support includes stipends to come to Sundance Film Festival where they begin with their journey working with Sundance staff defining clear and realistic goals for the fellowship year. Each Fellow is paired an industry leader as mentor and a distinguished professional life coach to guide her through her own personal and professional development over the course of the year. Among the many opportunities for networking and learning...

Our 22 Favorite Movies Directed by Women in 2016Looking to support great female-directed films? Start here.

Over the years, we’ve heard from our readers that one of the most important things we can do is to help you discover movies that may have slipped by mainstream audiences. And often just as important, our readers ask that we highlight voices that are in the minority in Hollywood. While we’re known for not taking ourselves very seriously, we take this part of our work seriously. Because as many studies have shown, there are some voices that aren’t as well-represented as others. Them’s the facts.

Beyond that, our team has a passion for seeking out and celebrating films directed by women. This is where we often find, as you’re about to see in this list, some of the most unique and interesting stories in the whole of cinema. Another thing we hear often from readers is...

No year is a “bad year” for movies, but some years aren’t exactly too kind to certain subjects, genres, concepts and people. 2016, for all of its many negatives, has been a good year for film – and for its women, both behind the camera and squarely in front of it.

While female filmmakers are still struggling to be recognized in the same way as their male counterparts, the women who have broken through – from reliable auteurs like Andrea Arnold, Rebecca Miller, Kelly Reichardt and Anne Fontaine to rising stars like Maren Ade, Sophia Takal and Clea Duvall – did so in a very big way this year, thanks to films that spoke to their own talents and visions. Actresses also shown bright in 2016, from awards favorites like Natalie Portman, Annette Bening and Octavia Spencer to fresh faces like Kate Lyn Sheil, Ruth Negga and Sasha Lane.

There’s still a ways to go,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Always Shine (Sophia Takal)

With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of...

2016 is nearly over and most people can’t wait to reach the finish line, so the Sundance Film Festival lineup couldn’t arrive at a better moment to give us something to anticipate for the new year.

Read More: Sundance 2017 Announces Competition and Next Lineups, Including Returning Favorites and Major Contenders

With the announcement of the U.S. and World Competition sections as well as the ever-tantalizing Next category of edgier fare, the first set of Sundance announcements kick off a wave of expectations from new talent and veterans alike. There will be much to dig through, from potential sales titles to breakthrough talent, and more announcements to come (the midnight section, short films, and forward-thinking New Frontiers section are all around the corner). In the meantime, we’ve dug through the initial Sundance blast to unearth a few standouts worthy of anticipation.

David Lowery’s Secret Movie Isn’t...

Plus: Land Of Mine triumphs at AFI Fest; Warner Bros confirms Machinima acquisition; Tooley Productions, Square One sign German deal; and more.

Women In Film has announced the recipients of its 31st annual Film Finishing Fund grant programme in support of films by, for or about women.

The narrative winners are: Solace by Tchaiko Omawale; Band Aid by Zoe Lister-Jones; Miracle by Egle Vertelyte; and The Darkest Days Of Us by Astrid Rondero.

Documentary recipients are: Amor Puro Y Duro by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi; Canary In A Coal Mine by Jennifer Brea; Farida And Gulnaz by Clementine Malpas; Mudflow by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander; Tribe by Jordan Bryon; and When A Girl Is Born by Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra.

Martin Zandvliet’s Danish Oscar submission Land Of Mine won AFI Fest 2016’s World Cinema Audience Award, while Divines took the Breathrough Audience Award. The Future Perfect took New Auteurs Grand Jury Award. For the...

Women In Film has announced the recipients of its 31st annual Film Finishing Fund grant programme in support of films by, for or about women.

The narrative winners are: Solace by Tchaiko Omawale; Band Aid by Zoe Lister-Jones; Miracle by Egle Vertelyte; and The Darkest Days Of Us by Astrid Rondero.

Documentary recipients are: Amor Puro Y Duro by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi; Canary In A Coal Mine by Jennifer Brea; Farida And Gulnaz

by Clementine Malpas; Mudflow by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander; Tribe by Jordan Bryon; and When A Girl Is Born by Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra.

Sundance Institute has announced its fifth class of Women at Sundance Fellows to receive mid-career support. Each fellow is paired with a mentor and will receive a stipend to attend the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The fellows are: Elyse Steinberg (Weiner producer) and Elizabeth Wood (White Girl writer-director), Cecilia Aldarondo (Memories Of A Penitent Heart director), [link...

Tough times for indie distributors? Not when it’s FilmRise. Earlier this month, the Brooklyn-based distributor raised an additional $27 million led by Harlan Capital Partners, the investment firm that initially backed FilmRise by leading a $25 million investment a year ago.

What’s more: FilmRise plans to spend the $27 million in the next six months, and co-founder and CEO Danny Fisher says he already has offers for more.

FilmRise is using its latest capital injection to double down on its aggressive acquisition strategy, which will see the company release around 24 movies theatrically during the next year, plus many more digitally. While the majority of FilmRise’s revenue comes from digital releases, the company moved into releasing films theatrically last year with Amy Berg’s Janis Joplin documentary “Janis: Little Girl Blue.”

While FilmRise’s expansion into theatrical distribution might sound like a major milestone, a competing distributor said that without the boost of a theatrical release,...

The new documentary “Harry & Snowman” chronicles the friendship between Harry deLeyer, a Dutch immigrant who emigrated to the United States after WWII, and Snowman, a broken down Amish plow horse whom Harry recused off a slaughter truck. In less than two years, Harry and Snowman would go on to win the triple crown of show jumping and travel the world together as media darlings. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: La’s Dances With Films Fest Announces Full Slate, Including Ron Davis’ ‘Miss You Can Do It’

Snowman went on to appear in the game shows “To Tell The Truth” and on “Who Do You Trust?” with Johnny Carson in the 1960’s. He was also the subject of the New York Times 2011 best-seller “The Eighty-Dollar Champion.” He was inducted into the show jumping hall of fame in 1992, 18 years after his death. Harry deLeyer, known as the...

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present and future.

Haley Bennett is all smiles. The female lead of Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming “The Magnificent Seven” remake is equally bubbly when talking about her nerve-jangling audition process, the physically demanding shoot and what she’s got on the docket in the coming months (“I’m going to need a vacation from the vacation!”), but even all that sunshine can’t obscure that Bennett is a serious actress who is only further growing into her career with grace. Bennett first popped up on the big screen in Marc Lawrence’s 2007 rom-com “Music and Lyrics” — yes, that was her playing the spacey but sweet pop star who saves Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore’s songwriting career — and has spent the next decade carefully choosing roles across a wide berth of genres and budgets.

Read More: ‘The Magnificent Seven...

“It will all turn out alright, it always does,” says Leah, the protagonist of Elizabeth Wood’s provocative first feature-length drama, “White Girl.” It speaks to Leah’s utter naiveté, but the all-too-real nature of her white privilege; she’s never faced true consequences and she might never. For Leah, with parents who have money and status, things generally do turn out fine, but for her Puerto Rican boyfriend who sells drugs to get by, it’s a much different, darker reality.

Continue reading The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘White Girl’ Director Elizabeth Wood at The Playlist.

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present and future. This week, a special Tiff edition.

Bel Powley isn’t your typical movie heroine – the British actress isn’t one for weapon-wielding or dystopian landscapes – but since her breakthrough in Marielle Heller’s Sundance darling “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” Powley has made it her business to snag roles in Ya properties that happily buck convention in the crowded genre.

With the Toronto International Film Festival premiere “Carrie Pilby,” Powley has again taken on another thorny and complicated character – and, like “Diary,” another one sprung from a beloved piece of Ya fiction. Based on Caren Lissner’s popular novel of the same name, Susan Johnson’s film sets Powley as the eponymous Carrie Pilby, a teen genius who excels at intellectual pursuits but is woefully unable to connect to others on emotional or social levels.

With scripted television production at record highs (52 shows during the 2015-16 season) in New York City, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (Mome) today launched a new initiative geared toward bringing diversity to New York City’s writing staffs.

In conjunction with the the New York City Department of Small Business Services (Sbs) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae), Mome Commissioner Julie Menin announced this morning the creation of the Made in NY Writers Room. A six month fellowship in which 12 participants will get a top showrunner to help them with their works in progress.

Read More: Directors Share The Best Piece of Advice They Received at The Sundance Labs

Each participant in the program is assigned to a dedicated mentor from a roster that includes Sarah Treem (“The Affair”), Lee Daniels (“Empire”), Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”), Julie Klausner (“Difficult People”), Julie Martin (“Law & Order:...

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present and future.

A new study from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism — a study that is believed to be “the largest intersectional analysis of characters in motion picture content to date” — finds that despite continued chatter and buzz about Hollywood’s grievous need to increase diversity in front of and behind the camera, the industry as a whole “still lags behind population norms.” In short: Hollywood isn’t cutting it. Or, more accurately, Hollywood still isn’t cutting it.

The study, authored by Professor Stacy L. Smith, “examined the 800 top films from 2007 to 2015 (excluding 2011), analyzing 35,205 characters for gender, race/ethnicity, Lgbt status and – for the first time – the presence of disability.” By cutting a wide swath across the industry — this is not just a study about women or about minorities or about disabled people, it’s...

White Girl – the new film from writer/director Elizabeth Wood, making her feature debut – is the kind of movie that is so inextricably indie in its scope, subject matter and sensibility that it will almost certainly inspire divisive reactions among moviegoers. Sure, the more “high-minded” members of the critical community may label it as provocative and brimming with incisive social commentary, but more mainstream individuals who choose to spend their 88 minutes checking out this new film may emerge from the theater wondering what all the fuss is about.

Loosely based on Wood’s own experiences, White Girl centers on a college student name Leah (Morgan Saylor) who quickly gets involved with local drug dealer Blue (Brian Marc) upon moving into a new neighborhood with her friend Katie (India Menuez). However, when a night of hard partying catches up with the group, Leah finds herself in way over her head and...

Labor Day weekend has never been the home for prime specialized releases, but it is a spot where well-positioned films going broader can thrive. That was the case for “Hell or High Water” (Lionsgate), which gained momentum and looks to be a dominant film for weeks ahead — perhaps even into the awards season. Don’t be surprised if it outgrosses many of the highly touted premieres at Telluride and Toronto.

However, the weekend was unkind to veteran comedy creators; both Kevin Smith’s “Yoga Hosers” (Invincible) and “Max Rose” (Paladin) starring Jerry Lewis received mostly negative reviews and little interest in their initial regular theatrical dates.

Opening

“No Manches Frida” (Lionsgate)

$3,650,000 in 362 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $10,083; Cumulative: $3,650,000

Lionsgate’s most recent release of a Spanish-language film from production partner Pantelion looks to be their best opener yet. A typical Mexican comedy involving a complicated scheme to recover stolen loot,...

Here's to September, when the high-decibel CGI chaos of summer movie season finally gives way to more humanistic, if Oscar-eyeballing projects from the major studios. Sony, Paramount, Fox and the like prepare to trot out their prestige pictures and other awards horses, many of which have the added benefit of being quite good, while indie outfits get set to release a varied array of pictures a few steps from the beaten path. Throw in an unanticipated sequel to a decade-old horror smash, a revitalized staple of the Western genre, and...

Both Presidents G.W. Bush and Clinton had movies made about them while they were still in office, but nothing like “Southside With You.” Whereas Mike Nichols’ “Primary Colors” and Oliver Stone’s “W.” were satires, playing upon the previous presidents’ known foibles, “Southside” is a straightforward, sincere love story about the Obamas’ first date.

Read More: Sundance Review: Barack and Michelle Obama Make a Cute Couple in ‘Southside With You’

This presented writer/director Richard Tanne with a distinct challenge. For “Southside” to work, audiences would need to see past two actors playing the first couple,who people are used to seeing in the media every day, and give themselves over to a fictionalized story of how a young Barack won over a reluctant Michelle.

“If I was a smarter person, I would have considered that before taking this on,” joked Tanne in a recent interview with IndieWire. “I was...

IndieWire’s Springboard column profiles up-and-comers in the film industry worthy of your attention.

Elizabeth Wood’s feature directorial debut, the riveting and often shocking “White Girl,” doesn’t back down for even a minute. Loosely based on Wood’s own experiences attending college in New York City, the film follows Leah (Morgan Saylor), a privileged white girl who has never had to think too much about her place in the world, as she’s suddenly forced to do just that amidst unsettling circumstances. Initially fueled by the excitement of moving to a new neighborhood that comes complete with a sexy neighbor (Brian “Sene” Marc) who just so happens to also be a drug dealer, “White Girl” follows Leah as she gets in way (way) over her head when Marc’s character, the intriguing Blue, is arrested for his illegal activities.

What was once and exciting (and, yes, very sexy...

Just like that, it’s fall already. The first round of films fresh out of Tiff and Venice and Telluride are making their ways to theaters and living rooms nationwide. And now, we enter the last third of the year, with plenty of titles to be excited about. Below, you’ll see every planned theatrical release for the month of September, separated out into films with wide runs and limited ones. (Synopses are provided by festivals and distributors.)

Each week, we’ll give you an update with more specific information on where these films are playing. In the meantime, be sure to check our calendar page, where we’ll update releases for the rest of the year. Happy watching!

Week of September 2 Wide

Morgan

Director: Luke Scott

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Boyd Holbrook, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kate Mara, Michelle Yeoh, Paul Giamatti, Rose Leslie, Toby Jones

Synopsis: A corporate troubleshooter is sent to a remote,...

Leah (Morgan Saylor, “Homeland”), the protagonist of Elizabeth Wood’s first feature, “White Girl,” is a 19-year-old college student screwing and snorting her way through her first college summer in New York City. She works an unpaid internship at an edgy magazine by day and flirts with the drug dealers on her Queens corner by night, treating the city like it’s her oyster and she’s its flawless alabaster pearl. With her frizzy, bleach-damaged hair, Leah isn’t an especially alluring creation, but she doesn’t need to be: She’s young and blonde and eager to please, and...

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present and future.

Filmmaker Elizabeth Wood is into excess. “I’m an over-talker, over-writer, over-shooter,” the “White Girl” writer and director recently explained to IndieWire. “I’m just an excessive person. More, more, more, more, give me more anything.”

But for Wood’s first feature, the daring “White Girl,” the filmmaker had to work against her own nature and strip down a hefty story – one based on her own experiences – to craft a tightly wound story that addresses issues as wide-ranging as white privilege, illegal drugs and sexual assault. Initially imagined as 200-page script that culminated in “a mass orgy,” Wood had to pare down her story to a slim 88 minutes, all in the name of maximum impact and minimum superfluity.

“The exercise of writing ‘White Girl’ was how to strip it down, how to tell this story with...

Is there anything less shocking than a movie that thinks it's shocking? See White Girl and discuss — and you should see it, if only for the all-stops-out performance of Morgan Saylor. She plays Leah, a New York college student on the yellow brick road to cocaine and near-constant debasement. The character is based partly on the exploits of Elizabeth Wood, the film's writer and director, so art really is imitating life — though neither is immediately recognizable as such.

The "white girl" of the title isn't Leah or Elizabeth, however, but...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

This Past Weekend:

As expected, Fede Alvarez’s thriller Don’t Breathe (Screen Gems), starring Jane Levy and Stephen Lang, won the weekend, but it did way more than we predicted, doing better than most movies released in the last weekend of August, winning the weekend with $26.4 million, pretty much double what I predicted. That’s a pretty great testament to the power of Screen Gems’ marketing campaign and that’s more than double what the movie cost to make. Jason Statham’s Mechanic: Resurrection (Summit/Lionsgate) didn’t fare as well as it opened in fifth place with $7.5 million in 2,258 theaters, about where I predicted. Of the more moderate releases, the Obama date movie Southside with You (Roadside Attractions) took in $3 million in around 800 theaters,...

“I always figure it out.” Could any other five-word phrase better express the brash, privileged spirit of Elizabeth Wood’s “White Girl”? The speaker is Leah (Morgan Saylor), a Midwestern transplant attending college in New York City; her audience is Blue (Brian “Sene” Marc), her low level drug dealer boyfriend. Their conversation takes place in jail […]

The post Elizabeth Wood’s ‘White Girl’ Mixes Vibrant Filmmaking With The Grimy Realism Of ‘Kids’ [Review] appeared first on The Playlist.

Near the start of the gritty New York drama White Girl, the film's teenage heroine Leah (played by Homeland actress Morgan Saylor) stops the Puerto Rican boy she's making out with from riding his hand up her thigh. "What kind of girl do you think I am?" she asks him flirtatiously. Immediately, we smash cut to her almost naked up against a wall, fully enjoying getting it on with the guy, in a state of blissful abandon.

This Sundance sensation, hailed by many as as a modern-day Kids, revolves around Leah's teasing question,...

No one in Luke Scott’s “Morgan” acts like a human, which is fine enough for some of his characters — after all, this is a film about a genetically engineered being run totally amok — but becomes slightly more problematic once the film attempts to dig deeply into themes relating to human emotion, human behavior, human fallibility…the list goes on and on. “Morgan,” for all its ambitious sci-fi trappings, is really a film about how being human is hard and messy and weird, a message that’s difficult to deliver by way of wooden lines, worse delivery and a series of cheap, gotcha! “twists” that do its audience no favors.

Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is something of a fixer — a “risk management consultant” for a shady corporation who seems to only be dispatched when things have already gone way past risky (mention is made throughout the film of some sort...

Essentially “White Privilege: The Movie,” Elizabeth Wood’s fire-breathing debut is an adrenalized shot of ecstasy and entitlement, a fully committed cautionary tale that’s able to follow through on its premise because — like the remarkable young actress who plays its heroine — the film is unafraid of being utterly loathsome. And make no mistake, while the madness of her misadventures is captivating from start to finish, you will hate the titular “white girl.” But it’s what Wood and her star do with that hate that makes their collaboration special, these two rising super talents manipulating your vitriol with the grace of a contortionist and the recklessness of a tornado.

A cherub-faced college kid who sublets a Ridgewood apartment with her best friend (India Menuez) for the summer, Leah (21-year-old “Homeland” alum Morgan Saylor) slinks around a mangy fizz of yellow-white hair, floating through the heat with the breezy confidence...

One of the most exciting Marvel news this year at Comic-Con was the announcement that Brie Larson would be joining the McU as Captain Marvel. The superhero film won’t be released until 2019 but Marvel Studios is carefully searching for the prefect female director to take on the reigns; and it’s looking like it has a group of very talented women on their top-three list.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Meddler” helmer Lorene Scafaria, “Whale Rider’s” Niki Caro and Lesli Linka Glatter, who is the main director on “Homeland,” are frontrunners to direct Marvel’s first female-centered superhero movie, “Captain Marvel.”

Read More: ‘Captain Marvel’: Brie Larson Confirmed to Play Marvel Hero in Standalone Film

Aside from her breakout film “Whale Rider,” the Oscar-nominated Caro is known for her drama “North County” and “The Zookeeper’s Wife.” Scafaria made her feature directorial debut with “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World...

The director of White Girl partied herself into oblivion as a teenager. Now she’s turned that experience into an unflinching account of a young woman’s sex-and-drugs lifestyle that addresses class, racism and white privilege

There is a scene in White Girl, the first feature directed by Elizabeth Wood, in which Leah, the heroine, visits a lawyer after her boyfriend is busted for drug dealing. Leah, a college student, is broke, high and in a state of shambolic collapse most of the time, but she is also a middle-class girl with certain expectations of the world, one of which is that if you get into trouble, you throw yourself at the nearest man who looks like your dad and everything gets better from there. That it doesn’t work out in this case is less interesting to the film-maker than the meaning of that expectation itself.

Wood, 33, is sitting...

All this week, IndieWire will be rolling out our annual Fall Preview, including offerings that span genres, a close examination of some of the year’s biggest breakouts, all the awards contenders you need to know about now and special attention to all the new movies you need to get through a jam-packed fall movie-going season. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer, and clear your schedule, because we’re going to fill it right up.

“White Girl,” September 2

Writer-director Elizabeth Wood exploded onto the filmmaking scene when her controversial debut “White Girl” shocked audiences at the Sundance Film Festival. A fearless portrait of young female sexuality, the film stars “Homeland’s” Morgan Saylor as Leah, a college student who becomes involved with a young drug dealer during the last two weeks of summer in New York City. When the cops...

All this week, IndieWire will be rolling out our annual Fall Preview, including offerings that span genres, a close examination of some of the year’s biggest breakouts, all the awards contenders you need to know about now and special attention to all the new movies you need to get through a jam-packed fall movie-going season. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer, and clear your schedule, because we’re going to fill it right up.

“White Girl,” September 2 – Elizabeth Wood, Writer and Director

Elizabeth Wood’s feature film debut was almost immediately deemed “shocking!” and “racy!” and “wild!” as soon as it debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, but underneath a film about throwing caution to the wind in the pursuit of both terrible decisions and the capricious joys of youth beats a big, honest heart. Wood’s...

In his introduction to Saturday’s Next Fest screening of Elizabeth Wood’s “White Girl,” Sundance’s Director of Programming Trevor Groth made explicit reference to Catherine Hardwicke’s “Thirteen.” Through these two films made their debut in the indie film world over a decade apart from each other, the careers of Wood and Hardwicke now serves as intriguing parallel case studies. After the screening, both women talked about the genesises of their respective first films, in a conversation moderated by The Daily Beast’s Jen Yamato.

Read More: ‘White Girl’ Exclusive Poster: Elizabeth Wood’s Sundance Shocker Gets Some Steamy Marketing

No film can survive without a solid foundation, one that Wood was able to build with a script that drew from personal experience. “White Girl” (a Sundance 2016 alum) follows the story of Leah, a New York college student and midwestern transplant who decides to sell cocaine to help...

All this week, IndieWire will be rolling out our annual Fall Preview, including offerings that span genres, a close examination of some of the year’s biggest breakouts, all the awards contenders you need to know about now and special attention to all the new movies you need to get through a jam-packed fall movie-going season. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer, and clear your schedule, because we’re going to fill it right up.

“The Light Between Oceans,” September 2

Derek Cianfrance’s sweet spot is relationship dramas that don’t balk at showing just how damn hard it can be to love someone and to sustain that love (hi, “Blue Valentine”), and with his big screen adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name, he takes those interests and skills right to a post-World War I landscape tailormade for a sweeping,...

Sundance’s Los Angeles-based Next Fest consistently offers a delightful taste of its headlining festival to the movie lovers of Southern California, all removed from the snow and cold of the winter festival and transplanted into downtown La in the heat of the summer. IndieWire is pleased to exclusively announce the addition of some very special guests to two of the mini-festival’s most exciting conversations, both of which feature two of this year’s most buzzed about festival premieres.

Filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke will join “White Girl” director and screenwriter Elizabeth Wood for a post-screening conversation about Wood’s Sundance breakout. The event will take place on Saturday, August 13 at 4Pm. For Wood, who shocked audiences with her audacious feature debut at this year’s festival, it should be particularly special, as she considers Hardwicke to be one of her filmmaking heroes.

Read More: ‘White Girl’ Exclusive Poster: Elizabeth Wood...

Did Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander just let slip the name of the filmmaker who may be helming the upcoming Captain Marvel movie? It certainly seems like it.

After hearing over the weekend that Brie Larson was confirmed to be playing the titular hero, fans were left wondering who’d be sitting in the director’s chair. Rumors have surfaced in recent months pointing to Elizabeth Wood, Jennifer Kent and Niki Caro being frontrunners for the job, and now we have one more name to add to the list.

According to Alexander, Rachel Talalay may be in contention to direct the film.

I’m not on the list but I believe @rtalalay is and I couldn’t imagine a better director for it https://t.co/JeiXzvufP4

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) July 25, 2016

For those unfamiliar with the director, she’s worked on episodes of both The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow,...

From RedBand.Ca, take a look @ the restricted 'red band' trailer supporting the drug thriller "White Girl", written/directed by Elizabeth Wood starring Morgan Saylor, Brian Marc, India Menuez, and Chris Noth, opening August 26, 2016:

"...'Leah' (Saylor), a college student, falls hard for a 'bad boy' and then goes to wild extremes to get him back..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "White Girl"...

Morgan Saylor takes a deep dive into NYC’s underbelly in the shocking, sexy and decidedly Nsfw trailer for Elizabeth Wood’s directorial debut, White Girl.

Wood, who recently came attached to long-gestating superhero film Captain Marvel, premiered her first feature film at Sundance earlier this year, and though it didn’t take home any awards, the review accolades sprinkled across today’s inaugural trailer are enough to pique our curiosity.

From a drug-induced nightmare to a stylish, cutting-edge portrayal of NYC, the early consensus for Wood’s film runs the gamut, and it’ll be fascinating to see how it fares with the moviegoing masses later this year.

The cross section between New York’s mean streets and its gentrified alcoves makes for potent social satire in Elizabeth Wood’s tough and exhilarating debut. Equipped with platinum blonde hair and a winning smile, college girl Leah (Morgan Saylor) seeks out pleasure in any form.

Here's the red-band, Nsfw trailer for an indie film called White Girl, which stars Morgan Saylor, who played Brody's daughter Dana on Homeland. The film, which played at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, follows a college-aged white girl who gets involved with a Puerto Rican drug dealer, and while this may all seem very familiar, there's one exceptional thing worth noting about this movie — it's the directorial debut of Elizabeth Wood. I'd never heard of her before today, but The Playlist says she's met with Marvel Studios about directing Captain Marvel, so clearly Kevin Feige or one of his cohorts saw some major potential in this movie that might be of interest to you if you're a comic book movie fan. It's supposed to hit theaters this September, so keep your eyes peeled.

The cross section between New York’s mean streets and its gentrified alcoves makes for...

FilmRise has debuted a new trailer for an indie called White Girl, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, the first feature from director Elizabeth Wood. In the film, Morgan Saylor stars as a "white girl" who falls for a guy and desperately tries to keep him in her life. The cast includes Brian Marc, Justin Bartha, Adrian Martinez, India Menuez, Anthony Ramos and Chris Noth. This trailer is red band because it shows how wild this film is - tons of drug use, lots of sex in a story about a young woman trying to figure out who she is. I didn't hear many positive things about this, only that there's lots of drugs. Here's the first official red band trailer for Elizabeth Wood's White Girl, direct from YouTube: Summer, New York City. A college girl (Morgan Saylor) falls hard for a guy she just met.

“White Girl” follows Leah (Morgan Saylor), a bored, thrill-seeking college student who’s struggling in New York City while holding onto a magazine internship. After trying to buy some pot from neighborhood bad boy dealer Blue (Brian “Sene” Marc), they hit it off and end up selling together. But when Blue gets arrested before her very eyes, she plans to sell his entire supply of cocaine to pay for his release. The film also stars Justin Bartha (“The Hangover”), Chris Noth (“Sex and the City”), Adrian Martinez (“Focus”), India Menuez (“Something in the Air”), Annabelle-Dexter Jones (“Holy Motors”), Ralph Rodriguez (“Compliance”), and more. Watch the Nsfw trailer below.

Read More: Sundance Review: ‘White Girl’ Goes On A Wild Ride Through New York City

The film is the feature-length directorial debut from Elizabeth Wood, who says that the film is based on a true story. Meanwhile, star Morgan Saylor is...

The equally harrowing and liberating journey of coming-of-age in a gritty urban environment is a powerful process for anyone, no matter how experienced they have become. That reality is enthralling showcased in ‘White Girl,’ the feature film debut from writer-helmer Elizabeth Wood. The movie offers a chilling look at the modern youth living in New York City today. Set in the summer, the drama follows a college girl as he falls hard for a guy she just met. But when a night of partying goes wrong, she goes to wild extremes to get him back. ‘White Girl’ stars Morgan Saylor, Brian Marc, Justin Bartha, Adrian Martinez, India Salvor Menuez, Anthony [ Read More ]

The post White Girl Official Red Band Trailer Explores Extreme Youth Behavior in New York City appeared first on Shockya.com.

Premiering at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year was White Girl, the debut feature from writer-director Elizabeth Wood. Led by Morgan Saylor (Homeland), the drama depicts the downward spiral of a girl who recently moved to New York City, getting caught in a torrid mix of love and drugs. The first trailer has now arrived ahead of a fall release and it looks to be a vividly captured drama, and perhaps would make a strong double feature with last year’s Heaven Knows What.

We said in our Sundance review, “White Girl is a more than simple voyeurism, watching a pretty junky’s downfall as she does things the patriarchy would loudly object to. The lessons along the way are not quite learned as Leah adapts to street life using her sexuality and drug stash to get herself in and out of trouble. White Girl presents a bleak picture even...

While filmmaker Elizabeth Wood didn’t win any awards at Sundance this year for her feature-length directorial debut “White Girl,” the harrowing film depicting New York City youth has nonetheless made a lasting impact. What she might be most well known for at this moment is that she is reportedly in the mix for Marvel’s “Captain Marvel.” […]

The post A Night Of Partying Goes Wrong & Wild In Red Band Trailer For Sundance Indie ‘White Girl’ appeared first on The Playlist.