#Documentary
PBS’ “POV” Acquires SXSW Doc “Fruits of Labor”
“Fruits of Labor” has found a home following its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival. A press release announced that PBS documentary series “POV” scored broadcast rights to...
Nikole Hannah-Jones & Oprah Set “1619 Project” Docuseries at Hulu, Shoshana Guy to Be Showrunner
Nikole Hannah-Jones and Oprah Winfrey have set their first “1619 Project” adaptation. Last summer the duo announced they were collaborating with Lionsgate on a slate of features, TV...
Beth B’s “Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over” Lands at Kino Lorber
Beth B’s tribute to a New York No Wave icon has secured North American distribution. Kino Lorber landed rights to “Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over” with plans to release the doc in...
Pick of the Day: “Hysterical”
An unabashed love letter to women comedians, Andrea Nevins’ “Hysterical” is a celebration of some of the funniest stand-ups working today. Margaret Cho, Fortune Feimster, Nikki Glaser,...
April 2021 Film Preview
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee Spring is around the corner, and as the world comes into bloom to offer us renewed hope after the long winter, new women-centric films are coming to the big screen to...
April 2021 Television Preview
An interview series featuring one dope queen, an awkward comedy that sees an “SNL” alumna playing a pubescent boy, and an action series remake that reclaims the problematic...
Mariem Pérez Riera’s “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It” Lands at Roadside Attractions
“Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It” has found a home following its well-received world premiere at Sundance Film Festival. Roadside Attractions snagged rights to Mariem Pérez...
Brown Girls Doc Mafia Announces Sustainable Artist & Black Directors Grant Recipients
Advocacy group Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM) has presented it inaugural BGDM Sustainable Artist Grants and the BGDM Black Directors Grants. According to Deadline, the grants come with $10,000,...
“The Place That Makes Us” Director Karla Murthy on Highlighting Community Leaders in Youngstown, Ohio
Karla Murthy is an Emmy Award-nominated producer. She began her career working for the veteran journalist Bill Moyers, and has been a producer, cameraperson, and correspondent for various PBS news...
Yael Bridge’s Socialism Doc “The Big Scary ‘S’ Word” Lands at Greenwich Entertainment
A culture and climate that’s seen President Joe Biden labeled as “far left” and “socialist” is one in dire need of a political education. Thankfully, “The Big...
Pick of the Day: “Tina”
Tina Turner has one helluva work ethic. The new HBO documentary about the icon, “Tina,” delves into her personal life, her art, and her legacy but the throughline is Turner’s...
Trailer Watch: “Our Towns” Searches for Answers Across the U.S.
A portrait of six diverse American towns is coming to HBO. Based on Deborah and James Fallows’ bestselling book of the same name, “Our Towns” sees Oscar-nominated filmmakers Jeanne...
Hot Docs Reveals 2021 Lineup, 50 Percent of Directors in the Program Are Women
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has announced its 2021 lineup. Featuring 219 films from 66 countries, the program was culled from 2,300 submissions. Fifty percent of the...
Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s “Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation” Acquired by Kino Lorber
Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s ode to the bond between two literary giants has secured distribution. Kino Lorber scooped up North American rights to “Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate...
Two-Part Brittany Murphy Doc in the Works at HBO Max
HBO Max is paying tribute to Brittany Murphy. A press release announced that the streamer has a two-part docuseries in the works about the late “Clueless” actress. Directed by Cynthia...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sonia Kennebeck – “United States vs. Reality Winner”
Sonia Kennebeck is a Malaysian-born, New York City-based independent filmmaker and investigative journalist with 17 years of directing and producing experience. Her most recent documentary thriller,...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Ursula Macfarlane – “The Lost Sons”
Emmy and BAFTA-nominated director Ursula Macfarlane is known for making films which combine the epic with the intimate, often focusing on marginalized communities or victims of trauma. Her feature...
Trailer Watch: Hannah Olson’s HBO Doc Short Takes Us Aboard “The Last Cruise” Amidst COVID-19
A nightmare unfolds at sea in “The Last Cruise,” Hannah Olson’s short doc revisiting the early days of COVID-19 and the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship’s ill-fated journey from...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Mary Wharton – “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free”
Mary Wharton has dedicated her career to making documentaries about music. Her work includes “Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Emily Cohen Ibáñez – “Fruits of Labor”
Emily Cohen Ibañez is a Latinx Colombian-American filmmaker who earned her doctorate in Anthropology with a certificate in Culture and Media at New York University. Her film work pairs lyricism with...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Danielle Kummer & Lucy Harvey – “Alien On Stage”
Danielle Kummer is a director, producer, and editor from London who studied film and media at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Producer and director Lucy Harvey spent 17 years as a stylist...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Alba Sotorra Clua – “The Return: Life After ISIS”
Alba Sotorra Clua has worked in Syria, Afghanistan, Korea, Bosnia, Cuba, the US, Guatemala, England, Iran, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and Qatar, and has lived long periods in the Middle East. Her films...
Rachel Fleit’s “Introducing, Selma Blair” Acquired by discovery+ Ahead of SXSW Premiere
“Introducing, Selma Blair” has lined up distribution ahead of its world premiere at SXSW next week. A press release confirms Rachel Fleit’s first feature doc has been acquired by...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Andrea Nevins – “Hysterical”
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning director, producer, and writer. Her credits include “Still Kicking,” “The Other F Word,” “Play It...
SXSW 2021 Women Directors: Meet Caroline Catz – “Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes”
A British actor who has worked extensively in television, theater, film, and radio, Caroline Catz is also an accomplished film director and writer. Catz’s films include “A Message to the...
SXSW 2021 Preview: Blackness and Beauty Standards, Selma Blair’s Public Battle with M.S., and More
SXSW 2021 is just around the corner. Set to take place March 16-21, the 35th edition of Austin-based fest is digital this year due to COVID-19. With more than half of the films set to screen in...
Trailer Watch: Tina Turner Talks Trauma, Faith, and Her Legacy in HBO Doc “Tina”
“I had an abusive life. There’s no other way to tell the story,” Tina Turner says in the new trailer for “Tina.” The rock superstar discusses her struggles and triumphs...
Doc About U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s Equal Pay Fight to Premiere on HBO Max
The story of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s 2019 FIFA victory and push for equal pay is headed to HBO Max. A press release has announced “LFG” — as in...
Sonia Kennebeck’s “Enemies of the State” Lands at IFC Films
“Enemies of the State” has found a home. IFC Films snagged North American rights to Sonia Kennebeck’s doc about alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart, a press...
Trailer Watch: Activists Work to Destigmatize Periods in “Pandora’s Box”
“When I started my period, I was very young and nobody had told me about it,” an interviewee reveals in the trailer for “Pandora’s Box,” a documentary about the stigma...
Trailer Watch: Irish Women Call for Equality, Abortion Rights, and Personal Autonomy in “The 8th”
In 2018, Ireland voted to repeal the 8th amendment, the 1983 law that granted fetuses the same right to life as their mothers, in a historic referendum. The story behind this huge advancement in...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg Pictures Selects 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantees
Chicken & Egg Pictures has selected the grantees for its 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab, Women and Hollywood can confirm exclusively. The program awards a total of $400,000 to first- and second-time...
Kate Taverna on Exploring the Aftermath of the Agent Orange Catastrophe in “The People vs. Agent Orange”
Kate Taverna has edited more than 50 films over her career, including “Asylum” and “Killing in the Name,” which were Academy Award nominees in the Best Short Documentary...
The Act of Healing: Crowdfunding Picks
The act of healing takes many forms. From the healing of a physical trauma, to the healing that takes place within our hearts and minds, to the healing of a system — the work is never done....
Janet Jackson Two-Night Doc Event Greenlit by Lifetime and A&E
It’s time to dust off your cassette player and blast “Young Love” and “Say You Do”: Janet Jackson is celebrating the 40th anniversary of her first album, “Janet...
March 2021 Film Preview
By Vicki A. Lee and Kara Headley 2021 marks the 40th year since the early seeds of Women’s History Month were sown. In 1981, Congress passed Public Law 97-28 to request the President designate the...
Lisa Cortés in Production on “The Empire of Ebony,” Doc About Ebony Magazine’s Impact
Lisa Cortés is following up voter suppression doc “All In: The Fight for Democracy” with a tribute to the first Black media empire. She’s in production on “The Empire of...
Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s “My Name Is Pauli Murray” Acquired by Amazon Studios
The new doc from Oscar-nominated “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen has secured worldwide distribution. Variety confirms “My Name Is Pauli Murray” has been acquired...
Pick of the Day: “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”
Clocking in at nearly two-and-a-half hours, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” charts the teenage singer-songwriter’s meteoric rise, all the way from recording her...
Rock Doc “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché” Lands at Utopia, Ruth Negga Narrates
Celeste Bell’s ode to her trailblazing mother has secured worldwide distribution. Utopia scored rights to “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché” ahead of its world premiere at this...
Trailer Watch: Soleil Moon Frye Relives Her Child Stardom in “kid 90”
Soleil Moon Frye takes an eye-opening stroll down memory lane in “kid 90,” an upcoming Hulu documentary that sees the former child actor rediscovering hundreds of hours of footage she...
Teaser Watch: “Tina” Traces Tina Turner’s Meteoric Rise
A new HBO documentary sees the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll reflecting on her roots and her celebrated discography. A teaser has dropped for “Tina,” an intimate portrait of Tina...
Shannon Walsh’s Gig Economy Doc “The Gig Is Up” Lands at Dogwoof
Cue up “5 to 9,” Dolly Parton’s re-imagined take on “9 to 5.” The song is a fitting soundtrack for “The Gig Is Up,” Shannon Walsh’s exploration of the...
Trailer Watch: “Allen v. Farrow” Goes Behind the Scenes of Hollywood’s Biggest Scandal
“It doesn’t matter what’s true. What matters is what’s believed,” says Mia Farrow in a new trailer for “Allen v. Farrow.” Hailing from “On the...
Angela Washko Shines a Spotlight on a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Alum in Slamdance Doc “Workhorse Queen”
A recent recipient of the Creative Capital Award, Impact Award at Indiecade, and the Franklin Furnace Performance Fund, Angela Washko’s art practice has been highlighted in The New Yorker, Frieze...
Over Half of SXSW’s 2021 Competition Titles Are Directed by Women
Once again, women directed or co-directed the majority of SXSW Competition titles. The festival has unveiled its 2021 lineup, and women helmed nine of the 16 Feature Competition titles, amounting to...
The Definition of Self: VOD Picks
How do we define ourselves? Do we look at the fragmented bits and pieces of our identities, or do we look at the whole? Are we defined by our families, our names, our passions? Can we be defined at...
Oscar Shortlists Announced: “Time,” “Crip Camp,” “Hope,” More Docs and International Features Make the Cut
Oscar shortlists are in. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced shortlists in nine categories at the upcoming Academy Awards, including Documentary Feature and International...
Exclusive: Loira Limbal, Jialing Zhang, & Cristina Ibarra Among 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipients
Loira Limbal, Jialing Zhang, Cristina Ibarra, Maryam Ebrahimi, Tatiana Huezo, and Elwira Niewiera will be honored with a $50,000 grant and a year-long mentorship program for their documentary...
Kim A. Snyder’s March For Our Lives Doc “Us Kids” Lands at Greenwich Entertainment
Described by director Kim S. Snyder as “a coming-of-age story about a bunch of regular teenage kids who live their lives against the backdrop of this horrendous national issue of gun...
Portraits of Metamorphosis: Crowdfunding Picks
By Kara Headley and Vicki A. Lee This week’s crowdfunding picks are a patchwork quilt of womanhood and girlhood, a vibrant assemblage of characters who are either coming of age or undergoing...