#Festivals
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Dea Gjinovci – “Wake Up on Mars”
Dea Gjinovci is a Swiss-Albanian director and producer. She is a 2019 Sundance Talent Forum alum and 2019 Film Independent Fellow. Her award-winning documentary short “Sans le Kosovo”...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kristine Stolakis – “Pray Away”
Kristine Stolakis is a director whose films explore power, politics, and prejudice — and the way they unfold in real people’s lives. Stolakis’ directorial debut, “The Typist,”...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Jessica Earnshaw – “Jacinta”
Jessica Earnshaw is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on criminal justice and healthcare. In 2015, she received the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation Fellowship and Grant to...
Tribeca 2020 Women Directors: Meet Brea Grant – “12 Hour Shift”
Brea Grant is a multi-hyphenate from Texas best known for acting in “Heroes” and “Dexter” and for writing and directing the apocalyptic feature “Best Friends...
“M for Magic’s” Alexis Manya Spraic on Hollywood’s Magic Castle and Women’s Unacknowledged Work
Filmmaker Alexis Manya Spraic is a fourth-generation Angeleno who is drawn to transformative stories of women and people of color languishing in the footnotes of history and culture. She has dual...
These Projects Have Been Affected by Coronavirus. Here’s How You Can Help.
It seems like every day brings more cancellations, closings, and upsetting news. The coronavirus is affecting the whole world, not least of all the artists and creators who are trying to bring their...
SXSW 2020 Preview: Striking Secretaries, an Inclusive Musical, and More
After murmurs of speculation, word came last week that SXSW 2020 had officially been cancelled. Coronavirus put the brakes on the 27th edition of the Austin-based fest, which was set to include a...
Has Your Project Been Impacted by SXSW or Another Fest’s Cancellation? W&H Wants to Help
With the cancellation of SXSW — and numerous other festivals and events — due to the coronavirus outbreak, many filmmaking teams are struggling. Money has been lost, not to mention a huge...
Judith Light Will Receive Variety Icon Award at Canneseries
Judith Light has been named as the third-ever recipient of the Variety Icon Award. She follows in the footsteps of “Downton Abbey’s” Michelle Dockery and “Game of...
Women Write 28.5% of Film Reviews Across Europe, According to New Study Presented at Berlinale
Le Collectif 50/50 is expanding upon the research it conducted on gender representation among film critics. Last year the equality collective released a study revealing that women represent 47...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Channing Godfrey Peoples – “Miss Juneteenth”
Channing Godfrey Peoples is an MFA graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and one of Filmmaker magazine’s 2018 “25 new faces of independent film.” She wrote two episodes of “Queen...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Susanne Regina Meures – “Saudi Runaway”
Susanne Regina Meures is a Swiss-German filmmaker. Her debut film, “Raving Iran,” premiered in 2016 and has been shown at over 130 film festivals worldwide, including Hot Docs and Visions...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Zoé Wittock – “Jumbo”
Originally hailing from Belgium, Zoé Wittock grew up travelling the world. She attended the International Film School of Paris. Her shorts include “A demi-mot,” “Still,” and...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Ramona S. Diaz – “A Thousand Cuts”
Ramona S. Diaz’s award-winning films include “Imelda,” “The Learning,” “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” and...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Cristina Costantini – “Mucho Mucho Amor”
Cristina Costantini’s first feature documentary, “Science Fair,” won audience awards at both the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals in 2018, as well as an Emmy and Critics’ Choice...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Verónica Chen – “High Tide”
Verónica Chen was born in Buenos Aires and raised in Texas. Her films have screened at festivals such as Venice, Sundance, and San Sebastián, among others. Her films include “Smokers...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kim A. Snyder – “Us Kids”
Kim A. Snyder directed the Peabody Award–winning documentary “Newtown,” which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival before screening at festivals worldwide, being released...
Research: More WOC Festival Programmers Means More WOC Directors Screening Films
We’re smack dab in the middle of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where 46 percent of competition directors are women and 38 percent are people of color. Given that Sundance is ongoing and that...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Zeina Durra – “Luxor”
Zeina Durra’s directorial debut, “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!,” premiered in US Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2010. A British born of...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Shana Feste – “Run Sweetheart Run”
Shana Feste’s first feature, “The Greatest,” premiered at Sundance 2009 and went on to be nominated for a Humanitas Prize. Her second writing and directing effort, “Country...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Kirsten Johnson – “Dick Johnson Is Dead”
Kirsten Johnson’s most recent film “Cameraperson” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Her short “The Above” premiered at...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Amanda Kernell – “Charter”
Amanda Kernell has made several award-winning short films as a writer and director. “Sami Blood,” her feature film debut, premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and won the Europa...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Romola Garai – “Amulet”
Romola Garai is a writer, director, and actor, whose directorial debut, “Scrubber,” was nominated for Sundance Best Short Film in 2013. As a performer, her extensive film, TV, and stage...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Tara Miele – “Wander Darkly”
Tara Miele is a writer and director in both film and television. Her directorial work includes the backdoor pilot “Green Arrow and The Canaries,” episodes of “Arrow,”...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Ekwa Msangi – “Farewell Amor”
Ekwa Msangi is a Tanzanian-American filmmaker who has written and directed several drama series for mainstream broadcasters in Kenya and South Africa, including “The Agency,” MNET’s...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Eleanor Wilson – “Save Yourselves!”
Eleanor Wilson is a writer, director, and producer from Adelaide, Australia. Her award-winning short films have played at festivals throughout the world, with her first, “Possum,” winning...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Fernanda Valadez – “Identifying Features”
Director and producer Fernanda Valadez’s short “400 Maletas” was nominated for a Silver Ariel and a finalist for a Student Academy Award. She produced Astrid Rondero’s...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Radha Blank – “The 40-Year-Old Version”
Radha Blank is performer, writer, and director. A Helen Merrill Award recipient, Blank’s acclaimed play “Seed” was deemed “fresh, lively…and poetic” by the Huffington...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Josephine Decker – “Shirley”
Josephine Decker’s feature “Madeline’s Madeline” made its world premiere at Sundance 2018 and went on to receive a nomination for Best Picture at IFP’s Gotham Awards as well as two...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Phyllida Lloyd – “Herself”
Phyllida Lloyd is known for her award-winning work in theater, opera, and film. In 2008, she directed the film version of “Mamma Mia,” which went on to make over $600 million worldwide....
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kitty Green – “The Assistant”
Kitty Green is an award-winning Australian filmmaker. Her debut documentary feature, “Ukraine Is Not a Brothel,” explored a provocative feminist movement in Ukraine. After making its...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Brenda Chapman – “Come Away”
Brenda Chapman began her career at Walt Disney Feature Animation, working on films that include the Academy Award–nominated “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King,” for...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Rachel Beth Anderson – “Unschooled”
Rachel Beth Anderson is a Sundance award-winning cinematographer. She began her career filming in Libya, Syria, South Sudan, and Afghanistan for PBS’ “Frontline,” CNN, the Human...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Mariam Ghani – “What We Left Unfinished”
Mariam Ghani is a visual artist whose first feature, “What We Left Unfinished,” premiered at 2019 Berlinale and won the Critics Choice Award at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival....
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lily Zepeda – “Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man”
Lily Zepeda’s passion for exploring unconventional stories began with a career in Journalism, interviewing subjects ranging from Grammy award-winning musicians to Olympians. Zepeda went from TV...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Monica Long Ross – “We Believe In Dinosaurs”
Monica Long Ross is a filmmaker and playwright, and a co-founder of 137 Films, a Chicago-based documentary production company. Ross co-directed and co-produced the award-winning documentaries “The...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Karin Kainer – “Kosher Beach”
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Karin Kainer is a Documentary Film Lecturer at H.I.T., The Holon Institute of Technology, in Israel, and the director of “Skate of Mind,” and “South Wind on...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Ema Ryan Yamazaki – “Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams”
Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s first feature documentary, “Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators,” premiered in 2017 and won the Audience Award at the Nantucket...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Sara Dosa – “The Seer and the Unseen”
Sara Dosa’s first directorial feature, “The Last Season,” won the Golden Gate Award when it premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2014. In addition to film,...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Mo Scarpelli – “Anbessa”
Mo Scarpelli co-directed “Frame by Frame,” which screened at SXSW, Hot Docs, and BFI London Film Festival, among other fests. It has won over a dozen jury and audience awards....
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Olga Lvoff – “Busy Inside”
Olga Lvoff is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a member of The European Film Academy. Her feature doc “When People Die They Sing Songs” was nominated for a Student Oscar in 2014...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Francesca Trianni – “Paradise Without People”
Francesca Trianni is an Emmy-nominated senior producer at Time, where her work has been recognized with a World Press Photo award, Pictures of the Year International, and the National Murrow Awards....
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Martha Shane – “Narrowsburg”
Martha Shane is an Emmy-award-winning documentary filmmaker whose credits include “After Tiller” and “Picture Character.” The former won the Emmy for Best...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Deia Schlosberg – “The Story of Plastic”
Deia Schlosberg made national news in October 2016 when she was arrested and charged with 45 years’ worth of felonies for filming the #ShutItDown pipeline protest in North Dakota. She produced...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Geeta Gandbhir – “Hungry to Learn”
Geeta Gandbhir is an award-winning director, producer, and editor. As director, she won Best Documentary at the News and Doc Emmys for HBO’s “I Am Evidence,” and Best Government and...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Cara Jones – “Blessed Child”
Cara Jones is an Emmy Award winning journalist who founded the production company Storytellers for Good. Her short films include “Surfing Possibility,” “Mama Hope,” and...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Beth B – “Lydia Lunch – The War is Never Over”
Beth B is a writer, director, and producer of feature-length documentary and narrative films, as well as experimental shorts. Her films have been shown at, and acquired by, the Whitney Museum of...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Katie Green and Carlye Rubin – “1275 Days”
Katie Green and Carlye Rubin have directed three feature documentaries together: “The (Dead Mothers) Club,” “The Family I Had,” and “1275 Days.” Together, the pair...
DOC NYC 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jo Ardinger – “Personhood”
Jo Ardinger is an award-winning editor working on documentary and narrative film projects. Her editing credits include the documentary short “Beyond The Visible: The Story of the Very Large...
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 Karen Bernstein – “i’m gonna make you love me”
Karen Bernstein has numerous producing credits to her name in the field of documentary film, has directed a number of TV documentary episodes, and is the co-director of “Richard Linklater: Dream Is...