About Maggie

Every place carries stories long before we arrive.

Some are etched into the landscape. Others are carried through memory, tradition, and the quiet rituals of everyday life. Long before we understand a place, it has already begun shaping the people who call it home.

My work begins with a simple belief: the way stories are made is as important as the stories themselves.

As a documentary filmmaker, National Geographic Explorer, and oral historian, I create films that explore the relationships between people, place, and the living world. Through long-term collaborations with communities, I seek stories that invite us to look beyond headlines and toward the deeper connections that shape identity, belonging, stewardship, and the futures we imagine together.

Whether documenting Palestinian olive farmers tending trees that have sustained generations, communities resisting fossil fuel expansion across the United States, or Indigenous leaders protecting sacred rivers in Myanmar, I'm drawn to stories that reveal not only what is at risk, but what people are working to protect. Again and again, I find myself returning to people whose lives remind us that our relationship with place is never simply about geography—it's about memory, culture, care, and the ways we choose to belong.

My approach is rooted in oral history and deep listening. I believe trust is built over time, and that filmmaking is most meaningful when it is created in partnership with the people whose lives it seeks to understand. For me, the process is not separate from the finished film—it is part of the story itself.

Today, I direct and produce independent documentary films, serve as a National Geographic Expedition Expert, teach and mentor emerging storytellers, and speak internationally about documentary filmmaking, ethical storytelling, and the relationships between culture and the natural world. My work has been supported by and created in collaboration with organizations including National Geographic, Patagonia, Doc Society, The Redford Center, Tribeca Film Institute, Earth Alliance, Fossil Free Media, and The Solutions Project. My films have screened internationally at festivals including DOC NYC, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Trento Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, Chicago Palestine Film Festival, and many others.

At its heart, my work is an invitation to look more closely, listen more deeply, and imagine new possibilities for how we relate to one another and the places we call home. Again and again, I'm drawn to stories that remind us our greatest challenges—and our greatest possibilities—are rooted in relationship.