#Women Directors
Trailer Watch: Five Frontline Camerawomen Share Their Stories in Tribeca Title “No Ordinary Life”
Heather O’Neill’s documentary “No Ordinary Life” centers on five pioneering frontline and combat camerawomen: Maria Fleet, Jane Evans, Cynde Strand, Mary Rogers, and Margaret...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Maria Carolina Telles – “You Are Not a Soldier”
Maria Carolina Telles is a showrunner, director, screenwriter, and journalist. Telles is known for creating and directing the docu reality series “Reto Imposible” for Natgeo Latin...
Nancy Buirski’s Next Doc Will Go Behind the Scenes of “Midnight Cowboy”
Nancy Buirski’s filmography has covered miscarriages of justice (“A Crime on the Bayou”), the intersection of racism, misogyny, and sexual violence (“The Rape of Recy Taylor”), and a...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Chris J. Russo – “Lady Buds”
Chris J. Russo’s award-winning short films have screened all over the world, including at the Sundance Film Festival, and have been broadcast on Showtime, PBS, IFC, LOGO, and Netflix. She is a...
Over-Parenting Doc “Chasing Childhood” Acquired by Abramorama
Margaret Munzer Loeb and Eden Wurmfeld’s exploration of contemporary childhood and parenting has found a home. Abramorama acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Chasing Childhood.” A...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Bobbi Jo Hart – “Fanny: The Right to Rock”
Bobbi Jo Hart is an award-winning American/Canadian documentary filmmaker with Adobe Productions International, based in Montreal. Her most recent feature documentary, “I Am Not a Rock...
Gabourey Sidibe Will Make Feature Directorial Debut with Thriller “Pale Horse,” Effie T. Brown Producing
Gabourey Sidibe is directing her first film. According to a press release, the Oscar-nominated actress is set to helm thriller “Pale Horse,” with Gamechanger Films’ Effie T. Brown...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Shannon Walsh – “The Gig is Up”
Shannon Walsh has written and directed feature documentaries “The Gig is Up,” “Illusions of Control,” “Jeppe on a Friday,” “À St-Henri, le 26 Août,” and “H2Oil,” as well as...
Kaitlyn Dever and Karen Maine Team Up for “Rosaline,” a Revisionist Take on “Romeo and Juliet”
Karen Maine is following up a “love story between one woman and her vagina” with the most famous love story of all. The “Yes, God, Yes” writer-director has been tapped by 20th...
Guest Post: How Seventh Row Is Revising the Film Canon with Books on Women Directors
By Orla Smith Browsing the film section of most bookstores, books about female directors are a rare find. Nestled between the tomes on Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson, you...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Svetlana Rodina – “Ostrov – Lost Island”
Svetlana Rodina has worked as a reporter and host for various television programs on the RTR channel. In 2011, she became the editor-in-chief of the documentary department of United Media Group, one...
Trailer Watch: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Explores the Opioid Crisis in “Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy”
“We can’t sit back and expect things to change without doing the work,” we’re told in a trailer for “Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy.” Currently screening...
Diane Warren Documentary Now in Production, Bess Kargman Directing
Legendary songwriter and musician Diane Warren is getting her own documentary. A press release has announced a doc feature about Warren is now in production from director Bess Kargman (“Defying...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Luciana Kaplan – “The Spokeswoman”
Argentina-born, Mexico-based Luciana Kaplan has dedicated her career to documentary filmmaking and teaching. Her films have won support grants from the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes,...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Irene Vélez-Torres – “Bajo Fuego”
Irene Vélez-Torres is a professor at the University of Valle who specializes in socio-environmental conflicts and ethno-racial inequalities. While engaging in research, she frequently applies...
Trailer Watch: Jessica Barden Joins a Scrap Metal Crew to Pay for College in Nicole Riegel’s “Holler”
Jessica Barden finds herself torn between her dreams, family, loyalty, and the law in “Holler,” Nicole Riegel’s feature debut. Set in southern Ohio, the drama tells the story of...
Join the Girls Club for a Conversation with “Allen v. Farrow” Director Amy Ziering
Amy Ziering, a producer and director of docs such as “The Invisible War,” “The Hunting Ground,” and “On the Record,” will join the Girls Club to discuss her latest...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Roser Corella – “Room Without a View”
Berlin-based independent filmmaker Roser Corella started her career as video-journalist for Catalan television, but her interest in the human stories behind global issues moved her to self-produce...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Ann Shin – “A.rtificial I.mmortality”
Ann Shin is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. Her debut novel, “The Last Exiles,” was published earlier this year by Harper Collins. The book is partly based on her experience...
Danis Goulet Sci-Fi “Night Raiders” Lands at Samuel Goldwyn Films, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Stars
Danis Goulet’s feature debut has secured distribution. Samuel Goldwyn Films snagged U.S. rights to “Night Raiders,” a dystopian sci-fi story about a Cree woman that made its world...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Celina Escher – “Fly So Far”
Celina Escher is a Swiss-Salvadorean filmmaker telling stories about women as well their pursuits of empowerment, artistic processes, and their sociopolitical contexts. Her film “Verde Olivo” was...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet the Team Behind “Only the Ocean Between Us”
Khaldiya Amer Ali is Syrian filmmaker living in Za’atari Refugee Camp, Jordan. Her short film “Another Kind of Girl” premiered at Sundance; screened at Cannes and SXSW; was featured on The New...
Trailer Watch: A Straight-Laced Highschooler Needs a “Plan B” in Natalie Morales’ Comedy
“Girls are horsefucking and I haven’t even had my first kiss,” says Kuhoo Verma in a new trailer for Natalie Morales’ “Plan B.” The raunchy teen comedy sees the...
“I May Destroy You,” “Unorthodox,” “Crip Camp,” and More Score Peabody Nominations
“I May Destroy You” and “Unorthodox” were among the most celebrated series of 2020, and now they can add Peabody nominations to their extensive list of honors. The Peabody...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Mia Halme – “People We Come Across”
Director and writer Mia Halme has a background in journalism. Her documentaries have been screened in various festivals around the world. “Forever Yours” (2012) was awarded the...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Annabel Verbeke – “Four Seasons in One Day”
Annabel Verbeke is a documentary filmmaker whose film “Les Enfants de la Mer/Mère” won eight international awards and was selected by over 20 global film festivals. “We Will Remember Them”...
Trailer Watch: Felicity Jones & Shailene Woodley Bring “The Last Letter From Your Lover” to Netflix
A journalist uncovers a secret romance from decades prior in “The Last Letter From Your Lover,” Augustine Frizzell’s latest. The Netflix pic sees Ellie (Felicity Jones) stumbling...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Maéva Ranaïvojaona – “Zaho Zay”
Maéva Ranaïvojaona is a French filmmaker with Malagasy origins, living and working in Paris and Vienna. She wrote, produced, and directed two short films that have been shown and awarded at several...
Nicole Newnham to Direct Doc About Pioneering Feminist Sex Researcher Shere Hite
Oscar-nominated “Crip Camp” director Nicole Newnham had lined up her next project. She is set to helm a feature documentary about groundbreaking sex researcher Shere Hite for NBC News...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Anaïs Taracena – “The Silence of the Mole”
Documentary filmmaker and producer Anaïs Taracena has directed short films “Los Médicos de la Montaña,” “Entre Voces,” and “Desenredar el Ser,” which have been screened at...
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup, Will Open with “Language Lessons”
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival has announced its 2021 lineup, and 70 percent of this year’s selected films are by women, trans, and non-binary directors. Set to take place May 27...
May 2021 Film Preview
By Vicki A. Lee and Kara Headley Since 1992, the United States has observed Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month every May, paying tribute to the monumental role Asian and...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jessica Beshir – “Faya Dayi”
Jessica Beshir is a Mexican-Ethiopian director, producer, and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She made her directorial debut with her short film “Hairat,” which premiered at...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Sheona McDonald – “Dead Man’s Switch: a crypto mystery”
Sheona McDonald is an an award-winning filmmaker who worked in the Canadian film and television industry as a writer, producer, and director for over two decades. Her recent films include “Into...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Yasmine Mathurin – “One of Ours”
Yasmine Mathurin is a Haitian-Canadian writer, director, and award-winning podcast producer. She produced the audio-fiction podcast “The Shadows,” which won Gold in the fiction category at the...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Redfearn – “Apart”
Jennifer Redfearn is an Academy Award-nominated director. She directed and produced “Sun Come Up” about a small island community losing their land to rising seas. “Sun Come...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Margaret Byrne – “Any Given Day”
Margaret Byrne is an award-winning filmmaker. She directed and produced “Raising Bertie,” a feature documentary following the lives of three African American boys growing up in rural...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Louise Detlefsen – “It Is Not Over Yet”
Louise Detlefsen’s latest documentary feature film, “Fat Front,” had its international premiere at IDFA 2019. Her films have been shown on both television and at festivals all over...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – “Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy”
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is a writer, director, producer and actor. She’s a member of the Kainai First Nation — Blood Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy — as well as Sámi from Norway. Her...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Chloe Fairweather – “Dying to Divorce”
Chloe Fairweather is an award-winning director who specializes in observational documentary and the telling of complex true stories. The Welsh-born filmmaker started out in TV production over 10...
Trailer Watch: “In Our Mothers’ Gardens” Celebrates the Strength and Resiliency of Black Women
“Like most Black women, I would say that the women in my family are complicated,” says one of the characters featured in “In Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Set to premiere May 6...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Caitlin Durlak – “Dropstones”
Caitlin Durlak is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker whose non-fiction work has spanned media such as web series, short film, feature film, and VR storytelling. Her short film “Persistence of...
Atsuko Hirayanagi Will Direct Awkwafina-Starrer “The Last Adventures of Constance Verity”
Awkwafina is set to save the world again. The Golden Globe-nominated actress is following up her role as a heroic warrior in Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” by teaming up with...
May 2021 Television Preview
Get ready to update your watchlist: there are tons of television projects by and about women to check out this month, including shows from Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes, and Ziwe Fumudoh, Kelly Oxford’s...
“CODA” Breakout Siân Heder Set to Direct “Impossible” Adaptation
“CODA” writer-director Siân Heder will follow up her history-making Sundance hit with a rom-com. She’s been tapped to direct “Impossible,” a feature based on the Sarah...
Hot Docs 2021 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Ngo – “Faceless”
Jennifer Ngo is an award-winning journalist who believes that true stories will always matter. For over five years, she wrote for the South China Morning Post, where her reporting earned her a Human...
Trailer Watch: Leyna Bloom Falls in Love & Claims Her Space in Danielle Lessovitz’s “Port Authority”
“I just think about taking back all the space that the world doesn’t give me, and just owning it,” Leyna Bloom says in the trailer for Danielle Lessovitz’s “Port...
Hot Docs 2021 Preview: Rockers Reuniting, a Trailblazing Political Candidate, the Opioid Crisis, & More
North America’s largest documentary festival kicks off today. Featuring 219 films from 66 countries, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival runs through May 9. The...
Maureen Bharoocha Talks “Golden Arm” and Centering a Buddy Comedy Around Women Athletes
When Maureen Bharoocha isn’t directing for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” she’s on a feature film set. Her two features, “I Am Watching You” and “Fatal Flip,” recently...
Exclusive: Mental Health & the Criminal Justice System Collide in Trailer for Hot Docs’ “Any Given Day”
“When half the mental health clinics in Chicago closed, the jail population exploded,” director Margaret Byrne informs us in an exclusive trailer for “Any Given Day,” her...
Teaser Watch: “Betty’s” Second Season Sees the Skaters Fostering Community During COVID-19
“Betty” is back and tackling life in New York City during COVID-19. Set in the late summer and early fall of 2020, the second season of the critically acclaimed HBO series sees Kirt (Nina...