Girls Level Up
2017 · 9m · United States
Directed by Anne Edgar
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
An inspiring voice in the conversation about the future of women in the video game industry, Girls Level Up profiles a summer camp where girls are given three weeks to make their own video game demo.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A straightforward documentary about girls in gaming—exactly the kind of earnest subject matter that usually makes me roll my eyes, except Edgar refuses to mythologize or preach, which is somehow more subversive than any genre trick could be.
Edgar's observational restraint and the film's deliberate pacing situate it firmly in the lyric documentary tradition, where formal quietude becomes its own kind of argument about attention and visibility.
The decision to let the girls' own commentary breathe without ironic voiceover or score manipulation—to trust the image and their words as enough—is what transforms nine minutes into something that feels earned rather than assembled.
Reviews
It was inspiring to observe GMG girls transform themselves from girls who love games into creative, problem solving, determined game makers. I glimpsed a possible future where women game developers from diverse backgrounds are commonplace, and where the interactive experiences they create are beyond anything we can imagine today.