‘Cookie Queens’ Director Says Girl Scout Cookies Were “A Delicious Way In” to a Larger Conversation (Video)

Alysa Nahmias’s documentary *Cookie Queens* follows four girls through one Girl Scout cookie-selling season, using their experiences to explore girlhood, ambition and how women are underestimated. The film has drawn audiences with a lighter tone, winning the SXSW audience award and becoming the year’s highest-grossing non-celebrity documentary.

Nahmias initially filmed seven girls from varied backgrounds over six months, then shaped the film around Olive, Nikki, Shannon Elizabeth and Ara. Their stories do not converge into a contest: the girls had not met before the film was finished, and Nahmias says she was more interested in their personal journeys than the number of boxes sold. She describes cookie-selling as an accessible entry point to a wider conversation about girls and American capitalism.