#Documentary
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Lulu Wei – “There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace”
Lulu Wei is a Toronto based filmmaker and cinematographer whose work explores themes of urbanization and cultural identity. Wei’s short films and installations have been screened and exhibited...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Mia Donovan – “Dope is Death”
Mia Donovan is an award-winning filmmaker based in Montreal. She was the recipient of the prestigious Don Haig Award for outstanding achievement as an emerging filmmaker in 2012. Her films have been...
Kino Lorber to Virtually Release Sue Williams’ “Denise Ho – Becoming the Song”
A doc about Cantopop icon and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho is heading to Kino Lorber’s virtual cinema platform, Kino Marquee. A press release announced that Kino Lorber has secured North...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Maria Finitzo – “The Dilemma of Desire”
Maria Finitzo is a two-time Peabody Award-winning social issue documentary filmmaker. She has been producing and directing documentary films for network television, public broadcasting, cable TV, and...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Liz Marshall – “Meat the Future”
Liz Marshall is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker. Since the 1990s, she has written, produced, directed, and filmed diverse international and socially conscious documentaries. Marshall’s...
Hot Docs Shorts Spotlight: Projects Featuring Protests, Aquaculture Magicians, & More
Women and Hollywood has already spotlighted some of our most anticipated women-driven and -directed features at Hot Docs in our preview, and now we’re turning our attention to the fest’s...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Ali Weinstein – “#BLESSED”
Ali Weinstein is a documentary director and producer based in Toronto. Her directorial debut “Mermaids,” about a group of women who strongly identify with the powerful aquatic archetype,...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Tamara Mariam Dawit – “Finding Sally”
Tamara Mariam Dawit is an Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she runs the production company GobezMedia. Dawit also manages the Creative Producers Training Program...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Yoruba Richen – “The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show”
Yoruba Richen is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has been featured on PBS, New York Times Op Doc, Frontline Digital, New York Magazine’s The Cut, The Atlantic, and Field of...
Hot Docs 2020 Preview: LGBTQ Parents, Surfer Girls, & More
Originally scheduled to take place April 30-May 10 in Toronto, Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival didn’t go as planned this year. The physical version of the fest was cancelled due...
Apply Now: Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab
Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab is accepting submissions for its 2020 edition. Now in its 11th year, the 18-month fellowship supports emerging filmmakers of color working on their first or...
Trailer Watch: Marina Zenovich Shows a Different Side of Lance Armstrong in ESPN Doc
“I needed a nuclear meltdown and I got it,” says Lance Armstrong in a new trailer for “Lance.” “I’m not going to lie to you, Marina. I’m going tell you my...
Trailer Watch: Gun Control Activists Fight for Change in Cheryl Horner McDonough’s “Parkland Rising”
“More people died at our school than died at Columbine. Think about that,” gun control activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting survivor David Hogg says in the...
Indigo Girls Doc in the Works from Alexandria Bombach
Alexandria Bombach will follow up her award-winning portrait of Nadia Murad, a survivor of the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis in Northern Iraq who went on to escape sexual slavery at the hands of ISIS,...
Human Rights Watch Film Festival’s Digital Lineup Is 73 Percent Women-Directed
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival has announced the lineup for its first full digital edition. Of 11 feature docs set to screen, eight are directed by women, amounting to 73 percent of the...
Agnes Gund Doc “Aggie” Acquired by Strand Releasing
Strand Releasing has snagged North American rights to “Aggie,” Emmy-nominated director Catherine Gund’s doc about her mother, art collector and philanthropist Agnes...
Director Nadia Hallgren Talks About “Becoming” a Part of Michelle Obama’s Life
“Becoming” offers a personal and intimate view into the world of Michelle Obama. Nadia Hallgren’s new Netflix documentary takes viewers on an all-access journey alongside the former...
Rita Coburn to Direct Doc About Trailblazing Opera Singer Marian Anderson for PBS
Rita Coburn has signed on to helm another documentary about a pioneering woman of color. The “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise” filmmaker is directing a doc chronicling the life and work of...
Trailer Watch: Jeanie Finlay Documents a Transgender Man’s Pregnancy in “Seahorse”
“I’ve always wanted to have kids one day,” says Freddy McConnell in a trailer for “Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth.” “I’m going to have my own baby and I...
Trailer Watch: John Lewis Gets in “Good Trouble” in Dawn Porter’s New Documentary
“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just — say something!” John Lewis instructs a cheering crowd in Dawn Porter’s upcoming documentary. “Do...
Trailer Watch: “Suzi Q” Pays Tribute to a Groundbreaking Rock Star
“She was the first — and [she] broke the ice and kicked the door for us gals,” says The Runaways’ Cherie Currie in a new trailer for “Suzi Q.” “People...
Trailer Watch: Kate Nash Reminds Us Not to “Underestimate the Girl”
Kate Nash doesn’t want insecurities or a sexist industry to stand between girls and their dreams. “If you’re a girl and you’re interested in music then please don’t shy...
Trailer Watch: Martha Kehoe & Joan Tosoni Honor Gordon Lightfoot in “If You Could Read My Mind”
A music icon’s life and work are celebrated in “Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind.” Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni’s doc sees the titular folk-rock singer-songwriter,...
Reveca Torres and Colette Ghunim Selected for Inaugural Hulu/Kartemquin Accelerator Program
Reveca Torres’ “Tres Fridas” and Colette Ghunim’s “Traces of Home” are the two projects that have been chosen for the inaugural Hulu/Kartemquin Accelerator....
Apply Now: Field of Vision and Topic Studios’ Documentary Freelancer Relief Fund
If you’re a freelancer in the documentary field and have been struggling due to the coronavirus crisis, Field of Vision and Topic Studios may be able to help. The orgs have partnered to create...
Pick of the Day: “Becoming”
“Becoming” is not a hard-hitting, warts-and-all look at former First Lady Michelle Obama — Nadia Hallgren’s Netflix doc is produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground...
Trailer Watch: “Stateless” Explores Racial Hatred and Oppression in the Dominican Republic
In 1937 the Dominican military exterminated tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent. “The Dictator Trujillo decided to ‘whiten’ the race and fix the...
Rory Kennedy and Rachel Dretzin Both Working on Docs About Boeing 737 Max Disasters
Rory Kennedy and Rachel Dretzin will both be investigating the Boeing 737 Max crashes that took place in October 2018 and March 2019 in upcoming projects. Each filmmaker is working on her own...
Trailer Watch: Michelle Obama Reflects on Her Past, Present, and Future in “Becoming”
“I am from the south side of Chicago. That tells you as much about me as you need to know,” says Michelle Obama in a new trailer for Nadia Hallgren’s “Becoming.” The...
Cristina Ibarra on Making a New Kind of Immigration Narrative in “The Infiltrators”
Cristina Ibarra has been making award-winning films that explore the U.S.-Mexico border for the past 16 years. Her PBS-broadcast documentary “Las Marthas” premiered on “Independent Lens” in...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Michèle Stephenson – “Stateless”
As co-founder of Rada Studio, Michèle Stephenson pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots and experience as a human rights attorney to tell provocative stories that speak to personal and systemic...
Tribeca Film Festival 2020 Award Winners: Alice Wu’s “The Half of It,” Shira Haas, & More
Despite being rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tribeca Film Festival has opted to announce the winners of this year’s edition. Originally set to take place April 15-26, the fest...
“We Are the Radical Monarchs” Will Kick Off New “POV” Season, Which Is 80 Percent Women-Directed
America’s longest-running documentary series, “POV,” will return for its 33rd season on PBS July 20. Featuring nearly 80 percent women-directed titles and more than two thirds by...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Dea Gjinovci – “Wake Up on Mars”
Dea Gjinovci is a Swiss-Albanian director and producer. She is a 2019 Sundance Talent Forum alum and 2019 Film Independent Fellow. Her award-winning documentary short “Sans le Kosovo”...
Barbara Kopple’s “Desert One” Acquired by Greenwich International
The story behind Operation Eagle Claw, a top-secret military rescue attempt orchestrated by President Carter, is coming to the big screen. Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Barbara Kopple’s...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kristine Stolakis – “Pray Away”
Kristine Stolakis is a director whose films explore power, politics, and prejudice — and the way they unfold in real people’s lives. Stolakis’ directorial debut, “The Typist,”...
Watch: First Look at Michelle Obama Netflix Doc “Becoming”
“Becoming” sees former First Lady Michelle Obama figuring out who she is — and who she wants to be — following eight years served in the White House alongside her husband,...
Breaking Barriers: Crowdfunding Picks
We all eventually face barriers of some kind. These barriers can be personal or professional, and often concern both ourselves and the families and communities we come from. Our latest crowdfunding...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Jessica Earnshaw – “Jacinta”
Jessica Earnshaw is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on criminal justice and healthcare. In 2015, she received the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation Fellowship and Grant to...
Trailer Watch: Mo Scarpelli Explores Where “Fear and Love Collide” in “El Father Plays Himself”
Mo Scarpelli turns her camera on a fellow filmmaker in “El Father Plays Himself.” Her latest documentary tells the story of Jorge Thielen Armand, a Venezuelan director who is making a...
Trailer Watch: Comedians Pay Tribute to Their Moms in “Call Your Mother”
“You think you got your sense of humor all by yourself? Uh-uh, you know where that comes from,” Tig Notaro says in the trailer for “Call Your Mother.” The documentary special...
Trailer Watch: “A Secret Love” Celebrates a Lesbian Couple’s Decades-Long Romance
Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel have spent nearly seven decades as a couple. Few realized the nature of their relationship, which they decided to keep a secret. Set to be released on Netflix April 29,...
Pick of the Day: “Circus of Books”
Women and Hollywood has temporarily suspended our recommendations newsletter. We’ll be sharing some of the week’s highlights in TV, VOD, and streaming via blog posts. Described as “the center...
Trailer Watch: Drew Dixon Goes “On the Record” to Accuse Russell Simmons of Sexual Misconduct
“I’ve been a victim for 22 years. I’m tired of being a victim,” says Drew Dixon in a new trailer for “On the Record.” The upcoming HBO Max documentary hails from...
“Circus of Books” Director Rachel Mason on Making a Doc About Her Parents’ Iconic LGBTQ Bookstore
Rachel Mason is a Los Angeles-based artist and director. Working across mediums as a songwriter, performer, sculptor, and multi-media artist, Mason’s work has appeared in shows at museums and...
Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia Child Doc Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics
Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia Child documentary has found a home. The worldwide rights to “Julia” (working title), excluding domestic television, have been acquired by Sony...
Trailer Watch: Women of Color Are Pushing American Politics Forward in “And She Could Be Next”
“People aspiring to be leaders in this country, they need to go through women of color because we’re making our voices known,” a character in “And She Could Be Next”...
Halina Dyrschka Gives a Brilliant Unknown Artist Her Due with “Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint”
Halina Dyrschka is a director and producer. After studying acting, classical singing, and film production, she founded the company Ambrosia Film. The first film she directed, the short...
Trailer Watch: Cyntoia Brown Fights for Justice and Freedom in Netflix Doc “Murder to Mercy”
In 2004, 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to life in prison for murder. In self-defense, she shot a 43-year-old man who solicited her for sex, and was tried as an adult. It was clearly a major...
Editor to Watch: Carla Gutierrez of “RBG” and “Chavela”
Film editing is a behemoth of a task, especially when it comes to documentaries. Sifting through decades of archival footage, juxtaposing them with recent interviews in a way that makes an impact,...
Tribeca 2020 Preview: Hurricane Maria, Hereditary Trauma, and More
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Of 114 features that were set to screen, 44 were directed or co-directed by a woman, amounting to about...