Directed by Women


LUCKY
LUCKY

2015  Puerto Rican Studies  New York City  Women's Studies  Urban Studies  Latino Studies  LGBTQ  Directed by Women  Immigration 

Executive produced by Steve James (The Interrupters, Life Itself), Lucky is an unforgettable portrait of a young Puerto Rican woman, a single mother, homeless, and struggling to find work, yet still passionately dreaming of true love and success. Filmed over six years, the film powerfully brings to light a myriad of social issues such as the flaws of foster care and social services, systemic poverty, urban blight, homelessness and LGBT discrimination.

AS LONG AS THERE'S BREATH
AS LONG AS THERE'S BREATH

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Women's Studies  Labor Studies  Asian Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

Following the acclaimed Kale and Kale and Monsoon- Reflections, As Long as There's Breath is Stephanie Spray's third film documenting the lives of the Gayeks family in Nepal. Building on a deep bond of trust (Spray was eventually adopted by the family), she captures a multi-generational household struggling for cohesion after the departure of a beloved son.

UNTITLED
UNTITLED

Sensory Ethnography Lab  2014  Asian Studies  Anthropology  Directed by Women 

A revealing one-shot portrait of two Nepali newlyweds in a moment of rest and playful interaction, Untitled challenges our perception of two themes at the very core of ethnographic filmmaking: human relationships and the ways in which they can be experienced by the viewer.

KĀLE AND KĀLE
KĀLE AND KĀLE

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Asian Studies  Anthropology  2014  Directed by Women 

In exploring the lives of two wandering Nepali musicians, an uncle and nephew, Kāle and Kāle (pronounced kah-lay) exposes the rootless occupation of the Gaine caste and communicates both its joys and pitfalls – domestic, economic and spiritual – in their daily lives.

MONSOON-REFLECTIONS
MONSOON-REFLECTIONS

Women's Studies  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Labor Studies  Asian Studies  Anthropology  2014  Directed by Women 

Drawing its title from a poem by the renowned Nepali poet Lekhnath Paudyal, which depicts the monsoon season as sublime and blissful, “joyous from start to finish,” filmmaker Stephanie Spray captures the melancholy and grit of two strong-willed female field hands (passengers in Spray and Velez’ Manakamana) as they carry out their arduous routines; a deeply felt reflection on labor, gender, and fleeting pleasures in rural Nepal.

TERRACE OF THE SEA
TERRACE OF THE SEA

Sensory Ethnography Lab  Photography  Middle Eastern Studies  Anthropology  2014  Art History  Directed by Women 

Filmed in an unofficial Palestinian Bedouin camp that was established in 1948 on a stretch of beach in South Lebanon, Terrace of the Sea uses a collection of family photographs taken over three generations as a prism through which to reflect on memory, loss and history.

STILL LIFE
STILL LIFE

Sensory Ethnography Lab  2014  Anthropology  Photography  Aging / Gerontology  Middle Eastern Studies  Art History  Directed by Women 

"The Arab governments pushed us out of our homes… I was twelve years old… I’ve been here for 60 years." A beautiful, poignant, documentary, Still Life examines the effect a collection of personal photos showing life in Palestine before the 1948 displacement have on an elderly Palestinian fisherman living in exile in Lebanon.

COME WORRY WITH US!
COME WORRY WITH US!

Women's Studies  Music  Labor Studies  Family Relations  2014  Business  Directed by Women 

What happens to female artists once they become mothers? A heartfelt exploration of how motherhood affects and impinges on one's creative life, Come Worry With Us! follows violinist Jessica Moss and singer/guitarist Efrim Menuck, founding member of the revered Montreal band, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as the couple attempts to integrate their young son into their lifestyle.

THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers
THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers

Cinema Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

In the wonderful Art of Observing Life, renowned documentarian Marina Goldovskaya delivers a master class in cinema verité and an appreciation of the filmmakers who transformed the Documentary. Composed of intimate conversations with Robert Drew and Richard Leacock (Primary), Allan King (A Married Couple), Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room), Lionel Rogosin (On The Bowery) & others.

MANAKAMANA
MANAKAMANA

Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Anthropology  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced by the directors of Sweetgrass and Leviathan, Manakamana is an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind documentary experience. Filmed entirely inside the narrow confines of a cable car, high above a jungle in Nepal, that transports villagers to an ancient mountaintop temple, it is an acute ethnographic investigation into culture, religion, technology and modernity.

KARAMA HAS NO WALLS
KARAMA HAS NO WALLS

Middle Eastern Studies  Political Science  World History  Media Studies  Peace & Conflict  Short Films  2014  Academy Award Winners & Nominees  The Arab Spring  Directed by Women 

2014 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Karama Has No Walls is a gripping, eye-witness account of a tragic day that changed the course of the revolution in Yemen; when pro-government snipers opened fired on a peaceful gathering of protesters, sparking national outrage and ultimately leading to the end of 33 years of autocratic rule.

SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME
SUITCASE OF LOVE AND SHAME

American Studies  Human Sexuality  Media Studies  Anthropology  Psychology & Psychiatry  Sociology  Women's Studies  2014  Directed by Women 

A forbidden love story played out in a decade that would soon spawn the sexual revolution, Suitcase of Love and Shame reconstructs a mesmerizing and erotic narrative from 60 hours of reel-to-reel audiotape discovered in a suitcase purchased on eBay. A fascinating, one-of-a-kind documentary, it addresses issues of morality, sexism, privacy vs. exhibitionism, and the impact of technology in yesterday's America as well as today's.

FINDING HILLYWOOD
FINDING HILLYWOOD

African Studies  Cinema Studies  Peace & Conflict  2014  Directed by Women 

A stirring documentary about the very beginning of Rwanda's film industry, Finding Hillywood looks at the people - the filmmakers, festival organizers, and audience - that are part of this blossoming film community and shows how it has become a beacon of hope and healing for a country still grappling with its past.

YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT
YOUR DAY IS MY NIGHT

Asian-American Studies  Asian Studies  American Studies  Urban Studies  Women's Studies  New York City  2014  Directed by Women  Immigration 

Blending autobiographical monologues, intimate conversations, and staged performances, Lynne Sachs' Your Day Is My Night documents the lives of Chinese immigrants sharing a "shift-bed" apartment in the heart of New York City's Chinatown, offering a deeply felt portrait of the Asian-American immigrant experience.

PEOPLE'S PARK
PEOPLE'S PARK

Anthropology  Asian Studies  Cinema Studies  Cultural Studies  2014  Sensory Ethnography Lab  Directed by Women 

Produced at Harvard's groundbreaking Sensory Ethnography Lab (Sweetgrass, Leviathan, the upcoming Manakamana), People's Park is an exhilarating single shot documentary that immerses viewers in an unbroken journey through an urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, offering a fresh gaze on public interaction, leisure and self-expression in China.

ZIPPER: CONEY ISLAND'S LAST WILD RIDE
ZIPPER: CONEY ISLAND'S LAST WILD RIDE

Urban Studies  New York City  Architecture  American Studies  Political Science  2013  Directed by Women 

A documentary about greed, politics, urban development and renewal, the award-winning Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride is an absorbing chronicle of the efforts to redevelop an iconic American landmark, Coney Island.

NOWA CUMIG: THE DRUM WILL NEVER STOP
NOWA CUMIG: THE DRUM WILL NEVER STOP

Environmental Studies  Native American Studies  Anthropology  American Studies  2013  Directed by Women 

Featuring extensive interviews, rare photographs and archival footage, this is a fascinating, candid portrait of Dennis Banks ("Nowa Cumig" in Ojibwe), co-founder of the American Indian Movement. The film chronicles the history of the American Indian Movement, from the Custer Trail to Wounded Knee to the Longest Walk.

MUSICWOOD
MUSICWOOD

Environmental Studies  Native American Studies  Music  Performing Arts  2013  Business  Directed by Women 

For hundreds of years, the acoustic guitar has been made from the same species of Spruce. Today, due to an extreme logging practice known as clear-cutting, this tree is in danger of disappearing - and with it, the acoustic guitar. In this captivating documentary, owners of the top guitar makers unite with Greenpeace and travel to the largest forest in the US to meet with Native American landowners in the hope of finding a sustainable solution.

BOB AND THE MONSTER
BOB AND THE MONSTER

Music  Alcohol & Drug Abuse  Psychology & Psychiatry  2013  Directed by Women 

Bob and the Monster follows outspoken indie-rock hero Bob Forrest through his life-threatening struggle with addiction to his transformation into one of the most influential and controversial drug counselors in the US today (appearing alongside Dr. Drew Pinsky on shows such as "Celebrity Rehab" and "Sober House.")

THE HILL
THE HILL

2013  African-American Studies  American Studies  Sociology  Urban Studies  Directed by Women 

Clinging to the last affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying city, a determined group of neighbors come together when the city claims eminent domain over their land in order to build a new school. An absorbing look at the complex issues surrounding urban planning, gentrification and economic renewal.

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