Here are some documentaries you can watch this month if you are looking to learn more about powerful females who paved the way for us and are continuing to. It’s up to us to learn from the them and continue on.
PRIME VIDEO:
A behind-the-scenes look at P!NK as she balances family and life on the road, leading up to her first Wembley Stadium performance on 2019’s “Beautiful Trauma” world tour.
The extraordinary story of Shakuntala Devi, the world-renowned mathematician who lived her life on her own terms. While the film pays tribute to her genius as a mathematician, it also humanizes her as a woman and mother, in trying to capture her indomitable spirit. Told through the lens of her relationship with her daughter Anu, the film highlights their very different struggles and aspirations.
NETFLIX:
By turns heartfelt and playful, this documentary details Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and landmark work on women’s rights.
Join former first lady Michelle Obama in an intimate documentary looking at her life, hopes and connection with others as she tours with “Becoming.”
Dolly Parton leads a moving, musical journey in this documentary that details the people and places who have helped shape her iconic career.
An intimate portrait of legendary Hollywood actress, fashion icon and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn, who stood for love above all else.
Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner Rita Moreno helps narrate the story of her remarkable 70-year Hollywood career with audacity and wry humor.
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
With humor and empathy, Brené Brown discusses what it takes to choose courage over comfort in a culture defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty.
This documentary takes a deep look at gender disparity in Hollywood through the eyes of well-known actresses and female filmmakers.
In this documentary, leading women scientists discuss the inequalities they’ve faced as they set out to create a new formula to make STEM open to all.
In 1950s Chicago, bar owner Leonard Chess launches a record label, signing future musical icons whose turbulent lives clash with their careers.
In this biopic, war correspondent Marie Colvin risks it all to bring back the truth from the frontlines, despite the toll it takes on her own life.
HULU:
Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940’s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, “Strange Fruit.”
The Legend is wrong: Billie Holiday is neither from Baltimore nor Harlem, but Philadelphia, and throughout her life the city continued to draw her back. Its vibrant jazz scene was a refuge for her, first as a star and then when she was forced out of the spotlight of New York. But it was also the site of some her greatest hardship and humiliation, a place where she was hounded by the law, arrested repeatedly, and sentenced to prison in a trial that made headlines. 6abc’s Tamala Edwards brings Billie and her hometown jazz mecca to life. See the clubs where Lady Day performed, the stages where she sang, the places she lived, and learn why one song – Billie Holiday’s signature tune – brought the wrath of racist lawmen down on her, leaving her with few places where she could feel safe, and few people to trust. Looking for Lady Day: the complicated relationship a genius jazz legend had with the city where she was born.
Renee Zellweger is “remarkable” in this unforgettable portrait of showbiz legend Judy Garland.
Colette arrives in Paris from the countryside as a young bride to Willy—an older, notorious literary entrepreneur—and she is immediately swept into flamboyant, libertine society and discovers she has a gift for writing.
HBO MAX:
By the age of 23, Selena Quintanilla Perez had seen almost all of her dreams come true. She and her family had risen together to a level of success they had hardly imagined, and their upward climb showed no signs of stopping. Selena, with her blend of natural talent, boundless energy and magnetic charm, was poised to become popular music’s next big superstar, until her life was cut short at the hands of a friend she had thought loyal.
Salma Hayek gives a passionate, Oscar(R)-nominated performance in this biographical drama about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
The dazzling adaptation of the hit Broadway musical about the rise of a 1960s female supergroup and the price that they pay along the way.
Oscar winning Meryl Streep is Margaret Thatcher in this insightful and intimate portrait of the first and only female Prime Minster of the United Kingdom.
Hilary Swank and Frances O’Connor star in this true story of two young activists who fought to give women the right to vote.
This documentary takes an unprecedented look inside the lives of tennis legends, Venus and Serena Williams
This hard-hitting documentary chronicles the lives affected by the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse criminal case that shook the sports world.
The Kennedy political dynasty is seen from the perspective of Ethel Kennedy in this deeply personal documentary.
A timely and powerful documentary that follows former A&R executive Drew Dixon and other women of color who courageously share their stories of alleged sexual assault within the music industry.
Behind-the-scenes look at what happened to Sandra Bland, an African-American woman who died in police custody after a routine traffic stop.
Told in five powerful acts, this film is an intimate and revealing look at the life and career of Tina Turner.
DISNEY +
Three brilliant African-American women at NASA — Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) — serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world.
In this documentary, we get to see a behind the scenes look at the life of the environmentalist, how she travels the world for over 300 days a year, meeting with everyone from schoolchildren in Zanzibar to Silicon Valley tech giants to Prince Harry, using wisdom, heart and humor to spread a message of hope and show that every individual has the potential be a catalyst and create lasting change.
Drawing from over 100 hours of previously unseen archival footage, director Brett Morgen tells the story of JANE, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.
Get personal with Robin Roberts and some of Hollywood’s groundbreaking women as they bear witness to their incredible journeys on their path to purpose.
I haven’t gotten a chance to read the details of each documentary in the post, but the title made me think of a documentary that I think would be an absolute disservice if I did not share with you and your readers: The Business of Being Born! I’m a birth junkie, so I’m biased, and while I do believe that gender does not equal anatomy so people who do not identify as a woman can retain the anatomy to give birth, birth is still a largely woman-dominated phenomenon which makes it relevant for International Women’s Month. It celebrates the magic of one of life’s greatest miracles and gifts and informs women to empower them to make the choices they want surrounding their births. I’m not sure which platform it is available on anymore as I watched it on Netflix around 2016, but I’m pretty certain it’s not available there anymore.
This is great! I love this! Thanks for sharing that with us!
Of course! I’m glad you appreciate it!!