Gloria Steinem‘s legacy extends far beyond her literary achievements, but her beloved magazine Ms. is what really started a movement. The story of Ms. has been fictionalized onscreen in “Mrs. America,” “Minx,” and “Good Girls Revolt,” and even had a real-life syndicated spinoff “Woman Alive!” that started in 1974. The reach of Ms. is almost unfathomable — and its imprint (pun intended) on the sociocultural landscape is still being felt today.
“Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print” revisits the iconic publication through the lens of three directors: Salima Koroma, Alice Gu, and Cecilia Aldarondo. In the film, the trio each examine a different Ms. cover story to honor the legacy of the magazine.
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Ms. launched in 1972 and arguably revolutionized the feminist movement at the time. As the official synopsis for the documentary states, the magazine was suddenly “bringing radical ideas to kitchen tables across the country and sparking provocative conversations about everything from politics to porn.” The documentary itself “tells the untold story of the magazine’s rise — how it defied the odds, transformed its readers, and continually fought to uphold its bold ideals in the face of cultural and political resistance.”
“Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print” features interviews with Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Marcia Ann Gillespie, Lindsay Van Gelder, and Suzanne Braun Levine. The film premiered at Tribeca 2025 in the Spotlight Documentary section.
William Ventura produces the feature, with Dyllan McGee, Amy Richards, Cindi Leive, Regina K. Scully, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez, and Anna Klein executive producing.
Steinem was recently also at the center of 2020 biopic “The Glorias,” which was based on her bestselling 2015 book “My Life on the Road.” Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander both portray Steinem across years of her life in the film.
HBO Documentary Films additionally released “Gloria Steinem: In Her Own Words” in 2011. “There are more young women now who are feminist leaders than there ever were during my era,” Steinem said at the time when promoting the doc, “and young women have better shit detectors than we ever had.”
“Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print” will premiere Wednesday, July 2 on HBO and Max. Check out the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
