Documentary
Greenlit
rating:3.2.png

Greenlit

2009
Miranda Bailey helms this wry documentary that follows the making of the film The River Why. The indie drama was intended to be an entirely green production, but Bailey quickly discovers that filmmaking is far from environmentally friendly. The River Why's Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights") and director Matthew Leutwyler weigh in on the runaway waste that seems to follow even the most well-intentioned film sets.

Directed by:

  • Miranda Bailey
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Party's Over
    rating:3.2.png

    The Party's Over

    2001
    This engaging documentary, hosted by a pre-Oscar Philip Seymour Hoffman, finds the actor covering the Democratic and Republican conventions in 2000, interviewing politicians, pundits and voters of all political stripes. Ample time is also given to the myriad protesters on both sides. The filmmakers score interviews with Ralph Nader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Barney Frank, Noam Chomsky, Bill Maher and Michael Moore, among others.

    Directed by:

  • Donovan Leitch
  • Rebecca Chaiklin
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Mysteries of the Deep: Legendary Shipwrecks: Lost Ships of the Mediterranean
    rating:3.2.png

    Mysteries of the Deep: Legendary Shipwrecks: Lost Ships of the Mediterranean

    1999
    Martin Sheen hosts this fascinating documentary series produced by the award-winning &NFi;National Geographic&NFi_; team. Plunge deep into the ocean and discover an eerie world of shipwrecks, steeped in secrets that hold the key to some of the most tragic maritime disasters in history. Also includes "Lost Ships of the Mediterranean."

    Directed by:

  • Gail Willumsen
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Last Call at the Oasis
    rating:3.2.png

    Last Call at the Oasis

    2011
    This compelling documentary explores the global water crisis, examining deficiencies in the supply system and communities affected by water shortages. Scientists, activists and social entrepreneurs shed light on this shocking and pervasive problem.

    Directed by:

  • Jessica Yu
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Gender Rebel
    rating:3.2.png

    Gender Rebel

    2006
    Director Elaine Epstein's captivating documentary explores the lives of three biological females who reject the conventional concepts of gender and see themselves not as female or male, but something in between. The camera follows these individuals as they encounter challenges at every turn -- from the strain on their relationships to confrontations from communities intolerant of their way of life -- and find a way to cope with social alienation.

    Directed by:

  • Elaine Epstein
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West: Special Edition
    rating:3.2.png

    Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West: Special Edition

    1997
    Sent by President Jefferson to find the fabled Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark led the most courageous and important expedition in American history. Journey with them across a breath-taking landscape for an experience that explores the history -- and the promise -- of America.

    Directed by:

  • Karen Goodman
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Conquerors
    rating:3.2.png

    The Conquerors

    2005
    Former U.S. Marine Capt. Dale Dye is your host on a long walk through time in this History Channel series, presenting a documentary tour de force on the world's greatest battles and the fearless men who fought them -- from King David and El Cid to Napoleon and Julius Caesar. Moving through history, the film also chronicles the developments in man-made technology that made the conquering of foreign lands ever easier to achieve.

    Directed by:

  • Scott Billups
  • Sonya Gay Bourn
  • Andrew Nock
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Clans of Scotland
    rating:3.2.png

    Clans of Scotland

    2007
    Presenter Paul Murton uses historical and modern-day locations, the stunning drama of Scotland's scenery and the testimony of present-day descendants to explore defining moments in the fierce and bloody history of Scotland's clans. Focusing on major characters and events, each episode throws light on one of Scotland's most famous clans: their origins, traditions, ancient hatreds, military prowess and battles to survive extermination and exile.

    Directed by:

  • Paul Murton
  • Kathryn Ross
  • Peter Strachan
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    21 Below
    rating:3.2.png

    21 Below

    2009
    On learning that her infant niece, Maya, is dying of a rare disease, newly pregnant Sharon decides she must return home to Buffalo, N.Y., to help out -- but instead, she steps into a hornet's nest of family turmoil. While Maya deteriorates, another crisis erupts when Karen -- Maya's mother -- becomes pregnant with the child of a former gang member in this cinema verité-style portrait of a family on the brink.

    Directed by:

  • Samantha Buck
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu
    rating:3.2.png

    Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu

    2004
    This fascinating program explores the flu pandemic that swept across the globe in 1918 and killed some 40 million people, four times the number of casualties from the recently ended World War I. As contemporary virologists and epidemiologists continue their research in an effort to understand where this flu strain originated and what made it so lethal, experts predict we will face a comparable pandemic soon, possibly in the next decade.

    Directed by:

  • Elizabeth Dobson
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    World's Largest
    rating:3.2.png

    World's Largest

    2010
    Soap Lake was once a thriving resort in eastern Washington, but today it's famous for ... well, not much. But with any luck, the town's efforts to build the world's biggest lava lamp will put it back on the map. Elizabeth Donius and Amy Elliott visit 58 out-of-the way communities that claim the title of largest &NFi;something&NFi_; -- including the biggest rattlesnake and the tallest cornstalk -- and follow Soap Lake's attempts to join this exclusive club.

    Directed by:

  • Elizabeth Donius
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    American Experience: The Great Fever
    rating:3.2.png

    American Experience: The Great Fever

    2005
    The scourge of 19th-century America, yellow fever stymied health officials for decades before a team of doctors and scientists ventured to Cuba for answers. This documentary tells their story. When a yellow fever outbreak threatened the lives of U.S. soldiers occupying Cuba in 1900, the U.S. Army sent a team to investigate. Soon, they found the culprit -- mosquitoes -- and set in motion the first public health triumph of the 20th century.

    Directed by:

  • Adriana Bosch
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Lost Souls
    rating:3.2.png

    Lost Souls

    2010
    In her first documentary film, California-born Monika Navarro explores her family history via slightly unconventional means, traveling to Mexico with camera in hand to talk to her U.S. Army veteran uncle, who was deported with his brother in 1999. A stranger in his own "homeland," he's now barely clinging to survival. But his brother's fate was far worse, ultimately succumbing to addiction and despair.

    Directed by:

  • Monika Navarro
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Be Good, Smile Pretty
    rating:3.2.png

    Be Good, Smile Pretty

    2003
    In March 2001, when Tracy Droz Tragos happened upon a first-hand account of her father's death on a U.S. Naval swift boat in Vietnam, she decided she needed to know exactly who that 25-year-old stranger was. Be Good, Smile Pretty documents Tragos's journey of discovery and the powerfully moving, personal exploration of her grief for the father she never knew, a grief shared by the estimated 20,000 Americans whose fathers were killed in Vietnam.

    Directed by:

  • Tracy Droz Tragos
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Gangs of Baghdad
    rating:3.2.png

    Gangs of Baghdad

    2007
    In this gripping documentary, filmmaker Aida Schlaepfer -- born to an Iraqi father and a Lebanese mother -- captures stories of brutal gang violence that erupted in Baghdad during the wake of the city's fall in 2003. Among the victims' heartbreaking narratives are a grieving family's memories of their relative's violent murder and a wealthy clan's harrowing escape from the hands of abusive kidnappers.

    Directed by:

  • Aida Schlaepfer
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    American Experience: Building the Alaska Highway
    rating:3.2.png

    American Experience: Building the Alaska Highway

    2005
    During the dark early days of World War II, thousands of American soldiers began one of the most titanic construction efforts ever attempted -- the Alaska Highway, which would eventually span across the sub-Arctic wilderness of British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and Alaska. This documentary features interviews with highway workers, archival footage and, of course, breathtaking scenery. Part of the award-winning "American Experience" series.

    Directed by:

  • Tracy Heather Strain
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Now and Then
    rating:3.8.png

    Now and Then

    1995
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
    We periodically update our movie database by adding new female directors and their movies. If you would like to receive notice of these new additions when they happen, please email us at:
    frances 'at' femaledirectors.com