Southern Womanhood—the Southern Lady—is an archetype that all women from the South have had to reckon with at some point in their lives. I’ll never forget the moment when I realized that my “expected” role as a woman from the South was to sit and listen—to be looked at but not to speak. It was a role I have never been suited for. As a child, I was constantly reprimanded for being too “bossy.” It was a character flaw that even made it to my elementary school report card!
Today, “bossy” is a trait I claim with pride. As a female director from the South, I have been in plenty of situations where I needed to make decisions and manage sets with lots of other people. Without this so-called “bossy” trait, I’m not sure if I would have succeeded.
Some of my favorite documentaries set in the South turn the dated trope of the Southern lady on its head…and I love these films and filmmakers for that. I’m grateful there is a long history of women filmmakers in the documentary space that other women filmmakers can look to for inspiration. Southern Women are strong and powerful, and many have changed the course of history. In honor of Women’s History Month, I encourage you to check out these films by AND about some incredible “bossy” Southern Ladies:
HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A. (1976)
Directors: Barbara Kopple
Logline: A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
Watch: Stream on HBO Max
THE LOVING STORY (2011)
Director: Nancy Buirski
Logline: This documentary film tells the dramatic story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1950s, and their landmark Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, that changed history.
Watch: Streaming on HBO Max, Hoopla, and Tubi.
THE ORDER OF MYTHS (2008)
Director: Margaret Brown
Logline: In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated…and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.
Watch: Streaming on Netflix and Kanopy.
DAISY BATES: FIRST LADY OF LITTLE ROCK (2012)
Director: Sharon LaCruise
Logline: A look at the life of African American political activist and newspaper publisher Daisy Bates.
Watch: Stream on PBS.
THE PANOLA PROJECT (2022)
Directors: Rachael DeCruz & Jeremy S. Levine
Logline: Highlighting the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama, safe from COVID-19. A chronicle of how an often-overlooked rural Black community came together in creative ways to survive.
Watch: Stream on Vimeo.
Emily Harrold is a documentary filmmaker from Orangeburg, South Carolina. Her films have screened at festivals including Tribeca, DOC NYC, and Telluride. Her short documentary, “In the Bubble with Jaime,” is currently traveling the festival circuit. Her short film “Meltdown in Dixie” won an Academy Qualifying Best Short award, and she is a producer with Apograph Productions. Harrold is part of the team behind Discovery’s Tigerland and National Geographic’s Rebuilding Paradise. She is also part of DOC NYC’s 2021 40 Under 40 Class, a member of Film Fatales, and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
