Cookie Queens Director Finds a Delicious Way Into a Larger Conversation About Girl Scout Cookies (Video)

A film beyond cookie sales

Cookie Queens follows four girls as they work toward personal goals amid different challenges during Girl Scout cookie-selling season. The documentary premiered at Sundance and received the audience award at SXSW.

Nahmias said she was drawn less to cookie sales than to the girls’ experiences. “I was always interested in their inner journeys,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Finding a way in

After two decades directing and producing documentaries, often about art and architecture, Nahmias wanted to make a film her young children and their friends could enjoy. A friend’s story about a girl who complimented him before asking him to buy cookies sparked the idea.

Nahmias was not a Girl Scout herself, though her mother had been a Brownie. She saw the organization as an entry point to questions about girlhood and women being underestimated. She described it as “a delicious way in,” while saying the film also considered girls’ place in American capitalism.

Four girls at the center

Nahmias approached Girl Scouts of the USA, then chose to make the film independently of the organization. She and her team filmed seven girls from varied backgrounds and locations over six months, with their families’ permission.

The finished film centers on Olive, Nikki, Shannon Elizabeth and Ara. Their stories portray different hopes and circumstances, including financial strain and diabetes.

A child-centered approach

Nahmias drew inspiration from both scripted films about childhood and documentaries. She filmed from the children’s points of view, then removed three girls’ stories during editing. Although viewers might expect the girls to compete or meet during the season, they did not meet until after the film was locked. Nahmias said the number of boxes sold was not her focus.