Storyteller Leslie Zemeckis talks with Josh Molina about her award-winning, women-centered films that tell the lost stories of powerful women in history.

Her most recent documentary Grandes Horizontales tells the story of mid-1805s courtesans who accumulated wealth, power and property by breaking the rules, when women could now marry or work outside of their class.

From her website lesliezemeckis.com: "It isn’t for us to judge their choices but to reveal the answers behind the why and the what about these free-spirited, determined women that inspired decades of artists who tried to capture their likeness, their essence, their appeal."

She also talks about her body of work, including "Bound by Flesh" about conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, and the award-winning "Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer" about the first female tiger trainer, Mabel Stark,

Zemeckis explains why she was called to tell the stories of women and the lessons we can learn from powerful women in the past. She also teaches writing and storytelling and recently returned to a full-time schedule at Santa Barbara City College.

Joshua Molina is an award-winning journalist who creates compelling conversations with dynamic individuals on the topics of housing, education, culture, art, politics and so much more. Please consider a contribution at www.santabarbaratalks.com to support these podcasts and following him on instagram at @motownjoshnews.com

Find Leslie Zemeckis at @lesliezemeckis