With two Academy Award nominations in the same year, Geeta Gandbhir has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary documentary filmmaking. Her latest projects, “The Devil Is Busy,” now streaming on HBO Max, and “The Perfect Neighbor,” available on Netflix, showcase a filmmaker pushing the boundaries of form while staying grounded in deeply human stories. On “The Devil Is Busy,” Gandbhir collaborates with Christalyn Hampton, whose on-the-ground work and creative partnership helped shape the film’s perspective and access.
While the films differ in structure, both reflect a shared commitment to rethinking how documentary stories are told. “The Perfect Neighbor” unfolds entirely through police body camera footage, allowing events to play out without narration or traditional framing. “The Devil Is Busy,” by contrast, follows a single day inside an abortion clinic in the American South through verité observation, similarly avoiding talking heads or overt commentary. In both cases, the filmmakers remove themselves from the foreground, creating space for the audience to engage directly with the material.
That approach has resonated across the awards landscape. In addition to their Oscar nominations, both films have been widely recognized for their innovation in form and their willingness to trust viewers with complexity rather than prescribe interpretation. Gandbhir’s dual nominations also mark a historic moment, making her the first woman to have two films she directed nominated in the same year, while Hampton stands as the only Black woman nominated in the category.
Together, the films explore questions of perspective, bias, and moral certainty, often through characters who do not fully see themselves as others might. In “The Perfect Neighbor,” that tension emerges through lived experience captured in real time, where the accumulation of actions carries more weight than any narration could provide. In “The Devil Is Busy,” it is embodied in Tracy, a security guard whose quiet conviction and empathy position her as both participant and observer within a deeply divided environment.
As Gandbhir describes it, the goal is not to guide the audience, but to immerse them. “We wanted something immersive and propulsive,” she says. “Where the viewer felt like they were there.”
Gandbhir and Hampton spoke to us about their collaborative process, the origins of “The Devil Is Busy,” and how both films reflect a broader effort to reshape the language of documentary storytelling. The following transcript was adapted from a podcast interview for United By Rice.
Awards Focus: It’s a pleasure to speak with both of you. Geeta, you are a two-time Oscar-nominated director this year, and we’ll be discussing both of those projects, along with your collaborator on “The Devil Is Busy,” Christalyn Hampton. I had the chance to watch both films over the past few days and they’re wonderful. We’ll spend most of our time on “The Devil Is Busy,” but I do want to circle back to “The Perfect Neighbor” as well.
Geeta Gandbhir: Sure. Not a problem. Thank you for having us.
AF: To start, for readers who may not yet be familiar with the film, how would you describe “The Devil Is Busy,” and where does the title come from?
Gandbhir: “The Devil Is Busy” is representative of a day in the life of a clinic in the South. It is through the lens of the security guard who is a deeply Christian woman who spends her days protecting the staff and the clients, as she calls them, from any imminent danger. And outside are a bunch of protesters who are weaponizing the same Christian faith against the clients. So it is a day in the life of these brave women who run this clinic.
Hampton: And like most films, you always come to the title at the end. Tracy gives a lot of wonderful sound bites, and one of them is that the devil is busy outside. Most people think when you hear that, you’re talking about abortion or the people inside the clinic. But we flipped it on the protesters, showing that they are the ones weaponizing women and using faith in that way.
AF: The film takes place in a post–Roe v. Wade landscape, and it would be easy to approach a subject like this in a more overt or sensational way. You chose not to use narration or many interviews. Was that a deliberate choice?
Gandbhir: I can start with the origin. We basically started about a year prior to when we shot the film. Soledad O’Brien Productions came on board because they knew they wanted to make a film about the Dobbs decision and the aftermath. What would be the impact on women. So we spent about a year researching ways into this story. We were looking for the right angle and the right people to tell this story in a way that hasn’t been done before.
Because abortion has been a battle for so long, we’ve often seen the same stories over and over. But we were looking for a way in. We stumbled across the clinic and Tracy, and she was fascinating to us because she’s someone who is deeply Christian but believes that healthcare is a right.
And then Christalyn came in. She’s local to the area where the clinic exists, and we’ve worked together before, so I knew I wanted her to be part of this.
AF: Was Tracy someone you discovered through that research process?
Hampton: Yes. When we were doing the research, we were reaching out to different organizations. I was asked to go and meet the women at the clinic to see if there was a story there. I went and sat with them for a week, and I was just like, my goodness, this clinic is amazing.
It’s mostly run by women of color, and it’s all women that work at this facility. That alone was empowering. I kept going back to Tracy, who is the first person you meet when you arrive. You get through the chaos of the protesters, and she’s the first line of defense.
Who you see on camera is who she is in real life. It was easy to build a relationship with her. I remember one day after she was praying, she started crying about how important it is for her to protect the women at the clinic. I thought, wow, this is interesting. There’s something here.
AF: The film captures what appears to be a single day. Is that representative of what they experience regularly?
Gandbhir: It’s day in and day out. We shot a little bit of footage for development, but then we went back and it was one full day, following Tracy from morning to when she left. The interviews were done afterwards because you couldn’t disrupt the work.
AF: Did the team speak with you about how often situations escalate with protesters?
Hampton: Yes. Tracy is connected with Homeland Security and the local police department, so she’s aware of any extra groups that might come through. But on the day to day, a lot of the interactions are between the protesters and the partners of the patients. That’s when things can get confrontational.
But Tracy has a way of managing it, keeping a calm environment so people feel welcome and safe.
AF: One of the striking elements is the dynamic between those inside the clinic and those protesting outside.
Gandbhir: I think Tracy believes her God is a forgiving God. She understands that everybody is human. She sees people as human beings. She tells people not to let the protesters discourage them or get in their spirit. That’s where her empathy comes from.
AF: How did the two of you approach working together as directors?
Gandbhir: Christalyn has been my producer on a number of projects. She’s an incredible producer, which makes her really strong in the field. I come from an editing background, so I have a strong sense of story in post. It’s complementary.
Hampton: Geeta has always been one of my favorite storytellers. Working with your friend, there’s a way you can communicate openly and be honest. There’s a sensibility there.
Gandbhir: You can also argue and recover from it. You can yell at each other and then move on because we’re like family.
AF: What was your reaction to receiving the Oscar nominations?
Hampton: We made a pact that we weren’t going to watch, but that didn’t last. We ended up watching and calling each other.
Gandbhir: My husband came into the room with Christalyn on speaker, screaming. That’s how I woke up. I was told I’m the first woman to have two different films I directed nominated at the same time. Christalyn is the only Black woman nominated in this category. So there’s a lot for women in this.
AF: Turning briefly to “The Perfect Neighbor,” how did you arrive at that title?
Gandbhir: The title comes from the central subject referring to herself as the perfect neighbor. It’s meant to be ironic. We’re flipping the lens on how people see themselves as not being the problem.
AF: Both films engage with race, but in a way that isn’t explicitly stated or explained.
Hampton: For me, I support telling unknown stories and shining a light on unseen heroes. As a Black woman, it’s important that we keep telling these stories, especially in a time where history is being erased.
Gandbhir: I’m very interested in decolonizing documentary. Historically, documentary has been a colonial exercise. What we want to do is tell stories from within communities, with authenticity, while still making them engaging.
AF: Has Tracy (from “The Devil Is Busy”) been able to join you on the festival circuit and experience audience reactions firsthand?
Yes, she has joined us at a few festivals. She was at the premiere in New Orleans, at Doc NYC, and at Spelman. It’s important for her to receive that love. She said, “I didn’t think my story mattered.” So for her to be seen like that is really important.