#Documentary
Hot Docs Adds “One Child Nation,” “I Love You, Now Die,” & More to Special Presentations Lineup
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has added more titles to its Special Presentations lineup, described as “a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award...
SXSW 2019 Awards: “For Sama” and “Alice” Win Top Prizes
Women directed 60 percent of the films screening in Competition at SXSW, and lo and behold, they dominated the awards. Women-helmed pics took home the Feature Film Grand Jury Awards in the Narrative...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Julia Parnell – “The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps”
Julia Parnell is an award-winning producer and documentary director from New Zealand. Her work has been chosen for festivals in New Zealand and Australia such as DocEdge, NZIFF and MIFF, as well as...
Trailer Watch: Steve Bannon Will Do Anything to Win in Alison Klayman’s “The Brink”
According to Steve Bannon, he’s the one responsible for Donald Trump being named the 45th President of the United States. “If I had not come in as CEO of the campaign Trump would not have...
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival to Open with “American Factory”
Sundance winner “American Factory” is slated to open the 22nd annual edition of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. A look inside what happened when a Chinese billionaire opened a...
Trailer Watch: Alice Guy-Blaché Doc “Be Natural” Tells the Story of the First Female Filmmaker
#TimesUp on Alice Guy-Blaché’s contributions to cinema being overlooked, underestimated, and forgotten. “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” tells the story of the first...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Erin Derham – “Stuffed”
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...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Sandy K. Boone – “J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and The Church of the SubGenius”
Sandy K. Boone is a director and producer. She began making films in the 1980s with her late husband, filmmaker David Boone. She served as associate producer on “Richard Linklater: Dream is...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Trainer – “Museum Town”
Jennifer Trainer is an award-winning journalist and author of 19 books that have been translated into ten languages. She wrote the first story about Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art for The...
SXSW Women Directors: Meet Marlén Viñayo – “Cachada: The Opportunity”
Marlén Viñayo is a TV and film director, producer, and documentary screenwriter based in El Salvador. She has worked for PBS Frontline, BBC News, and CCTV Americas Now, among others. In...
SXSW Women Directors: Meet Erin Lee Carr: “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter”
Erin Lee Carr is a writer, director, and producer. She recently directed an episode of Netflix’s “Dirty Money,” an investigation into price gouging tactics revolutionized by pharma...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Linda Goldstein Knowlton – “We Are The Radical Monarchs”
Linda Goldstein Knowlton is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker working in documentary and scripted feature films as well as television. She executive produced “Dream, Girl” and “Whale Rider.”...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jenna Ricker – “Qualified”
Jenna Ricker is a producer and director. In 2007, she wrote, directed, and produced her first feature film, “Ben’s Plan,” a coming-of-age drama made on a micro-budget, which was...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Elizabeth Carroll – “Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy”
Elizabeth Carroll is a director and producer. In 2013, she founded Honeywater Films to produce stories about food. She has directed video content for The New York Times. “Nothing Fancy: Diana...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jessica Oreck – “One Man Dies a Million Times”
Jessica Oreck is a writer and director. Her first film, “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo,” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2010 and aired on PBS’ “Independent...
Trailer Watch: Aretha Franklin Brings the House Down in “Amazing Grace”
Aretha Franklin’s iconic pipes are the focus of a new trailer for “Amazing Grace.” Shot in 1972 over two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in LA, the long-awaited...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Tracey Frazier – “Becoming Leslie”
Tracy Frazier first became involved in film production working as an assistant director on the feature film “Jumping Off Bridges.” Frazier went on to produce two short films,...
Hot Docs 2019’s Special Presentations Lineup Is Nearly 50 Percent Women-Directed
Hot Docs has announced the 15 features comprising this year’s Special Presentations program. Seven of the titles are directed by women, or 47 percent of the slate, which is described as...
SXSW 2019 Women Directors: Meet Elizabeth Sankey – “Romantic Comedy”
Elizabeth Sankey is an English writer, musician, and actor. As a cultural commentator, she has written for The Guardian, NME, Vice, and McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. With her band, Summer Camp,...
Weekly Update for March 1: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Greta No good deed goes unpunished in “Greta.” The campy thriller sees Chloë Grace Moretz playing Frances, a kind young woman new to New York City. One fateful day...
“Made in NY” Women’s Film, TV & Theatre Fund Presents $1.5M to 63 Projects
The first round of “Made in NY” Women’s Film, TV & Theatre Fund grants have been awarded, a press release has announced. New York Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and the Mayor’s Office...
Black Women Make History at Oscars 2019
A record number of women took home statuettes at last night’s Academy Awards. Though they were shut out of a number of categories — most notably, Best Director — women won 15...
Trailer Watch: HBO Doc “The Inventor” Exposes Elizabeth Holmes’ Fake Medical Revolution
Elizabeth Holmes’ dream is that “less people have to say goodbye too soon to people they love.” She reveals this aspiration in the new trailer for “The Inventor: Out for Blood...
Four Gender Equality Docs to Air on WORLD Channel in Honor of Women’s History Month
If you want to celebrate Women’s History Month by supporting stories about women bucking tradition and demanding equality and justice all over the globe, then WORLD Channel is here for you. The...
Kim Longinotto’s “Shooting the Mafia” Nabbed by Cohen Media Group
Another woman-directed Sundance pic will receive distribution. Cohen Media Group snagged U.S. rights to Kim Longinotto’s latest documentary, “Shooting the Mafia,” following its recent...
Award-Winning Sundance Docs From Liza Mandelup and Tamara Kotevska Secure Distribution
Two more women-directed Sundance pics have found homes. Liza Mandelup’s “Jawline” and Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s “Honeyland” have nabbed...
Steubenville Doc “Roll Red Roll” Gets Theatrical Release and “POV” Premiere Date
A deep dive into the crimes that placed Steubenville, Ohio in national headlines, “Roll Red Roll” has found a home. A press release announced that Together Films has acquired Nancy...
Weekly Update for February 8: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING What Men Want – Written by Tina Gordon Chism, Alex Gregory, and Peter Huyck Inspired by the Nancy Meyers hit romantic comedy “What Women Want,” this film follows...
From Dialogue to Action: Crowdfunding Picks
The question of turning dialogue into action is not a new one, particularly in an age where the internet allows millions of people around the world to participate in conversations about issues such...
Women in Politics Doc “Knock Down the House” Nabs Record Sundance Deal, Wins Fest Fave Award
We already knew “Knock Down the House” was one of Sundance 2019’s biggest winners. Rachel Lears’ documentary about four working-class, progressive women running for Congress...
Women Dominate Sundance 2019 Awards: Chinonye Chukwu, Nanfu Wang, & More
Exactly zero women are up for Best Director at the upcoming Oscars, and none of the films nominated for Best Picture are helmed by women. Fortunately, the Sundance Awards are here to remind everyone...
February 2019 Film Preview
From rom-coms to slashers to dramas, moviegoers have plenty of options when it comes to films made by and about women this February. The month kicks off with the February 1 release of Catherine...
Sundance: “Knock Down the House,” “Them That Follow,” and More Land Distribution
Sundance doesn’t just present filmmakers with the opportunity to have their films seen — the fest is also a great place to have your work seen by someone who wants to buy it. Gurinder...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Petra Costa – “The Edge of Democracy”
Petra Costa is a Brazilian filmmaker whose work encompasses both fiction and nonfiction. Her first film, “Elena,” premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Her...
Ava DuVernay’s Array Acquires Sundance Title “Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen”
Ava DuVernay made history at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival when she became the first Black woman to take home the Directing Award for U.S. Dramatic Film. She won the honor for “Middle of...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Nanfu Wang – “One Child Nation”
Nanfu Wang is an Emmy-nominated and Peabody-winning filmmaker based in New York City. Wang’s feature debut, “Hooligan Sparrow,” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jacqueline Olive – “Always in Season”
Jacqueline Olive is an independent filmmaker and immersive media producer with more than a decade of experience in journalism and film. She co-directed and produced the award-winning short...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Bert & Bertie – “Troop Zero”
Bert & Bertie are a female writing-directing duo from London. Their combined backgrounds in photography and performance led them to filmmaking. Their credits include “Worm,”...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Janice Engel – “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins”
Janice Engel is an award-winning filmmaker and showrunner. Engel has made numerous documentaries, non-fiction television specials, and series including “Jackson Browne: Going Home,”...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Britt Poulton – “Them That Follow”
Britt Poulton is a writer and director. After studying International Relations at UC Berkeley, she left politics to pursue film and completed her MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She wrote...
Trailer Watch: Join an All-Female Sailing Crew as They Race Around the World in “Maiden”
“For me, sailing is about freedom — freedom of everything. I was leaving everything behind,” says Tracy Edwards in a new trailer for “Maiden.” The documentary revisits...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Rachel Leah Jones – “Advocate”
Rachel Leah Jones is a critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker and producer whose work focuses on Israel and Palestine. Her directing credits include “500 Dunam on the Moon,”...
Chicken & Egg Award Winners and (Egg)celerator Lab Participants Announced
Chicken & Egg Pictures has confirmed the 2019 recipients of the Chicken & Egg Award (formerly the Breakthrough Filmmaker Award) and the selected titles for the (Egg)celerator Lab (formerly...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Alice Waddington – “Paradise Hills”
Alice Waddington’s first short 2015’s “Disco Inferno,” was invited to 65 international film festivals, including Fantastic Fest, where it won Best Director and Best Feature...
Julia Reichert to Receive Outstanding Achievement Award at Hot Docs 2019
Documentarian Julia Reichert will soon have another honor to go with her Emmy and three Oscar noms. Hot Docs has announced it is presenting the director with its Outstanding Achievement Award at...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Debra Eisenstadt – “Imaginary Order”
Debra Eisenstadt is a writer, director, producer, and editor. She wrote, produced, directed, shot, and edited the feature film “Daydream Believer,” which won a 2002 Independent Spirit...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Ursula Macfarlane – “Untouchable”
Ursula Macfarlane is an award-winning UK-based documentary filmmaker. Her films include “One Deadly Weekend in America,” “Charlie Hebdo: Three Days That Shook Paris,” and...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Penny Lane – “Hail Satan?”
Penny Lane has previously directed feature documentaries “The Pain of Others,” “Our Nixon,” and “Nuts!” Her work has screened at International Film Festival...
Trailer Watch: A Drama Teacher & Her Class Help Heal Their School in “Song of Parkland”
“We were in the middle of rehearsal, the middle of a scene, and I heard some shots,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High drama teacher Melody Herzfeld recalls about February 14, 2018 in the...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lulu Wang – “The Farewell”
Lulu Wang is a classical-pianist-turned-filmmaker. Born in Beijing, raised in Miami, and educated in Boston, Wang is a recipient of the 2014 Chaz and Roger Ebert Directing Fellowship, awarded at the...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Baichwal – “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch”
Jennifer Baichwal has been directing and producing documentaries for over 20 years. Her award-winning films include “Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles,” “Watermark,”...