Join documentary filmmaker, author, and educator Courtney Hermann for an evening of conversation, film clips, and reflection on the evolving practice of directing documentary films. In dialogue with filmmaker and educator G. Chesler, Hermann will discuss the legacy of Directing the Documentary—the seminal text originally authored by Michael Rabiger, which Hermann now co-authors and is leading into its 8th edition.
Hermann’s award-winning documentaries—including Standing Silent Nation, Exotic World and the Burlesque Revival, Crying Earth Rise Up, Burton Before and After, and Outliers and Outlaws—emerge from a practice of embedding within communities and building trust. Guided by an ethic of partnership rather than extraction, her films amplify perspectives absent from popular media and engage themes of Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice, women’s empowerment, and queer experience. Her work has been distributed through PBS, film festivals, libraries, museums, and grassroots organizations nationwide.
Hermann and Chesler will address documentary as both a rigorous craft and a profoundly human practice of connection and intuition—a vision Hermann shared with her late mentor and co-author Michael Rabiger. Clips from her films and other landmark documentaries will illustrate the discussion.
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