Top Women's Documentaries

Director Abby Epstein and producer Ricki Lake play dramatic roles in investigating the way America gives birth, ranging from natural child birth under the guidance of midwives to invasive procedures in hospitals. Graphic footage of births includes the very emotional delivery of Lake's own baby. This is a subject of interest and concern to us all--whether or not childbearing happens to be on our personal agenda.

Blessed Is The Match - The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh is the heartbreaking and inspiring story of a modern day Joan of Arc. During World War II, Hannah Senesh, a young Jewish women, emigrated from Hungary to Palestine, but valiantly returned to her birthplace to attempt to save the Hungarian Jewish population, including her mother, from death at the hands of Hungarian Nazis.

The Dixie Chicks' popularity plummeted after main singer Natalie Maines made an off-the-cuff comment about George Bush and the Iraq War. This documentary, directed by Barbara Kopple, chronicles the group's efforts to reclaim their place in the hearts of their fans and at the top of the music charts. Stand by your Chicks!

In her Academy Award-nominated documentary, Deliver Us From Evil, director Amy Berg champions victims of sexual abuse and harassment by Catholic priests, and exposes the Catholic Church's shocking cover up in the case of Father Oliver O’Grady, a notorious pedophile priest.

Traces of The Trade: A Story From The Deep North is seminarian-turned-filmmaker Katrina Browne's deeply personal investigation of ancestors' occupation as prominent New England slave traders. Browne and her family's courageous public instrospection leads us all to an understanding of social responsibility and reconciliation.

It's not a pretty picture, but one that women of conscience should see. Very Young Girls follows several New York City tween and teenage girls who’ve become prostitutes. Some of them are neglected children who have been seduced into prostitution by older men who prey on their need for love and attention. Others are the victims of sexual abuse. However, with the help an organization called GEMS, they are trying to cope with the consequences of their actions and redirect their lives.

Jyll Johnstone’s documentary profiles the delightful, effervescent and beautiful Mimi Weddell who, at age 93, continues to work as an actress and model. She’s an inspiration to us all.

In Trouble The Water, filmmakers Tia Lessen and Carl Deal follow a Hurricane Katrina survivor, Kimberly Roberts, who had the courage and foresight to chronicle the devastating storm in remarkable video footage that's used in the film. Roberts and her extended family and neighbors are heroically coping with the government's failure to provide them with relief as promised, and she is realizing her ambitions to become a rapper.

Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady present an extraordinary exposé about the well-organized Evangelical indoctrination of preteen girls and boys by Pentacostal Minister Becky Fischer at her Devil's Lake (N.D.) Bible Camp. Fischer "hooks them up" with Jesus, training them to become unquestioning soldiers for Christ. The film serves as a cautionary tale about fundamentalist Christian recruitment and conditioning of preteens to prepare them to battle al-Qaeda, whose kids fast, bare arms and sacrifice themselves for Islam.

Tricia Regan's documentary intoduces Elaine Hall, who adopted an autistic child--then got divorced and found herself in need of an occupation. She chose special ed, a profession that allowed her to help her son, and she founded the Miracle Project, a workshop for autistic kids and their parents. As the kids learn to work and play with each other, we see that they're intelligent, humorous and perceptive. The film is an inspiratiion.