In her 59 years, Barbie has become a fashion icon, a lightning rod and a topic among feminists. TINY SHOULDERS; RETHINKING BARBIE, featuring newly discovered footage and unprecedented access to the inner workings of a toy giant during Barbie’s biggest reinvention, surveys 60 years of women in popular culture through the lens of this 11.5 inch, Zelig-like plastic icon.
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins is a Academy Award-nominated, Emmy award-winning director, producer and writer. Her keen interest in lives in transition led her to chronicle retired dancers given a late-in-life chance to perform. Still Kicking, her first independent documentary, earned her the Academy Award nomination. Her first feature length documentary, The Other F Word, about anti-authoritarian punk rockers donning the cloak of paternal authority, premiered at SXSW, was distributed by Oscilloscope and broadcast on Showtime. In examining the huge transitions NFL football players make from super stardom to relative invisibility, she directed the 2014 season-opener for Peter Berg’s HBO series, “State of Play.” Entitled Happiness, it follows three players looking for fulfillment in second chapters. Her feature Play It Forward grew out of this work. It follows two brothers at mid-life as their dreams and sacrifices for NFL glory collide. This film was selected to open 2015’s ESPN/Tribeca Film Festival, and was bought by Showtime. It was also selected for inclusion in the 2016 American Film Showcase. Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie, a Hulu Original Documentary, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs, and on Hulu in April 2018.
