With Framing Britney Spears that streams on discovery+, director Samantha Stark has put the spotlight on one of the most intriguing public figures who has held the world’s attention since she strutted in a school corridor and sang Baby one more time in 1998. After a series of personal issues played out publicly in the following decade, the pop sensation was subjected to conservatorship in 2008. In the past two years, the #FreeBritney movement gained credence around the world, with many appalled at how the 39-year-old singer has little agency over her life.

Stark’s docu-series, which has been nominated for the Emmys in the category of Outstanding Documentary or Non-fiction Special, exposes the hidden world behind Spears’s conservatorship. The New York Times journalist—who claims she didn’t know about the pop star or her music until the documentary—relied on research, over 1,000 interviews and old media footage when she didn’t gain access to Spears despite repeated attempts. “When we started out, I wanted to know why fans loved her. After watching the footage and talking to them, I found that Britney was smart, funny, rebellious, creative and business-minded even as a teenager. But somehow the opposite of that was portrayed in the media,” says the filmmaker.