FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE WOODHULL, a Short Film About America’s First Female Presidential Candidate, to World Premiere at the Cobb International Film Festival

ATLANTA, GA — THE WOODHULL, a bold proof-of-concept short film inspired by the life, defiance, and public persecution of Victoria Woodhull, will have its world premiere at the 12th Annual Cobb International Film Festival, held August 6–9, 2026, at the historic Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre in Marietta, Georgia.

Written and directed by Victoria lynn Weston, THE WOODHULL explores the collision of politics, religion, power, censorship, and gender — themes that surrounded Woodhull’s life in the 19th century and still resonate today.

Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for President of the United States, a Wall Street pioneer, publisher, spiritualist, and radical voice for women’s rights, free speech, and personal liberty. Her rise came at a cost. In 1872, Woodhull became a target of moral outrage after publishing allegations involving the powerful preacher Henry Ward Beecher, exposing the hypocrisy of men who preached virtue while privately violating it.

Adelle Drahos, whose screen credits include Hawkeye and Snapped: Killer Couples, stars as Victoria Woodhull, bringing a classic Hollywood intensity to the role — a Joan Crawford-style Woodhull: elegant, wounded, commanding, and dangerous when cornered.

Matthew Cornwell plays Anthony Comstock, the U.S. postal inspector and anti-vice crusader whose name became synonymous with federal censorship. Cornwell’s screen credits include appearances in The Menu, Will Trent, Tulsa King, Outer Banks.

“Victoria Woodhull wasn’t merely ahead of her time — she threatened the order of her time.,” said director Victoria lynn Weston. “She challenged the machinery of power: the pulpit, the press, the courts, and the men who believed they had the right to define morality for everyone else. THE WOODHULL is not a polite period piece. It is a cinematic reckoning with censorship, hypocrisy, and a woman who refused to disappear.”

Designed as a proof-of-concept for a larger feature film world, THE WOODHULL uses the short form to capture a charged historical moment: a woman standing at the edge of public destruction, facing a system determined to silence her.

At the center of the story is Woodhull’s confrontation with Comstock — a man whose moral crusade helped shape one of the most controversial censorship regimes in American history. The film asks a question that feels startlingly modern: who gets to decide what truth is too dangerous to print?

The Cobb International Film Festival’s selection of THE WOODHULL marks an exciting new chapter for the project as it begins its festival journey.

For audiences who want to go deeper into Woodhull’s world, Weston’s upcoming novella, THE NAKED TRUTH, is now available for pre-sale, with private screening access to THE WOODHULL included as a special launch offering.

THE WOODHULL
Politics. Religion. Power.

Film: THE WOODHULL
Director: Victoria lynn Weston
Starring: Adelle Drahos, Matthew Cornwell
Festival: 12th Annual Cobb International Film Festival
Venue: Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, Marietta, Georgia
Premiere: World Premiere
Production: Vireon Films / Zoe Films

For media inquiries, interviews, or screening information, contact:
Victoria lynn Weston
Zoe Films, Inc. / Vireon Films
victoria@studiocarlton.com