There’s so many female documentary filmmakers that don’t get the credit they deserve. Here are our five favorite female directors and their must-watch films that you can stream right now.
LANA WILSON
Lana Wilson is an Emmy-winning writer and director (you might know her as the director of Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana) whose documentary, After Tiller (2013), co-directed and produced with Martha Shane, is a unique portrait of four American doctors who openly provide third-trimester abortions all while being heavily targeted by the anti-abortion movement.
How to watch: Download the DocPlus app on iOS and Android devices, as well as Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and more.
GISELLE BAILEY
Up-and-coming director Giselle Bailey’s inspiring first feature, The Legend of the Underground (2021), co-directed with Nneka Onuorah, which premiered at Tribeca 2021, intimately follows a group of young, queer, Nigerian youth who are fighting for their freedom of expression in a country that threatens their very existence.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max (subscription needed)
DEBORAH S. ESQUENAZI
Deborah S. Esquenazi is a two-time Emmy nominated and Peabody-winning filmmaker and investigative journalist. Her documentary Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (2016) is the harrowing story of four Latina lesbians who were wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls.
How to watch: Download the DocPlus app on iOS and Android devices, as well as Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and more.
ERIN LEE CARR
Two-time Emmy nominated filmmaker Erin Lee Carr along with Rolling Stone journalist Jenny Eliscu’s latest game-changing documentary, Britney vs Spears, investigates Britney Spears’ controversial and abusive 13-year conservatorship helmed by her father Jamie Spears.
How to watch: Stream on Netflix (subscription needed)
ELIZABETH LO
Elizabeth Lo is an award-winning filmmaker whose short film Hotel 22 (2014) captures a single, dramatic night in Silicon Valley, where a public bus transforms into an unofficial homeless shelter on the Line 22 route.
How to watch: Download the DocPlus app on iOS and Android devices, as well as Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and more.
