Looking forward: 2014’s best films for women
At Lip Mag we’re all about examining what it’s like to be a woman in our world. But we’re not the only ones doing that; there are plenty of female directors, screenwriters and actors are bringing a feminine perspective to our screens this year.
Here are the most exciting movies made by women coming out in 2014:
Release date: TBA
Wadjda is the first full-length film to be shot in Saudi Arabia, and depicts a little girl who dreams of riding a bike (against social custom). Haifaa Al Mansour is Saudi’s first female filmmaker, and her vision allows us to spy into a country where it seems women will never be allowed to keep up with men.
Release date: TBA
Directed by Sophie Hyde and filmed in Adelaide, 52 Tuesdays tells the story of a teenager who must deal with her gender-transitioning mother. The pair meet every week on a Tuesday and the film was shot with according discipline; the cast and crew met every Tuesday for a year. 52 Tuesdays has been picked to screen at Sundance Film Festival.
Release date: March 14
Who didn’t love this bad-ass teenage mystery-solver whose Dad was a private detective? Veronica Mars, played by Kristen Bell, graced our television screens 2004-2007 before being cancelled prematurely. The series had such a huge cult following, that the entire movie was financed through a Kickstarter campaign.
Release date: TBA
This doco, which will be part of the Sundance lineup, is about transgender folk singer Rae Spoon. Directed by Chelsea McMullan, the film sees Spoon recalling her Pentecostal Christian upbringing and discussing her involvement in the Vancouver transgender community. It looks to be a touching and incredibly real discovery of gender.
Release date: July 2
Melissa McCarthy cowrote this film, and she was behind 2013’s Bridesmaids—the film that seemed to convince the world that women can be as funny as men. Tammy will be about a woman who goes on a roadtrip with her semi-alcoholic grandmother, after she loses her cheating husband. Featuring Susan Sarandon as the sweary, inappropriate grandma, this is sure to be a hilarious watch!
Trailer coming soon
Release date: TBA
Sepideh is a young, female stargazer in Iran desperate to compete in an astrology competition—she wants to win a university scholarship and study to be an astronaut. The film will look at the tension between tradition and ambition in Sepideh’s life.
Release date: 10 April
Divergent is the next in a genre I like to call ‘future dystopia with a kick-ass female lead (preferably based on a YA novel)’. Big things are expected of this film, especially as the book series has sold over 5 million to date.
Release date: 6 March
Robyn Davidson trekked across a Western Australian desert for 1700 miles with four camels and a loyal dog for company. The film incarnation of Davidson’s book sees Mia Wasikowska in the lead role, and will be sure to please after a good reception at the Adelaide Film Festival last year.
Release date: 17 April
So Tilda Swinton is a vampire. With white dreads and ray-bans. She has a musician vampire lover and they are sexy together. Indie star Jim Jarmusch is directing. NEED I SAY MORE?
Release date: 13 February
Okay. Everyone is talking about this because there is an extended, graphic lesbian sex scene that reportedly took ten days to shoot. But the film, directed by Tunisian-French Abdellatif Kechiche, also promises a genuine look at two female lovers and the arc of a relationship over a decade.
Release date: 6 March
Look, the first 300 was a typical ancient war film. Topless men roaring and brandishing their swords—enjoyable for some, and I’m not sure Rise of an Empire is going to be much different. In this prequel, Eva Green plays Artemisia who leads the Persians to slaughter the Greeks. I’m not going to lie, it’s nice to see a powerful woman at the helm of an entire army.
Release date: 3 October
Based on the New York Times bestseller by Gillian Flynn, this David Fincher-directed thriller sees Ben Affleck play a man whose wife (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared on the eve of their fifth wedding anniversary. This is one of those films that opens up more questions as it progresses: Where did she go? Did he kill her? Who’s having sex with who? And can Ben Affleck really act?
Release date: TBA
Hirut is a 14-year-old Ethiopian girl who is kidnapped and taken to meet her future husband, who she accidentally shoots when trying to escape. A young lawyer and advocate for women, Meaza, comes to her defence and attempts to reconcile customary law with civil authority. Picked to screen at Sundance, this looks to be an epic clash between old values and new. It should also be a fascinating depiction of child marriage, which is still common practice around the world and an important human rights issue.
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