Lioness
2008.  82 min. Video.  Co-directed and co-produced with Daria Sommers.

Lioness tells the story of the first group of U.S.  Army servicewomen to be attached to combat arms units as part of the Lioness program  in Iraq.  The film was screened at many festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival where it won the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award in 2008. The film also was broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens.   

As the first film to shed light on the hidden narrative of women in combat,  Lioness played an important role in raising awareness of this under-the-radar practice on Capitol Hill and in defense policy circles where it was used as evidence for the urgent need to repeal the outdated combat exclusion policy.    The film also interceded in public dialogues about gender and the military and was embraced by a national movement of activists and veteran service organizations working to help the VA system prepare for the unprecedented influx of women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lioness is available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Distributed by Docurama/Cinedigm.

Archived film website| PBS website | Impact Report [PDF] | Selected Screenings