Greenlit Productions is collaborating with American writer-producer, Jane Applegate, to produce an innovative hybrid documentary series about remarkable women behind iconic men around the world. Each episode features expert interviews, archival footage, cutting-edge animation, and scripted scenes.

Remarkable Women – Out of the Shadows shines a light on untold stories about the strength, leadership and influence thousands of women had on global literature, art, politics, culture, and science. Our anthology series features stories told by a diverse and talented group of primarily female filmmakers from several European countries, including Finland, Germany, Romania, Italy, and Poland. Future seasons will include stories about women from Asia, India, Africa, the United Kingdom, South America, and the United States. We are working with female filmmakers from around the world to collect and tell many other untold stories.

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Our first five episodes feature compelling stories about remarkable women throughout history who were behind the success of iconic men in Finland, Romania, Germany and Poland. Their stories will be told in a multimedia format featuring: expert interviews, archival photos and footage when available, animated sequences and dramatic scenes.

Finnish Episodes: Our two Finnish stories feature profiles of three remarkable Finnish women.   Ida Lönnrot, the daughter and personal secretary to her father, and Eva Törngren, a wealthy patron and supporter of preserving the Finnish language were behind the success of Elias Lönnrot, the Finnish botanist, linguist and collector of Finnish folk tales believed to inspire the characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. This episode will be written, directed and narrated by Mervi Enqvist, a Helsinki-based writer who is a distance relative of Ida and Elias Lönnrot.

Our second Finnish story is about Aino Aalto, a talented interior and furniture designer who was the artistic collaborator and wife of Alvar Aalto. Their company, Artek, was a pioneer in modern Finnish design and remains in business today. Award-winning Finnish writer/director Leena Kilpeläinen is taking the lead on writing and directing an episode sharing her remarkable story.

German Episode: Our German episode, written by Irish screenwriter, Sheena Lambert, is about Cosima Wagner, daughter of composer, Franz Liszt. Cosima was a gifted pianist, but she was forbidden to play the piano in public by her famous father. Refusing to be constrained, she left her husband and two children to become the mistress and later the wife of iconic composer, Richard Wagner. Wagner was a great artist but a terrible businessman. Cosima began managing his career and her business acumen was legendary. She launched the first crowd funding campaign to pre-sell tickets to Wagner’s concerts. She convinced the King of Bavaria to fund construction of a venue to host the annual Wagner Music Festival, which is still going strong in Bayreuth, Germany. She was a ruthless promoter and vocal anti-Semite, but her life story and accomplishments still provide inspiration for men and women today.

Polish Episode: Our Polish episode is about Elisabeth Hevelius, a brilliant young Dutch woman who moved with her parents to Gdansk, (Danzig) Poland in the 1700’s. Born in 1647, she is considered one of the first female astronomers. She worked closely with her much older husband, Johannes Hevelius, whose astronomical research and scientific inventions were funded by the King of Poland. Elisabeth was proficient in Latin, the language of science, at the time. Her ability to speak and write several languages enabled her to communicate with scientists across Europe. Long after her husband died, the King of Poland provided funding so she could continue to work in the field of astronomy. A mother of three daughters, she also managed the family’s medicinal beer business, using the profits to support her family and her research. The creative team at ORKA Productions in Warsaw, Poland will co-produce this episode.

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Romanian Episode: We look to the skies to share the remarkable story of a group of Romanian aristocrats who risked their lives to use their private planes to rescue thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians during World War II. Dubbed “The White Squadron,” by an Italian journalist because they painted their private planes white, these brave women delivered the wounded to field hospitals while avoiding being shot down by enemy pilots. They asked the Romanian Air Force commanders to grant them official Air Force pilot status, but were denied for years. In fact, the top Romanian Air Force officers took full credit for the womens’ heroic rescues. This episode will feature state-of-the-art aerial battle scenes shot on a virtual reality set in Europe. Our collaborators on this episode are Ilinca Neagu, a Romanian writer/director based in Brussels, and her producer, Cristina Tache, based in Bucharest.