Charlotte Brändström is returning to Middle-earth. The Emmy-nominated helmer directed two episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s” debut season and is returning for Season 2 of the prequel. She will be joined by an all-women directing team. Deadline reports that Sanaa Hamri (“The Wheel of Time”) and Louise Hooper (“The Sandman”) will also be stepping behind the camera on the upcoming season of the Prime Video fantasy series, now in production in the UK.

Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the events of “The Rings of Power” precede the “Lord of the Rings” films and J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel by thousands of years. “Beginning in a

Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence uses writing as a means of world-building. Raised in both Washington, D.C. and Honolulu, Hawai’i in “a family of activists, critical race theorists, and freedom fighters,” the writer, director, and producer grew up with no shortage of storytelling inspiration.

She got her start in theater, working alongside notable figures including Anna Deavere Smith, Diane Paulus, and Kerry Washington. After writing and performing plays such as “Holding: A Queer Black Love Story,” “Black Magic,” and “I, Too, Am Harvard,” Matsuda-Lawrence shifted to on-screen projects.

Much like her plays, Matsuda-Lawrence’s work explores the nuances of Black love, friendships, personal growth, and everyday struggles. She expertly combines comedy with an earnest

“Women Talking” is just weeks away from hitting theaters. “Where I come from, where your mother comes from, we didn’t talk about our bodies,” we’re told in a new trailer for Sarah Polley’s highly anticipated awards contender. Based on Miriam Toews’ novel of the same name, “Women Talking” is inspired by real events and tells the story of a remote religious colony in crisis. A series of attacks have been perpetuated against the the community’s girls and women. In the wake of widespread sexual assault, the women band together to decide their future. “We hardly knew how to read or write, but that day we learned how to vote,”

Alison Star Locke began her writing career as a story producer for reality TV and has written, directed, and produced numerous shorts. Her favorite, “Shhhhhhh…,” was laureled-up by the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Denver Film Festival. Her script “The Projectionist” won second place at Slamdance in the Horror/Thriller category. Her scripts have placed in numerous contests, including the BloodList, Nicholls, Screamfest, Women In Horror Film Festival, Scriptapalooza, and Fright Night. 

“The Apology” will be in theaters and available on AMC+ December 16.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

ASL: “The Apology” is a dark Christmas tale, a genre blender of psychological thriller, horror, and chamber

“Till’s” Danielle Deadwyler  is set to receive the Breakthrough Performance Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). Her performance as civil rights activist Mamie Till-Mobley will be celebrated at an awards ceremony taking place January 5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. A press release announced the news.

From “Clemency” writer-director Chinonye Chukwu, “Till” is based on the true events surrounding Emmett Till’s murder in 1955, when the 14-year-old Black boy was lynched in Mississippi. The film tells what Chukwu calls the “untold story” of his mother Till-Mobley, who fearlessly sought justice against those who perpetrated the hate crime against her son, using her grief to help galvanize

Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood is retiring in seven months, one week, three days. A new trailer for the third and final season of BAFTA-winning crime drama “Happy Valley” reunites us with Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) on the brink of a major life change. Rather than winding down, her job seems to amp up in the months leading up to her retirement. We see her covered in cuts, bruises, and blood — after admitting to getting into “several” fights — and being asked about a murder.

Things are even more complicated at home. Her late daughter’s rapist (James Norton) is getting released from prison, and Catherine’s grandson (Rhys Connah) wants a relationship

“What version of yourself do you want to be?” Gillian Jacobs is asked in the trailer for “The Seven Faces of Jane.” In addition to starring, the “Community” alumna directs alongside Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto”), Xan Cassavetes (“Kiss of the Damned”), Boma Iluma (“Comfort”), Ryan Heffington (“Baby Driver”), Julian J. Acosta (“What Bitch?”), Ken Jeong (“The Hangover”), and Alex Takacs (“Under the God, Part 2”). Each segment combines to make “The Seven Faces of Jane.”

The film tells the story of Jane (Jacobs), a young, devoted mother leading a mundane life — as she admits in the trailer, she “can’t remember the last time [she] felt free.” Jane’s adventures begin

The PGA Awards have announced their nominees for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures, and three of seven titles are helmed by women.

Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love,” a visually dazzling tribute to volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft landed a nod, as did Kathryn Ferguson’s “Nothing Compares,” a portrait of controversial Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, and Margaret Brown’s “Descendant,” which spotlights the search for The Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive in the United States illegally carrying enslaved Africans.

Surprisingly, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras’ ode to artist Nan Goldin, didn’t snag a nomination. The doc took home Venice Film Fest’s top prize, the Golden Lion,

“I wasn’t being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” Meghan Markle explains in the trailer for “Harry & Meghan: Volume II,” the Liz Garbus-directed docuseries following the love story of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The Emmy-winning director of “What Happened, Miss Simone?” takes us behind closed palace doors as Markle and Prince Harry provide their perspective on the “institutional gaslighting” they sustained from the Royal Family and British press. The trailer sees the couple taking their “freedom flight” to escape the merciless public scrutiny that was threatening the safety of their family. “Our security was being pulled. Everyone in the world knew where

A woman-penned script tops the 2022 Black List. Catherine Schetina, best known for writing on acclaimed Hulu kitchen drama “The Bear,” received the most votes on the annual list of Hollywood’s most-liked unproduced screenplays for “Pure.” The script follows a woman who is “obsessed with food purity” as she “decends into madness” after contracting a myserious foodborne illness at her sister’s destination wedding, per its logline. It received 25 votes.

This year’s edition of the Black List consists of 74 scripts by 80 writers. Over 300 film execs contributed their picks.

Tying for the second-most votes, 22, is Hayley Bartel’s “Pumping Black,” the story of a cyclist and a doctor