Allie Light

Ms. Light lectured in film at City College of San Francisco and, for ten years, in the Women’s Studies Program at San Francisco State University. Her life story appeared in "On Women Turning 50, Celebrating Mid-Life Discoveries," by Cathleen Rountree (Harper/Collins, 1993), and interviews with her were featured in Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors by Judith M. Redding & Victoria A. Brownworth (Seal Press, 1997) and Documentary Filmmakers Speak by Liz Stubbs (Allworth Press, 2002). She served on the Media Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and was a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Allie Light passed away in September 2025, leaving behind a legacy of bold, compassionate filmmaking and deep commitment to women’s voices in documentary storytelling. (10/16) From Oscar and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf (Dialogues With Madwomen and In The Shadow of The Stars), in partnership with Carol Monpere, also an Emmy Award-winner, comes their latest film, The Sermons Of Sister Jane: Believing the Unbelievable. This documentary is an engaging portrait that sparkles with the courage, wit and… Because murder by women is still relatively rare--only one out of eight murders in the United States is committed by a woman--women's own stories provide unique insights into the circumstances leading to these violent acts. In this absorbing documentary, intimate one-on-one interviews with six women murderers are combined with re-enactments of their background experience and… This absorbing documentary examines the lives of Asian Americans through the inspirational poetry of Mitsuye Yamada and Nellie Wong. Interviews, rare archival footage, intimate family scenes and a lively dialogue between these fascinating women underscore the different histories of Chinese and Japanese Americans but also shared experiences of biculturalism and generational difference. Ideal for literature… "I was always so afraid that someone would ask me (where I was when JFK was shot), and I would have to say I was in a mental institution", says director Allie Light. This moving and informative film features seven women--including the filmmaker--describing their experiences with manic depression, multiple personalities, schizophrenia, euphoria and recovery. Candid…