'Daughters' Tells the Story of a Father-Daughter Dance... in Prison

One of the 90 or so films chosen for screenings at the Sundance Film Festival was Daughters, a documentary directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton.  It’s a beautiful, inspiring and moving film, a perfect example of the power of independent work to shift perspectives with personal stories we might not otherwise see.

Read More

Reflecting on Our Sundance Journey: A Roller Coaster Ride Towards Change

Guest Post By Angela Patton
Daughters is a new documentary by filmmakers Natalie Rae and Angela Patton that received the Audience Favorite Award at the Sundance Film Festival last month. The film was inspired by a TEDWomen Talk that Angela gave in 2012. I asked Angela to share her experiences at the festival as a first-time director.

Read More

Reflections on the 2024 Sundance Film Festival

Having just returned from my 30th year of the Sundance Film Festival, I am sharing some thoughts about how this festival, widely respected as the premiere festival for launching new work and discovering new talent, reflects an ever evolving global ecosystem of independent films, and how this impacts what you and I are viewing on our screens, big and small.

Read More

Food, Fuel and Fire at Skoll World Forum

Food. Fuel. Fire. I heard those words again and again throughout the SWF as this community of individuals and organizations embraced Ava DuVernay’s reminder that we need all three, and we must strive to be connected as a community committed to making the changes needed to get us to a future of shared peace and prosperity — Jeff Skoll’s vision for the foundation.

Read More

“The Martha Mitchell Effect”

One of the five Oscar nominees in the Documentary Short category tells the story of Martha Mitchell and her pivotal role in the Watergate scandal in a political and psychological thriller that I highly recommend. “The Martha Mitchell Effect” had its World Premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix.

Read More

A Love Letter to Newsletters

On this Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing my love for many of the women I admire who have committed to writing the posts that help keep me and so many others informed and inspired — my ‘newsletter sisters.' These are newsletters I always open. They offer news you might otherwise miss, insights you'll appreciate, along with valued perspectives and often much needed inspiration.

Read More

Watch These Films — and More! — at the Sundance Film Festival

January is not only my birth month, (this year marks the beginning of a new decade for me!), but it’s also the month of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, widely considered the premiere festival for launching independent films. There are so many dramatic films, documentaries, short films and episodic series worth watching at this year's festival.

Read More

Rise For The Bodies Of All Women, Girls And The Earth

The theme of this year's One Billion Rising campaign, which begins today, is is Rise for Women’s Bodies and the Earth. This visionary global movement created by V (formerly Eve Ensler) of V-Day, is survivor-led and survivor-focused, and demonstrates the power of art and activism to change culture and systems.

Read More

The Sundance Film Festival: My Sofa Perspective

Resistance and accountability were the themes of this year's Sundance Film Festival. I want to point out two films, one narrative and one documentary, about a group of women who came together in the late 1960s in Chicago to help nearly 11,000 desperate women get safe abortions in the years before legal abortions were possible.

Read More

Reflections: My Year of Living Dangerously!

What a year! 2019 was an incredible year — declaring myself a dangerous woman, publishing a memoir and  traveling coast to coast inspiring others to become more dangerous too, to meet the challenges of dangerous times, as well as many convenings, including the Connected Women Leaders Initiative, TEDWomen and Fire Drill Fridays.

Read More

Media That Matters to Add to Your #MustList!

Last week, I wrote about some new books, podcasts and movies that I am excited about and wanted to share with you. So many of you expressed interest — and I had more recommendations than I had time to include — that I've chosen to write another posting this week with additional suggestions that are "musts" for the "must read/must listen/must watch" lists which fortunately are getting longer when it comes to women-led, women-written initiatives!

Read More