Feminist love stories for a perfect date night

A mural of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Manhattan’s East Village in New York city. Filepic/AFP

The label "date movie” hasn't traditionally been applied much to documentaries but filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen have twice now made non-fiction films of trailblazing female icons that also happen to be portraits of loving, supportive marriages.

In RBG, the 2018 Oscar-nominated bio-documentary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the filmmakers lingered over the encouraging role of her longtime husband, the lawyer Martin D. Ginsburg. Their latest, Julia, which premiered recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, is likewise about a pioneering 20th century woman, the adventurous TV chef Julia Child, whose ascent was tenderly and enthusiastically advocated for by her husband, Paul Child.