Underrepresented creators who are on the FREE THE WORK database directed every piece of work that is showcased in this list. All work is shown in alphabetical order by first name, so don't forget to scroll all the way down to the bottom!
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Must-See Theatrical Film Releases in February
Please note that the following dates are specific to the United States.
Released on February 7
Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
February 14
Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Stella Meghie’s The Photograph
Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s Ordinary Love (Limited release)
Tanya Wexler’s Buffaloed (Limited release)
Richard Wong’s Come As You Are (Limited release)
February 21
Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. (Limited release)
February 28
Kitao Sakurai’s Bad Trip
Must-See Episodic Releases in February
The following TV series feature episodes directed and/or created by underrepresented creators! Please note that the following dates are specific to the United States.
Feb. 5
The Pharmacist (Netflix)
Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason directed all 4 episodes
Feb. 6
Tommy (CBS)
Episode 1 directed by Kate Dennis
Episode 3 directed by Christine Moore
Katy Keene (The CW)
Episode 1 directed by Maggie Kiley
Episode 4 directed by Pamela Romanowsky
Briarpatch (USA)
Episode 1 directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Desiree Akhavan, Jessica Lowrey, and Arkasha Stevenson set to direct future episodes
Locke & Key (Netflix)
Episodes 7 and 8 directed by Dawn Wilkinson
Co-created by Meredith Averill and Carlton Cuse
Feb. 11
For Life (ABC)
Upcoming episodes directed by Debs Paterson and Erica Watson
Cherish the Day (OWN)
Episode 1 directed by Tanya Hamilton
Upcoming episodes directed by Blitz Bazawule and Deborah Kampmeier
Created by Ava DuVernay and Showrun by Tanya Hamilton
Feb. 14
High Fidelity (Hulu)
Upcoming episodes directed by Natasha Lyonne
Created by Veronica West, Sarah Kucserka
Utopia Falls (Netflix)
Upcoming episodes directed by R.T. Thorne, Melanie Orr, Warren P. Sonoda, and Sudz Sutherland
Feb. 17
The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia (Netflix)
Upcoming episodes directed by Jody Margolin Hahn and Kelly Park
Feb. 21
Gentefied (Netflix)
All episodes directed by Marvin Lemus
Series co-created with Linda Yvette Chávez
Showrun by Monica Macer
Hunters (Amazon Prime)
Episode 1 directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Feb. 27
Followers (Netflix)
Directed by Mika Ninagawa
Feb. 28
Queen Sono (Netflix)
Three episodes directed by Tebogo Malope
One episode directed by Kagiso Lediga
Created by Kagiso Lediga
THE AWARDS SEASON HUSTLE: This Year's Historic Moments
Awkwafina, who was nominated for her leading role in The Farewell, is the FIRST performer of Asian descent to win a Golden Globe Award in a lead actress film category.
Women took home all four major directing honors at Sundance this year:
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The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary went to Garrett Bradley for Time
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The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic went to Radha Blank for The 40-Year-Old Version
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The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary went to Iryna Tsilyk for The Earth is Blue as an Orange
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The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic went to Maïmouna Doucouré for Cuties
Alma Har’el became the first woman to win the Director’s Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction—First-Time Feature Film for Honey Boy.
Billie Eilish won Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys, making her the youngest person and the first female artist to win all top four awards.
Waad al-Kateab’s For Sama won a BAFTA for Best Documentary. The film was the most nominated documentary in the history of the awards, shortlisted across four categories.
Lulu Wang won Best Feature at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards for The Farewell.
Kelly Reichardt, director of First Cow, won the Bonnie Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. The award is devoted to honoring female directors. Also nominated were Lulu Wang and Marielle Heller.
Karen Toliver won for Best Animated Short Film for Hair Love (along with her collaborator Matthew A. Cherry). She is the FIRST black woman to win an Oscar in any animation category.
Taika Waititi won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. He is the FIRST indigenous filmmaker to win a competitive Oscar.
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is the FIRST non-English language film to win Best Picture and the FIRST Korean film to win in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film & Best Original Screenplay.
SUPER BOWL AD ROUNDUP
Jamie Babbitt | Olay – #MAKESPACEFORWOMEN | Badger & Winters/New York | Independent Media | LINK
Georgia Hudson | Anheuser Busch, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold – "6 for 6-Pack" | FCB/Chicago | Park Pictures | LINK
Kathryn Bigelow | Anheuser Busch, Budweiser – "Typical American" | DAVID/Miami | SMUGGLER | LINK
SIGNINGS
Barbara Kopple | Girl Culture Films
Chloe Coetsee | tinygiant | LINK
Joanna Nordahl | New Land
Lucy Forbes | Smuggler
Nanfu Wang | Girl Culture Films
Nina Holmgren | Smuggler US
Rylee Ebsen | KODE Media
Savanah Leaf | Park Pictures US
COMMERCIAL
Alessandra Kurr | Sport England – “This Girl Can 2020” | Partizan UK | FCB Inferno London| LINK
Amandla Baraka | Adidas – “Run to Reconnect” | Glam | TBWA London | LINK
Bethan Seller | EBS – “Start Here” | Sweet Media | BBDO/Dublin | LINK
Calmatic | TurboTax – "All People Are Tax People" | PRETTYBIRD | Wieden+Kennedy | LINK
Cassandra Brooksbank | Fellow – “Ode” | Great Guns | LINK
Daisy Zhou | GILLETTE: Raheem Sterling Made of What Matters | Saatchi & Saatchi | Great Guns LINK
Femke Huurdeman | TINDER – SINGLE NOT SORRY | Kemmler-Kemmler | CANADA | LINK
Jenn Nkiru | adidas x Ivy Park | Iconoclast US | LINK
Jenn Nkiru | The New York Times’ ‘The 1619 Project’ | LINK
Kanyessa McMahon | Ford Escape – “Built Phenomenally” + “Own It” | Uniworld NYC | LINK 1 | LINK 2
Katia Lewkowicz | Euromillions – “What Kind of a Millionaire Would You Be” | Grand Bizarre | Romance | LINK
Lisette Donkersloot | Dove – “Celebrating Underarms” | Caviar | Ogilvy & Mather London | LINK
Lorena Medina | Teleflora – "A Valentine’s Day Message from Wuvly Teddy" | Reverie Content | Wonderful | LINK
Marie Schuller | adidas Originals presents the Superstan | HYPEMAKER | RSA Films | LINK
Mar del Corral | Lancôme – “La Vie Est Belle” | Blur Films | Havas | LINK
Maya Albanese | My Red Carpet Moment with Carolyn Keller #SAGawards | LINK
Morgan Gruer | PaperSource | PMH | LINK
Natalie Rae | M&S, “Start A Denim Love Affair” | Object & Animal | ODD | LINK
Natalie Prisco (JEAN) | Lifetime – "Get Hooked" | LINK
Pam Thomas | El Camino Health | Community Films | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3 | LINK 4
Petra Cibilich | Griffins, Cookie Bear – "Imagination Never Grows Up" | True/Auckland | Fish & Clips | LINK
Peyton Wilson | Marshalls -"Your Surprise Is Waiting" | Bullitt | Leo Burnett/Chicago | LINK
Rachel McDonald | Ford Escape | Biscuit Filmworks | LINK 1 | LINK 2
Rose Hendry | Scottish Government – “Let’s Call Periods, Periods” | Fond Film | Union | LINK
Sarah Chatfield | Adidas – “Reimagine Sport” | Kode Media | iris Worldwide | LINK
Sasha Levinson | Visit Las Vegas – “Key of Vegas” | Tool of North America | R&R/Las Vegas | LINK
Stef Smith | Evergreen Garden Care – "Osmocote Pour+Feed" |The Core Agency | Playtime | LINK
Suzanne Kim | Kellogg's Special K – “Rise With Us” | Collider | Wunderman Thompson Sydney | LINK
BRANDED CONTENT
Cassie De Colling | Sea Shepherd Coversation Society – Little Things Make a Big Difference | LINK
Christine Yuan | Zara – A Great View // Chinese New Year Campaign | PUSH & Object & Animal | LINK
Holly Blakey | Dazed Korea and Gucci – NEVERLAND | LINK
Karien Cherry | Chicken Licken – Easy Bucks | Joe Public | Giant Films | LINK
Loren Denis | NIKE CDMX -“It’s Time to be Heroines” | Wieden and Kennedy (Portland) | Superprime | LINK
Molly Schiot | Toyota x Uninterrupted – Lou Williams' Daughter is Following In Her Dad’s Footsteps | Milestones | LINK
Olivia Wilde | HP – “Wake Up” | Anonymous Content | LINK
Rayka Zehtabchi | Planned Parenthood – “Ours to Tell” | Prettybird | LINK
Rei Nadal | SHOWStudio- "Celebrating female bodies through designer Sinéad O'Dwyer's wearable sculptures" | Liberte Productions | LINK
MUSIC VIDEO
Adinah Dancyger | Lauv – "Changes" | LINK
Alexandra Gavillet | Leven Kali (feat. Smino, Topaz Jones) – “Homegirl” | LINK
Alice Kong | Duñe x Crayon – “Pointless” (ft. Ichon) | Partizan Paris | LINK
Alison Roberto | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – "Straight to Hell" | Framework Studio | LINK
Ania Catherine, Dejha Ti | Madame Gandhi – “See Me Thru” | LINK
Anna Radchenko | L Devine – “Boring People” | Kode Media | LINK
Ashley Connor | Torres – “Dressing America” | LINK
Bardia Zeinali | Justin Bieber – Yummy (Official Video) | Doomsday Entertainment | LINK
Bianca Poletti | Carlos Leal – “Les Brunes et les Blonde” & “Highway” | LINK
Celia Rowlson-Hall | Lola Kirke – “Win It” | LINK
Clara Aranovich | Devon Gilfillian – “Unchained” | LINK
Emilie Badenhorst | Lolo Zouaï – Desert Rose (Official Video) | Couscous | LINK
Femke Huurdeman | Sudan Archives – "Limitless" | LINK
Giraffe Studios | Sharon Van Etten – “Beaten Down” | LINK
Hannah Lux Davis | Anne-Marie – “BIRTHDAY” | LINK
Hannah Lux Davis | 5 Seconds of Summer – “No Shame” | LINK
Jasmin Mozaffari | Austra – “Risk It” | LINK
Kaya Wilkins & Adinah Dancyger | Okay Kaya – Psych Ward | LINK
Kristian Mercado | My Chemical Romance – A summoning… | LINK
Lacey Duke | Summer Walker – Come Thru (feat Usher) | LINK
Lucy Luscombe | Attawalpa – “Take a Bite” | LINK
Malia James | Green Day – "Oh Yeah!" | LINK
María Alvarez | “The 1” – María Isabel | LINK
Margot Bowman | Amun – “Talk To Me Nice” | LINK
Sophia Ray | Ella Eyre – “New Me” | Partizan | LINK
Sophie Muller | Black Shelton (ft. Gwen Stefani) – “Nobody But You” | PRETTYBIRD | LINK
Valentine Reinhardt | Sébastien Tellier – A Ballet | LINK
SHORT FILM
Elisha Smith-Leverock | Nowness – “Mushrooms” | Lief | LINK
Elisha Smith-Leverock | Ghetto Gastro & Nowness – "Triple Beam Dream" | Lief | LINK
Ellie Foumbi | "Zenith" | LINK
Finn Browning | "Heart" | LINK
McKenzie Thompson | "Au Revoir" | LINK
