Documentary
Frontline: Digital Nation
rating:3.7.png

Frontline: Digital Nation

2010
Exploring how the Internet and digital media have completely transformed contemporary life, this fascinating installment of PBS's "Frontline" examines its effect on relationships, careers, daily life, education, the military and more. The documentary includes a unique interactive element, incorporating the stories of people who visited and posted to the Digital Nation Web site over the period of a year.

Directed by:

  • Rachel Dretzin
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    A Model for Matisse
    rating:3.7.png

    A Model for Matisse

    2005
    This charming documentary explores the friendship between legendary artist Henri Matisse and the woman who inspired him to create some of his best-loved works, Dominican nun Sister Jacques-Marie. The 83-year-old nun discusses her days as a model and muse for Matisse, including her role in what he considered his life's masterpiece: the paintings and stained-glass windows of the Chapel of the Rosary in the French Mediterranean village of Vence.

    Directed by:

  • Barbara F. Freed
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Lost Boys of Sudan
    rating:3.7.png

    Lost Boys of Sudan

    2003
    As orphans living in the midst of civil war, Peter and Santino dealt with dangers like lion attacks and gunfire from militia. But even more daunting are the challenges they face in suburbia after they're chosen to start a new life in America. Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk direct this award-winning documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees throughout their intense journey from their native Africa to the United States.

    Directed by:

  • Megan Mylan
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    All in This Tea
    rating:3.7.png

    All in This Tea

    2007
    Few people know the fascinating history of tea growing and making. This intriguing documentary aims to change that by following renowned tea importer David Lee Hoffman as he scours the far-flung corners of China to find the richest teas on earth. Tea making is an art and tradition that goes back generations in the East, and Hoffman makes it his goal to bring to the rest of the world the exquisite teas produced by struggling small farmers.

    Directed by:

  • Les Blank
  • Gina Leibrecht
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    American Experience: Stonewall Uprising
    rating:3.7.png

    American Experience: Stonewall Uprising

    2010
    Through eyewitness interviews and archival footage, documentary filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner recapture a pivotal moment in time that mobilized a generation of gay activists and marked the dawn of the modern Gay Rights Movement. Much like Rosa Parks's symbolic refusal to move to the back of the bus, gay bar patrons' refusal to comply with a police raid at Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn in 1969 would change the course of history.

    Directed by:

  • Kate Davis
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    After Innocence
    rating:3.7.png

    After Innocence

    2005
    With the emergence of DNA evidence, the justice system is seeing a wave of reversed criminal convictions. But what happens to those who are set free, sometimes decades after being imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit? Jessica Sanders takes a close look at some of these people in this gripping documentary that's both a harsh criticism of the current judicial system and a touching look at those profoundly affected by it.

    Directed by:

  • Jessica Sanders
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Passport to Europe: France & Italy
    rating:3.7.png

    Passport to Europe: France & Italy

    2007
    Exuberant host Samantha Brown guides viewers on an excursion through France that includes Paris, Cannes and Nice, and a journey through Italy to Florence, Naples, Rome and the picturesque Amalfi Coast. Immerse yourself in the culture, sights and sounds of these two beautiful countries, and along the way, you'll stop at Côte d'Azur in Monaco to catch a glimpse of the ultrarich residents' extravagant lifestyles.

    Directed by:

  • Sylvia Caminer
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Africa Unite
    rating:3.7.png

    Africa Unite

    2008
    This documentary tribute to legendary reggae icon Bob Marley centers on the Marley clan's 2005 visit to Ethiopia, in which they perform a live musical salute to the family luminary, with more than 300,000 fans in attendance. The film also includes never-before-seen footage of Marley, along with a soundtrack full of his studio hits and appearances by the likes of Danny Glover and matriarch Cedella Marley Booker.

    Directed by:

  • Stephanie Black
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Corporation
    rating:3.7.png

    The Corporation

    2003
    Filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott explore the genesis of the American corporation, its global economic supremacy and its psychopathic leanings, with social critics like Noam Chomsky and Milton Friedman lending insight in this documentary.

    Directed by:

  • Mark Achbar
  • Jennifer Abbott
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone
    rating:3.7.png

    Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone

    2008
    Porn mogul and unlikely First Amendment crusader Larry Flynt endures an unending string of legal battles over a long and often infamous career, which includes entanglements with conservative figures such as Jerry Falwell and Donald Rumsfeld. Filmmaker Joan Brooker-Marks's surprising documentary also chronicles the outspoken Hustler publisher's campaign for United States president.

    Directed by:

  • Joan Brooker-Marks
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Chevolution
    rating:3.7.png

    Chevolution

    2008
    This intriguing documentary charts the history of photographer Alberto Korda's iconic portrait of Argentinean revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, from the moment the picture was taken to its spread as an international symbol of rebellion. Using archival footage, filmmakers Trisha Ziff and Luis Lopez take a fascinating look at how a single image helped galvanize a generation of counterculturists.

    Directed by:

  • Trisha Ziff
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    A Sea Change
    rating:3.7.png

    A Sea Change

    2009
    Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Ettinger puts a human face on the realities of global warming and ocean acidification in this eye-opening document of one man's quest to learn more about his generation's environmental legacy. Although he's an environmentalist, native Norwegian Sven Huseby is a grandfather, too. And he's increasingly concerned about the kind of world his 5-year-old grandson, Elias, will inherit.

    Directed by:

  • Barbara Ettinger
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Fall of Fujimori
    rating:3.7.png

    The Fall of Fujimori

    2006
    Ellen Perry's true-life political thriller documents the reign of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, a man who ran on a ticket to fight poverty but whose rule was ultimately marked by violence, corruption and controversy. With promises to restore stability and crush terrorist insurgents, Fujimori won popular support -- and the 1990 election -- but his administration eventually dissolved under the weight of political abuses and scandal.

    Directed by:

  • Ellen Perry
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
    rating:3.7.png

    The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

    2004
    While actors and directors certainly are instrumental in making a movie memorable and weaving story lines together, it's the film editor who strings the scenes into a seamless, artistic whole. This fascinating movie, narrated by Academy Award winner Kathy Bates, unmasks the mystery of film editing with the help of such fine examples of the art form as Birth of a Nation, The Battleship Potemkin and Bullitt.

    Directed by:

  • Wendy Apple
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement
    rating:3.7.png

    Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement

    2009
    Forty-two years of romance, struggle and shared adventures finally culminate in marriage for lifelong lesbian couple Edie and Thea, who met in the 1960s and stayed together through the turbulent decades of activism and social change that followed. Looking at pictures from their past, the women marvel at simple triumphs -- buying their first house together -- and reminisce about the constant fear of exposure they once felt.

    Directed by:

  • Susan Muska
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music
    rating:3.7.png

    High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music

    1994
    Longtime fans of bluegrass music and those only recently discovering it will appreciate this documentary on the genre, which was born of a combination of African and Celtic sounds and is the base of American country music. This film traces the musical form from its Appalachian roots to the present and features more than 100 songs performed by legends such as Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Jimmy Martin, Flatt & Scruggs and others.

    Directed by:

  • Rachel Liebling
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 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