#Documentary
Trailer Watch: “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” Celebrates the Musician & His Anthem
“You look around and see a world that cannot be made sense of — you either raise your fist, or you say ‘hallelujah,'” Leonard Cohen observes in a new trailer for...
Miriam Chandy Menacherry’s “From the Shadows” Selected for Breaking Through the Lens Program
“From the Shadows,” a documentary about child sex trafficking from Miriam Chandy Menacherry, has been chosen for the Breaking Through the Lens initiative out of the Cannes Film Market....
Trailer Watch: A GOP Wife Stands Up to Nixon in “The Martha Mitchell Effect” Short Doc
“I do say what I please,” Martha Mitchell declares via archival footage in the new trailer for “The Martha Mitchell Effect.” From directors Anne Alvergue and Debra McClutchy,...
Gia Coppola to Helm “superfans,” a Doc Celebrating Boy Band Fandom
Gia Coppola is paying tribute to the fanatics who worship at the altar of Joey, Nathan, Nick, Justin, Ashley, Harry, and Jungkook. She’ll follow-up “Mainstream,” her 2020...
Gilda Sheppard on Investigating a Culture of Punishment and Racism in “Since I Been Down”
Gilda Sheppard is an award-winning filmmaker who has screened her documentaries throughout the U.S. and internationally. Sheppard is a 2017 Hedgebrook Fellow for documentary film and a 2019 recipient...
Nina Menkes Doc “Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power” Acquired by Kino Lorber
Nina Menkes’ investigation of the male gaze is headed to Kino Lorber. A press release announced the company has snagged North American rights to “Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power.” As...
Under the Radar: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Seeks Empathy with “Kímmapiiyipitssini”
When Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, an award-winning writer, director, and actress, was developing her most recent feature documentary about substance-use disorders and harm reduction, she wasn’t sure...
Cannes 2022 Women Directors: Meet Romane Gueret & Lise Akoka – “The Worst Ones” (“Les Pires”)
Romane Gueret studied cinema at the Sorbonne and took her first steps toward directing as an assistant director, casting assistant, and camerawoman. A trained actress, Lise Akoka discovered, in the...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Lopez Celebrates Milestones & Looks Onward in Amanda Micheli’s “Halftime”
“My whole life, I’ve been battling to be heard, to be seen, to be taken seriously,” says Jennifer Lopez in a new trailer for “Halftime.” Slated to open this year’s...
Lizzo Documentary in the Works at HBO Max
It’s about damn time: a film about Lizzo is finally on the way. According to a press release, HBO Max will premiere an as-yet untitled documentary about the music superstar this fall. Lizzo,...
Lisa Cortés Making a Little Richard Documentary for CNN Films & HBO Max, Dee Rees Producing
Less than a month after she inked a first-look deal with Blue Ant Studios — and announced she’s working on a docuseries about women in hip-hop, a drama about Black and Indigenous women...
Trailer Watch: Rebeca Huntt Explores Her Identity and Trauma in “Beba”
“You are now entering my universe,” announces Rebeca Huntt in a new trailer for “Beba.” “I am the lens, the subject, and the authority.” The doc sees the...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg’s New Project: Hatched Grantees Tackle Gender Identity, Mental Illness, & More
A portrait of an abolitionist trying to heal her family in the wake of incarceration, an animated short presenting gender fluidity through a child’s eyes, and the story of 30 women crossing...
Trailer Watch: “Bitterbrush” Follows Two Women Herding Cattle in the American West
“I love this work. I love this lifestyle,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Bitterbrush.” Emelie Mahdavian’s documentary follows Hollyn Patterson and Colie Moline, two...
Documentary Departments at BBC and Channel 4 Commit to 50 Percent Women Directors
The documentary departments at the BBC and Channel 4 have both committed to 50 percent women director hires across their respective outputs. According to Deadline, they follow the current affairs...
Maris Curran’s Doc “Jeannette” Among Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Fest’s 2022 Lineup
The Inside Out Toronto 2S (two spirit) LGBTQ+ Film Festival has announced its lineup for its 32nd edition, which will take place May 26-June 5. The program will showcase almost 130 films, including...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Laura Ángel Córdoba – “Ernesto, Gracias”
Laura Ángel Córdoba was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and migrated to Costa Rica. She has participated in over 30 documentary projects focusing on a wide variety of topics in Costa Rica, Panama,...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Kathryn Ferguson – “Nothing Compares”
Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson is an award-winning director whose innovative and boundary-pushing documentary work has screened globally. She was nominated for the Grand Prix award at Clermont-Ferrand...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Patty Ivins Specht – “Deconstructing Karen”
Patty Ivins Specht is an Emmy award winning producer, director, and writer who has made several documentaries about womanhood, including “Hungry,” “Mean Girls: Mind Games,”...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Bogna Kowalczyk – “Boylesque”
Bogna Kowalczyk currently works as a creative art director, director, and animator at Warsaw Production. Since 2009 she has been directing animated films and music videos and has supported dozens of...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Pauline Beugnies – “The End of Innocence” (“Petites”)
Pauline Beugnies is an author, photographer, and director from Belgium. For 10 years, she has been documenting the emancipation of youth in Egypt in multiple forms: photo exhibitions, 2012 web...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Pilar Moreno & Ana Endara – “For Your Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Museum”
Pilar Moreno is a visual artist from Spain and based in Panama, whose art projects address social and political issues. Her previous credits include documentaries “Reinas” — which...
May 2022 Film Preview
Where one might expect a heavy slate of mom-centric films in honor of Mother’s Day, this month’s releases buck expectations, relying primarily on darker, sometimes more unsettling, themes —...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Zaynê Akyol – “Rojek”
Zaynê Akyol’s first feature documentary, “Gulîstan, Land of Roses,” was selected by 80 international film festivals, earning 50 nominations and winning 12 awards, including the...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Lina Rodriguez – “Mis Dos Voces” (“My Two Voices”)
Colombian/Canadian filmmaker Lina Rodriguez is the writer-director of narrative features “Señoritas” and “This Time Tomorrow,” which have been showcased in festivals and...
May 2022 Television Preview
Mysteries and action series abound this month, with intrepid protagonists navigating dangerous worlds and overcoming all odds to complete their respective missions. Whether it’s a Jewish...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Hanna Polak – “Angels of Sinjar”
A producer, director, and cinematographer, Polish filmmaker Hanna Polak received an Academy Award and a News and Documentary Emmy nomination for the documentary short “The Children of...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Phyllis Ellis – “Category: Woman”
Phyllis Ellis is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, actor, and producer who has worked in Europe, Asia, Africa, India, and the U.S. for the past 35 years. Nominated for the 2021 International Emmys and...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Jacquelyn Mills – “Geographies of Solitude”
Jacquelyn Mills is an award-winning filmmaker from Cape Breton Island and based in Montreal. Her film “In the Waves” premiered at Visions du Réel and was theatrically released at...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Laura Faerman and Marina Weis – “The Wind Blows the Border”
Laura Faerman has been working as a documentarist, researcher, and curator for the past 20 years. In 2014 Faerman worked as an audiovisual researcher at the Indigenous National Truth Commission,...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Noura Kevorkian – “Batata”
Noura Kevorkian is a Syrian-Lebanese filmmaker who made her filmmaking debut with her first short documentary ” Veils Uncovered” (Official Competition, Amsterdam IDFA) about lingerie and...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Chloe Sosa-Sims – “Hunting in Packs”
Chloe Sosa-Sims is a Toronto-based director, producer, and writer. Her feature debut, “Dan and Margot,” illuminated the complicated truths of schizophrenia. Sosa-Sims has participated in...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Olha Zhurba – “Outside”
Olha Zhurba is a Ukrainian filmmaker whose first short fiction film ,”Dad’s Sneakers,” premiered in the short competition at Locarno Film Festival 2021 and won Best Ukrainian Short...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Jackie Torrens – “Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langille”
Jackie Torrens is an actor, writer, and documentary filmmaker. In 2012, she co-founded Peep Media with producer Jessica Brown, and since then they have completed four television documentaries for the...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Meet Jasmín Mara López – “Silent Beauty”
Jasmín Mara López is a journalist, audio producer, and documentary filmmaker living between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Born in the U.S. with familial roots in México, her childhood was affected...
Hot Docs 2022 Women Directors: Stacey Tenenbaum – “Scrap”
Stacey Tenenbaum is an award-winning producer and director. In 2014 she founded H2L Productions, a boutique documentary film production company specializing in crafting international character-driven...
Rita Baghdadi “Sirens” Doc About Middle East’s First All-Female Metal Band Lands at Oscilloscope
Get ready to rock: Oscilloscope Laboratories has landed North American rights to “Sirens,” a documentary charting the rise of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, and is...
Sarah Jones on”Sell/Buy/Date,” an “Unorthodoc” Exploring the Sex Industry
Sarah Jones is a Tony Award-winning performer, writer, comedian, and activist known for her multi-character, one-person shows, including Broadway hit “Bridge & Tunnel,” originally...
Maris Curran Talks “Jeannette,” Her Portrait of a Pulse Night Club Survivor
Maris Curran’s films have shown at Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, the Museum of Modern Art, the NY Times Op-Docs, and PBS’ “Independent Lens.” Her debut narrative...
Julie Cohen & Betsy West’s Gabby Giffords Doc Acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment, Sets Release Date
Oscar-nominated “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen have found a home for their latest documentary. “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down,” which chronicles the titular...
Women Directed 46 Percent of 2022 Tribeca Film Fest Features
Kyra Sedgwick, Geeta Gandbhir, Katie Holmes, Nadia Hallgren, and Hannah Marks are among the directors who will premiere films at the 2022 edition of Tribeca Film Festival. More than 64 percent of the...
Pick of the Day: “La Madrina: The [Savage] Life of Lorine Padilla”
A loving tribute to a South Bronx matriarch, “La Madrina: The Savage Life of Lorine Padilla” sees the former “First Lady” of the Savage Skulls gang telling her incredible life story....
Jennifer Lopez Doc “Halftime” to Open Tribeca Film Fest, Amanda Micheli Directs
Jennifer Lopez is heading towards the Bronx to debut her latest project. A press release announced that a Netflix doc about the global superstar will open the 2022 edition of Tribeca Film...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest NY Edition Includes “Midwives” & “The Janes,” 70% of Filmmakers Are Women
Human Rights Watch Film Festival’s New York edition has announced its 2022 program. Seventy percent of this of this year’s filmmakers are women and 70 percent are sharing a story about their...
Exclusive: Indigenous Women Reflect on Standing Rock & Law Enforcement in “Women of the White Buffalo” Clip
“The oppressor is never going to free the victim. It’s always the victims that have to overcome and own their strength, and take back the respect, and take back their power,”...
Deborah Anderson on Highlighting Indigenous Voices in “Women of the White Buffalo”
Deborah Anderson is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer. Of Indigenous, Black, Irish, and Scottish descent, her photographic work has hung in galleries both in Europe and the U.S., including...
Kelsey Peterson Talks “Move Me,” Her Documentary Exploring Her Personal Journey Becoming Disabled
Kelsey Peterson is a dancer, choreographer, writer, and filmmaker. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Montana in 2008, and later, her yoga teacher certification from CorePower Yoga....
Laura Herrero Garvín on “La Mami,” a Doc About Women Who Connect & Transform in a Mexican Night Club
Born in Toledo, Spain, Laura Herrero Garvín is the co-founder of Sandia Digital, a company through which she has made about 20 short documentaries. Her professional career is closely linked to...
Trailer Watch: Emma Cooper Investigates “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe” in Netflix Doc
“The true things rarely get into circulation. It’s usually the false things,” says Marilyn Monroe in a trailer for a new Netflix documentary. From director Emma Cooper (“The...
April 2022 Television Preview
Though the most notable holiday of April is one that celebrates pranks, which are definitely not enjoyed by all, this month’s television premieres offer something for everyone. If you, like so...
April 2022 Film Preview
As we slip into springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, we witness the world around us transforming. It’s a time of metamorphosis, and April’s film slate is full of titles engaging with...