A trailblazing physician battles sexism, medical conventions and the subterfuge of her peers to develop revolutionary treatments in Director Ami Canaan Mann’s biographical drama, Audrey’s Children.

Mann’s film tells the untold true story of Dr. Audrey Evans, who in 1969 joined a world-renowned children’s hospital and used her tender bedside manner and fierce determination to help establish the Ronald McDonald House Charities and changed the lives of millions of patients and their families.

On April 13, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Mann discussed the making of Audrey’s Children during a Q&A moderated by Director Brad Silberling (An Ordinary Man). She also spoke about the film during a conversation moderated by Director Sarah Pirozek (#Like) following the New York screening on April 27.

During the Los Angeles conversation, Mann spoke about some of the visual techniques she fought to employ to help make the audience aware of the main conflict in the film.

“Another challenge of being an independent film was fighting for those extras. I had to fight for cars and extras to tell that story visually — that here are families that are sleeping on the floor. And there was a lot of references to actual child photography from the 1960s and ‘70s, so just replicating that. Going to the line producer and being like, ‘Look there are families on the floor. I gotta have fifteen more extras. I gotta have it sort of telling that story.’ So that quiet moment where she puts that blanket over the woman was again something that was not necessarily scripted. That was just reality. This is the world she's walking through. That was ever present. So once we got the actual narrative logistics of telling the story about the housing and place it towards the end almost like a coda, you wouldn't wonder where that came from because you're aware of the problem visually the entire length of the film.”

Mann’s other directorial credits include the feature films Jackie & Ryan, Texas Killing Fields and Morning; and episodes of In from the Cold, Looking for Alaska, Cloak & Dagger, A Million Little Things, House of Cards, Sneaky Pete, Queen of the South, Chicago Med, The Blacklist and Friday Night Lights.

Mann has been a DGA member since 1994.