(L–R) Nyah B., Nala B., Shannon Elizabeth S., Celia K., Olive G., and Nikki B. attend the Q&A for “Cookie Queens” by Alysa Nahmias, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Gabriel Mayberry/Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
“I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say that Cookie Queens is perhaps the cutest film at the Festival,” says director of programming Kim Yutani as she introduces Alysa Nahmias’ latest film, poised to enjoy its Park City premiere at Eccles Theatre on January 25. “And I know this is a documentary, but you’re gonna see real star power in this film.”
She’s not wrong. Screening as part of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s Family Matinee section, Cookie Queens features participants that are small in stature with larger-than-life personalities. Filmed during Girl Scout Cookie season, Nahmias’ documentary follows a group of Girl Scouts and their families as the girls set their cookie sales goals in their respective communities.
Twelve-year-old Olive in North Carolina is used to setting records when it comes to cookie sales, and this year she looks to be on track for similarly stellar figures. In California, 9-year-old Nikki admires the large trophy her older sisters once won for selling the most cookies in Chino. Elsewhere in Cali, 5-year-old Ara is dipping her toe into the cookie sales waters for the first time. And in Texas, 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth hopes to sell enough cookies to allow her to attend Girl Scout camp.
And while the film does address the more cutthroat tactics that some girls have learned to keep the capitalist cookie wheel turning (upselling, social media videos, and co-opting cuteness to name a few), it also brings us into the girls’ homes, where they’re more free to voice their doubts and dreams without the weight of the Girl Scout vest on their shoulders. It’s this intersection of business and girlhood that makes for such a compelling watch, and also why Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, signed on as executive producers with their company Archewell Productions.
“It’s one of the most powerful and meaningful depictions of something that is an American tradition and rooted in nostalgia but is now put through this lens from the incredible creative vision of Alysa,” says Meghan to the audience at Eccles before the film screening. “To show something modernized about the girlhood experience and all the layers of complexity that come with that. So yes, it’s cute, and yes, these young ladies are fantastic and adorable, but they are also layered, beautiful girls who are about to become strong leaders and young women.”
The girls’ willingness to embrace introspection is part of their strength. Is Olive selling this many cookies because she wants to, or is she feeling pressure from herself and her mother? Is selling the most cookies in Chino and being the “Cookie Queen” Nikki’s biggest goal, or is she really seeking a closer relationship with her older sisters? Is attending camp a realistic prospect for Shannon Elizabeth, whose family would feel the financial burden of any unsold cookies? And does Ara even need to sell cookies when she’s also busy playing piano, doing Pilates, and having to track her blood sugar to keep her diabetes in check?
Nahmias chose to feature Olive, Nikki, Shannon Elizabeth, and Ara precisely because they were “girls who had really interesting and ambitious goals but who also had inner journeys that we were gonna be able to observe,” explains the director during the post-screening Q&A. “I knew I wanted to make an observational documentary that went way beyond the cookies and was both about Girl Scouts but about more.”
The “Girls Scouts + more” feeling prevails at the Q&A, where the girls extoll the virtues of the organization and encourage all girls to join. But nothing is perfect. “I want to start off by saying I love Girl Scouts and I would totally recommend it to anyone,” says Olive, whose desire for reform and improved representation within Girl Scouts features in the film. “I have told so many people to join, and it is such a wonderful organization. I would also like to note that every person and every organization always has room for change.” A few minutes and a compelling call for reform within the community service project approval process later, the audience knows she means business.
