  Rumi: Turning Ecstatic2005Filmmaker Tina Petrova explores her personal experiences with the great 13th-century mystic and poet Mevlana Jelalludin Rumi in this thoughtful examination of the hugely influential writer. The cinematic road trip from North America to the Middle East includes visits with noted Rumi translator Coleman Barks, author Andrew Harvey, Mojave Desert architect Nader Khalili and a look at the amazing whirling dervishes of Turkey. Directed by:Tina Petrova
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2.9 Average Rating |
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| | 9/12: From Chaos to Community |
 9/12: From Chaos to Community2006This poignant documentary follows numerous New Yorkers, who, for 10 months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, offered support and comfort for recovery workers. Along the way, they crafted new relationships and a vivid sense of community. Using interviews and archival photographs, director Susanna Styron profiles the generous volunteers who set aside their egos and eccentricities and came to embody the American spirit of determination. Directed by:Susanna Styron
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2.9 Average Rating |
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|  Last Flight Home2008This heartrending documentary examines Dr. Patrick Scannon's ceaseless quest for missing World War II airplanes in the island chain of Palau, where more than 200 United States aircraft were downed during the war in the Pacific. The film follows three emotionally charged searches, during which Scannon is assisted by families of the MIA and by interviews with surviving veterans, along with a team of altruistic volunteers. Directed by:Jennifer Powers
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2.9 Average Rating |
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| | James Ellroy: American Dog |
 James Ellroy: American Dog2006Famed novelist James Ellroy, known as the "Demon Dog" of crime fiction, narrates this stylish documentary, which retraces his life from a tragedy-filled childhood, through a tumultuous adolescence and to eventual acclaim as a celebrated author. Haunted by the brutal murder of his mother when he was just 10 years old, Ellroy became fascinated with crime and the underbelly of society, exploring the darkest sides of humanity through his writing. Directed by:Clara Kuperberg
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2.9 Average Rating |
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| Quick Brown Fox: An Alzheimer's Story |
 Quick Brown Fox: An Alzheimer's Story2004When her mother begins showing early signs of Alzheimer's disease, filmmaker Ann Hedreen sets out to better understand the condition, combining expert interviews with intimate home movies for a moving personal portrait. Directed by:Ann Hedreen
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2.9 Average Rating |
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|  From the East1993Director Chantal Akerman offers this meditative film that captures the sights and sounds of a trek through East Germany, Poland, the Baltic states and Russia, filmed in the days just after the Berlin Wall came down. Eschewing narration in favor of minimalist images from everyday life, this graceful visual poem reveals the striking beauty of Eastern European lands as they began to emerge from decades behind the Iron Curtain. Directed by:Chantal Akerman
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2.9 Average Rating |
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|  Roses in December1982In December 1980, El Salvador's government security force gunned down lay missionary Jean Donovan and three American nuns. Ana Carrigan and Bernard Stone's award-winning documentary explores Donovan's short but meaningful life. Her story, from her affluent upbringing to her passionate work and untimely death at age 27, is told against the backdrop of the United States' devastating political involvement in Central America. Directed by:Ana Carrigan
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2.9 Average Rating |
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| | Young & Restless in China |
 Young & Restless in China2008Helmed by Sue Williams, this eye-opening documentary follows a cross section of Chinese entrepreneurs, pacesetters and struggling Gen-Xers swept up in a bubbling cauldron of rapid social and economic transition. Profiling a handful of people -- including an activist attorney, a hotelier and a downtrodden rap artist -- the film charts their trajectories over the course of four years and looks at how the sweeping transformations are affecting them. Directed by:Sue Williams
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2.9 Average Rating |
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 Dark Circle1982Chris Beaver's poignant and insightful docudrama traces the link between the reemergence of nuclear power and the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. With revealing declassified footage and stark personal accounts, Dark Circle exposes the potential devastation nuclear power can cause. Critically acclaimed, this compelling, Emmy Award-winning film was a Grand Prize recipient at the Sundance Film Festival. Directed by:Chris Beaver
Judy Irving
Ruth Landy
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2.9 Average Rating |
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|  Pornstar Pets2006This surprisingly warm and witty documentary reveals the emotional lives of nearly two dozen top porn stars by exploring their relationships with their pets. From Ron Jeremy's turtle, Cherry, and Taylor Wayne's terrier, Buddy, to Teri Weigel's menagerie of snakes, birds and dogs, these human-animal connections shed light on the tender side of adult film personalities. Other featured stars include Air Force Amy, Dave Pounder and Kimberly Chambers. Directed by:Margie Schnibbe
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2.9 Average Rating |
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|  The Burning Season2008As the world's third-largest carbon emitter, Indonesia is stuck between a rock and a hard place as it struggles to feed its people without destroying its most precious resource -- its rainforests. This documentary shines a light on the dilemma. Narrated by Hugh Jackman, the film follows a trio of individuals at the heart of the struggle -- a palm oil farmer, an orangutan rescuer and a carbon trader -- through a single burning season. Directed by:Cathy Henkel
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2.9 Average Rating |
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| | Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio |
 Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio2008Illuminating a decades-long struggle, this documentary chronicles the war that musicians, producers and fans have waged -- since the dawn of rock 'n' roll -- with the vested interests behind U.S. commercial radio (with the government in a key role). David Crosby, Lesley Gore, Jann Wenner and Casey Kasem are among the performers, journalists and disc jockeys who talk about the artistic and political issues fueling the battle for the airwaves. Directed by:Chris Gilson
Carolyn Travis
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2.9 Average Rating |
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  Wall2004By asking simple questions of those affected by the construction of a concrete wall between Israelis and Palestinians, filmmaker Simone Bitton allows the people to speak for themselves. The result is a portrait of the Palestinian inhabitants, the Israeli settlers and the officials who are fencing them in -- a thoughtful documentary that explores the sweeping emotions behind one of the most enduring struggles of the 20th and 21st centuries. Directed by:Simone Bitton
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2.8 Average Rating |
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|  The Blonds2003When Argentine director Albertina Carri was just 4 years old, her parents were kidnapped and murdered by the ruling junta on the suspicion that her family members were leftists. In a supreme and heroic act of catharsis, Carri trains her lens on that difficult period in her life and tries to come to terms with the tragedy through this eye-opening documentary. Directed by:Albertina Carri
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2.8 Average Rating |
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|  Sunny Land2010Applying an experimentalist's eye to the documentary format, German filmmakers Marietta Kesting and Aljoscha Weskott revisit a bizarre chapter in South African history: an apartheid-era casino complex that was open to people of all races. The film blends archival footage with recently shot re-enactments culled from visitors' vivid memories, resulting in a tone that's closer to ridiculous than reverent. Directed by:Aljoscha Weskott
Marietta Kesting
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2.8 Average Rating |
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|  The Color of Olives2006Life is anything but ordinary for Palestinian Hani Amer and his family, whose home lies in the path of a long wall being built by Israel to keep suicide bombers out of the country. Armed militia, an electrified fence and locked gates now separate the Amers from their farm, providing a reminder that an age-old battle is clearly not over. Filmmaker Carolina Rivas' pensive documentary relies on natural light to lend peace to a war-torn environment. Directed by:Carolina Rivas
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2.8 Average Rating |
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  Now and Then1995Waxing 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
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3.8 Average Rating |
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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 |
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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
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