Visiting Filmmakers Series: Abby Greensfelder, Andrea Nix-Fine, and Sean Fine with LFG

Thursday, March 9, 2023 4:30 PM EST
Johnson Center, Cinema

Photo: HBO Max

A no-holds-barred, inside account of the U.S. women's national team's ongoing fight for equal pay.

Three months before the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the players filed a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. LFG grants viewers unprecedented access to the players as they meet the challenges of being brilliant athletes as well as inspiring leaders for social change.

Interviewees include Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O'Hara, and Sam Mewis: they share their experiences at the center of the biggest fight for women's rights since Title IX.

Told by the players themselves, including Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O'Hara, Sam Mewis and others, this emotional and cinematic film uncovers what it takes to be at the center of the biggest fight for women's rights since Title IX.

Photo: HBO Max


"The directors have made a doc that pops visually, playfully. 'LFG' employs fleet, colorful graphics (by Union Editorial), scoring points in showing how unequal that compensation and benefits can be. The film rides waves of energy — cutting on the field highlights with personable interviews and sometimes nervous media appearances — until the pandemic slows things and forces the directors to resort, like so many of us did, to remote video. And even then, 'LFG' has power" (Lisa Kennedy, Variety).

Photo: Getty Images

"LFG is everything a documentary should be: there’s a clear story and fight at hand, the subjects are charismatic and prepared (and again, so, so cool), and there is a blatant lesson to be learned. The film is super entertaining as it uses staggering statistics to make its point, but also painfully vulnerable as these women let us into their hearts and lives off the field. So just in case you’re still on the fence about watching this movie, I have three very important letters for you: LFG" (Lee Palmieri, "‘LFG' Review: An Infuriating, Inspiring, Important Documentary For Way More Than Sports Fans, Decider). 


See LFG website here


Andrea Nix-Fine and her husband and filmmaking partner, Sean Fine, are Oscar®, Emmy® and Peabody® award-winning directors, producers, and writers. They are best known for their films Inocente (2012), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject); War/Dance (2007), which was nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards; and the Emmy and Peabody-winning film, Life According to Sam (2013).

Nix-Fine grew up in Rochester, New York and later attended Colby College. She made her first film in a college class where the professor required the making of a documentary in place of a written term paper at the end. 

Fine grew up around filmmaking. His parents co-directed award-winning documentary programs for CBS and 60 Minutes, with his father also being the cinematographer and his mother the film editor. He is a 1996 graduate of Connecticut College, where he earned a degree in Zoology. When he took a summer film course at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, he realized he wanted to make films for a living. 

In 2021, the Fines launched their impact studio Change Content with an edict to develop true stories into unforgettable narratives and docs that upend the way viewers think and feel about critical issues.

See Change Content website here


Photo: Joanne S. Lawton

Abby Greensfelder is the founder and CEO of Everywoman Studios, a full-service media company with a mission to tell female-focused, female-driven stories creating positive cultural impact. In addition to LFG, Greensfelder and the Everywoman team have series and other features in the works for myriad networks and streamers, including premium cult docuseries, Apostate. In 2020, Greensfelder launched “Propelle” – an accelerator program for female creators – in partnership with Realscreen.

Greensfelder holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the board of the Alliance for Women in Media and is a limited partner at Rethink Impact, a venture firm investing in female-led businesses. 


Watch Andrea Nix Fine, Sean Fine, and Abby Greensfelder talk about LFG:


Watch LFG trailer


This event is presented by Visiting Filmmakers Series; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; College of Visual and Performing Arts; Film at Mason; English Department; Global AffairsHistory and Art History, Sport and American Culture; University Life; and Women and Gender Studies.


#VisitingFilmmakersSeries #FilmAtMason #LFG

For more information: 

Anjuli Singh, asingh80@gmu.edu, Exhibitions and Office Coordinator, Film at Mason

Cynthia Fuchs cfuchs@gmu.edu, Director, Visiting Filmmakers Series at Mason; Director, Film at Mason

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