The 25 best films made by women

Add these women filmmakers to your watchmaker list.


If you look at the last five years, great progress has been made with regard to women directors in The film industry . Meanwhile, two women won the best Oscar director. In 2023, the most profitable film, Barbie , was led by Greta Gerwig . Filmmakers also have more name recognition than ever - there is Ava Duvernay ,, Chloé Zhao , And Sofia Coppola , to name some. But, although there have been movements in advance with regard to concerts, consumer concerts and the success of the box office in recent years, this has not always been the case, and it remains Another long way to go. For example, before Zhao and Jane Campion won their best Oscar director in 2021 and 2022 for Nomadic And Dog power , respectively, only one woman had already won the price: Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker In 2010, 81 years after the start of the price show.

That is to say that if you feel like you are missing when it comes to watching movies made by women, you came to the right place. You will find below some of the most popular and most celebrated films of directors, including comedies, dramas, action films and science fiction. But don't stop here. Whether it's a starting point, because 25 films are not enough to recognize all the best with regard to women in cinema. (And note that some of the trailers below include adult content!)

In relation: The 25 best classic films that each film fan needs to see .

The 25 best films led by women of all time

1
Distraught (1995)

1995 Distraught is one of the most cited comedies and the most re-use of all time. Directed by Amy Heckerling , this update Jane Austen Emma Talk to a high school student from Beverly Hills, dear ( Alicia Silverstone ), who tries to be a contamination for those around him while treating his own romantic misfortunes and other struggles for adolescents.

Also directed by Heckerling: Quick weather in Ridgemont High ,, Look who talks ,, European Lampoon European Holidays

2
Lost in the translation (2003)

As a girl of Francis Ford Coppola , Sofia Coppola already had the name of name recognition, but she is more than proven as a director in recent decades. For his 2003 film Lost in the translation , she won the Oscar for the best original script and was nominated for the best director - it made her the only third woman to be presented for this prize. Cinema stars Scarlett Johansson And Bill Murray Like two Americans who meet and form a link while they stay in Tokyo.

Also made by Coppola: Virgin suicides ,, Marie Antoinette ,, Prison

3
The matrix (1999)

The influential science fiction film The matrix and its consequences were made by sisters Lana And Lilly Wachowski . The stars of the 1999 film Keanu Reeves As a computer programmer, Neo, who learns that he and the rest of human society lived in the matrix, a simulation created by artificial intelligence. He then trains and joined the rebellion against computers, as well as other humans, especially Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity and Laurence Fishburne Morpheus.

Also made by the Wachowskis: Atlas Cloud ,, Jupiter's ancestry

4
Past (2023)

Céline song Make waves with 2023 Past , that she wrote and made as her beginnings. The romance was nominated for the best film and for the best original scenario to the Oscars and tells the story of two childhood friends, Nora ( Greta Lee ) and sang ( Teo yoo ), which are separated when Nora moves with her South Korea family in Canada. Years later, they reconnect practically as a student, and years later, they connect again when Hae Sung visits Nora and her husband Arthur ( John Magaro ) At New York. Throughout the film, there is the question of whether the persistent feelings of Hae and Nora for each other are an undeniable romance or that they will continue on separate paths. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Also directed by Song: The next film Materialists

5
Portrait of a lady on fire (2019)

Portrait of a lady on fire is not only remarkable for being a woman director, but also for her total lack of male characters. French filmmaker Céline Sciamma wrote and produced the 2019 drama, which takes place the 18th century in France and concerns a painter, Marianne ( Noémie Merlant ), who falls in love with her subject, an aristocratic woman named Héloïse ( Adèle Haenel ), while painting a portrait that will be sent to the man, she is arranged to marry.

Also directed by Sciamma: Girl Girl Miss ,, Little mom

In relation: The 25 best age -old movies never made .

6
The Hurt Locker (2008)

Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Oscar for the best director of her 2009 war film The Hurt Locker , which also won the best film. He followed an elimination team for explosive ammunition from the American army deployed in Iraq during the war in Iraq and explores the psychology of soldiers who work with disarming explosives. Jeremy Renner And Anthony Mackie star.

Also produced by Bigelow: Break ,, Zero black thirty ,, Detroit

7
Nomadic (2020)

After the victory of the Bigelow Oscars for the best director, Chloé Zhao became the second woman to win the category 11 years later for her film Nomadland - He also won the prize for the best film. The stars of the drama Frances McDormand As Fern, a woman who lives in nomadic and travels to the United States in a van, joining a community of other people who share the lifestyle. The co-stars of the film David Strathairn , as well as some real nomads, who play characters inspired by themselves.

Also directed by Zhao: Songs my brother taught me ,, The Cavalier ,, Eternal

8
Love and basketball (2000)

The film 2000 Love and basketball has become a classic cult for fans who cannot have enough of its combination of sports and romance. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood , the film talks about Monica childhood friends ( Sanaa Lathan ) and Quincy ( Omar EPPS ), who bind on their love of basketball and both participated in careers in sport. There is also a romance between them as they age, but they simply have to understand how to achieve the right time.

Also produced by Prince-Bythewood: The secret life of bees ,, Beyond the lights ,, King Woman

9
Lady (2017)

2017 Lady A landing Greta Gerwig an Oscar nomination for the best director. Comedy drama is inspired by Gerwig's own experience by growing up in Sacramento, California, in the early 00 and stars Saoirsle Ronan As a titular character, a high school student who aspires to move on the east coast, while she juggles the problems of romance and friendship, as well as a complicated relationship with her mother ( Laurie Metcalf ).

Also directed by Gerwig: Little woman ,, Barbie

10
Anatomy of a fall (2023)

French director Justine Triet Co-written and managed 2023 Anatomy of a fall , an audience drama on a woman ( Sandra Hüller ) try to prove that she did not kill her husband ( Samuel Theis ), which was found dead in the snow outside their house. The French filmmaker won the Oscar for the best original script and was nominated for the best director.

Also made by Triet: Panic age ,, In bed with Victoria ,, Sibyl

In relation: 20 classic cult films with the most passionate fans .

11
Paris burns (1990)

The 1990 documentary Paris burns Highlights the scene of the ballroom in New York in the 80s - an LGBTQ subculture which includes competitions and parties but also serves as a support system for the black and Latinos members of the community. The director's film Jennie Livingston is considered historically significant today and has also inspired the television series Laid .

Also made by Livingston: short films Cups ,, Who is the summit? ,, Through ice

12
Scammers (2019)

Based on a new York magazine article, Lorene Scafaria 2019 crime dramedy Scammers Talk about a group of stripper who are starting to drug people who enter their club in order to bear costs on their credit cards. Constance Wu And Jennifer Lopez Star as Destiny and Ramona, two women in the center of the program, who have a mentor-mentor relationship that hides as their crimes continue. Scammers is rare to be a criminal film on women, directed by a woman.

Also produced by Scafaria: Search for a friend for the end of the world ,, The Meddler

13
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels (1975)

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels made the titles in 2022 when he was appointed The biggest film of all time by View and sound Magazine, which publishes a new list of the best films every 10 years. Jeanne Dielman is the first film of a director to be at the top of the list. Belgian filmmaker's 1975 film Chantal Akerman Talk about the life of a widow and a sex worker, Jeanne Dielman ( Delphine Seyrig ), and follows it over three days. The title is not the only thing about the film which is long - it takes place at almost 3.5 hours.

Also directed by Akerman: Home news ,, I you he she

14
Atlantic (2019)

Atlantic of the French director Mati Diop follows a couple in Senegal, Ada ( Mame Bineta healthy ) and Souleiman ( Ibrahima Traoré ), who are separated when he leaves with other men from their community to try to find work in Spain after they are not paid by the person who employed them at home. Soon, things become supernatural as the minds of Souleiman and the other men who left on a boat begin to own the body of others in order to receive their legitimate salary, and Souleiman tries to reconnect with Ada while living in the body of another person.

Also produced by Diop: Dahomey

15
After Sun (2022)

After Sun is the 2022 functionality of its beginnings of Charlotte Wells . The drama talks about an 11 -year -old child, Sophie ( Frankie Corio ), who is on vacation with his father, Calum ( Paul MESCAL ), depending on the separation of his parents. The obsessive film explores Sophie and Calum's relationship as questions persist on the state of mind and mental health of Calum. Adding to the tension is the fact that the scenes of Sophie and Calum during their trip are interspersed with scenes from Sophie as adult and surreal scenes of an adult Sophie and Calum in a rave.

Also produced by Wells: Short films Towers ,, Blue Christmas

In relation: 15 documentary films that have really changed the world .

16
Selma (2014)

Made by Ava Duvernay, Selma tells the story of the steps that took place in Selma, Alabama, in the voting rights for black Americans. A number of famous figures in the civil rights movement are presented in the film, in particular David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. ,, Carmen Ejogo as COTRETA Scott King ,, Stephan James as John Lewis , And Common as James Bevel .

Also produced by Duvernay: 13th ,, A ride in time ,, Origin

17
Monsoon wedding (2001)

Mira Nair Monsoon wedding is centered around a large Indian wedding which was organized for Aditi Verma ( Vasundhara das ) and the hemant Rai ( Parvin Dabas ). But although there is a lot of drama with regard to marriage planning, the film also explores other problems in the Verma family, as well as a second romantic relationship between the marriage planner ( Vijay Raaz ) and the maid of the Verma family ( Tillotama Shome ).

Also produced by Nair: Mississippi Masala ,, Homonym ,, Vanity

18
Dog power (2021)

Jane Campion is the only woman to be nominated twice for the Academy Award for best director. First of all, she was nominated for 1993 The piano. Then, almost 30 years later, she won the prize to Dog power . The Western film is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage And concerns the brothers, Phil ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) and George ( Jesse Plemons ), which has a Ranch Montana in the 1920s and the way their lives changed when one of them married a woman, pink ( Kirsten Dunst ), with a teenage son, Peter ( Kodi Smiti-McPhee ), with whom Phil forms a disturbing link.

Also produced by Campion: The piano ,, Smoke holy! ,, In the cut

19
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Cléo from 5 to 7 director Agnès Varda shows a few hours of a woman's life in real time. The singer Cléo Victoire ( Merchant ) Wait for the results of cancer screening, and the film shows how it is busy while waiting, especially reading a tarot card, going to a cafe, repeating your music and facing a Crisis on what could be the result of the test.

Also made by Varda: Vagabond ,, Faces Place ,, Varda by Agnès

20
A league apart (1992)

The 1992 Dramatic Comedy A league apart Talking about Rockford Peaches, an entirely female baseball team that was part of the professional professional and American girls' baseball league founded during the Second World War. THE Penny Marshall -The directed cinema stars Geena Davis ,, Madonna ,, Tom Hanks ,, Rosie O'Donnell , And Lori Mesquin .

Also directed by Marshall: Jackin 'Jack Flash ,, Big ,, Ride in cars with boys

In relation: 30 travel films to help you inspire your next trip .

21
First cow (2019)

Kelly Reichardt directed First cow , based on Jonathan Raymond book The half-life . The story follows two men, Cookie (John Magaro) and King-Lu ( Orion Lee ), who come across the Western United States in the early 1800s. They developed a plan together to steal cow's milk from a meteorological merchant in order to sell baked gooda but evil To continue their program as they try to start a new life.

Also produced by Reichardt: Night move ,, Some women ,, To show up

22
Dust girls (1991)

In 1991, Julie Dash's Dust girls became the first film directed by a black American woman to release in the rooms of the country. It is a Gullah family, who live off the south of the United States as they prepare to move to the continent and tell the story of several generations of women in the family.

Also made by Dash: Illusions , episodes of Queen sugar

23
Real women have curves (2002)

2002 Real women have curves , directed by Patricia Cardoso , follows a recent high school graduate, Ana ( America Ferrera ), which has a tense relationship with his controlling mother, Carmen ( LUPE ONVIEROS ). Ana dreams of going to university and secretly applies to Columbia University, but Carmen wants her to stay in Los Angeles at work in the family business. With Real women have curves , Cardoso became the first Latina director to insert her film in the National Congress Film Register.

Also made by Cardoso: Lies in sight

24
The farewell (2019)

Lulu Wang The farewell stars Awkwafina As Billi, a woman who goes to China to visit her grandmother ( Zhao Shu-Zhen ), which has received a final disease diagnosis. She must also face the fact that her other members of her family have chosen not to disclose the diagnosis with the grandmother - a decision with which she does not agree. The farewell is a real dramatic, with a drama from sorrow and the comedy of family members who come into play as they make great efforts to keep their secret.

Also directed by Wang: Posthumous

25
Mud (2017)

Mud director Dee rees , talks about two veterans of the Second World War, who return home to Mississippi and must adapt to life in the United States Jamie ( Garrett Hedlund ) Fight with the SSPT, while Ronsel ( Jason Mitchell ) Facing the SSPT as well as racism in a different way from that of the army. The two bind to their shared experience even if the relationship is not accepted by those of their hometown, including family members and Ku Klux Klan.

Also produced by Rees: Pariah ,, Bessie


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