Award-Winning Documentary Spotlights Career Obstacles for Women

A culture shift leveling the playing field is needed if women are going to overcome the systematic personal and professional obstacles they face each day.

But there are efforts being made by both men and women to energize new thinking and enact positive change.

That is the basis of an Emmy-nominated documentary that reflects the mission of ATHENA International to bring balance in leadership voices across the globe. “Pioneers in Skirts” is gaining significant attention and receiving a groundswell of support through grass-roots efforts that are bringing the message of change to viewers around the country in group screenings.

The 60-minute film is a five-year passion project of director Ashley Maria and her mother/producer Lea-Ann W. Berst. The documentary examines the obstacles that get in the way of pioneering ambition, addressing the stereotyping and sexism that can chip away at a woman, limit her potential and make her feel like she must rethink her dreams.

“It started with a conversation with my mom,” Maria said. “As a filmmaker, I saw how I was treated as a woman in Hollywood. So, I was talking with my mom and realized that what I was going through was very similar to what she went through when she started her career. Maybe it looks a little different today, but what women are dealing with was just perpetuating. It’s still the same damaging actions, so we started making a documentary about it.”

The odyssey took the mother-and-daughter duo everywhere from a middle school robotics lab and CEO boardrooms in Seattle to sit-downs with the decision-makers in Washington, D.C. Each stop delved deeper into what women are dealing with today, what realistically can be done about it, and how everyone can play a role in dramatically changing the outcomes for women today as well as the next generation.

“What women are told, what women are confronted with, really boils down to unconscious biases, stereotypes, threats, sexism — everything that is going on in our actual culture that is forcing women to take a certain path. That really grew our film into something much bigger,” Maria said. “We have tons of experts who are saying it’s no surprise that women are falling off because look at everything they have to deal with. It’s not on women to fix themselves. It’s about fixing the culture.”

Maria said that drove them to keep going in different directions to find the solutions and create something new.

“It was investigative,” she said. “We traveled the country to interview people and see if we could find enough information to create this movie to be a tool to help women and men understand how we can evolve our culture so that women can achieve their dreams.”

And that part is key, Maria noted. Everyone needs to play a role, and everyone can benefit from “Pioneers in Skirts.”

“We intentionally did not want to point fingers at anyone. We wanted to make sure men felt like they could be a part of the conversation, because they must be a part of the conversation in order to evolve the culture,” she said. “Men come up after test screenings saying, ‘I’m so happy. This was so impactful. It reminds me of my daughter, and I want her to have every opportunity.’”

The film was initially released in 2020, following a successful festival run that earned multiple awards; however, the pandemic scuttled the initial plans to promote it until now. It’s currently available on select regional PBS stations, but Maria said the big push they are making is encouraging people to host viewing parties, where a group discussion and dialogue can follow the film’s presentation.

“One of the bigger lessons I got out of making this film was just how much our culture is influencing our everyday thoughts — and, once we realize that, how much we can actually stop it and confront it,” Maria said. “Just last week a young girl asked, ‘How am I supposed to create real change? It seems so hard.’ I can honestly say that just realizing when your unconscious biases are taking over, and stopping that, is how you create real change. If there’s a man and a woman sitting in front of me, don’t assume the man is the one in charge. We’ve just been conditioned to feel that way. Realizing that was one of the more surprising and influential lessons for me because it took a lot of the pressure off.”

To watch the trailer for “Pioneers in Skirt,” visit vimeo.com/386090624.

To see a schedule of air dates for the film or to host a screening of “Pioneers in Skirts,” visit pioneersinskirts.com.