#Documentary
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Nahid Persson – “Be My Voice”
Nahid Persson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Sweden. She was born in Iran and took political asylum in Sweden as a result of her political activism during and after the 1979...
IDA Documentary Awards Nominations: “Faya Dayi,” “Jacinta,” and More
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced the nominees for this year’s IDA Documentary Awards. Five of 10 titles competing for the night’s top honor, Best Feature, are...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sonja Sohn – “The Slow Hustle”
Sonja Sohn is an actress and filmmaker. Her on-screen credits include “The Wire,” “Body of Proof,” and “The Chi.” She made her directorial debut with the 2017...
Alysa Nahmias’ “Krimes” Acquired by MTV Documentary Films
“Krimes” is going global. MTV Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights to Alysa Nahmias’ documentary, which made its world premiere at Heartland Film Festival and is currently...
Trailer Watch: “Adrienne” Honors Late “Waitress” Filmmaker Adrienne Shelly
Adrienne Shelly “craved having her voice heard and her vision be out there,” we’re told in a new trailer for “Adrienne,” an HBO documentary honoring the late actress and...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sara Terry – “A Decent Home”
Sara Terry is a documentary filmmaker. Her first documentary “Fambul Tok,” about an unprecedented grassroots forgiveness program in Sierra Leone, was supported by Sundance and Chicken and...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Constance Marks – “Grandpa Was an Emperor”
Constance Marks is a director, producer, and award-winning independent documentary filmmaker. She is the founder and president of Constance Marks Productions, Inc., a documentary production company...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Julia Bacha – “Boycott”
Julia Bacha is a Peabody award-winning filmmaker and the Creative Director at Just Vision. She started her filmmaking career in Cairo, where she wrote and edited “Control Room,” for which...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Maria Speth – “Mr. Bachmann and His Class”
Maria Speth is a writer, director, and producer of feature films and documentaries. Her debut feature “The Days Between” premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2001,...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Nira Burstein – “Charm Circle”
Nira Burstein is an emerging director based in New York City and was recently selected for Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Burstein is an Independent Film Project (now The...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Emily Kuester – “Messwood”
Emily Kuester is a director, producer, and writer. She got her start at 371 Productions and has assisted in producing short and long form documentaries, virtual reality experiences (2019 Sundance VR...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Alysa Nahmias – “Krimes”
Alysa Nahmias is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of the Los Angeles-based production company AJNA. Her work has been shown at festivals and exhibitions worldwide, including the Venice...
Vivian Kleiman Talks Tracing Queer Comics’ Journey to the Mainstream with “No Straight Lines”
Vivian Kleiman is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. A longtime producer with storied filmmaker Marlon Riggs, her credits include additional cinematography on his landmark documentary “Tongues...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Neasa Ní Chianáín – “Young Plato”
Neasa Ní Chianáin is a documentary filmmaker whose credits include “Frank Ned & Busy Lizzie,” “Fairytale of Kathmandu,” and “The Stranger,” which screened at...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Abby Epstein – “The Business of Birth Control”
Abby Epstein started her career as a theater director having her own Chicago-based production company, Roadworks Productions, which was founded in 1992. After directing a few productions in Chicago,...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Erin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship – “Refuge”
Erin Bernhardt is an independent filmmaker. She has won two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, and numerous film festival awards. Her first independent feature documentary, “Imba Means Sing,” aired...
Pick of the Day: “Cusp”
Ahead of “Cusp’s” world premiere at Sundance, directors Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt told us that they hope audiences will “think about what it actually looks like to...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Holly Morris – “Exposure”
For two decades Holly Morris has told, and championed, pro-woman, cross-cultural stories on the global stage. She is an internationally known filmmaker, author, and presenter. Her last feature film,...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sandra Alvarez – “InHospitable”
Sandra Alvarez has spent her career directing and producing a wide spectrum of documentary and television programs for CNN, Netflix, Sundance Channel, History Channel, BBC America, A&E Network,...
Trailer Watch: Abby Epstein Investigates “The Business of Birth Control”
“Birth control is so inextricably tied into our freedom as women — but only half the story is being told,” we’re informed in a new trailer for “The Business of Birth...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Yasmin C. Rams – “Go Heal Yourself”
Yasmin C. Rams’ credits include the mid-length documentary “Miriam” and the short documentary “A Life in Blue.” She co-directed the former and directed the latter. As a...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Kavery Kaul – “The Bengali”
Kavery Kaul is a filmmaker and the founder of riverfilms. She was born in India and is based in the U.S. Her works have been featured at DOC NYC, Telluride, London, Rotterdam and Sydney Festivals,...
First Feature Doc About Rosa Parks in the Works from Directors Yoruba Richen & Johanna Hamilton
After several years of biopic talks, Rosa Parks is finally getting her own film. Yoruba Richen (“The Green Book: Guide to Freedom”) and Johanna Hamilton (“1971”) are directing...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Bianca Stigter – “Three Minutes: A Lengthening”
Bianca Stigter is a historian and cultural critic. She made the short film essays “Three Minutes – Thirteen Minutes – Thirty Minutes” and “I Kiss This Letter –...
DOC NYC 2021 Preview: Films About Social Justice, Systemic Racism, Healthcare, and More
DOC NYC 2021 is kicking off today, November 10. The documentary film festival will feature in-person events through November 18 and online screenings through November 28. Women and Hollywood has...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Yunhong Pu – “Go Through the Dark”
Yunhong Pu is a director, editor, cinematographer, and producer based in New York City. Born and raised in China, she received her MFA in Social Documentary Film from SVA in 2019. “Go Through...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Valerie Blankenbyl – “The Bubble”
Valerie Blankenbyl is an Austrian documentary filmmaker. She previously directed feature length documentaries “I Am Jesus” and “A Mother’s Dream.” “The Bubble”...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Vera Krichevskaya – “F@ck This Job”
Vera Krichevskaya is a Russian filmmaker. She is the co-founder of TV Dozhd (TV Rain), which is the only independent private TV channel in Russia. She is an award-winning television director and has...
Pick of the Day: “The Dilemma of Desire”
Described by director Maria Finitzo as “a film about power, and how power is easily taken when the truth is replaced with a lie,” “The Dilemma of Desire” puts the clitoris under a microscope...
Exclusive: Holly Morris Spotlights the Women’s Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition in “Exposure” Teaser
Explorer Felicity Aston leads a high-stakes expedition in “Exposure,” a documentary that’s set to make its world premiere at DOC NYC November 13. “This is such a dangerous...
European Film Award Nominations: “Titane” and “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Up for Top Honor
The European Film Academy has announced nominations for the 34th European Film Awards, and Julia Ducournau’s “Titane” and Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?”...
IDA Documentary Awards’ 2021 Honorees Include Jean Tsien, Cecilia Aldarondo, & Rintu Thomas
Jean Tsien, Cecilia Aldarondo, and Rintu Thomas will be among the honorees at the 37th edition of the IDA Documentary Awards. A press release from the International Documentary Association (IDA)...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jamie Boyle – “Anonymous Sister”
Jamie Boyle is a two-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. She is the director, cinematographer, and editor of the short documentary “Take A Vote” and she is the producer, editor, and...
DOC NYC 2021 Women Directors: Meet Alexandra Dalsbaek – “We Are Russia”
Alexandra Dalsbaek is a French-Russian filmmaker based in Moscow. Previously a freelance journalist, she made her documentary feature debut with “Cinderella Syndrome,” which premiered in...
Trailer Watch: Debbie Lum Follows Ivy League Hopefuls at an Elite High School in “Try Harder!”
Debbie Lum takes audiences inside the #1 ranked public high school in San Francisco in “Try Harder!” “The kids who come here, they are competing in a world that is very high...
November 2021 Film Preview
November promises to ring in the festive season with fervor and fanfare, with a list of highly anticipated releases hitting theaters and streaming platforms. The dynamic offerings this month include...
Mamie Lang Kirkland Doc “100 Years from Mississippi” Acquired by Virgil Films
Film audiences will soon get to learn about Mamie Lang Kirkland and her incredible life. According to Deadline, a documentary about the activist, directed by her son Tarabu Betserai Kirkland, has...
Exclusive: Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fork Films Select Participants for Inaugural Story Workshop
Chicken & Egg Pictures and Fork Films are joining forces on a new creative story workshop for documentarians. Women and Hollywood can exclusively reveal that the orgs have selected the...
IDA Documentary Awards Announces Shortlists, 52 Percent of Feature Directors Are Women
Awards season is heating up. Gotham Award and Critics Choice nominations dropped last week, more and more countries are submitting their picks in the International Oscar Feature race, and the...
Trailer Watch: Rachel Boynton Explores How History Is Taught in “Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are)”
From three-time Emmy nominee Rachel Boynton, “Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are)” explores the legacy of a defining moment in American history. The documentary examines how the story...
Nearly Half of DOC NYC’s 2021 Features Lineup Is Women-Directed
DOC NYC has announced the majority of its 2021 slate. Of 112 features set to screen, 54 are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 48 percent of the program. The “Short...
NewFest 2021 Women Directors: Meet Emily Branham – “Being BeBe: The BeBe Zahara Benet Documentary”
Emily Branham is a filmmaker captivated by artists, performance, and identity. She directs short documentaries for art and corporate organizations including Lincoln Center, AT&T, and JP Morgan,...
Amanda Lipitz Talks “Found,” Her Doc About Biological Cousins Who Bond Over Their Adoptions
Amanda Lipitz is an award-winning producer, writer, and director. Her directorial debut and first feature-length documentary, “Step,” premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film...
“True Things,” “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” & “Becoming Cousteau” Among BFI London Film Fest Winners
Harry Wootliff landed “one of the biggest financial prizes in the UK independent film industry” at the BFI London Film Festival. The “True Things” helmer won the £50,000...
Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller’s “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” Lands at Sony Pictures Classics
Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s tribute to the man born with the gift of a golden voice has found a home. Sony Pictures Classics acquired all rights in all media worldwide, excluding France and...
Pick of the Day: “Introducing, Selma Blair”
Selma Blair holds no illusions about her place in Hollywood. Whether it’s “Cruel Intentions,” “Legally Blonde,” or “Hellboy,” she’s best known standing...
Trailer Watch: Teenage Girls Are On the “Cusp” in Sundance Doc
“I don’t know how to describe me. I’m not an adult, but I’m not a kid anymore,” says one of the teens at the center of “Cusp.” From Parker Hill and Isabel...
Phenomenal’s Meena Harris & More to Appear in Women in STEM Short Doc from Reese Witherspoon
A new short documentary about women trailblazers in STEM is on the way. Set to stream on-demand in January, “In Her Element” focuses on “female pioneers using technology to advance...
Joni Mitchell Doc “50 Years of Blue” Heads to Marketplace, Teresa Griffiths Directs
eOne has kicked off global sales (excluding the U.K.) for the BBC Two feature doc “Joni Mitchell: 50 Years of Blue,” Deadline reports. A look at Mitchell’s creative process for what...
Hamptons Film Fest Winners: “Murina,” “Ascension,” and More
“Murina” and “Ascension” scored top honors out of the 2021 Hamptons International Film Festival. Already winners in the festival circuit, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s...
Trailer Watch: Amanda Lipitz Follows Adopted American Teens on a Journey to China in “Found”
An unexpected connection forged on 23andMe leads to a life-changing trip to China in “Found,” Amanda Lipitz’s latest. A trailer for the doc sees three adopted American teenage girls...