Film Independent has chosen eight projects for their 2013 Documentary Lab — six of those projects are directed by women.

Each filmmaker will participate in an eight week program that helps them with their post-production projects. Mentors will help filmmakers with creative feedback as well as strategizing distribution and marketing of their films.

Here are the women directed documentaries chosen, including Jillian Schlesinger’s Maidentrip which garnered critical praise out of this year’s SXSW and won the Visions Audience Award. (Info on films from press materials)

Birdmen
Director/Producer: Milena Pastreich
Logline: Inner-city men are kept off the streets by their dedication to pigeons that do flips in the air.

KUSAMA: Princess of Polka Dots
Director/Producer: Heather Lenz
Logline: Trailblazer Yayoi Kusama’s turbulent quest to become a world famous artist is documented in KUSAMA: Princess of Polka Dots; as a rival of Warhol in the ’60s, Kusama battled sexism and racism in America while her hallucinations of polka dots eventually led her to the Tokyo mental institution she has called home for over 30 years.

Maidentrip
Director/Producer: Jillian Schlesinger
Producer: Emily McAllister
Logline: An intimate coming-of-age adventure set against the epic backdrop of the open sea, Maidentrip explores life through the eyes of 14-year-old Laura Dekker on her quest to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.

Mary Woronov, Cult Queen from Warhol to Corman
Director/Producer: Francesca Di Amico
Producer/Cinematographer: Claudia Unger
Logline: The documentary explores the enigma of actress and artist, Mary Woronov and chronicles her colorful career spanning from her work with Andy Warhol to Roger Corman that sealed her reputation as a “Cult Queen”.

Rich Hill
Director/Producer: Tracy Droz Tragos
Director/Producer/Cinematographer: Andrew Droz Palermo
Logline: Rich Hill intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of four impoverished boys living in a dying Midwestern town, witnessing their struggles up-close as they yearn to find self-worth and to imagine a brighter future.

Top Spin
Co-Director/Producer: Mina T. Son
Co-Director/Editor: Sara Newens
Logline: Facing steep odds, a group of tenacious American teenagers chase Olympic glory in table tennis – the greatest equalizer in sports, where regardless of size, age, and gender, anyone can win.

 Film Independent Names Docu Lab Fellows (Deadline)