#Festivals
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Sonia Kennebeck – “Enemies of the State”
Sonia Kennebeck is an independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist with 17 years of directing and producing experience. Her first feature-length film, “National Bird,”...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Stacey Lee – “Underplayed”
Stacey Lee’s work focuses on humanity, music, and movement. Her documentary short “Live Fast Draw Yung” premiered at Tribeca in 2015, winning awards in Atlanta and Tacoma. She was...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Tracey Deer – “Beans”
Tracey Deer is a Mohawk filmmaker and the recipient of this year’s TIFF Emerging Talent Award. Deer is the director, co-creator, and co-showrunner of “Mohawk Girls,” for which she has been...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Abbott – “The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel”
Jennifer Abbott is a Sundance and Genie award-winning filmmaker who has been making films about social, political, and environmental issues for 25 years. She is best known as one of the directors and...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Emma Seligman – “Shiva Baby”
Emma Seligman is a Canadian filmmaker based in New York. She graduated from NYU’s Undergraduate Film & TV program in May 2017, where she made her first two short films, including her thesis,...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Madeleine Sims-Fewer – “Violation”
Madeleine Sims-Fewer studied film production at York University and completed an MFA in acting at Drama Centre London. She met Dusty Mancinelli at the 2015 TIFF Talent Lab and the pair joined forces...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Cathy Brady – “Wildfire”
Cathy Brady is a two-time Irish Film & Television Award-winning director. She was recognized for her short films “Small Change” and “Morning.” In 2011 she directed the...
Exclusive Featurette: Nicole Riegel on “Holler,” Her TIFF Pic About a Woman Struggling to Pay for College
“When I was a high school senior, I had a meeting with my guidance counselor. She told me that I would probably never go to college, and it was one of the most discouraging things that I think...
Jasmila Žbanić Announces New Projects Ahead of Venice Premiere of Her Latest, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
“Quo Vadis, Aida?,” Jasmila Žbanić’s portrait of a U.N. translator trying to seek shelter during the Bosnian War’s Srebrenica massacre, is making its world premiere at Venice...
Venice 2020 Women Directors: Meet Celine Held – “Topside”
Celine Held is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker. She works as a co-writer and director with her partner Logan George. Their work as a team has premiered in competition at SXSW, Sundance Film Festival, and...
Venice 2020 Women Directors: Meet Mona Fastvold – “The World to Come”
Mona Fastvold is a New York and Oslo-based writer-director. In early 2012 Mona received a prestigious development grant from the Norwegian Film Fund followed by production support for her directorial...
Venice 2020 Women Directors: Meet Nicole Garcia – “Lovers”
Nicole Garcia is a French director, screenwriter, and actress. Her credits include “From the Land of the Moon,” “A View of Love,” and “Charlie...
Trailer Watch: A Young Activist Becomes Radicalized in Venice’s “And Tomorrow the Entire World”
Is violence ever really justified? How far could — or should — one go to stop fascism or Nazism? Is peaceful protest actually effective? These are some of the questions Julia von Heinz...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Funmi Holder – “Efunsetan Aniwura”
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Funmi Holder has acted in over 25 movies since she made her debut in the Nigerian film industry. Her big break came in 2010, when she took the role of Amaka Okoh in the...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Alana Barrett-Adkins – “Asunder, One Flesh Divided”
Alana Barrett-Adkins is a director, actor, and producer. She is the CEO/Artistic Director of Rock Alari Studios, which has produced projects including the play “Women of Adonai,” the web...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Teniola Olatoni Ojigbede – “The New Normal”
Teniola Olatoni Ojigbede is the CEO and Creative Head of Sourmash Stories Production. “The New Normal” will screen at the 2020 American Black Film Festival, which takes place August...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Chyna Robinson – “No Ordinary Love”
Director, writer, and producer Chyna Robinson made her film debut with “Greenwood: 13 Hours,” a short that won 18 awards. “No Ordinary Love” marks her feature debut. In...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Drew V. Marke – “Get Luke Lowe”
Drew V. Marke has written short films which have been selected for international festivals such as Encounters and Sci-Fi London, won a Film London award, and been screened at the David Lean cinema...
American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Lineo Sekeleoane – “Zulu Wedding”
Lineo Sekeleoane is an award-winning film and television director and producer. She helmed the short film “My Zulu Promise,” and produced the short “Home Sweet Home” for M-Net...
Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship Announces Inaugural Class
Eleven artists have been selected for the inaugural Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship. According to a press release, the program is “designed to meaningfully support women artists creating...
Guest Post: By Creating a Living History of Women in Electronic Music, I’m Telling a Different Kind of Story
Guest Post by Lisa Rovner People often ask me why the women in my film “Sisters with Transistors” aren’t represented in the history of electronic music, and while there are many factors...
Natalie Erika James on Making “Relic,” a Psychological Horror Pic Inspired by Alzheimer’s
Natalie Erika James is a Japanese-Australian writer and director who is based in Melbourne, Australia. James’ 2016 short “Crestwick” premiered at the Melbourne International Film...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Mira Jargil – “Reunited”
Mira Jargil is known for the award-winning festival hit “The Time We Have,” the feature documentary “Dreaming of a Family,” and the series “Till Death Do Us Part.” The...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Erika Cohn – “Belly of the Beast”
Erika Cohn is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning director and producer. Most recently she completed “The Judge,” a Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated film about the first woman judge...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Shalini Kantayya – “Coded Bias”
Shalini Kantayya directed the season finale episode for the National Geographic television series “Breakthrough,” a series profiling trailblazing scientists transforming the future. Her debut...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Christina Antonakos-Wallace – “From Here”
Christina Antonakos-Wallace is a filmmaker and cultural organizer. Her short films and interactive work has been exhibited in over a dozen countries, in contexts from schools to festivals galleries...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Juliana Fanjul – “Radio Silence”
Juliana Fanjul received a BA in Visual Communication and attended the documentary department at EICTV (International Cinema and TV School of San Antonio de las Banos). She received a Masters in...
Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Ursula Liang – “Down a Dark Stairwell”
Ursula Liang is a journalist-turned-filmmaker and producer. Her producing credits include “One October,” “Tough Love,” “Wo Ai Ni Mommy,” “Spartan Ultimate...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Elizabeth D. Costa – “Bangla Surf Girls”
An alumna of the IDFA academy and former participant in the Chicken and Egg Accelerator Lab, Elizabeth D. Costa has over eight years of experience working on media projects as producer, director,...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Laura Gabbert – “Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles”
Laura Gabbert feature documentary credits include” “No Impact Man,” “Sunset Story,” and “City of Gold.” In 2017, she was a director on the Netflix show...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Chris J. Russo – “Lady Buds”
Chris J. Russo is a director whose work aims to give visibility to women in underrepresented communities in order to portray them in the power and equality they deserve. Her award-winning short films...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Asia Dér and Sári Haragonics – “Her Mothers”
Asia Dér graduated as a documentary director from the DOC Nomads MA program. Her graduation film was nominated for the best short film at the Hungarian Film Festival. She is working on her second...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Ying Wang – “The World is Bright”
As a migrant navigating between multiple cultures, Ying Wang is fascinated by stories that reveal the geopolitical complexity of global migration. Inspired by her sister’s experiences, Wang wrote...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Judith Helfand – “Love & Stuff”
Peabody award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand tackles some of the most pressing issues of our time — from the climate crisis and systemic inequality to love, grief, and the transformative...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Priscila Padilla – “Breaking the Silence”
Priscila Padilla is a Colombian documentarist and scriptwriter. With over 20 years of experience in the documentary field, her film work has always revolved around women’s issues and stories...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Maytorena Taylor – “For the Love of Rutland”
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor’s work has shown at venues like the Sundance, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Locarno Film Festivals, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, and the New York...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Sharon Liese – “Transhood”
Before completing “Pink Collar Crimes,” a true crime series for CBS, Sharon Liese’s short documentary “Fight for the First” premiered at Chuck Todd’s Meet the Press...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Cecilia Aldarondo – “Landfall”
Cecilia Aldarondo is a documentary director and producer from the Puerto Rican diaspora who makes films at the intersection of poetry and politics. Her work has been supported by ITVS, HBO, A&E,...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Deepti Gupta – “Shut Up Sona”
Deepti Gupta is a filmmaker and director of photography living in Mumbai, India. An alumna of the Film & TV Institute of India, she has shot many documentaries, narrative feature films, and music...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Stefanía Thors – “The School of Housewives”
Stefanía Thors is a filmmaker from Reykjavík, Iceland. She studied theater in Prague, and graduated with a masters from the Academy of Performing Arts. While studying, Thors worked as an assistant...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Maeve O’Boyle, Lucy Kennedy, and Aideen Kane – “The 8th”
Maeve O’Boyle is an Emmy-award winning editor and producer. She edited HBO’s “The Education of Mohammad Hussein,” which was shortlisted for an Academy Award. She co-produced and...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Diana Neille – “Influence”
Diana Neille is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker from Johannesburg, South Africa. Neille co-founded two media startups with the intention of fostering long-form investigative storytelling...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Suzanne Crocker – “First We Eat”
Suzanne Crocker’s first feature, “POV” documentary “All the Time in the World,” won 22 festival awards from around the world including nine audience choice awards, four...
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...
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 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...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Sabrina Doyle – “Lorelei”
Sabrina Doyle is a British writer and director based in Los Angeles and London. The AFI alumna’s directing has been supported by Women in Film LA, the Chimaera Project, Google, Panavision, the...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Anna Kerrigan – “Cowboys”
Anna Kerrigan is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker with a background in independent film, digital storytelling, and theater. “Hot Seat,” which she wrote and directed, premiered at Sundance 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...