Honey Boy director and FREE THE WORK founder, Alma Har'el, dove into the film archive at NOWNESS and reemerged with a list of her six favorite films directed by women to mark International Women's Day (March 8). Read on below for her thoughts behind the list…
Alma Har'el
Alma Har’el is an award-winning director who brought to life visionary work in documentary, music videos, TV commercials and scripted narrative. She is also the first woman in DGA Awards history to be nominated for both commercial directing (2018) and narrative directing (2020).
Har'el is also the founder of non-profit initiative FREE THE WORK, which was founded as Free The Bid in 2016.
Har’el’s passion for encouraging equality across entertainment, along with her directing work, landed her in Fast Company’s “Most Creative People of 2018”, Adweek’s “Disruptors of 2018" and on Indiewire’s list of leading "Women Who Made the World of Filmmaking a Better Place in 2018."
Heart of Sky
Alma: Jessy Moussallem's gaze on the drug trade is a rare gift. The laborers in Lebanon, captured with psychedelic realism. My favorite genre.
Photographers in Focus: Petra Collins
Alma: One of the artists that shaped the iconography of a whole generation. In this interview she describes her artistic development and why she loves to explore female adolescence. It's always inspiring to see an artist establish such a confident, auteurish presence so early in their career.
Other Voices: Ava & Bianca
Alma: Two gifted DPs explore their intimate friendship, bonded by their mormon backgrounds and trans identities. “I believe that if you don’t become yourself, you won’t survive." Preach.
Nirvana
Alma: Filmmaker Jess Kohl follows two trans women as they search for community and empowerment in Asia’s largest gathering of transgender women, Koovagam. They talk about their deepest hopes, their dreams for the future, and what will realistically come after the festival is over.
Shadow of a Hurricane
Alma: Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, the spirit of Puerto Rico is still very much alive, captured beautifully by Sandra Winther and DP Daniel Stewart. Their images manage to be celebratory in a moment of immeasurable loss.
Black Star: Rebirth Is Necessary
Alma: An absolute dream. Director Jenn Nkiru creates moving portraits that explore the past, present and future of the black experience on screen. Unforgettable.
All films can be watched here.
