"Cookie Queens" Director Talks Girl Scouts, Girlhood, and a Surprise Partnership

A new documentary is taking a sweeter look at what it means to grow up as a girl in America, and it's using Girl Scout cookies to do it.

"Cookie Queens," a documentary from director Alysa Nahmias, follows a group of Girl Scouts through cookie selling season. Nahmias sat down with Manny the Movie Guy this week to talk about the film, which won the audience award at Sundance and has family ties right here in the valley.

"My parents are out in the Palm Springs area, so they're gonna be excited to see this one," Nahmias said.

Nahmias said the idea came from her own kids, after her last film, about an artist making work while incarcerated, didn't exactly make for playground conversation. "They were like, 'Next time, mom, could you make one that we really want to share with our friends?'" she said.

Once she landed on Girl Scout cookies, Nahmias said she saw more than just a fun subject. She saw a way to explore girlhood itself. "It would be a kind of microcosm for looking at girlhood and being a girl and a woman in America today, and what those pressures are, and what those values are we taught about it, and what are we taught about our place in the economy?" she said.

She built the film around an ensemble of girls from different ages and backgrounds, but she was intentional about the kind of families she cast. "I wasn't interested, when I was casting, in finding families where parents were cruel or doing it for the kids," Nahmias said. "I wanted to focus on families where it's a question of how much pressure do we put on our kids."

The film also picked up a high-profile boost behind the scenes. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, came on as executive producers through their company Archewell. Nahmias said the pair connected with the project right away, in part because Meghan was a Girl Scout herself. "They really got it from the first time they saw it," she said, "and we're so grateful to have their platform and enthusiasm to shine a light on these awesome girls."

Asked what she hopes parents take away after watching the film with their kids, Nahmias didn't hesitate. "Listen and love," she said. "Listen lovingly to your children. They have something to share with you, and I think it's worth taking them seriously."

"Cookie Queens" opens this week at Cinemark Century at the River and XD, Regal Rancho Mirage, and Mary Pickford Theater is D'Place. Tickets are available at ticketingcookiequeens.com.