JULIA’S STEPPING STONES Now on Netflix

Julia Reichert, who passed away after a long battle with cancer in December 2022, was the director of numerous acclaimed films, including Union Maids and the Academy Award®- winning  American Factory, and a founder of the groundbreaking, filmmaker-owned distribution cooperative New Day Films. In the few years before she died, Julia began sharing her own story, which she later wrote and recorded.  After her death, her husband and filmmaking partner Steven Bognar edited and completed the film.

 “Full Frame was a huge part of Julia’s life for many years.  We would go every year, bringing students, or showing our films or just going to immerse in movies and community,” said Bognar, who chose to premiere JULIA’S STEPPING STONES at the 2024 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. “Full Frame nourished our work and our souls every time.  For Full Frame to host the world premiere of JULIA’S STEPPING STONES earlier this year was deeply meaningful… It felt like a homecoming, and the perfect way to remember Julia in a place she loved.”

JULIA’S STEPPING STONES recounts the path Reichert took to becoming a filmmaker: her upbringing and education, the joy she found working in radio, and her interest in working people and the women’s movement, which led to the making of her first film, Growing Up Female. The excitement and inflection in her voice as she shares these milestones and memories enhances an incredible collection of personal photographs and film excerpts. Through this poignant montage of recollections, Julia’s essence shines through—how her vibrant curiosity about the experiences of others shaped the stories she documented on screen.

Watch on Netflix >>