What does it mean to be a descendant? The concept of ancestry is nebulous, abstract, and often taken for granted by folks who are lucky enough to be able to trace their genealogy. To be a lineal descendant is to be anchored in a longstanding history of real people who have existed before you — and have made your existence possible. Tracing your lineage can thus confer your existence with a sense of tangibility, for knowing your origins and the veritable line of ancestors preceding you can help you make better sense of who you are as you contribute to your family tapestry. 

Margaret Brown’s “Descendant,” which premiered at this

Michelle Williams will have a packed schedule come November. A few weeks following the theatrical release of her latest film, Steven Spielberg’s award-winning drama “The Fabelmans,” the four-time Oscar nominee will be honored with a Performer Tribute at this year’s Gotham Awards. A press release announced the news. 

“We are exceptionally proud to honor Michelle Williams, whose iconic performances in collaboration with our most renowned directors have defined her as a leading talent of her generation,” enthused Jeffrey Sharp, the Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute.

“Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager, Michelle has consistently raised the bar of her craft while pushing the boundaries

IFC Films has secured worldwide rights to Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature, “Dandelion,” a romantic drama led by “Moonlight’s” KiKi Layne. Deadine broke the news. 

Slated for theatrical release next year, the film tells the story of Dandelion (Layne), “a struggling but determined Cincinnati singer-songwriter in a downward spiral. She reluctantly takes a last-ditch-effort gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota where she meets Casey, a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago. As Dandelion joins Casey’s eclectic and nomadic group of struggling musicians, the kindred spirits make music together and strike up an intoxicating whirlwind romance that moves Dandelion from an obsession with results and a narrow view

“Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on / Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?” asks country music legend Tanya Tucker in her 1972 debut hit, “Delta Dawn.” The chart-topping single kickstarted a prolific career that would span decades, with 25 studio albums, dozens of music award nominations, and a long-overdue Grammy victory for her 2019 comeback album “While I’m Livin’” and single “Bring My Flowers Now.” 

Listening to the single, you’d never guess that the commanding, soulful voice narrating the woes of a jilted, middle-aged Southern belle belonged to a 13-year-old girl hailing from Wilcox, Arizona. Did that 13-year-old girl know that “Delta Dawn” would

“Eloise is our half sister, which means we can half ass the relationship,” we’re told in the trailer for Claire Scanlon’s “The People We Hate at the Wedding.” The Prime Video comedy stars “The Good Place” alumna Kristen Bell as Alice, who, along with her mother (Allison Janney, “Lou”) and brother Paul (Ben Platt. “Dear Evan Hansen”), voyages to England to attend the wedding of her well-to-do half-sister, Eloise (Cynthia Addai-Robinson, “The Rings of Power”). But the opportunity for the estranged family members to reconcile falls flat as tensions mount in the week leading up to the ceremony.

“The family’s many skeletons are wrenched from the closet, and the unlikely

Welcome back to the world of Essex College. A new trailer has dropped for the second season of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and the campus is heating up thanks to a climate change fundraiser organized by Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), Bela (Amrit Kaur), Leighton (Reneé Rapp), and Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott). Rather than hosting a more traditional black tie event, the foursome are planning a strip show that’s being touted as a “sex positive, female-forward striptacular.”

The spot also offers a peek into what each of its four leads are up to. Kimberly is struggling to come up with $40,000 to pay her school fees, Bela is working on

“Employee of the Month” is headed stateside. Deadline reports that Film Movement has acquired North American rights to Véronique Jadin’s dark comedy with plans to release it in theaters early next year, with a wide release across home entertainment and digital platforms to follow.

Penned by Jadin and Nina Vanspranghe, the French-language film follows “the middle-aged Inès (Jasmina Douieb), who has long been a diligent employee of the small wholesale household products company, EcoCleanPro. Tasked with mentoring a young trainee, the sarcastic Melody (Laetitia Mampaka), Inès embraces her role. However, while she treats her work seriously, her male counterparts and her boss consistently belittle her, ordering her to do menial

After making her mark on Litchfield Prison in “Orange is the New Black,” depicting trailblazing politician Shirley Chisholm in “Mrs. America,” and taking on the role of a therapist on “In Treatment,” Uzo Aduba is set to play a lawyer “rising to the top of the corporate ladder” in “All Her Little Secrets,” a one-hour limited series that’s in development at Showtime. Deadline broke the news.

Based on Wanda M. Morris’ bestselling novel, the project follows Ellice Littlejohn (Aduba). “When she gets caught up in an affair and a mysterious conspiracy that puts her at risk of being the primary suspect and the next target, Ellice’s perfect façade starts to

A new study from the European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) reveals that women “represent only a quarter of all film directors working in the European film industry,” per Deadline. Even with recent European women-directed titles like Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” and Carla Simón’s “Alcarràs” making a splash on the festival circuit and beyond this year, it’s important to remember that there’s still a long way to go towards equality in the industry.

Examining European features produced between 2017 to 2021 and released in European cinemas during the same period, the EAO study considered the gender breakdown of key feature film positions including director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, composer, and cast. “Women are

Now in its 25th year, the latest “Boxed In” report reveals that streaming platforms have yet again eclipsed their broadcast TV competition with the representation of women on television. The study, led by Dr. Martha Lauzen of San Diego State University, found that streamers employed more women than broadcast TV networks in both on-screen and off-screen roles during the 2021-2022 season. 

With women making up 50 percent of major characters on streaming services compared to broadcast TV’s 48 percent, this is the fourth year that streamers have surpassed their broadcast counterparts in representing women on the small screen. The report reveals, however, that women of color remain underrepresented on screen: