Liz Garbus

Directing

Liz Garbus

Born

1970-04-11 (56)

Place of birth

USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

43 titles

Elizabeth Freya Garbus (born April 11, 1970) is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are The Farm: Angola, USA, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Love, Marilyn, and What Happened, Miss Simone? She is a two-time Oscar Nominee, two-time Emmy Winner, Peabody Winner, Grammy Nominee, and DGA-Nominated director

Known for

Tamron Hall poster
4.7

Former news host and journalist Tamron Hall discusses all things topical and engages those she interviews in thorough meaningful and entertaining conversations.

Tamron Hall

2019

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter poster
6.2

Some of this year's most talked about talent open up about the challenges and triumphs of creating critically acclaimed series and performances.

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

2015

Love, Rendered poster
NR

Follows an octogenarian couple: Burt is losing his memory; his loving wife Ethelle wants him to retain their most meaningful memories together.

Love, Rendered

2026

Lost Girls poster
6.1

When Mari Gilbert's daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered prostitutes.

Lost Girls

2020

Becoming Cousteau poster
6.9

Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.

Becoming Cousteau

2021

Love, Marilyn poster
6.5

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Love, Marilyn

2013

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

Love, Rendered poster
NR

Follows an octogenarian couple: Burt is losing his memory; his loving wife Ethelle wants him to retain their most meaningful memories together.

Love, Rendered

2026

Lost Girls poster
6.1

When Mari Gilbert's daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered prostitutes.

Lost Girls

2020

Becoming Cousteau poster
6.9

Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.

Becoming Cousteau

2021

Becoming Cousteau poster
6.9

Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.

Becoming Cousteau

2021

Love, Marilyn poster
6.5

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Love, Marilyn

2013

Love, Marilyn poster
6.5

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Love, Marilyn

2013

Love, Marilyn poster
6.5

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Love, Marilyn

2013

Epidemic Africa poster
10.0

A documentary short about the growing number of African children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The film was screened at the United Nations Headquarters (NYC) for World Aids Day in December 1999, and before members of US Congress as part of a briefing on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in April 2000.

Epidemic Africa

1999

ariana grande: excuse me, i love you poster
7.9

Ariana Grande takes the stage in London for her Sweetener World Tour and shares a behind-the-scenes look at her life in rehearsal and on the road.

ariana grande: excuse me, i love you

2020

Family Affair poster
NR

Chico Colvard interviews family members 30 years after a dirty family secret is revealed. He finds out how his three sisters survived severe abuse at the hands of their father and how they cope as adults.

Family Affair

2010

There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane poster
6.6

Filmmaker Liz Garbus investigates the mysterious tragedy of Diane Schuler in an effort to understand what went wrong.

There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane

2011

There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane poster
6.6

Filmmaker Liz Garbus investigates the mysterious tragedy of Diane Schuler in an effort to understand what went wrong.

There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane

2011

Give Me the Ball! poster
10.0

World champion tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King has had a game-changing impact on culture and sports. Rare archive and candid interviews with Billie Jean and those closest to her reveal how one woman put changing the world ahead of saving herself.

Give Me the Ball!

2026

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib poster
7.1

An examination of the prisoner abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers and detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the fall of 2003.

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

2007

What Happened, Miss Simone? poster
7.4

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

2015

What Happened, Miss Simone? poster
7.4

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

2015

What Happened, Miss Simone? poster
7.4

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

2015

No artwork available
NR

A mother inexplicably and abruptly walks out on her family and hitches a ride to a nowhere beach town 100 miles away. It’s the start of a twisted plan that involves a murder in her past, a hidden stash of millions, and an urge to be free from all the men who have tried to control her. By the time she’s over the state line, we realize this isn’t the first time she’s vanished. She has several secret lives scattered in her wake, and the people she left behind are eager for revenge.

Sunburn

No artwork available
NR

A mother inexplicably and abruptly walks out on her family and hitches a ride to a nowhere beach town 100 miles away. It’s the start of a twisted plan that involves a murder in her past, a hidden stash of millions, and an urge to be free from all the men who have tried to control her. By the time she’s over the state line, we realize this isn’t the first time she’s vanished. She has several secret lives scattered in her wake, and the people she left behind are eager for revenge.

Sunburn

Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper poster
7.7

Born into one of the wealthiest and best-known families in American history, Gloria Vanderbilt has lived in the public eye for more than 90 years, unapologetically pursuing love, family and career, while experiencing extreme tragedy and tremendous success side by side. This documentary features a series of candid conversations as Vanderbilt and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper, look back at her remarkable life.

Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

2016

Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper poster
7.7

Born into one of the wealthiest and best-known families in American history, Gloria Vanderbilt has lived in the public eye for more than 90 years, unapologetically pursuing love, family and career, while experiencing extreme tragedy and tremendous success side by side. This documentary features a series of candid conversations as Vanderbilt and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper, look back at her remarkable life.

Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

2016

Girlhood poster
6.6

Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Follows two female inmates – victims of horrific violence and tragedy – who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center.

Girlhood

2003

Girlhood poster
6.6

Documentary chronicling America's justice system. Follows two female inmates – victims of horrific violence and tragedy – who are serving time in a Maryland juvenile detention center.

Girlhood

2003

Bobby Fischer Against the World poster
6.8

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

Bobby Fischer Against the World

2011

Bobby Fischer Against the World poster
6.8

The first documentary feature to explore the tragic and bizarre life of the late chess master Bobby Fischer.

Bobby Fischer Against the World

2011

A Dangerous Son poster
6.8

Documentary following three families each coping with a child affected by serious emotional or mental illness. The families explore treatment opportunities and grapple with the struggle of living with their child's condition.

A Dangerous Son

2018

A Dangerous Son poster
6.8

Documentary following three families each coping with a child affected by serious emotional or mental illness. The families explore treatment opportunities and grapple with the struggle of living with their child's condition.

A Dangerous Son

2018

No artwork available
NR

Each year, mothers with mental impairment give birth to an estimated 120,000 children. Approximately half of these children remain with the mother. "Different Moms" briefly documents the lives of three mothers with mental impairment ~ Elaine Mayfield, Margaret Main, and Juanita Ingraham ~ as they raise their children of "normal", or "average", intelligence, following the challenges which they face, and overcome, on a daily basis.

Different Moms

1999

No artwork available
NR

Each year, mothers with mental impairment give birth to an estimated 120,000 children. Approximately half of these children remain with the mother. "Different Moms" briefly documents the lives of three mothers with mental impairment ~ Elaine Mayfield, Margaret Main, and Juanita Ingraham ~ as they raise their children of "normal", or "average", intelligence, following the challenges which they face, and overcome, on a daily basis.

Different Moms

1999

The Changing Face of Beauty poster
10.0

The Changing Face of Beauty

2000

The Changing Face of Beauty poster
10.0

The Changing Face of Beauty

2000

Convergence: Courage in a Crisis poster
4.8

Activists and volunteers work through the darkest days of 2020, galvanizing social change amidst chaos as governments start to fail local communities. This epic, globally spanning and deeply passionate documentary serves as a clarion call that great change can be born of crisis.

Convergence: Courage in a Crisis

2021

The Nazi Officer's Wife poster
6.8

In 1938 Edith Hahn was a Viennese law student - a "Christmas-tree Jew" with a gentile boyfriend. In 1942 she was living under an assumed name in Munich and married to Werner Vetter, a Nazi party member who was later drafted into the Wehrmacht. Based on Hahn's acclaimed memoir, "The Nazi Officer's Wife" is the riveting account of how she survived the Holocaust by posing as an Aryan hausfrau. Despite the risks, she kept painstaking records including real and falsified documents and photos of labor camps. These moving artifacts along with testimony from Hahn and her daughter bring this tale of survival resilience and redemption to life.

The Nazi Officer's Wife

2003

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas poster
NR

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas is an award-winning series of 30 three-minute stories about innovators—people who are reshaping the world through act or invention—directed by the world's most celebrated documentary filmmakers.

Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas

2012

All In: The Fight for Democracy poster
7.3

Examines the often overlooked, yet insidious issue of voter suppression in the United States in anticipation of the 2020 presidential election. With the perspective and expertise of Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, the film offers an insider’s look into laws and barriers to voting that most people don’t even know is a threat to their basic rights as citizens of the United States.

All In: The Fight for Democracy

2020

All In: The Fight for Democracy poster
7.3

Examines the often overlooked, yet insidious issue of voter suppression in the United States in anticipation of the 2020 presidential election. With the perspective and expertise of Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, the film offers an insider’s look into laws and barriers to voting that most people don’t even know is a threat to their basic rights as citizens of the United States.

All In: The Fight for Democracy

2020

Xiara's Song poster
3.5

Xiara Trujillo is a precocious seven-year-old who moved from the Bronx to Maryland with her mom, Aracelli Guzman, four years ago. Though she seems happy hanging out and playing with her pal Melissa, Xiara becomes defensive and emotional when talking about her father, Harold Linares. As we see and learn, Harold is in jail serving a ten-year sentence for weapons possession; Xiara seems to blame his incarceration on her mother, whom she says "kept calling the police." Xiara, who has always been extremely close to her father, acts out with her mother.

Xiara's Song

2005

Xiara's Song poster
3.5

Xiara Trujillo is a precocious seven-year-old who moved from the Bronx to Maryland with her mom, Aracelli Guzman, four years ago. Though she seems happy hanging out and playing with her pal Melissa, Xiara becomes defensive and emotional when talking about her father, Harold Linares. As we see and learn, Harold is in jail serving a ten-year sentence for weapons possession; Xiara seems to blame his incarceration on her mother, whom she says "kept calling the police." Xiara, who has always been extremely close to her father, acts out with her mother.

Xiara's Song

2005

¡Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas! poster
9.0

Actress Rosie Perez makes a stunning directorial debut in this heartfelt tribute to Puerto Rican pride. She takes an in-depth look at the complex and often controversial history of Puerto Rican-U.S. relations. By turns shocking and celebratory, this wide-ranging documentary examines such rich themes of the Puerto Rican experience as family, language, and racism, all with careful consideration of historical context.

¡Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas!

2006

¡Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas! poster
9.0

Actress Rosie Perez makes a stunning directorial debut in this heartfelt tribute to Puerto Rican pride. She takes an in-depth look at the complex and often controversial history of Puerto Rican-U.S. relations. By turns shocking and celebratory, this wide-ranging documentary examines such rich themes of the Puerto Rican experience as family, language, and racism, all with careful consideration of historical context.

¡Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas!

2006