Abby Ginzberg, Director/Producer

Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody award-winning director and EMMY® Silver Circle member who has been producing compelling documentaries about race and social justice for over 35 years.

She Dared to Dream: Ayanna Pressley, is a short documentary profiling Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley from Boston, The film premiered at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and won the Best Short Documentary award from the Harlem International Film Festival.  It has been recognized with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Best Shorts Awards.

Labors of Love: The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Szold, Abby’s latest film delves into the remarkable life of Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah.  It will premiere at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in July, 2025.

Her film, Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power, won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary and is available on Amazon Prime. The film was nominated for a Webby Award in 2025. The feature-length documentary tells the complex story of Representative Barbara Lee, a steadfast voice for human rights, peace and economic and racial justice in the US Congress.

Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter (co-directed with Christy Carpenter) premiered at SXSW in March, 2024 and was broadcast on public television in March, 2025 for Women’s History Month. It won the Best Feature Documentary at the Hill Country Film Festival and Best Biographical Film at the Toronto International Women Film Festival.

Her short film, Judging Juries, (2024) highlights the urgent need to address inequities in jury service and juror pay that undermine the fundamental right to be judged by a diverse and representative jury. It was chosen as a 2025 Honoree by the Webby Awards, won a Communicator Award and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the Short Documentary category.

Abby directed and produced Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa, which won a Peabody award and has screened at numerous festivals worldwide, winning 4 best documentary awards. The film tells the powerful story of Albie Sachs, a prominent Jewish anti-apartheid activist and former Constitutional Court judge, exploring his journey and contributions to South Africa’s post-apartheid landscape. 

Waging Change, examines the challenges faced by tipped servers who are forced to live off tips.  The documentary, which highlights the struggles surrounding the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, features award-winning actresses, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The film won Best Feature Documentary at the UNAFF and was broadcast on public television in 2021. 

And Then They Came for Us (2017), featuring George Takei, examines the connection between the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Trump administration’s travel ban. The film was broadcast on public television in 2019 and 2020 and won a Silver Gavel award from the American Bar Association for Best Documentary. 

Abby was the Consulting Producer on The Barber of Birmingham, which premiered at Sundance in 2011 and was nominated for an Oscar® in the Short Doc category in 2012.The film highlights the experience of foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama.