Lana Wilson is an Emmy-winning and two-time Spirit Award-nominated writer and director. Transformative quests for meaning and humanity connect her diverse body of work across documentaries, short films, and episodic. Her most recent film, the Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana (2020), was the opening night film of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is a Netflix Original. Miss Americana was a New York Times Critic's Pick, an IndieWire Critic's Pick, and was named one of the Five Best Documentaries of the Year by the National Board of Review. Wilson's previous feature film, The Departure (2017), about a punk-turned-priest in Japan, was critically acclaimed for being a poetic, profound, and moving exploration of what makes life worth living. The Departure premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, played at festivals around the world, and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. The Departure was called "A work of art" by the San Francisco Chronicle, "A genuinely spiritual experience" by the Washington Post, and "Tender and moving...like a haiku" by the New York Times. The film was acquired by FilmRise and theatrically released in 30 US cities, beginning with a held-over run at New York's Metrograph. The Departure has a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating "universal acclaim." Wilson's first film, After Tiller (2013), goes inside the lives of the four most-targeted abortion providers in the country, taking a powerful and complex look at one of the most incendiary issues of our time. After Tiller premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013, and went on to win an Emmy Award for Best Documentary. It was also nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, four Cinema Eye Honors, a Satellite Award, and the Ridenhour Prize. After Tiller was acquired by Oscilloscope and released in theaters in 50 US cities. The film was named one of the five best documentaries of the year by the National Board of Review, and featured in "Best of 2013" lists in the LA Times, Village Voice, Indiewire, Artforum, and more. Flavorwire named it one of the "50 Best Documentaries of All Time." Wilson also works in episodic and short-form filmmaking. She created and directed A Cure for Fear (2018), a short-form series about a groundbreaking scientist that played at SXSW and was nominated for the 2019 International Documentary Association Award for Best Short-Form Series. Wilson has been awarded artist fellowships from the Sundance Institute, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Film Independent, and was named to DOC NYC's inaugural "40 Under 40" list. She is a recipient of the 2019 Chicken & Egg Award. Wilson has given talks at a range of contemporary art and film institutions, and has been a featured guest on NPR, MSNBC, WNYC, Huffington Post Live, Democracy Now, and many other programs. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a graduate of Wesleyan University.
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Biography from TMDB.
- August 9, 1983 (43)
- Kirkland, Washington, USA
- Producer, director and writer
- 8 on MovieCove · 9 credits in all
What are Lana Wilson's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 1 · Dark 3
Grounded 5 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 1
A split, not a type: Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet2
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Lana Wilson's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Lana Wilson's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
9 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page.
Predators(2025)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Look Into My Eyes(2024)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all shows
Windows to the Soul (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Miss Americana(2020)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
The Departure(2017)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
I Am Rebel(2016)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
After Tiller(2013)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 8 titles from 2013 to 2025.
Biggest box office
After Tiller (2013)
Highest rated
Miss Americana (2020)
Most popular right now
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
4 major nominations and no wins, 2013–2023.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Documentary
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Documentary
- Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Lana Wilson's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 75th percentile, the median of all 6; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 87th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 8 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 67/100 and the pacing 56/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Lana Wilson work with?
People who share at least 2 of Lana Wilson's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Emily Topper shares the most, 5.
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Emily TopperShared titles: Look Into My Eyes (2024), Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023), Miss Americana (2020), The Departure (2017), After Tiller (2013)See all 5 shared titles with Emily Topper
- Greg O'TooleShared titles: Jailbreak: Love on the Run (2024), Miss Americana (2020), After Tiller (2013)See all 3 shared titles with Greg O'Toole
- Nathan MichelShared titles: Jailbreak: Love on the Run (2024), The Departure (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Nathan Michel
- David TeagueShared titles: Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023), The Departure (2017)See all 2 shared titles with David Teague
Producers
- Áine PennelloShared titles: Look Into My Eyes (2024), Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Áine Pennello
- Bethany SchattnerShared titles: Jailbreak: Love on the Run (2024), Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Bethany Schattner
- Frances DeweyShared titles: Jailbreak: Love on the Run (2024), Look Into My Eyes (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Frances Dewey
- Julie Parker BenelloShared titles: Look Into My Eyes (2024), After Tiller (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Julie Parker Benello