#Documentary
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Abby Ginzberg – “Waging Change”
Abby Ginzberg has been making documentaries about race and social justice for over 30 years. Her directing credits include “And Then They Came for Us,” which won a Silver Gravel Award,...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Nicole Costa – “The Journey of Monalisa”
Chilean actress, filmmaker, and producer Nicole Costa is the director of the short film “Chilean for Beginners” (2010), and the video art piece “Wireless Transmission” (2016) in...
“The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” Lands Distribution
“The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” is heading to theaters. Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber snagged U.S. rights to Alison Reid’s documentary about Canadian zoologist,...
Trailer Watch: A Photographer Recalls “Shooting the Mafia” in Kim Longinotto Doc
Sicilian photographer Letizia Battaglia became the first woman photographer in Italy to work for a daily paper when she was hired in the ’70s. Three days after she started, she saw her first...
Trailer Watch: “Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops” Preach and Practice Empathy
“No one calls us to give us good news. They call us because something bad is happening so they’re in a crisis,” a voiceover explains in a new trailer for Jenifer McShane’s...
British Independent Film Award Nominations: “The Souvenir,” “For Sama,” & More
Nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards have been unveiled. Set to take place December 1, this year’s ceremony will celebrate a number of women-directed titles, with Joanna...
IDFA 2019 Lineup Marks Highest Percentage of Women Directors in Fest’s History
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam’s (IDFA) 2019 program marks “the highest percentage of female filmmakers in the event’s 31-year history: 64% of competition titles and...
Women and Hollywood’s Picks of the Week for October 24
Picks of the Week offers Women and Hollywood’s top recommendations — women-driven and women-made movies, series, VOD releases, and more — and tells you why they are worth your time and...
Rory Kennedy’s Next Doc Will Tackle a Little-Known 1939 Refugee Crisis
Rory Kennedy is revisiting the past to provide timely commentary on the present in a new documentary. The Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director of “Last Days in Vietnam” will helm an...
IDA Documentary Awards Announces 2019 Noms, Women Dominate Best Director Race
Nominations for the 35th Annual IDA Documentary Awards have been announced, and films helmed by women dominate. Of 10 Best Feature nominees, six are directed or co-directed by women. Titles in the...
Monica Lewinsky Will EP and Appear in HBO Max Doc “15 Minutes of Shame”
As an anti-bullying activist and creative voice in “American Crime Story’s” upcoming take on the Clinton impeachment, Monica Lewinsky has been systematically reclaiming her voice...
Hot Springs Doc Film Fest’s 2019 Lineup Is Over 50 Percent Women-Directed
The 28th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF) is currently underway, and according to the fest, over 50 percent of the program hails from women filmmakers, and 25 percent of the...
IDA Announces Latest Round of Enterprise Doc Fund Recipients, Over 80% Are Women-Directed
The International Documentary Association (IDA) unveiled the latest round of Enterprise Documentary Fund production grant recipients. A total of $850,000 in funds will be distributed across 12 docs...
Amy Schumer Pregnancy Doc Coming to HBO Max
Earlier this year Amy Schumer dropped her most recent stand-up special, Netflix’s “Growing.” While the title acknowledged her changing body, the comic was adamant that pregnancy...
Margaret Atwood Doc Coming to Hulu
Hulu just can’t get enough of Margaret Atwood. Already home to an acclaimed adaptation of Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and currently developing a series based on her...
Women and Hollywood’s Picks of the Week for October 17
Picks of the Week offers Women and Hollywood’s top recommendations — women-driven and women-made movies, series, VOD releases, and more — and tells you why they are worth your time and...
Elizabeth Coffman & Mark Bosco’s “Flannery” Wins Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize
The inaugural Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film has been awarded to “Flannery,” Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco’s feature documentary about writer Flannery...
Director Erin Derham Explains How Making “Stuffed” Changed Her Views on Taxidermy
Erin Derham is an award-winning film director who began her career editing and directing for PBS. Her films include “Buskin’ Blues,” a music documentary exploring the secretive lives of street...
Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards: “Knock Down the House,” “One Child Nation,” & More Up for Honors
Nominations for the 2019 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards have been announced. Familiar titles dominate the fourth edition of the awards, with festival winners such as “One Child...
DOC NYC Announces 2019 Program, 29 Percent of Features in Competition Are Women-Directed
The United States’ largest doc festival has announced its 2019 lineup. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, this year’s DOC NYC program marks its largest to date, and includes two...
Trailer Watch: Two Families Seeking Asylum Are “Torn Apart” in Ellen Goosenberg Kent’s HBO Doc
In “Torn Apart: Separated at the Border,” director Ellen Goosenberg Kent tells the story of two mothers who were taken from their children as a result of the U.S.’s immigration...
“RBG” Directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen Are Making a Julia Child Documentary
Oscar-nominated “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen are spotlighting another icon for their next project. The duo are making a documentary about chef and author Julia Child for...
Trailer Watch: “The Elephant Queen” Embarks on an Epic Journey
An inspirational leader takes her loved ones on a dangerous journey into the unknown in “The Elephant Queen.” “There is an animal in Africa that truly reflects our sense of...
Online Harassment Doc “Netizens” in Wide Release for National Domestic Violence Month
A doc about women and online harassment is opening in wide release to coincide with National Domestic Violence Month. Cynthia Lowen’s “Netizens” will hit theaters October 22. A...
Under the Radar: Francine Zuckerman Spotlights the Women of the Olympic Massacre in “After Munich”
The 1972 Munich Olympics were the first Games held in Germany since the Nazi regime oversaw the 1936 Olympics. Dubbed “The Happy Games,” initially it seemed like a successful fresh start, with...
Trailer Watch: A Trailblazing Film Critic Is Remembered in “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael”
Many admired Pauline Kael. Many disparaged her. No one could deny her influence. A new trailer has dropped for “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael,” a tribute to the polarizing late...
Trailer Watch: A Former First Lady Plots a Comeback in Lauren Greenfield’s “The Kingmaker”
“Perception is real and the truth is not,” says Imelda Marcos in a new trailer for “The Kingmaker.” According to her son, the former first lady of the Philippines is...
NYFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Ivy Meeropol – “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn”
Ivy Meeropol’s documentary feature debut was “Heir to an Execution,” which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. It was followed by two short...
Lupita Nyong’o to Uncover the History of Warrior Women in Channel 4 Doc
Lupita Nyong’o is shining a light on a forgotten history. British broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned “Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o,” a one-off documentary that will...
NYFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Tânia Cypriano – “Born to Be”
Tânia Cypriano has been working between the United States and her native Brazil for over 25 years. Her films and videos have won international awards including Best Documentary at the Pan African...
“Free Solo” Directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Ink First-Look Deal with Nat Geo
Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have picked up an Oscar, a BAFTA, and an Emmy for “Free Solo,” their doc about Alex Honnold’s quest to become the first person to free solo climb El...
NYFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lynn Novick – “College Behind Bars”
Lynn Novick is an Emmy, Peabody, and Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award-winning filmmaker. For 30 years she has been directing and producing landmark documentary films about American culture, history,...
Carmen Chaplin to Direct Doc About Grandfather Charlie Chaplin
Carmen Chaplin is bringing her grandfather’s story to the big screen. The actress and filmmaker will direct “Charlie Chaplin, A Man of the World,” a feature documentary delving into...
Trailer Watch: Alla Kovgan Pays Tribute to a Visionary Choreographer in “Cunningham”
“A formalist at heart, I am drawn to the genius of Merce Cunningham — the intricacies of his mind, the approaches he invented while making his dances, and his philosophy that he followed,...
Trailer Watch: A Mother Demands Justice in Lynching Doc “Always in Season”
“If you knew in your heart and in your mind that someone took your child’s life, how far would you go to get to the truth?” asks Claudia Lacy in a new trailer for “Always in...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Hind Meddeb – “Paris Stalingrad”
Hind Meddeb currently works between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Her first film, “Casablanca: One Way Ticket to Paradise,” tells the story of 14 Moroccan suicide bombers who killed...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lauren Greenfield – “The Kingmaker”
For the last 25 years, Lauren Greenfield has made documentaries about consumerism, youth culture, and gender. Her feature film credits include “Thin,” “The Queen of...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Barbara Kopple – “Desert One”
Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, USA” and “American Dream” both went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In addition to documentaries, she has also...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Eva Mulvad – “Love Child”
Eva Mulvad had her international breakthrough in 2006, with the release of documentary “Enemies of Happiness,” which followed a female politician in Afghanistan. The film won the World...
TIFF 2019 Women Directors: Meet Alla Kovgan – “Cunningham”
Alla Kovgan is writer, director, and editor who was born in Moscow. Her film “Nora” received 30 awards and was broadcast worldwide. She co-directed, wrote, and edited the Emmy-nominated...
Trailer Watch: Tilda Swinton Rewrites Cinematic History in “Women Make Film”
Women’s contributions to cinema have gone unacknowledged for far too long. “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema” aims to educate and enlighten audiences, illustrating...
Trailer Watch: A Female-Led Team of Medical Professionals Save Lives in Syria in “The Cave”
A trailer has dropped for “The Cave,” an upcoming National Geographic documentary that pays tribute to medical professionals working under the most harrowing circumstances imaginable. Led...
Rebecca Stern’s “Well Groomed” Lands at HBO
Neon-colored doggos are coming to HBO. The premium cable network has acquired “Well Groomed,” Rebecca Stern’s doc about competitive and creative dog grooming. A press release...
Exploring Trauma: VOD and Web Series Picks
In media, women’s pain is usually used to motivate men. So there’s a real demand for nuanced portrayals of female trauma, which looks at what women are actually going through — as...
“Varda by Agnès” Gets Release Date, Will Coincide with Touring Retrospective of Varda’s Work
Agnès Varda’s final film has a release date. Janus Films will release “Varda by Agnès” November 22 in New York at Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center with a national rollout to...
Exclusive: Rosine Mbakam’s Features to Make Joint Theatrical Premiere
Cameroonian director Rosine Mbakam’s first two features are set to make their joint theatrical premiere. Women and Hollywood can reveal that “The Two Faces of a Bamileke Woman” and...
“Finding Farideh” Is Named Iran’s Submission for the International Feature Film Oscar
“Finding Farideh” is an Oscar hopeful. Co-directed by “From Iran, a Separation” collaborators Azadeh Mousavi and Kourosh Ataee, the documentary has been selected as Iran’s...
Trailer Watch: Ohio and China Find Conflict and Community in “American Factory”
When a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in economically depressed Dayton, Ohio, its residents are promised communal growth, jobs, and a future for their children. As the trailer for Julia...
Hanaa Edwar Documentary in the Works from Actress Zahraa Ghandour
As we previously reported, the 2019 Locarno Film Festival kicked off last week with Ginevra Elkann’s feature directorial debut “Magari.” This week’s festival screenings include...
Trailer Watch: Irene Taylor Brodsky Explores Music and Silence in “Moonlight Sonata”
“Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements” tells the story of a deaf boy growing up with a passion for Beethoven’s famous sonata, written the same year the composer was...
Jackie Collins Documentary in the Works from Laura Fairrie
Best-selling English romance novelist Jackie Collins, known for penning “Hollywood Wives,” “Chances,” and the Lucky Santangelo series, is getting her own documentary. Laura...