Documentary Films

Sabbath Queen

Credit: Associate Editor

Director: Sandi DuBowski

Filmed over 21 years, Sabbath Queen follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's journey as the heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis who is torn between accepting his ancestral destiny or becoming a drag queen rebel. In addition to his drag persona, Lau-Lavie is a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul: an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. With incredible access, award-winning director Sandi DuBowski (Trembling Before G_D, Sundance 2001) joins Rabbi Amichai on a life journey and cinematic quest to creatively and radically reinvent religion and ritual while challenging gender norms in a rapidly changing 21st century.

Her/Mine

Credit: Assistant Editor

Director: Alexandra Shiva

HER/MINE is an intimate meditation on memory and motherhood that follows filmmaker Alexandra Shiva as she explores the secrecy surrounding the childhood loss of her mother. Premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Storming Caesars Palace

Credit: Assistant Editor

Director: Hazel Gurland-Pooler for Independent Lens/PBS

After losing her job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas, Ruby Duncan joined a welfare rights group of mothers who defied notions of the “welfare queen.” In a fight for guaranteed income, Ruby and other equality activists took on the Nevada mob in organizing a massive protest that shut down Caesars Palace.

Chicago vs. Jussie Smollett

Credit: Assistant Editor

Executive Producer: Eric Johnson for CNN+

Go behind the stranger-than-fiction saga of Jussie Smollett's hate crime hoax and Chicago’s struggles with law and order.

Taking on Taylor Swift

Credit: Assistant Editor

Executive Producer: Eric Johnson for CNN

The investigation into the copyright lawsuit brought by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler against Taylor Swift for her hit song “Shake it Off.”

Endangered

Credit: Assistant Editor

Director: Rachel Grady & Heidi Ewing for HBO Max

An official selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, Endangered chronicles a year in the life of four journalists living and working in democratic countries where freedom of the press has historically been considered a “given.”

Each and Every Day

Credit: Production Associate

Director: Alexandra Shiva. Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.

Nine young people, who have attempted suicide or struggled with suicidal thoughts, share their personal stories while emphasizing recovery, hope and healing.