Women's Cinema
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Women's cinema primarily describes cinematic works directed (and optionally produced too) by women filmmakers. The works themselves do not have to be stories specifically about women, and the target audience can be varied. It is also a variety of topics bundled together to create the work of women in film. This can include women filling behind-the-scenes roles such as director, cinematographer, writer, and producer while also addressing the stories of women and character development through screenplays (on the other hand, films made by men about women are instead called
Woman's film The woman's film is a film genre that includes women-centered narratives, female protagonists and is designed to appeal to a female audience. Woman's films usually portray stereotypical women's concerns such as domestic life, family, motherhood, s ...
). Renowned female directors include
Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a Narrative film, narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From ...
, film pioneer and one of the first film directors,
Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...
, the first French New Wave director,
Margot Benacerraf Margot Benacerraf (14 August 1926 – 29 May 2024) was a Venezuelan film director. She studied at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies, IDHEC) in Paris and is best known for her 195 ...
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
, the first woman to win th
Cannes International Critics Prize
and be nominated for the Palme D'Or,
Yulia Solntseva Yuliya Ippolitovna Solntseva (; born Yuliya Ippolitovna Peresvetova; 7 August 1901 – 28 October 1989) was a Soviet actress and film director. As an actress, she is known for starring in the silent sci-fi classic ''Aelita'' (1924). She is t ...
, the first woman to win the Best Director Award at Cannes Film Festival (
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
),
Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta "Lina" Wertmüller (; 14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art film, art house films ''Seven Beauties'',' ''The Seduction of Mimi'', ''Lov ...
, the first woman nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...
(
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
),
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
, the first woman to win the
Golden Globe Award for Best Director The Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for ...
(
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
),
Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...
, the first woman to win the
Palme D'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at Cannes Film Festival (
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
), and
Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most i ...
, the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director (
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
), along with many other female directors from around the world such as
Dorothy Arzner Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of long-time silent film director Lois Weber, fro ...
,
Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-y ...
,
Lois Weber Florence Lois Weber (June 13, 1879 – November 13, 1939) was an American silent film director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the e ...
,
Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...
,
Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She co-wrote the screenplay and directed ''American Psycho'', '' The Notorious Bettie Page' and I Shot Andy Warhol.'' Early life Born in Bracebridge, Ontar ...
,
Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola ( , ; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has List of awards and nominations received by Sofia Coppola, won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Can ...
,
Kira Muratova Kira Georgievna Muratova (; ; ; née Korotkova, 5 November 1934 – 6 June 2018) was a Ukrainian
,
Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
,
Chantal Akerman Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York. Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
,
Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. Life and career Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort. She decided to becom ...
,
Lucrecia Martel Lucrecia Martel (born December 14, 1966) is an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and producer whose feature films have frequented Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and many other international film festivals. Film scholar Paul Julian Smith ...
,
Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay (born 5 December 1969) is a Scottish filmmaker and cinematographer, best known for the feature films '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), '' Morvern Callar'' (2002), '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), '' You Were Never Really Here'' (2017) ...
,
Céline Sciamma Céline Sciamma (; born 12 November 1978) is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed '' Water Lilies'' (2007), '' Tomboy'' (2011), '' Girlhood'' (2014), '' Portrait of a Lady on Fire'' (2019), and '' Petite Maman'' (2021). ...
,
Claudia Weill Claudia Weill is an American film director best known for her film '' Girlfriends'' (1978), starring Melanie Mayron, Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach, made independently and sold to Warner Brothers after multiple awards at Cannes, ...
, and
Julie Dash Julie Ethel Dash (born October 22, 1952) is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her Master of Fine Arts, MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmm ...
. Many successful cinematographers are also women, including Margarita Pilikhina,
Maryse Alberti Maryse Alberti (born 10 March 1954) is a French cinematographer who mainly works in the United States on independent fiction films and vérité, observational documentaries. Alberti has won awards from the Sundance Film Festival and the Spirit ...
,
Reed Morano Reed Morano (born April 15, 1977) is an American film director and cinematographer. Morano was the first woman in history to win both the Emmy and Directors Guild Award for directing a drama series in the same year for the pilot episode of ''The H ...
,
Rachel Morrison Rachel Morrison (born April 27, 1978) is an American cinematographer and director. For her work on ''Mudbound'' (2017), Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Morrison also made her featur ...
,
Halyna Hutchins Halyna Anatoliivna Hutchins (; April 9, 1979 – October 21, 2021) was a Ukrainian cinematographer. She worked on more than 30 feature-length films, short films, and TV miniseries, including the films ''Archenemy'', '' Darlin, and ''Blindfi ...
, and Zoe White. Women's cinema recognizes women's contributions all over the world, not only to narrative films but to
documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
as well. Recognizing the work of women occurs through various festivals and awards, such as the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, for example. "Women's cinema is a complex, critical, theoretical, and institutional construction," Alison Butler explains. The concept has had its fair share of criticisms, causing some female filmmakers to distance themselves from it in fear of being associated with marginalization and ideological controversy.


Famous women in film history


Silent films

Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a Narrative film, narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From ...
was a film pioneer and the first female director. Working for the
Gaumont Film Company Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in ...
in France at the time that the cinema was being invented, she created ''
La Fée aux Choux The 1896 version of ''La Fée aux Choux'' (''The Fairy of the Cabbages'') is a lost short fantasy film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. ...
'' (1896). The dates of many early films are speculative, but ''La Fée aux Choux'' may well be the first narrative film ever released. She served as Gaumont's head of production from 1896 to 1906 and ultimately produced hundreds of
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s in France and the United States. In Sweden, Anna Hofman-Uddgren was that country's first female film maker—producing the silent film '' Stockholmsfrestelser'' in 1911. She also acted in the film. However,
Ebba Lindkvist Ebba Johanna Bergman Lindkvist, also Lindqvist, (1882–1942) was a Swedish actress and film director. In 1910 she directed the short film, short drama, ''Värmländingarna'', which premièred in Sweden on 27 October 1910. As a result, she is co ...
directed the
short drama Duanju ( zh, s=短剧, t=短劇, hp=duǎn jù}), sometimes translated in English as short drama, vertical drama, microdrama, minidrama or mobile drama, is a type of short form web or television series that has gained popularity in China. These seri ...
, ''Värmländingarna'', which premièred in Sweden on 27 October 1910, thus technically making her the first woman film maker, and chronologically, the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Alice Guy-Blaché.
Luise Fleck Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film director, and has been considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Al ...
was an Austrian film director, and has been considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Alice Guy-Blaché. In 1911 Luise Fleck directed ''
Die Glückspuppe ''Die Glückspuppe'' is a 1911 Austrian silent short film directed by Jakob and Luise Fleck Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film direc ...
''.
Elvira Notari Elvira Notari (born Elvira Coda; 10 February 1875 – 17 December 1946) was an Italian film director, one of the country's early and more prolific female filmmaker. She is credited as the first woman who made over 60 feature films and about 100 s ...
is the first Italian woman director to make a film. Notari's first films are ''Maria Rosa di Santa Flavia'', ''Carmela la pazza'', ''Bufera d'anime'', all made in 1911. Helen Gardner, a
Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...
player who had won acclaim for her portrayal of Becky Sharp in the 1910 version of '' Vanity Fair'', was the first film actor, male or female, to form her own production company, The Helen Gardner Picture Players. Gardner's first production was ''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'' (1912), one of the first American full-length films. In 1913 Russian filmmaker Olga Preobrazhenskaya began directing films in the "Timan and Reingardt" studio. She is the first Russian woman director. Her first work as a director was the 1916 film ''Miss Peasant'' based on the work of the same name by
Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
. American-born director,
Lois Weber Florence Lois Weber (June 13, 1879 – November 13, 1939) was an American silent film director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the e ...
was coached and inspired by Guy-Blaché and found success in creating silent films. Weber is well known for her films ''Hypocrites'' (1915), ''
The Blot ''The Blot'' is a 1921 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Lois Weber, who also co-wrote (with Marion Orth) and produced the film (with her then-husband, Phillips Smalley). The film tackles the social problem of genteel poverty, ...
'' (1921), and ''
Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
'' (1913). Weber's films often focus on difficult social issues. For instance, her film '' Where Are My Children? (1916)'' addresses the controversial issues of
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
and
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
. And she questioned the validity of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
in ''The People vs. John Doe'' (1916).
Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...
was another significant early female filmmaker. She started as an actress and became a producer-writer-director in the 1910s, working on the first shorts
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
did as
The Tramp The Tramp (''Charlot'' in several languages), also known as the Little Tramp, was English actor Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character and an icon in world cinema during the era of silent film. ''The Tramp (film), The Tramp'' i ...
at
Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...
's
Keystone Studios Keystone Studios was an early film studio founded in Edendale, California (which is now a part of Echo Park) on July 4, 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from actor-writer Adam Kessel (1866–1946) and Char ...
. She further collaborated with Sennett on other Keystone films and, during the late 1910s and early 1920s, she had her own movie studio and production company. Other notable actresses who became directors include
Grace Cunard Grace Cunard (born Harriet Mildred Jeffries; April 8, 1893 – January 19, 1967) was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions ...
and
Nell Shipman Nell Shipman (born Helen Foster-Barham; October 25, 1892 – January 23, 1970) was a Canadian actress, writer, and director who was active in silent film in the 1910s and 1920s. She used "the girl from God's country" as her sobriquet after starr ...
. The first documented Asian woman director, producer and actress is Marion E. Wong, who created the Mandarin Film Company in 1916. She wrote, directed, produced and acted in The Curse of Quon Guon. Women screenwriters were highly sought after in the early years of the cinema.
Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens; November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...
,
Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
, and
June Mathis June Mathis (born June Beulah Hughes, January 30, 1887 – July 26, 1927) was an American screenwriter. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted ...
all had successful careers in the silent and early-sound eras. Mathis was also the first female executive in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
. See
Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...


Classical Hollywood

As the American cinema became a highly commercialized industry in the 1920s and its content became more and more conventionalized, the opportunities for women producers and directors became fewer and fewer. By the time sound arrived in the US in 1927 and the years immediately after, women's roles behind the camera were largely limited to scriptwriters, costume designers, set decorators, make-up artists, and the like. And the industry's implementation of self-censorship in the form of the
Hays Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...
in 1934 meant that topics such as birth control and abortion were taboo.
Dorothy Arzner Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of long-time silent film director Lois Weber, fro ...
was the only woman director to survive in this unfriendly environment. She did so by producing well made but formally rather conventional films. Nevertheless, it is possible to trace feminist elements in her films. Film critics find her film, ''
Dance, Girl, Dance ''Dance, Girl, Dance'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy. The film follows two dancers who strive to preserve their own integrity while ...
'', about two women struggling to make it in show business, to be particularly interesting from a feminist perspective. When the film was selected for inclusion in the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...
, it was noted that "The dancers, played by
Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...
and
Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
, strive to preserve their own feminist integrity, while fighting for their place in the spotlight and for the love of male lead
Louis Hayward Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a South African-born, British-American actor. Biography Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Sch ...
." Beyond ''Dance, Girl, Dance'', Arzner also worked with some of Hollywood's most formidable actresses—including
Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...
in ''
Christopher Strong ''Christopher Strong'' (also known as ''The Great Desire'' and ''The White Moth'') is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic drama film produced by RKO and directed by Dorothy Arzner. It is a tale of illicit love among the English aristocracy and ...
'' (1933) and
Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
in '' The Bride Wore Red'' (1937). First woman to direct a film noir,
Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-y ...
, is widely regarded as the most prominent female filmmaker working in the 1950s during the Hollywood studio system. She is best known for directing ''
The Hitch-Hiker ''The Hitch-Hiker'' is a 1953 American independent film noir thriller directed by Ida Lupino, who co-wrote it with her former husband Collier Young, and starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman and Frank Lovejoy. Based on the 1950 killing ...
''. Ida Lupino is also famous for her work as an actress.


Experimental and avant-garde cinema

The experimental and avant-garde cinema is the genre considered to be closer to women filmmakers and one that also advances women themes. Annette Kuhn, for instance, noted such special affinity by citing that low investments of money and 'professionalism' have meant that it is more open than the mainstream film industry for women. Both
Pam Cook Pam Cook (born 6 January 1943) is Professor Emerita in Film at the University of Southampton. She was educated at Sir William Perkins's School, Chertsey, Surrey and Birmingham University, where she was taught by Stuart Hall, Richard Hoggart, ...
and
Laura Mulvey Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist and filmmaker. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She previously taught ...
also noted an alignment and alliance of experimental and avant-garde cinema with feminist interest and feminist politics. Specifically, Mulvey explained that mainstream or Hollywood films are unable to provide the experience of contradiction, reinforcing anti-realism and, this is where the avant-garde cinema is useful for women and feminism because they share "a common interest in the politics of images and problems of aesthetic language." Women's involvement in the experimental and avant-garde cinema started in the early twentieth century, although it was limited due to the constraints of the social conventions of this period. It was only after the war when women became actively involved in this cinematic genre.
Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...
was a leading member of the French avant-garde film movement after World War I. There is also the case of
Maya Deren Maya Deren (; born Eleonora Derenkovskaya; ; Shirley Clarke Shirley Clarke (née Brimberg; October 2, 1919 – September 23, 1997) was an American filmmaker. Life Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, she was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother w ...
was a leading figure of the independent American film scene in New York in the fifties. Her work is unusual, insofar as she directed outstanding experimental and feature films as well as documentaries.
Joyce Wieland Joyce Wieland (June 30, 1930 – June 27, 1998) was a groundbreaking artist and cultural activist who used diverse media to explore feminism and Canadian identity. Wieland found success as a Painting, painter when she began her career in Tor ...
was a Canadian
experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...
maker. The
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
allowed many women to produce non-commercial animation films. In Europe women artists like
Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer a ...
were among the first to explore the artistic and political potential of
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
s. Her art works incited controversy due to sexual and feminist qualities.


Impact on society


Impact of second-wave feminism

In the late sixties, when the second wave of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
started, the New Left was at its height. Both movements strongly opposed the 'dominant cinema', i.e. Hollywood and male European bourgeois auteur cinema. Hollywood was accused of furthering oppression by disseminating sexist, racist and imperialist stereotypes. Women participated in mixed new collectives like
Newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...
, but they also formed their own film groups. Early feminist films often focused on personal experiences. Second-wave feminism would reveal itself in different forms in films in the latter part of the 20th century such as with the idea of "sisterhoods" in movies (however many of these movies were made by men). Other concepts of second-wave feminism in films involved women's oppression and the difficulty in identifying with the idea of femininity. During this time, feminism in movies would also be represented as a counter-cinema whereby filmmakers would attempt to intentionally deconstruct the model of the classical film. This style of feminist counter-cinema can be seen in the works of artists such as
Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She directed '' Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born and raised in L ...
's ''Thriller'' in 1979.


Representing sexuality

Resisting the oppression of female sexuality was one of the core goals of
second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...
.
Abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
was still very controversial in many western societies and feminists opposed the control of the state and the church. Exploring female sexuality took many forms: focusing on long-time censured forms of sexuality (
lesbianism A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homo ...
,
sado-masochism Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...
) or showing heterosexuality from a woman's point of view.
Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...
, Birgit Hein, Elfi Mikesch, Nelly Kaplan,
Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. Life and career Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort. She decided to becom ...
and
Barbara Hammer Barbara Jean Hammer (May 15, 1939 – March 16, 2019) was an American feminist film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of the lesbian film genre, and her career spanned over 50 years. Ham ...
are some of the directors to be remembered. A film notable for its empathic portrayal of sex work is Lizzie Borden's '' Working Girls'' (1986). Molly, a white lesbian in a stable mixed-race relationship, is a Yale-educated photographer who has chosen to augment her income through sex work in a low-key urban brothel. We accompany Molly on what turns out to be her last day on the job, understanding her professional interactions with her "johns" through her perspective, a completely original point of view, since, until Borden's film, sex workers had largely been depicted stereotypically. The story's sympathetic, well-rounded character and situation humanizes sex work, and the film itself combats the anti-pornography stance touted by many second-wave feminists, which Borden rejects as repressive. Typically women are portrayed as dependent on other characters, overemotional, and confined to low status jobs when compared to enterprising and ambitious male characters (Bussey & Bandura, 1999). Women in cinema are grossly misrepresented and definitely under represented. The roles that men play are the superhero, the wealthy business man or the all-powerful villain. When it comes to the roles females play they tend to be the housewife, the woman who cannot obtain a man, the slut, or the secretary. The true comparison is masculinity versus femininity. The
Bechdel test The Bechdel test ( ), also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction. The test asks whether a work features at least two women who have a conversation about something other than a m ...
for film is a type of litmus test that examines the representation of women in media. The three factors tested are: 1. Are there at least two women in the film who have names? 2. Do those women talk to each other? 3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man? (Sharma & Sender, 2014). Many roles that are given to women make them either dependent on the male counterpart or limits their role. Another characteristic of their role placement is that women are twice as likely to have a life-related role rather than a work-related role. Hollywood rarely chooses to have women be the all-powerful boss or to even have a successful career. There have been some examples that break this norm, such as '' The Proposal'' by
Anne Fletcher Anne Fletcher (born May 1, 1966) is an American choreographer, film director, dancer and actress. She directed the films '' Step Up'' (2006), ''27 Dresses'' (2008), '' The Proposal'' (2009), '' The Guilt Trip'' (2012), ''Hot Pursuit'' (2015), '' D ...
. Even in these two films, the male counterpart is a strong role and in both the female lead is reliant on both actors for the storyline. Women do not stand on their own in movies and rarely are the center of attention without a male being there to steal the limelight. Some roles that have been portrayed in recent films have worked against this norm, such as Katniss in ''
Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two prequels. ''The Hunger Games'' universe ...
'' and Furiosa in '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (both films are directed by men). These roles break the norm, as women typically are portrayed as dependent on other characters, overemotional, and confined to low-status jobs compared to enterprising and ambitious male characters (Bussey & Bandura, 1999). Women in cinema are grossly misrepresented and underrepresented.


Fear of entering cinematography

Many women fear(ed) even entering the film industry, let alone produce multiple pieces of work in the industry. It is said that both male and female workers believe hiring women into the industry is taking a big chance, or being risky. There are many discriminatory acts toward women during the hiring process into the industry such as age discrimination and providing them with lower pay rates. Most women workers in the film industry only become freelancers, which in most cases prevents them from creating careers and making a living out of their film/cinematography passion. These are the fear tactics in place, whether purposely or not, to prevent women from thriving in the film industry. However, there is much more gendered discrimination towards women after they receive the job and actually begin to help and/or produce work. Statistics show that there are not many women in senior positions in the industry. Compared to the number of women hired, it is clearly shown that women are not given the chance to keep their jobs for long periods of time. "However, it is notable that women lost their jobs at a rate that was six times that of men, indicating the particular and heightened vulnerability of women in the industry." Women are not being promoted into higher positions as often as their male counterparts and are not even given the chance to stay long enough to get promoted. These are multiple issues happening during the hiring process and even the post-hire experiences of women which may make other women fear entering the industry in the first place. The way women are treated in the workplace are also evidence of the inequalities against them in the film industry. Women's pay rates and expectations in their background/experience in cinematography is much different than male workers. There are many scenarios in the industry that displays the woman with more qualifications for the job than the man, yet earns less money for the same job than the man. "It is worth noting that women in this field are significantly better qualified than their male counterparts, with a greater proportion being graduates and an even more significant difference in the numbers of women, compared to men, with higher degrees (Skillset, 2010a: 6)." Even the women who are overqualified are treated as if they are not, resulting in them working extra hard to become better and be rewarded as their male counterparts. All of these inequalities and discrimination toward women in the film industry creates a fear for women to even want to enter the industry.


Statistics


United States

A study done by
USC Annenberg The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It has 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Willow Bay is the dean. Prof. Hector Amaya is the Director of the Sc ...
in California researched what it meant to be a female in the film industry, no matter if they were working behind the scenes or were fictional characters. USC Annenberg looked at two test groups for films, the top 100 films every year from 2007 to 2015 and the top 100 films in 2015. For the top 100 films in 2015, women were leads and co-leads in 32 of them, while of the 32 films, only 3 of them included a race other than Caucasian. Out of the thousands of speaking roles, only 32 characters were LGBT and of those characters, 40% of them were racially diverse. Female characters were also three times more likely to be seen in a sexual context. Behind the scenes had similar statistics to the female fictional characters. Female directors, writers, and producers made up 19% of the 1,365 people that it took to create the top 100 films in 2015. The percentage of female writers (11.8%) and producers (22%) can be seen as high compared to female directors (7.5%). Of the 7.5% of female directors, three of them were African American and one was Asian American. For the top 100 films every year from 2007 until 2015, of the 800 films, 4.1% were directed by females.


Documentaries

While there is still a gap between the percent of female and male filmmakers, women tend to be more involved in documentary films. There is a higher percentage of women directing documentaries than women directing narrative films. There came a point where female directors were barely noticed or not recognized at all.


Female filmmakers as feminists

In the film world, many female filmmakers are not given much attention or chances to show what they are capable of. This issue is still being debated on, but several activists aim to change and overcome this type of inequality. These activists aim to raise awareness and produce a social change to what is currently shown in the media. During the 1990s, many films came about presenting female filmmakers from different nationalities and racial groups. For example, one of the films released that year is called ''Sisters in Cinema'' directed by Yvonne Welbon. This documentary was to demonstrate how African American female directors inspect their present spot in the business. By giving these female film directors the opportunity to showcase their work and demonstrate their actions then feminist documentaries will be as equally important to any other documentary. Not only this, but many documentaries tend to showcase different social activists who aim for a social change by raising awareness and reinforcing female film directors.


Celluloid ceiling

The Center of the Study of Women in Television and Film has dedicated 18 years to the study of women in the film industry. An annual report is created, discussing how women have contributed to as filmmakers. Most of the findings from the research shows that, statistically, it says the same from year to year. The highest earning movies of the past 20 years, with the exception of foreign films and reissues, have been monitored and studied by the Celluloid Ceiling to provide information on the contributions and employment of women on these films. According to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, as of 2017, "women comprised 18% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films." The same study concluded that in 2017, 10 or more women were given one of these positions in 1% of films, compared to 10 or more men being hired for these jobs in 70% of films. Information from the Celluloid Ceiling shows that more women tend to be employed on film projects directed by women. According to the Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, "in films with at least one female director, women comprised 53% of writers. Conversely, in films with male directors, women comprised just 10% of writers." Statistically, female directors generally create films about and for women, and hire women to assume the roles of main characters or protagonists. The Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy additionally found that "in 2015, women comprised only 22% of protagonists and 18% of antagonists. Just 34% of major characters and 33% of all speaking characters in the top 100 domestic grossing films were women." The group also contributes their time to creating articles discussing how women are viewed in film, not only as filmmakers but as fictional characters as well.


North America


Canada

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She co-wrote the screenplay and directed ''American Psycho'', '' The Notorious Bettie Page' and I Shot Andy Warhol.'' Early life Born in Bracebridge, Ontar ...
is a famous woman director from Canada who is active in Hollywood. She first gained recognition with the film ''
I Shot Andy Warhol ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' is a 1996 biographical drama film about Valerie Solanas' life and her relationship with Andy Warhol. The film marked the feature film directorial debut of the Canadian director Mary Harron. The film stars Lili Taylor as ...
'' which premiered at the
1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 20 May 1996. American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola served as jury president for the main competition. Sabine Azéma hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. British filmmaker Mike Leigh wo ...
. She also directed ''
American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...
'' (2000) and ''
The Notorious Bettie Page ''The Notorious Bettie Page'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner focuses on 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page, portrayed by Gretchen Mol. Plot Bettie Pag ...
'' (2005).
Joyce Wieland Joyce Wieland (June 30, 1930 – June 27, 1998) was a groundbreaking artist and cultural activist who used diverse media to explore feminism and Canadian identity. Wieland found success as a Painting, painter when she began her career in Tor ...
is a notable Canadian experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist. She was active from 1950s until 1980s as a filmmaker. In recent years the actress-turned filmmaker
Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and actress.Howell, Peter (September 24, 199"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft s ...
has made several notable films. In 2022, she wrote and directed the film '' Women Talking'', based on the 2018 novel of the same name by
Miriam Toews Miriam Toews (; born 1964) is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including '' A Complicated Kindness'' (2004), '' All My Puny Sorrows'' (2014), and '' Women Talking'' (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governo ...
, for which she won the
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...
.


United States


Hollywood


=Silent era

= In the silent film era American women were heavily involved in cinema in all occupations. Helen Gardner was the first film actor, male or female, to form her own production company, "The Helen Gardner Picture Players". The first feature film by the company was the 1912 film ''
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
'', which she produced and starred in. American director,
Lois Weber Florence Lois Weber (June 13, 1879 – November 13, 1939) was an American silent film director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She is identified in some historical references as among "the most important and prolific film directors in the e ...
is one of the most prolific film directors and producers of the silent era. Weber is well known for her films ''Hypocrites'' (1915), ''
The Blot ''The Blot'' is a 1921 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Lois Weber, who also co-wrote (with Marion Orth) and produced the film (with her then-husband, Phillips Smalley). The film tackles the social problem of genteel poverty, ...
'' (1921), and ''
Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
'' (1913).
Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...
was another notable early female filmmaker. She started as an actress and became a producer and director in the 1910s. During the late 1910s and early 1920s, she had her own movie studio and production company. Other notable actresses who became directors include
Grace Cunard Grace Cunard (born Harriet Mildred Jeffries; April 8, 1893 – January 19, 1967) was an American actress, screenwriter and film director. During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions ...
and
Nell Shipman Nell Shipman (born Helen Foster-Barham; October 25, 1892 – January 23, 1970) was a Canadian actress, writer, and director who was active in silent film in the 1910s and 1920s. She used "the girl from God's country" as her sobriquet after starr ...
.


1940s-1950s

Dorothy Arzner Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of long-time silent film director Lois Weber, fro ...
was one of the very few women in executive positions to be successful from 1920s until 1940s Hollywood. From 1927 until 1943, Arzner was the only woman director working in Hollywood. First woman to direct a film noir,
Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-y ...
, is widely regarded as the most prominent female filmmaker working in the 1950s during the Hollywood studio system. Besides directing, she was also an actress. Ukrainian born American filmmaker
Maya Deren Maya Deren (; born Eleonora Derenkovskaya; ; Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943).


1960s-1970s

Shirley Clarke Shirley Clarke (née Brimberg; October 2, 1919 – September 23, 1997) was an American filmmaker. Life Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, she was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother w ...
was an important and innovative independent filmmaker who shot three feature films in the 1960s — '' The Connection'' (1961), '' The Cool World'' (1964) and '' Portrait of Jason'' (1967). The 1970 film ''
Wanda Wanda is a female given name of Poland, Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends.Campbell, Mike"Meaning, Origin, and History of the Name Wanda" ''Behind the Name.'' Retrieved August 12, 2010. The name has long been popu ...
'' by
Barbara Loden Barbara Ann Loden (July 8, 1932September 5, 1980) was an American actress and director of film and theater.''The Hollywood Reporter'', Barbara Loden obituary, September 8, 1980. Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker'' described Loden as the "female c ...
is one of the most poignant portraits of alienation in cinema.
Joyce Chopra Joyce Chopra (; born October 27, 1936) is an American director. She was married to American stage and screenwriter Tom Cole until his death on February 23, 2009. Life and career Chopra was one of three siblings born in New York City to Abraham ...
achieved success as a documentary and feature film director in the 1970s and 1980s. Her film ''
Smooth Talk ''Smooth Talk'' is a 1985 film directed by Joyce Chopra, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' short story " Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (1966), which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The p ...
'' won the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category at the 1986 Sundance Festival. She also collaborated with director Claudia Weill on her documentary film ''Joyce at 34'' which documented her giving birth. Critically acclaimed 1978 film '' Girlfriends'' by
Claudia Weill Claudia Weill is an American film director best known for her film '' Girlfriends'' (1978), starring Melanie Mayron, Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach, made independently and sold to Warner Brothers after multiple awards at Cannes, ...
is a highlight of 1970s women's cinema. In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Due to workplace sexual harassment from producer
Ray Stark Raymond Otto Stark (October 3, 1915 – January 17, 2004) was an American film producer and talent agent. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most profitable films of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, ...
on the set of her follow-up film '' It's My Turn'' (1980), Weill stopped making feature films.
Elaine May Elaine Iva May (née Berlin; born April 21, 1932) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and director. She first gained fame in the 1950s for her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols before transitioning her career, regularly b ...
, Joan Darling,
Joan Tewkesbury Joan Tewkesbury (born April 8, 1936) is an American film and television director, writer, producer, choreographer and actress. She had a long association with the celebrated director Robert Altman, writing the screenplays for '' Thieves Like Us' ...
,
Joan Micklin Silver Joan Micklin Silver (May 24, 1935 – December 31, 2020) was an American director of films and plays. Born in Omaha, Silver moved to New York City in 1967 where she began writing and directing films. She is best known for her debut film Hester S ...
,
Karen Arthur Karen Arthur (born August 24, 1941) is an American television and film director, producer, and actress. She directed more than 40 feature and made-for-television movies, miniseries, and television series. In 1985 she become the first woman to win ...
and
Martha Coolidge Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as '' Valley Girl,'' '' Real Genius'' and '' Rambling Rose.'' Early life Coolidge was born in ...
are some other notable 1970s film directors.


1980s-2000s

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
, best known as an actress and singer, directed the film '' Yentl'' in 1983, thus becoming the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. She was the first woman to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Director in 1983. Film director
Julie Dash Julie Ethel Dash (born October 22, 1952) is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her Master of Fine Arts, MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmm ...
achieved great commercial and critical success with her 1991 hit film ''
Daughters of the Dust ''Daughters of the Dust'' is a 1991 independent drama film written, directed, and produced by Julie Dash. It is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to receive a theatrical release in the United States.Michel, Martin (No ...
'' which was an award winner at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most i ...
works in traditionally male-dominated genres like science fiction, action and horror. Her directorial debut was the 1981 biker drama '' The Loveless''. She became the first woman to win an
Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...
and the
Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...
in 2010 for ''
The Hurt Locker ''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. T ...
''. In 2013, her film ''
Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film ...
'' was met with universal acclaim and grossed $95 million in the United States box office. Bigelow went on to be nominated for Best Director at the
BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...
,
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
and
Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...
among others. However, she failed to be shortlisted for the category at the
85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...
in what was widely seen as a
snub A snub, cut, or slight is a refusal to recognise an acquaintance by ignoring them, avoiding them or pretending not to know them. For example, a failure to greet someone may be considered a snub. In awards and lists For awards, the term "snub ...
.
Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who was Trial, tried and Acquittal, acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her Patricide, father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was c ...
is a notable 1980s feminist filmmaker who made films on controversial topics, including sex-work. Some of her notable films include '' Born in Flames'' (1983) and '' Working Girls'' (1986).


2000s-present

In the 2000s women directed films made in Hollywood have started making more money than ever, with highest grossing films getting 100 million or even up to billion dollar grosses.
Anne Fletcher Anne Fletcher (born May 1, 1966) is an American choreographer, film director, dancer and actress. She directed the films '' Step Up'' (2006), ''27 Dresses'' (2008), '' The Proposal'' (2009), '' The Guilt Trip'' (2012), ''Hot Pursuit'' (2015), '' D ...
has directed seven studio-financed films: '' Step Up'' (2006), ''
27 Dresses ''27 Dresses'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, and starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released in the United States on January 18, 2008. It received mixed re ...
'' (2008), '' The Proposal'' (2009) '' The Guilt Trip'' (2012), ''
Hot Pursuit Hot pursuit (also known as fresh or immediate pursuit) is the urgent and direct pursuit of a criminal suspect by peace officer, law enforcement officers, or by belligerents under international rules of engagement for military forces. Such a situa ...
'' (2015), '' Dumplin''' (2018), and ''
Hocus Pocus 2 ''Hocus Pocus 2'' is a 2022 American fantasy comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Jen D'Angelo and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a sequel to the 1993 film ''Hocus Pocus (1993 film), Hocus Pocus'' and the second installment ...
'' (2022) which have gone on to gross over $343 million at the US
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
and $632 million worldwide.
Catherine Hardwicke Catherine Hardwicke is an American film director, production designer, and screenwriter. Her directorial work includes '' Thirteen'' (2003), which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, '' Lords of Dogtown'' (2005), '' The Nativity ...
's films have grossed a cumulative total of $551.8 million. Her most successful films are ''
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
'' (2008) and ''
Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Brothers Gr ...
'' (2011).
Nancy Meyers Nancy Jane Meyers (born December 8, 1949) is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically, commercially successful films. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Private Benja ...
has enjoyed success with her five features: '' The Parent Trap'' (1998), ''
What Women Want ''What Women Want'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy film written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and Diane Drake, directed by Nancy Meyers, and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The film was released on December 15, 2000 by ...
'' (2000), '' Something's Gotta Give'' (2003), ''
The Holiday ''The Holiday'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Co-produced by Bruce A. Block, it was filmed in both California and in England and stars Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz as Iris and Amanda, ...
'' (2006) and '' It's Complicated'' (2009) which have amassed $1,157 million worldwide. Before she started her directorial career she wrote some other successful films like '' Private Benjamin'' (1980) for which she was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...
, ''
Baby Boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...
'' (1987) or '' Father of the Bride'' (1991).
Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola ( , ; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has List of awards and nominations received by Sofia Coppola, won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Can ...
is a critically acclaimed director who has also had financial success. Her directorial debut film '' Lost in Translation'' (2003) grossed over $119 million. ''
The Virgin Suicides ''The Virgin Suicides'' is a coming-of-age thriller novel and the debut novel by American writer Jeffrey Eugenides, published in 1993. The story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the lives of five doomed sis ...
'' (1999), ''
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
'' (2006) and ''
The Bling Ring ''The Bling Ring'' is a 2013 crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola featuring an ensemble cast led by Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Rock and Leslie Mann. It is based on the 20 ...
'' (2013) were also successful. At the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Sophia Coppola won the Best Director award for her work on the drama film '' The Beguiled'', becoming the second woman in the festival's history to win the award. Her niece
Gia Coppola Gian-Carla Coppola (born January 1, 1987), known professionally as Gia Coppola, is an American film director and screenwriter. A member of the Coppola family, she is the granddaughter of director Francis Ford Coppola. She made her feature film di ...
is also a notable woman filmmaker.
Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a British Academy Film Awards, ...
is the director of the critically acclaimed '' Selma'' (2014) as well as the first African American woman to direct a triple-digit-budgeted film, ''
A Wrinkle in Time ''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-u ...
'' (2018). Another notable modern director
Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig ( ; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. Initially known for working on various mumblecore films, she has since expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing ...
, has directed two films, '' Lady Bird'' (2017) and ''
Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...
'' (2019), which both earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Her third film, ''Barbie'' (2023), had the biggest opening weekend for a female director with $162 million at the box office. Jennifer Lee, director of smash hits '' Frozen'' and ''
Frozen II ''Frozen 2'', stylized as ''Frozen II'', is a 2019 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures as the sequel to '' Frozen'' (2013). The film was directed by Chris Buck ...
'', is the first female director of a
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
feature film and the first female director of a feature film that earned more than $1 billion in gross box office revenue.
Chloe Zhao Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root , which relates to the colors yellow and green. Th ...
is a Chinese born film director who is best known for her work in Hollywood. Zhao became the first Asian woman, the first woman of color and the second woman ever to win Best Director for her 2020 film ''
Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand a ...
''. In 2021 she directed the ensemble cast superhero film '' Eternals''. She moved to Los Angeles from Beijing as a teenager. Her work is heavily censored in China. Highest grossing women film directors whose films have earned more than 180 million dollars include
Nancy Meyers Nancy Jane Meyers (born December 8, 1949) is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically, commercially successful films. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Private Benja ...
,
Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Irene Banks (; February 10, 1974) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the ''Pitch Perfect'' ...
,
Catherine Hardwicke Catherine Hardwicke is an American film director, production designer, and screenwriter. Her directorial work includes '' Thirteen'' (2003), which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, '' Lords of Dogtown'' (2005), '' The Nativity ...
,
Betty Thomas Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 27, 1947) is an American director and actress. She is known for her role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series ''Hill Street Blues''. Early life Thomas was born Betty Lucille Nienhaus ...
,
Brenda Chapman Brenda Chapman (born ) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation's ''The Prince of Egypt''. In 2012, she ...
,
Vicky Jenson Victoria Jenson (born March 4, 1960) is an American film director of both live action and animated films. Retrieved April 9, 2014. She has directed projects for DreamWorks Animation, including ''Shrek'', the first film to win an Academy Award ...
, Jennifer Lee,
Patty Jenkins Patricia Lea Jenkins (born July 24, 1971) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She has directed the feature films '' Monster'' (2003), ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), and '' Wonder Woman 1984'' (2020). For the film ''Monster'', sh ...
, Anna Boden — all of them are US Hollywood filmmakers.


African American women's cinema

Julie Dash Julie Ethel Dash (born October 22, 1952) is an American filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her Master of Fine Arts, MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmm ...
's ''
Daughters of the Dust ''Daughters of the Dust'' is a 1991 independent drama film written, directed, and produced by Julie Dash. It is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to receive a theatrical release in the United States.Michel, Martin (No ...
'' (1991) was the first full-length film with general theatrical release written and directed by an
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
woman. Since then there have been several African or African-American women who have written, produced or directed films with national release.
Neema Barnette Neema Barnette is an American film director and producer, and the first African-American woman to direct a primetime sitcom. Barnette was the first African-American woman to get a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures. Since then, she accumulate ...
('' Civil Brand''),
Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...
(''
Down in the Delta ''Down in the Delta'' is a 1998 American-Canadian drama film, directed by Maya Angelou (in her only film directing effort) and starring Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman, Jr., Esther Rolle (in her final film released during her lifetime), Loretta Devin ...
''),
Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Talk to Me (2007 film), ...
(''
Eve's Bayou ''Eve's Bayou'' is a 1997 American Southern Gothic drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this film. Samuel L. Jackson served as a producer, and starred in the film with Lisa Nicole Carson, Jur ...
''),
Cheryl Dunye Cheryl Dunye (; born May 13, 1966) is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known ...
(''
My Baby's Daddy ''My Baby's Daddy'' is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Cheryl Dunye. Plot Childhood friends Lonnie, G, and Dominic have a rude awakening when they find out their girlfriends are pregnant. Lonnie and G have sons names Carver and Bruce-L ...
''),
Stephanie Allain Stephanie Allain (born October 30, 1959) is an American film producer. Career She began her film career in 1985 at Creative Artists Agency, first as a script reader, then as a staff reader. As a story analyst, she worked for 20th Century Fox, ...
(''
Biker Boyz ''Biker Boyz'' is a 2003 American sports action drama film, directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood and written by Bythewood and Craig Fernandez, based on the 2000 '' New Times LA'' article of the same name by Michael Gougis. The film is about a group ...
''),
Tracey Edmonds Tracey Elaine Edmonds (née McQuarn; born February 18, 1967) is an American businesswoman, television producer and personality. She is the CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group Inc and Alrightnow.com and is a former host of the television show ''Ext ...
(''
Soul Food Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the Southern United States, American South from the cuisines of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans transported from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade, sou ...
''), Frances-Anne Solomon ('' A Winter Tale'') and Dianne Houston ('' City of Angels''), Leslie Harris ('' Just Another Girl on the IRT'') are among these filmmakers. In 1994 Darnell Martin became the first African American woman to write and direct a film produced by a major studio when Columbia Pictures backed '' I Like It Like That''. To date, Nnegest Likké is the first
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
woman to write, direct and act in a full-length movie released by a major studio, ''
Phat Girlz ''Phat Girlz'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nnegest Likké and starring Mo'Nique, as well as Kendra C. Johnson, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Godfrey, and Joyful Drake. Plot Jazmin Biltmore is a smart-mouthed, plus-si ...
'' (2006) starring
Jimmy Jean-Louis Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian actor and producer. Born in Pétion-Ville, he moved to Paris at a young age with his family in search of a better life. His early roles were in French television commercials and Spanish musical ...
and
Mo'Nique Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress. She debuted as a member of The Queens of Comedy and earned recognition as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. In 2 ...
. For a much fuller accounting of the larger history of black women filmmakers, see Yvonne Welbon's 62-minute documentary '' Sisters in Cinema'' (2003). Furthermore, since the revolutionary start of filmmaking, black women filmmakers have continuously struggled and are still struggling to showcase their work on feature films in Hollywood. However, that does not exclude the fact that there were various black women filmmakers who sparked during their time and age because of their phenomenal work behind the scenes.
Jessie Maple Jessie Maple (February 14, 1937 – May 30, 2023) was an American cinematographer and film director most noted as a pioneer for the civil rights of African Americans and women in the film industry. Her 1981 film ''Will'' was among the first fe ...
is considered to be one of the most recognized figure for the civil rights of the African American community and women of color within the film industry. Her film career took off when she first worked as a film editor for the crime drama film '' Shaft's Big Score'' (1972) and ''
The Super Cops ''The Super Cops'' is a 1974 action adventure film directed by Gordon Parks and starring Ron Leibman and David Selby. The film is based on the book ''The Super Cops: The True Story of the Cops Called Batman and Robin'' by L. H. Whittemore. The ...
'' (1974) which was based on a book. She continued to work as a film editor for several years but eventually became the only black union cameraperson in her time in New York. With her devoted passion for film and activism growing by the day, Maple and her husband, Leroy Patton, created LJ Film productions, Inc. and when on about to produce several short documentaries within the border and context of black representation, such as ''Black Economic Power: Reality or Fantasy?'' (1977). Her two major works, ''Will'' (1988) and '' Twice as Nice'' (1988), were the first ever independent feature films to be solely created and directed by an African American woman. Alile Sharon Larkin is known as a film director, producer, and writer. She began her film career while earning her master's degree in UCLA in film and television production. One of her first films called ''Your Children Come Back to You'' (1979) depicts the ongoing dilemma that a young African American girl faces while choosing between her aunt's desire to take in a European lifestyle while her mother is strictly intact with her African roots and culture. Larkin's second film feature '' A Different Image'' (1982) gained her popular recognition and praise, and eventually won a first-place prize from the Black American Cinema Society. Her ongoing success in the film industry gave her the potential and opportunity to form her own production studio in order to create and enhance educational videos and television for young children.''Dreadlocks and the Three Bears'' (1992) and ''Mz Medusa'' (1998) are some of the productions produced in her studio during the 1990s.


Africa

The Cameroonian journalist
Thérèse Sita-Bella Thérèse Sita-Bella (1933–27 February 2006), born Thérèse Bella Mbida, was a Cameroonian film director who became the first woman filmmaker of Africa and Cameroon. Early life and education She was born into the Beti-Pahuin, Beti tribe in sou ...
directed a 1963 documentary, '' Tam-Tam à Paris'', and Sarah Maldoror, a French filmmaker of Guadeloupean descent, shot the feature-film ''
Sambizanga Sambizanga is one of the six urban districts that make up the municipality of Luanda, in the province of Luanda, Angola. Overview Sambizanga has a 14.5 km2 area and about 244,000 inhabitants. Limited to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, o ...
'' in Angola in 1972. But the first African woman film director to gain international recognition was the
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
ese
ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...
Safi Faye Safi Faye (November 22, 1943 – February 22, 2023) was a Senegalese film director and ethnologist.Petrolle, p. 177. She was the first African woman to direct a commercially distributed feature film, '' Kaddu Beykat'', which was released in 1975. ...
with a film about the village in which she was born ('' Letter from the Village'', 1975). The 1989
Créteil International Women's Film Festival The International Women's Film Festival, formerly known as Créteil International Women's Film Festival (in French Festival International de Films de Femmes (FIFF); formerly Festival international de films de femmes de Créteil), also known si ...
included short films by Leonie Yangba Zowe of the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
(''Yangba-Bola'' and ''Lengue'', 1985) and Flora M'mbugu-Schelling of
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. Other African women filmmakers include
Anne Mungai Dr. Anne G. Mungai (born 1957) is a Kenyan film director. She is best known for her feature length film, ''Saikati'' (1992). She is known for exploring the stories of young African women and the challenges they face while navigating post-colonial ...
, Fanta Régina Nacro ('' The Night of Truth'', 2004), Tsitsi Dangarembga (''Mother's Day'', 2004) and Marguerite Abouet, an Ivorian graphic novel writer who co-directed an animated film based on her graphic novel: Aya de Yopougon (2012). The most successful film in the history of
Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...
, '' The Wedding Party'', was directed by
Kemi Adetiba Kemi Adetiba (born 8 January 1980) is a Nigerian filmmaker, television director and music video director, whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Sound City TV, BET and Netflix. Early life Kemi Adetiba was born in Lagos, Nigeria ...
in 2016. Cameroonian-Belgian Rosine Mbakam, who directed two feature-length documentaries, '' The Two Faces of a Bamiléké Woman'' (2016) and ''Chez Jolie Coiffure'' (2018), has been described as "one of the foremost filmmakers of creative nonfiction working right now."


Asia


India

The Indian film industry has been an ongoing success since the revolutionary start of their musicals and romantic family dramas. Majority of these popular "Masala" films are usually directed by men. Female roles in the filmmaking industry were solely restricted to acting, singing and dancing. However, recently women have stepped up and took the lead as successful directors, producing films mainly revolving around female issues within society. Like majority of women around the world, Women in India have been struggling to prove their point. Films made by women were usually categorized as art films or films of the parallel cinema. Indian women filmmakers could not have full access to funds and film publicity like male filmmakers did. Mainstream cinema in India basically consists of the " Masala Movies", which includes several genres such as comedy, action, revenge, tragedy, romance combined to create an entire film. Women continuously face struggles with attempting to get a fraction of the millions of dollars spend of these masala films. This forces women to drift away from the masala genre in order to get some recognition, which can often cause controversies and raises suspicion. A number of well-known Indian female filmmakers have achieved astounding commercial success from their films, including
Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...
(active in America),
Aparna Sen Aparna Sen (; ) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards East ...
,
Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2 ...
(active in Canada),
Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...
(active in the UK), and Manju Borah. However, there are a number of other Indian women filmmakers who have made some remarkable films that go beyond just entertainment; they take advantage of their platform to address a range of social and political issues. Other noteworthy Indian women filmmakers include
Vijaya Nirmala Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning over si ...
,
Nisha Ganatra Nisha Ganatra (born June 25, 1974) is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actress of Indian descent. She wrote, directed, and produced the independent comedy drama ''Chutney Popcorn'' (1999) and later directed the indepe ...
,
Sonali Gulati Sonali Gulati is an Indian American independent filmmaker, feminist, grass-roots activist, and educator. Gulati grew up in New Delhi, India. Her mother, a teacher and textile designer, raised her independently, She has made several films tha ...
, Indu Krishnan,
Eisha Marjara Eisha Marjara is a Canadian film director and writer. With a background in photography, Marjara has written and directed several award-winning films, including the feature documentary '' Desperately Seeking Helen'' (1998) and ''The Incredible Shr ...
, Pratibha PJaaparmar, Nandini Sikand, Ish Amitoj Kaur,
Harpreet Kaur The sixteenth series of British reality television series '' The Apprentice'' (UK) premiered on 6 January 2022 in the UK on BBC One. It is the first series to be broadcast since the COVID-19 pandemic, with filming originally planned to begin in ...
,
Leena Manimekalai Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and several films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentio ...
and Shashwati Talukdar,
Rima Das Rima Das (born 1977) is an Indian filmmaker best known for her 2017 film '' Village Rockstars'', which won several national and international awards and became India's official entry for the 90th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film ...
.
Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2 ...
is a transnational filmmaker whose work in film is recognized internationally at the highest levels. She is mainly active in Canada since 1973. Her moving films have been played at almost every major film festival. She produced the film ''Heaven on Earth'', in 2008, which premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. Since its release, the film has turned into a useful tool for professionals who specialize in assisting abused women, specifically looking at the circumstances of immigrant women in abusive environments, as it has been screened at conferences of crown attorneys, judges and healthcare workers in order to help them better understand these women's situations. ''
Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
'' is a story of two sisters in law who go against their traditions and culture aiming to begin a new life together. When the movie was first screened in Bombay, it caused a backlash by a few political parties such as the
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
. Majority of the theaters stopped screening the film because of the violent mob attacks which caused serious damage to the theatre hall and property. The attackers did not want the film to be screened because it went against their beliefs and was a violation to "Indian culture". The Indian society is still not equipped to understand and accept gay and lesbian relationships into their community. On the other hand, there are some who praised Mehta's film for showcasing social issues India was facing. Some of her other well-known works include her elemental trilogy: ''Earth'' (1996), ''Fire'' (1998), ''Water'' (2005), where dominant masculine values and practices of oppression and exploitation of women are challenged in this compelling three part series. Mehta's film Earth (1998) was inspired from
Bapsi Sidhwa Bapsi Sidhwa (; 11 August 1938 – 25 December 2024) was a Pakistani novelist who wrote in English and was resident in the United States. Sidhwa was best known for her collaborative work with Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta: Sidhwa wrote b ...
's "
Cracking India ''Cracking India'' (1991, U.S., 1992, India; originally published as ''Ice Candy Man'', 1988, England) is a novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa. Summary Setting: Lahore Time: 1943 - 1948 This novel is generally referred to as a story about the Part ...
", which was a story revolving the India-Pakistan Partition of 1947 and had a successful outcome. Mehta began working on her last film, Water (2005), in her trilogy. The movie was set in the 1930s when India was fighting for independence against the British colonial rule. The film portrays a group of widows who struggle with poverty in the city of
Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
. It also looks at the dynamic between one of the widows, who aims to be free from the social restrictions forced upon widows and a man who is from a lower social class and is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Feminist social issues are highlighted, such as the mistreatment of widows, religious misogyny, and child brides in rural parts of India. Mehta was forced to stop the film production because of the political party of Hindu extremists in relation to Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP), responded by stating that the film tarnishes India's image and was associated in organizing attempt by the Christian church to revolt against
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
. She received an Oscar Nomination for ''Water'' in 2007. Other notable films of hers are ''
Bollywood/Hollywood ''Bollywood/Hollywood'' is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy drama film directed by Deepa Mehta and starring Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray. The film pokes fun at traditional Indian stereotypes, as well as at Indian cinema (it features several Indian ...
'' (2002), and the adaptation of ''Midnight's Children'' (2012).
Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...
, an accomplished Indian filmmaker, has written, produced and directed a plethora of documentaries. Her unique ability to provoke both western and non-western viewers in a variety of ways has led her to be seen as a non-traditional filmmaker who is not afraid of creating controversy through her work. ''So Far From India'' (1983) depicted the story of a young, working Indian immigrant in New York City and his harrowing experience of acculturation. While dealing with his own new struggles in America, he also has to worry about his pregnant wife back home. ''India Cabaret'' (1986), is a documentary-style film that lent a voice to strippers or cabaret dancers in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
. Beyond these impressive works, she also has a list of feature films under her belt; her debut feature film, ''
Salaam Bombay! ''Salaam Bombay!'' is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed, co-written and co-produced by Mira Nair. The screenwriter was Nair's creative collaborator Sooni Taraporevala. This was the first feature film directed by Nair. The film ...
'' (1988), which detailed the urban devastation created by prostitution and poverty, was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988, won the Prix du Publique for most popular entry at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, the
Camera D'Or A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
for best first feature, as well as 25 other international awards. Majority of female filmmakers in India try to change the film industry by bringing in real social issues, instead of the mainstream masala movies that India has been known for. Daman (2001) is directed by Lajma who decided to take on a unique yet distinct theme by raising awareness about marital rape. The leading actress won an award for her outstanding raw performance that revived Indian films that try to raise awareness regarding a serious social issue.


Lebanon

Journalist and director
Jocelyne Saab Jocelyne Saab (30 April 1948 – 7 January 2019) was a Lebanese journalist and film director. She is recognized as one of the pioneers of Lebanese cinema. A reporter, photographer, scriptwriter, producer, director, artist and founder of the Cult ...
is considered to be a pioneer of Lebanese cinema. She began her career in the 1970s. She directed both documentary and fiction films. Heiny Srour was the first Arab woman filmmaker to have her film, ''The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived'', screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974.
Danielle Arbid Danielle Arbid is a French filmmaker of Lebanese origin who has been directing films since 1997. Her work has been selected for numerous film festivals, including Cannes Film Festival, Toronto FF, New York FF, San Francisco, Locarno Festival ...
is a Lebanese-French filmmaker whose work has been screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film debut was ''
In the Battlefields ''In the Battlefields'' (, maarek hob) is a 2004 Lebanese film by director Danielle Arbid. The film premiered on May 16 during the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight section where the film ran for the Caméra d'Or during the ...
'' (2004).
Nadine Labaki Nadine Labaki (; born February 18, 1974) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese and Canadians, Canadian Actor, actress, Film director, director, and Activism, activist. Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s. Her filmmaking ...
is a notable Lebanese film director. Her debut feature film ''
Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...
'' premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Noura Kevorkian is an Armenian-Lebanese-Syrian writer-director-producer. She was born in Aleppo, Syria but grew up in Lebanon and is a Lebanese citizen. She studied Finance, Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and Cinema at the University of Toronto in Canada. Kevorkian is a filmmaker specializing in documentary and narrative genres for film and television. Her recent film BATATA won a Peabody Award, won the Best Feature Documentary (an Oscar-qualifying Tanit d'Or) at the Carthage Film Festival, the Human Rights Award at the Carthage Film Festival, the Amnesty Award at the Durban International Film Festival, the Audience Award TOP 10 Favourite Films at Hot Docs, and garnered three nominations in the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.


Saudi Arabia

Haifa Al-Mansour is the first Saudi female filmmaker and is considered to be Saudi's most controversial film creator, especially after her iconic film that created a buzz '' Wadjda'' (2012). She completed her undergraduate studies in the
American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...
then continued to pursue her master's degree in film production from the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
in Australia. One of her three successful short films, Women Without Shadows, inspired hundreds of uprising Saudi filmmakers as well as raising questions towards the issue of publicly opening cinemas in Saudi. Her films have been both celebrated and criticized due to the fact that her work brings serious social topics Saudis are struggling with regarding their conservative culture and traditions. In ''Wadjda'', the main character, Waad Mohammed decides to go against social norms imposed on a ten-year-old girl in the kingdom. She becomes an outcast because of the bicycle she rides in public. However, the film ends on a light and inspiring note that frees Wadjda from all the social constraints set upon her. Haifa al Mansour reflects a portion of the Saudi society that refuses to accept the submissive traditional way of living. However, Wadjda promotes an amount of freedom for female rights that need more than an overnight change in such a conservative and restricted culture.


Japan

In Japan for a long time
Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...
was the only woman to make feature films. As a director she was active in the 1950s and 1960s. She was able to do this against fierce resistance because she enjoyed a status as star actress. Currently, the best-known women filmmaker of Japan may be
Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as , with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including ''Embracing'', about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and ''Katatsumori'', about ...
; 2007 she won the Grand Prix in
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
, while '' Memoirs of a Fig Tree'', the directorial debut of well-known actress
Kaori Momoi is a Japanese actress. Life and career Momoi was born in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 12, she traveled to London to study dance at the Royal Ballet Academy. After three years, she returned to Tokyo. She graduated from Japan's Bungakuza School ...
, was released in 2006. The sociocritical adventure film '' K-20: Legend of the Mask'' by Shimako Sato was her breakthrough into bigger budget cinema; it starred
Takeshi Kaneshiro is a Japanese actor and singer based in Taiwan. Beginning his career as a pop idol, he has since moved his focus from music to film. Kaneshiro has worked with renowned directors throughout East Asia, including Wong Kar-wai ('' Chungking Expres ...
and was released all over the world.


South Korea

Similarly in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
Yim Soon-rye Yim Soon-rye (; born January 1, 1961) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. She is considered one of the few leading female auteurs of Korean New Wave cinema. Career Education Born in 1961 in Incheon, Yim Soon-rye graduated from Hany ...
landed a box-office-hit with '' Forever the Moment'' (2008), while
So Yong Kim So Yong Kim (born 1968) is an American independent filmmaker. She has made four feature films: '' In Between Days'', '' Treeless Mountain'', '' For Ellen'', and '' Lovesong''. So Yong Kim is a recipient of the New York Foundation’s Video Art ...
got some attention for her film ''
In Between Days "In Between Days" (sometimes listed as "Inbetween Days" or "In-Between Days") is a song by the English rock band The Cure, released on 19 July 1985 as the first single from the band's sixth album ''The Head on the Door''. The song was an intern ...
'' (2006) and Lee Suk-Gyung made the women-themed and subtly feminist ''The Day After''.


China

One of the important fifth-generation filmmakers of China is Ning Ying, who won several prizes for her films; Ning Ying has gone on to realize small independent films with themes strongly linked to Chinese daily life, therefore also being a link between the 5th and 6th generation. The Sixth Generation has seen a growing number of women filmmakers such as
Liu Jiayin Liu Jiayin (born 20 August 1981) is a Chinese independent filmmaker and educator from Beijing. She directed two experimental features combining documentary and narrative elements, ''Oxhide'' (2005) and ''Oxhide II'' (2009), both of which receive ...
, best known for her film ''
Oxhide ''Oxhide'' ( zh, c=牛皮, p=niú pí), directed by Liu Jiayin, is a 2005 narrative independent Chinese film that portrays the director's family and their apartment in Beijing. Liu was 23 years old when the film was recorded. Awards, nominations, ...
'', and
Xiaolu Guo Xiaolu Guo (; born 20 November 1973) is a Chinese-born British author, filmmaker and academic. Her writing and films explore migration, social alienation, alienation, memory, personal journeys, feminism, translation and transnational identitie ...
; in 2001 Li Yu directed the first Chinese film which openly portrayed a lesbian relationship '' Fish and Elephant''. Famous woman filmmaker from Hong Kong
Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in ...
has made a wide array of films ranging from the
wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...
genre to drama;
Ivy Ho Ivy Ho Sai-Hong (, born 15 August 1958) is a Hong Kong screenwriter and film director. Ho's work has received high critical acclaim in Hong Kong. Perry Lam of Muse (Hong Kong magazine), ''Muse'' magazine wrote, 'As a writer, Ho excels as a min ...
and Taiwanese
Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese actress, singer, director, screenwriter, and producer. Early life Chang was born in Chiayi County, Chiayi, Taiwan. She dropped out of school when she was 16 and started her career ...
also are known names in the Hong Kong industry, while in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
queer filmmaker
Zero Chou Zero Chou (; born 24 July 1969) is a Taiwanese director and screenwriter. Life and career Chou was born in Keelung, Taiwan in 1969. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy from National Chengchi University in 1992. She worked as a journalist before beco ...
has gotten acclaim on festivals around the world. Lindan Hu has documented the post- Mao re-emergence of female desire in women's cinema of the 1980s in mainland China. The films Hu considers are ''Army Nurse'' directed by Hu Mei and ''Women on the Long March'' directed by Liu Miaomiao.
Chloe Zhao Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root , which relates to the colors yellow and green. Th ...
is a Chinese born Academy Award winning filmmaker who is currently active in Hollywood. She is best known for her 2020 film ''
Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand a ...
''. She moved to Los Angeles from Beijing as a teenager. Her work is heavily censored in China.


Malaysia

Yasmin Ahmad Yasmin binti Ahmad (7 January 1958 – 25 July 2009) was a Malaysian film director, writer and scriptwriter. She was the executive creative director at Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Her television commercials and films are well known in Malaysia fo ...
(1958–2009) is considered one of the most important directors of
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
; originally a commercial director, she switched to feature films relatively late and gained international acclaim while also stirring controversy among conservatives in her home country.


Pakistan

In Pakistan, where the film industry is not very big, some prominent directors are working. Conventional film industry has directors like
Sangeeta Sangeeta may refer to: Song and music * Sangita or Sangeeta, music-related performance arts in the ancient and medieval era Indian texts * '' Sangita Makarandha'', an ancient work on Indian classical music Sangeet Sangeeta *Sangeeta Bijlani ( ...
and
Shamim Ara Shamim Ara (, 22 March 1938 – 5 August 2016) was a Pakistani film actress, director, and producer. She was known as ''The Tragic Beauty'' because of the tragic heroine roles she often portrayed in films. She was one of the most popular actr ...
who are making films with feminist themes. Especially to Sangeeta's credit there are some issue-based films. Now some new directors from television industry are also coming towards the medium of films.
Sabiha Sumar Sabiha Sumar (born 29 September 1961) is a Pakistanis, Pakistani filmmaker and producer. She is best known for her independent documentary films. Her first feature-length film was ''Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)'', released in 2003. She is known ...
and
Mehreen Jabbar Mehreen Jabbar (Urdu: م‍ﮩ‍رين جبار ) (born on 29 December 1971, is a Pakistani film and television director and producer based in New York City. She is a daughter of the Pakistani media-person Javed Jabbar.https://tribune.com.p ...
are two new names for films in Pakistan. Both of these directors have made films which are not only issue based addressing national issues but also these films have won international awards at different film festivals.


Iran

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, a writer and a director, is probably Iran's best known and certainly most prolific female filmmaker. She has established herself as the elder stateswoman of Iranian cinema with documentaries and films dealing with social pathology. Contemporary Iranian poet
Forugh Farrokhzad Forugh Farrokhzad (; 28 December 1934 – 14 February 1967) was an influential Iranian poet and film director. She was a controversial modernist poet and an iconoclastic,* feminist author. Farrokhzad died in a car accident at the age of 32. Ear ...
(1935—1967) was also a filmmaker. Her best-known film is ''The House is Black'' (Khane siah ast, 1962), a documentary of a
leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East ...
in the north of Iran.
Samira Makhmalbaf Samira Makhmalbaf (, ''Samira Makhmalbaaf''; , born 15 February 1980) is an Iranian filmmaker and screenwriter. She is the daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film director and writer. Samira Makhmalbaf is considered to be part of the Iranian New ...
directed her first film '' The Apple'' when she was only 17 years old and won
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
Jury Prize in 2000 for her following film ''The Blackboard''. Her stepmother
Marzieh Meshkini Marzieh Meshkini () (born 1969 in Tehran) is an Iranian cinematographer, film director and writer. She is married to filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who wrote the script for her debut film '' The Day I Became a Woman''. Personal life Marzieh Meshkin ...
made "The Day I Became a Woman" and Samira's sister
Hana Makhmalbaf Hana Makhmalbaf (; born September 3, 1988, in Tehran) is an Iranian filmmaker. She is the younger sister of filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf and daughter of filmmakers Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Fatemeh Meshkini. She is known for her films ''Joy of Madn ...
started her career with "The Joy of Madness", a behind-the-scenes documentary about Samira's film " At Five in the Afternoon", and has subsequently made two features, Buddha Collapsed out of Shame and "Green Days", a film about the
Green Revolution The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...
that was banned in Iran.


Sri Lanka

Rukmani Devi Daisy Rasammah Daniels, known popularly as Rukmani Devi (15 January 1923 – 28 October 1978: ) was a Sri Lankan film actress and singer who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silver screen via the stage ...
and Florida Jayalath were groundbreaking figures in the early days of Sri Lankan cinema, transitioning from acclaimed actresses to trailblazing producers and directors Rukmani Devi notably starred in the inaugural Sri Lankan talkie, "
Kadawunu Poronduwa ''Kadawunu Poronduwa'' ( Sinhala: ''කඩවුනු පොරොන්දුව'', "The Broken Promise") was the first film to be made in the Sinhala language; it is generally considered to have heralded the coming of Sinhala Cinema. The fil ...
" (1947), while Florida Jayalath began her acting journey with "Sengawunu Pilitura" (1951) before venturing into filmmaking. Following suit, veteran actress Ruby de Mel ventured into directing and producing with her debut film, "Pipena Kumudu" (1967), and Rohini Jayakody directed her first feature, "Hangi Hora" (1968). Despite their initial ventures into filmmaking, they later returned to their acting careers, refraining from further involvement in film production.
Sumitra Peries Sumitra Peries (March 24, 1935–January 19, 2023) was a Sri Lankan filmmaker. She was the first female film director from Sri Lanka. and was known as the "Poetess of Sinhala Cinema". She also held the post of Sri Lanka's ambassador to France, ...
is a veteran film director in Sri Lankan cinema and she is the wife of
Lester James Peries Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, ...
. She also held the post of Sri Lanka's ambassador to France, Spain and the United Nations in the late 1990s.
Inoka Sathyangani Inoka Sathyangani Keerthinanda is an internationally acclaimed Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan film director, producer and former Chairperson of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. In 2002 she received critical acclaim for her maiden effort ''Sul ...
is an internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan film director and producer. In the year 2002, she received many number awards for her maiden effort Sulang Kirilli, which deals with the theme of abortion. The film secured the highest number of awards won by a single film in the history of Sri Lanka's film industry. Anomma Rajakaruna is an award-wiining Sri Lankan film director. Rajakaruna's work has been recognized both locally and internationally, solidifying her place as a prominent figure in Sri Lankan cinema. Sumathi Sivamohan is fiction and documnatary director.


Latin America


Colombia

Marta Rodriguez is a Colombian documentary film maker who was active in the 1970s and 1980s.


Argentina

During the silent era of the 1910s and 1920s, several women in Argentina became filmmakers, something that would not happen for decades after the advent of sound films and the consolidation of the industry in the early 1930s. The most prolific Argentine woman filmmaker of the period arguably was Renée Oro who, unlike her peers, specialized in
documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
, a genre highly dominated by men. The first film directed by a woman was ''Un romance argentino'' (1915) by Angélica García de García Mansilla, financed by the Women's Commission of the San Fernando Hospital in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. The first female filmmakers in the country emerged through
philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
organizations, a typical activity for women from the
upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...
es. These all-women institutions, known as (English: "societies of beneficence"), promoted festivals in which, in addition to showing the films, there were theatrical or musical numbers. Other pioneers include Emilia Saleny, Antonieta Capurro de Renauld, Elena Sansinena de Elizalde and María B. de Celestini, among others. The first woman director of sound films in Argentina was Vlasta Lah, who directed '' Las furias'' (1960) and '' Las modelos'' (1963). Lah the only woman filmmaker in Latin America during the 1960s. One of the most influential figures in the history of Argentine women's cinema was
María Luisa Bemberg María Luisa Bemberg (April 14, 1922 – May 7, 1995) was an Argentine screenwriter, film director and actress. She was one of the first Argentine female directors with a powerful presence both in the filmmaking and the intellectual world of Latin ...
, . Her directorial debut was ''Momentos'' (1981), which was followed by ''Señora de nadie'' (1982). One of her most celebrated films was '' Camila'' (1984), which was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
, marking the second time an Argentine film was nominated for this award.
Lucrecia Martel Lucrecia Martel (born December 14, 1966) is an Argentine film director, screenwriter, and producer whose feature films have frequented Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and many other international film festivals. Film scholar Paul Julian Smith ...
has been described as "arguably the most critically acclaimed
auteur An (; , ) is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, thus manifesting the director's unique style or thematic ...
in Spanish-language
art cinema An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
outside Latin America". Her 2001 film '' La ciénaga'' was voted as the greatest film of Argentine cinema by a wide margin in a 2022 poll organized by the specialized magazines ''La vida útil'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', which presented at the
Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...
. Lucia Puenzo is the other prominent contemporary Argentinean director. In addition, María Victoria Menis has written and directed several critically acclaimed films, including '' La cámara oscura'' (2008) and '' María y el araña'' (2013).


Brazil

Brazilian cinema has a number of women directors whose works date from the 1930s. Cléo de Verberena is the first woman director of Brazil. Her directorial debut was ''O Mistério do Dominó Preto'' in 1931.
Carmen Santos Carmen Santos (8 June 1904 – 24 September 1952) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian actress and film producer. Santos began acting at the age of fifteen, and started producing films from 1930 onwards with '' Blood of Minas Gerais''. She founded he ...
produced a wide variety of films through her production company starting from 1930 and had her directorial debut in 1948 with ''
Minas Conspiracy Minas or MINAS may refer to: People with the given name Minas * Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563) * Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309) * Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250) * Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler * Minas Avetisyan (19 ...
''.
Gilda de Abreu Gilda de Abreu (; 23 September 1904 – 4 June 1979) was a Brazilian actress, singer, writer and film director. Biography Born to a wealthy family, Gilda de Abreu began her career as a singer, performing in stage musicals and operettas. She fi ...
directed her first film ''O Ébrio'' in 1946. Brazilian women directors' most prolific era unfolds from the 1970s. Some contemporary names include:
Ana Carolina Ana Carolina Sousa (, born September 9, 1974) is a Brazilian pop rock singer, songwriter and musician. Career Carolina has a contralto vocal range. Her musical influence comes from the crib, her grandmother used to sing on the radio, and her gre ...
, Betse De Paula, Carla Camurati,
Eliane Caffé Eliane Caffé (born 1961) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Born in São Paulo, Caffé got a Psychology degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 1985 and a master's degree from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 1992. Caffé directe ...
,
Helena Solberg Helena Solberg (born June 17, 1938, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian-born documentarist who, since 1971, has made her career in the United States. She is recognized as the only woman to participate in "Cinema Novo" movement in Brazil. In 1983, S ...
,
Lúcia Murat Lúcia Murat (born 1949) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Murat participated in the student and guerrilla movements against the military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1960–1970s. She was imprisoned and tortured by military agents; that experience exe ...
, Sandra Kogut,
Suzana Amaral Suzana Amaral Rezende (March 28, 1932 – June 25, 2020) was a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. She was best known for the 1985 film ''A Hora da Estrela'' ('' Hour of the Star''). Career Amaral's film career started at the age of 37 whe ...
,
Anna Muylaert Ana Luiza Machado da Silva Muylaert (born 21 April 1964), known professionally as Anna Muylaert, is a Brazilian film and television director, producer and screenwriter. Education and early career Anna studied filmmaking at the School of Communi ...
,
Petra Costa Petra Costa (born 8 July 1984) is a Brazilian filmmaker and actress. In 2020, her documentary film ''The Edge of Democracy'' was nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards ...
,
Norma Bengell Norma Aparecida Almeida Pinto Guimarães d'Áurea Bengell (21 February 1935 – 9 October 2013) was a Brazilian film, stage and television actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. She appeared in several episodes of '' T.H.E. Cat' ...
and
Tata Amaral Tata Amaral (born 1960, in São Paulo) is a Brazilian director, writer, producer and actress. She has won various awards across South America, including 'Best director' and 'Best film'. At a young age, Tata lost the father of her daughter. As a ...
.


Mexico

Women filmmakers in Latin America, specifically Mexico suffer from absolute neglect by the film industry and audience.
Mimí Derba María Herminia Pérez de León, better known as Mimí Derba (9 October 1893 – 14 July 1953) was a Mexican actress, screenwriter, and film director, considered the first female film director in Mexico. Early life At the age of seventee ...
founded one of the first Mexican production companies, Azteca Films. She had a successful career in
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
before entering films. Derba was the first female director in Mexico. Then
Matilde Landeta Matilde Soto Landeta (20 September 1913 – 26 January 1999) was a Mexicans, Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter, the first woman to serve in those roles during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema (1936-1956). Her films focused on the portrayal of st ...
was a Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter, who was the first female to serve in those roles during the
Golden Age of Mexican cinema The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema (Spanish: la Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano), spanning the 1930s to 1950s, was a prolific era during which Mexico emerged as the leading film producer in Latin America. Filmmakers during this period tackled themes ...
. Her films focused on the portrayal of strong, realistic female protagonists in a patriarchal world. Landeta won an
Ariel Award The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award reco ...
in 1957 for Best Original Story for the film '' El camino de la vida'' which she co-wrote with her brother Eduardo. The film also won the 1957 Golden Ariel, the Silver Ariel Film of Major National Interest and Best Direction and two other awards in 1956 in the
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
under the name of Alfonso Corona Blake. In the 1980s and 1990s things started to take a turn. Women filmmakers in Mexico finally got the opportunity to create and produce professional feature films. The most popular two would be ''El secreto de Romeila'' (1988) directed by
Busi Cortés Luz Eugenia Cortés Rocha (June 28, 1950 – June 21, 2024), better known as Busi Cortés, was a Mexican filmmaker, screenwriter, documentarian and professor. Her work as a director and screenwriter had a significant impact on Mexican cinema, bri ...
and ''Los pasos de Ana'' (1990) by Marisa Sistach. These two feature films were considered the doors that opened opportunity for women filmmakers in Mexico as well as created a new genre that people were not familiar with, labeled as 'women's cinema'. The phenomenal growth of 'women's cinema' not only meant that there would be an infinite expansion in the list of female names as filmmakers or creators; in reality, it created a daunting cinematic genre by objectifying women as well as displacing them within the film industry. Most of the female filmmakers in Mexico recognize as feminists. The primary reason for many of them to commit to being filmmakers was to depict stories of women in their original and true essence as well as to strive in readapting roles of females on the Mexican screen. According to Patricia Torres San Martín, an honorable film scholar, there is a new theme emerging within the film industry in Mexico which is known as the 'new female identity'. This new structural change in cinema created a geographical cultural change in Mexico due to its new emerged eye-opening concept in the film industry. One of Maria Novaro first short films (a school work: ''An Island Surrounded by Water'', 1984) was acquired by the
Museum of Modern Art in New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...
for its permanent film collection and was distributed in the United States by Women Make Movies. Maria's 1994 ''El Jardín del Edén'' (The Garden of Eden) obtain her a second nomination for the
Ariel Award for Best Picture The Ariel Award for Best Picture (Ariel de Mejor Película in Spanish) is the highest award given in Mexico to a single film and is part of the Mexican Academy of Film's Ariel Award program. Award results
the first for a woman in Mexico. In the Garden of Eden, three very different women find themselves in the Mexican-American border town of Tijuana, each with her own goal. The women: struggling artist Elizabeth ( Rosario Sagrav), Jane (
Renée Coleman Renée Coleman (born January 8, 1962) is a Canadian actress who has appeared in several TV shows and movies. Acting She is best known for her role in the NBC TV series ''Quantum Leap'', in which she played the role of Alia, the "evil leaper." ...
), who's looking for her brother, and Serena ( Gabriela Roel), a widow who just arrived in town with her family in tow. Although the trio come from different cultural backgrounds—Serena is Mexican, Jane is American and Elizabeth is Mexican-American—all three are similarly in search of a new direction. Mariana Chenillo became the first female director to win an
Ariel Award The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award reco ...
for Best Picture back in 2010 for the film Nora's Will. The Ariel is the Mexican Academy of Film Award. In cinema, it is considered Mexico's equivalent to the Academy Awards ("Oscars") of the United States. The film's plot revolves around a mysterious photograph left under a bed which leads to an unexpected outcome.
Issa López Issa López is a Mexican director, writer and producer. Twelve Spanish language features have been produced from her scripts, four of them directed by herself. She has won several literary awards, including the National Novel Award granted by Me ...
wrote the scripts for several film features, three of them produced in Mexico by the Major Hollywood Studios, and two of those directed by herself; '' Efectos Secundarios'' (
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, 2006) and ''Casi Divas'' Almost Divas (
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...
, 2008). Casi Divas is the only Mexican movie to be scored by acclaimed Hollywood composer
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...
.


Europe


Belgium

In Belgium, French language is the second most used, and many Belgian filmmakers choose to shoot their films in French, thus their films often gain popularity in France.
Chantal Akerman Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York. Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
is the most famous Belgian director. As director she debuted with the documentary feature '' Hotel Monterey'' in 1973. Her next film was dramatic feature '' Je Tu Il Elle'' (1974). Her best-known film is ''
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
'' (1975) about a housewife who earns a living as a prostitute. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The film garnered a cult following in the following decades. Chantal Akerman had a long career as a filmmaker from the year 1968 to 2015, until her death, lasting almost 50 years. Other notable film directors from Belgium include Lydia Chagoll,
Marion Hänsel Marion Hänsel (née Ackermann; 12 February 1949 – 8 June 2020)Anne Lévy-Morelle Anne Lévy-Morelle (born 19 February 1961) is a Belgian film director and writer. After graduating from the Université libre de Bruxelles, she attended the INSAS in Brussels and began directing short films and collaborating with numerous Belgian ...
,
Nadine Monfils Nadine Monfils (born 12 February 1953) is a Belgium, Belgian writer and film director and producer. She was born in Etterbeek. She has contributed to the magazines ', ''Tel Quel'' and ''Focus''. Monfils published her first collection of stories ...
,
Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pi ...
,
Nathalie Teirlinck Nathalie Teirlinck (; born 1985) is a Belgians, Belgian film director and screenwriter. In 2007, Teirlinck studied at the film department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent), Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. Her three short films, ''An ...
,
Fien Troch Fien Troch (born 1978, in Londerzeel) is a Belgium, Belgian film director, producer and screenwriter. Career After graduating from the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, Sint-Lukas art academy in Brussels in 2000, she achieved several nominations an ...
, Chris Vermorcken and Laura Wandel. Marion Hänsel's film '' Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'' (1995) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pi ...
initially became famous as an actress. In 2004 she debuted as a film director with '' When the Sea Rises'' for which she won a César award. Laura Wandel made her debut as film director with the film ''
Playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...
'' (2021) which was screened at Cannes Film Festival where it won the
FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
prize. It was also submitted as the Belgian entry for the best foreign film at the 94th Academy Awards.
Fien Troch Fien Troch (born 1978, in Londerzeel) is a Belgium, Belgian film director, producer and screenwriter. Career After graduating from the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel, Sint-Lukas art academy in Brussels in 2000, she achieved several nominations an ...
is a well-known modern Belgian director. Her film debut '' Someone Else's Happiness'' (2005) was the Belgian entry at the Academy Awards. Her film '' Unspoken'' (2008) premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.


Bulgaria

Binka Zhelyazkova Binka Zhelyazkova (, 15 July 1923 – 31 July 2011), was a Bulgarian film director who made films between the late 1950s and the 1990s. She was the first Bulgarian woman to direct a feature film and one of the few women worldwide to direct fe ...
was the first Bulgarian woman to direct a feature film with ''Life Flows Quietly By...'' in 1957 and was one of the few women worldwide to direct feature films in the 1950s. Irina Aktasheva, a Russian, made several Bulgarian films during the 1960s and 1970s, including ''Monday Morning'' in 1965. Radka Bachvarova was a Bulgarian director of animation. Lada Boyadjieva had two films compete for the
Short Film Palme d'Or Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known a ...
in
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
and
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
. Ivanka Grybcheva made films in the 1970s and 1980s.


Czechia

Olga Rautenkranzová Olga Rautenkranzová (22 September 1891 – ?) was a Czech actress and a pioneering film director active during the silent era. She is noted as being the first Czech woman director. Biography Rautenkranzová began in the world of theater, stud ...
is the first woman director from Czechoslovakia. In 1918 she directed ''Kozlonoh'' and ''Ucitel orientálních jazyku''. Little has been published about her life and career.
Thea Červenková Terezie Císařová, known as Thea (or Tea) Červenková (17 May 1878 – 1957 or 1961), was a Czechs, Czech film director, screenwriter, journalist, writer and actress. She was the second Czechoslovak woman film director (the first one is consid ...
is the second Czechoslovak woman film director. In 1919 she directed ''Monarchistické spiknutí'', ''Náměsíčný'', ''Byl první máj'' and ''Zloděj''. She was also screenwriter, writer, documentary maker, film actress, film journalist and critic, producer, film company owner and founding partner.
Věra Chytilová Věra Chytilová (; 2 February 1929 – 12 March 2014) was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave 1966 film ''S ...
was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech New Wave cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her film '' Daisies'' (1966). Hermína Týrlová was a prominent Czech director of animated films. She was active between 1928 and 1986. Týrlová produced over 60 films.


Denmark

The first Danish feature film to be directed by a woman was ''
Ud i den kolde sne ''Ud i den kolde sne'' is a 1934 Danish comedy film directed by Lau Lauritzen Jr. and Alice O'Fredericks. It was Fredericks debut film as a director. The title means "Out in the cold snow" in English. Cast * Mathilde Nielsen as Baronesse Carol ...
'' from 1934, directed by
Alice O'Fredericks Alice O'Fredericks (born Mitzi Otha Alice Frederiksen; 8 September 1899 – 18 February 1968) was a Denmark, Danish actress, screenwriter, and film director. O'Fredericks was the first female director of sound films in Denmark. Having written 38 ...
, who would go on to be one of the most prolific Danish film directors. She initially co-directed her films with Lau Lauritzen Jr., however in the 1940s she started directing films on her own. She is credited with directing more than 70 feature films as well as writing screenplays for more than 30 films making her one is one of the most productive directors in Danish cinema and among her most memorable films are the ''
Far til Fire ''Father of Four'' () is a 1953 Danish family comedy directed by Alice O'Fredericks and starring Ib Schønberg and Birgitte Bruun. The film is based on the comic strip by Kaj Engholm and Olav Hast. It was the inaugural film in a series of eight ...
''-films and the filmatization of the Morten Korch novels, which were all very popular during the Golden Age of Danish Cinema. She is also noted for her films focusing on women and women's rights. In the 1940s the star actress
Bodil Ipsen Bodil Ipsen (; 30 August 1889 – 26 November 1964) was a Danish actress and film director, and is considered one of the great stars of Danish cinematic history. Her acting career, which began in theater and silent films, was marked by leading ...
and the screenwriter Grete Frische joined O'Fredericks in directing mainstream feature films. Ipsen would towards the end of her career co-direct with Lau Lauritsen Jr. and Fische would co-direct ''
Så mødes vi hos Tove ''We Meet at Tove's'' () is a 1946 Danish drama directed by Alice O'Fredericks Alice O'Fredericks (born Mitzi Otha Alice Frederiksen; 8 September 1899 – 18 February 1968) was a Denmark, Danish actress, screenwriter, and film director. O'Fr ...
'' with O'Fredericks. She received the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix for her film ''The Red Meadows'' in 1946—the very first year of the festival. Other prolific Danish directors include Astrid Henning-Jensen, who became the first female director to be nominated for an Academy Award with ''Paw (film), Paw'', Susanne Bier, the first female director to win a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, an Emmy Award and a European Film Award, and Lone Scherfig, whose films have been nominated for Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs and a European Film Awards, European Film Award. The oldest Danish film award is named Bodil Award after Bodil Ipsen and Bodil Kjer, and the Alice Award, which is award to the best female director at the Copenhagen International Film Festival is named in honor of Alice O'Fredericks.


Finland

Glory Leppänen was the first Finnish woman to direct a film. Her 1936 feature film ''A Stroke of Luck'' (''Onnenpotku'') starred Miss Finland Ester Toivonen. As of February 2020, it holds the record for the most cinema-goers of any film directed by a Finnish woman. Ansa Ikonen, Kyllikki Forssell, and Ritva Arvelo are also among the first Finnish women film directors. Ansa Ikonen, made her directorial debut with the 1944 film ''Woman is the Wild Card, Nainen on valttia'' (''Woman is the Wild Card''). Kyllikki Forssell directed her first film, ''Onnellinen Perhe'' (''Happy Family''), in 1953, which was an episode of an anthology titled ''Shamrock (1953 film), Shamrock'' consisting of three short films. Ritva Arvelo's directorial debut came in 1961 with ''The Golden Calf (1961 film), Kultainen vasikka'' (''The Golden Calf''). In the 21st century, new talents have emerged in Finnish cinema. The experimental feature film ''M (2018 Finnish film), M'' (2018), directed by Anna Eriksson and centered on actress Marilyn Monroe, was screened at the Venice International Film Festival. Her follow-up, the dystopian film shot in French about the dying Madame Europe and her Chinese man-machine, ''W (2022 film), W'', premiered at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival. ''Tove (film), Tove'' (2020), directed by Zaida Bergroth, tells the story of bisexual ''Moomins'' creator Tove Jansson. The film received critical acclaim and was Finland's entry for the 2021 Oscars. The apocalyptic drama ''Quarantine (2021 film), Quarantine'' (2021), directed by Diana Ringo, was Finland and Russia's entry for the 2022 Golden Globes. Her next film, an adaptation of George Orwell's ''1984 (2023 film), 1984'', was released in 2023. Hanna Bergholm's body horror film ''Hatching (film), Hatching'' and the coming-of-age film ''Girl Picture'' (2022), directed by Alli Haapasalo, both premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Women directors active since 2000 include Johanna Vuoksenmaa, Pamela Tola, Auli Mantila, Taru Mäkelä, Selma Vilhunen and Tiina Lymi. Johanna Vuoksenmaa is known for her films ''21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage'' (2013), ''Nousukausi, Upswing'' (2020), and ''Adult Camp'' (2012), as well as the television series ''Kumman kaa''. Pamela Tola, both a director and actress, has directed works such as ''Swingers (2018 film), Swingers'' (2018) and ''Ladies of Steel'' (2020). Auli Mantila, recognized for her work as a director and screenwriter, is best known for her film ''Geography of Fear'' (2001) and various television dramas. Taru Mäkelä has directed films including ''August Fools'' (2013) and ''The Storage'' (2011).


France

France, cinema's birthplace, fostered both its technical and artistic development, notably through a strong tradition of female directors, with three pioneers, representing cinema's beginning, middle, and end, leaving a lasting heritage. Female director, Alice Guy-Blaché, Alice Guy was existent during the birth of cinema.
Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...
was around Avant-garde, Avant-Garde cinema during the 1920s. Lastly, Agnès Varda, Agnés Varda (1954) came along the movement of the French New Wave, New Wave. Among the best known French women film makers are
Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...
,
Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
,
Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a Narrative film, narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From ...
,
Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...
, Jacqueline Audry,
Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. Life and career Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort. She decided to becom ...
, Nelly Kaplan and Diane Kurys. Others include Julia Ducournau,
Céline Sciamma Céline Sciamma (; born 12 November 1978) is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed '' Water Lilies'' (2007), '' Tomboy'' (2011), '' Girlhood'' (2014), '' Portrait of a Lady on Fire'' (2019), and '' Petite Maman'' (2021). ...
, Mia Hansen-Løve, Mati Diop, Pascale Ferran, Agnès Jaoui, Noémie Lvovsky, Tonie Marshall, Coline Serreau, Straub-Huillet, Danièle Huillet and Danièle Thompson.


Silent era — 1920s

In the silent era French women directors were highly prominent.
Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a Narrative film, narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From ...
directed around 700 films and is credited with introducing the narrative form with her film ''
La Fée aux Choux The 1896 version of ''La Fée aux Choux'' (''The Fairy of the Cabbages'') is a lost short fantasy film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché ( Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer film director. ...
'' (1896). Alice Guy was a secretary to Léon Gaumont, Leon Gaumont before the making of her very own first film, which was a year later after the birth of cinema, 1854 to be exact. Since Alice Guy was working for Gaumont, she was responsible in the production side of the company for being the director, the filmmaker, and set manger. From being a secretary to a head she had created 406 films during this period of time. Most of her films were between 20 and 90 minutes, for a film to be created for this long during this time would be considered to be a short film, but knowing the fact that it was made earlier before is exceptional during the early years. Alice Guy had the chance to shoot some of her films in a different way than Gaumont's forerunner the Auguste and Louis Lumière, Lumiere Brothers. The brothers were mostly interested in shooting films which would show what the cameras can capture on a technical level and not what they can express in a deeper extent; for example having repetitive and monotonous shots of trains or the military marching. Guy was not so interested in repetitiveness in films, although she was slightly influenced by them, she had decided to think of something better and comedic. Here she gave in a bunch of short comedic films to Gaumont and he approved of her films. In 1906 she directed the comedic short film ''Les Résultats du féminisme, The Consequences of Feminism'' which depicted a world where traditional gender roles are inverted. Within a year of her submission of short films, they have become a complete success. Her film ''La Passion'' or so called ''La Vie du Christ'' (1906) was a work of art on which she has worked on for years. This has included 25 sets along with a number if exterior areas and around or over 300 crowd scenes.
Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...
was one of the most creative art film directors and went on to be the leader of the French cinéclub movement. Dulac had studied music first then became a film logician and a journalist. She focused closely on still photography just before the making of her very own first film in the year 1926. At the time where Germain Dulac was shooting to make her first film in 1916, the film industry in France was in an unusual state because of the early booming that has happened in 1901–1904. During 1910, around sixty to seventy percent of films were sent out worldwide from Paris, however, during 1914 the industry started to decline these films because it lacked investment and production tools for practices. Later on over the years in 1920, the new cinema in France began because of avant-garde filmmaking and the first movement of film theory, in which Dulac was interested in. Dulac started off as a journalist for feminist journals ''La Fraciase'' and :fr:Fronde (histoire), ''La Fronde'' and later became interested in still photography which made her contemplate about the connection between the camera lens and feminism. She was highly influenced by music in her early life, which she incorporated in films to visually see the movement of music. She had made her films sound poetic to show and express emotion and her experience as a feminist journalist affected her work when depicting female characters. One of her best known films is ''La Souriante Madame Beudet'' (''The Smiling Madame Beudet'') created in 1923 which came to be a landmark feminist film. The film's plot revolves around a hard-working female in a loveless marriage. Musidora was another French film pioneer—she was an actress, film director and screenwriter. She directed films in the 1910s and 1920s. :fr:Marie-Louise Iribe, Marie-Louise Iribe started as an actor in silent films and later owned a production company and directed significant feature films in the 1920s-1930s. Juliette Bruno-Ruby directed two films in the 1920s. Marie Epstein was an actress, screenwriter, film director, and film preservationist. She directed films throughout 1920s until 1950s. She often collaborated with her brother, Jean Epstein.


1930s – 1950s

Solange Térac directed three films. Her directorial debut was in 1932 with ''La vagabonde''. She is best known for the film ''Koenigsmark (1953 film), Koenigsmark'' (1953). Andrée Feix debuted as director with the film ''Once is Enough'' (1946). She also directed ''Captain Blomet'' (1947). Nicole Védrès directed two feature documentaries, ''Paris 1900 (film), Paris 1900'' (1947) and ''La Vie Commence Demain'' (1950). ''Paris 1900'' was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Jacqueline Audry directed numerous literary adaptations. Her directorial debut was ''The Misfortunes of Sophie'' in 1946. Her films often dealt with controversial topics which included extramarital sex such as ''Mitsou (film), Mitsoi'' (1956) and lesbian romance drama ''Olivia (1951 film), Olivia'' (1951). ''Olivia'' was a groundbreaking film in terms of lesbian representation at the time. She has directed sixteen films altogether and was the first commercially successful woman director of post-war France.


1950s – 1960s and the New Wave

Initially Agnés Varda had an intense interest in art history at first, and only later she turned towards film and photography in 1954. Her directorial debut was ''La Pointe Courte'' (1955) which has been described as the first French New Wave film. Varda is best known for her New Wave masterpiece ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1962). It was screened at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Another acclaimed film by Varda was ''Vagabond (1985 film), Vagabond'' (1985). ''Vagabond'' is considered one of Varda's greater feminist works. She also directed various documentaries during her career. As one of the most active filmmakers of all time, her directing career lasted five decades. In 1959 writer Marguerite Duras wrote the script for Alain Resnais' ''Hiroshima Mon Amour''. Her script was nominated for the Best Screenplay category at the 1959 Academy Awards. She turned to directing with ''La Musica (film), La Musica'' in 1966. Director Straub–Huillet, Danièle Huillet together with her husband made two dozen films between 1963 and 2006. ''From the Clouds to the Resistance'' was screened at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Suzanne Schiffman was a screenwriter, script-girl and film director. She is known for her close collaboration with Francois Truffaut. Her directorial output consists of three films. Her directorial debut was in 1971 with ''Out 1'' (co-directed with Jacques Rivette). Paula Delsol had her directorial debut in 1962 with ''La Dérive''. The film had themes of female sexual liberation. Film director and writer Marceline Loridan-Ivens directed various documentaries in the 1960s and 1970s. She survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her director debut was in 1962 with ''Algérie, année zéro''.


1970s – 1980s

Noteworthy women filmmakers to emerge from the 1970s include
Catherine Breillat Catherine Breillat (; born 13 July 1948) is a French filmmaker, novelist and professor of auteur cinema at the European Graduate School. Life and career Breillat was born in Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, but grew up in Niort. She decided to becom ...
, Diane Kurys, Nelly Kaplan, Coline Serreau, Nadine Trintignant, Marion Sarraut, Rachel Weinberg, Véra Belmont, Josée Dayan, Liliane de Kermadec, Sarah Maldoror, Ariane Mnouchkine, Christine Lipinska, Jeanne Labrune,
Chantal Akerman Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York. Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
, Jeanne Moreau, Euzhan Palcy, Danièle Thompson. Coline Serrau's directorial debut was in 1974. Her biggest commercial success was ''Three Men and a Cradle'' (1985) which was later Three men and a baby, remade in Hollywood. She received three César Awards for the film. Diane Kurys' directorial debut coming-of-age film ''Peppermint Soda'' was awarded at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. Delphine Seyrig was an openly feminist filmmaker active in the 1970s known for her documentary ''Sois belle et tais-toi (1981 film), Sois belle et tais-toi'' released in 1981. Feminist filmmaker Catherine Breillat is well known for her frank depictions of sexuality and taboo topics in film and for her coming of age works. She faced censorship and controversy during most of her career. Her debut film ''A Real Young Girl'' was banned for several decades due to graphic sexuality. Her best known films are ''A Real Young Girl'' (1976), ''Romance (1999 film), Romance'' (1999) and ''Fat Girl'' (2001). In 2007 her film ''The Last Mistress'' was selected at the Cannes Film Festival. Jeanne Moreau, best known as an actress, directed two feature films in the 1970s—''Lumière (film), Lumière'' in 1976 about female friendship and ''The Adolescent (film), The Adolescent'' in 1978 about a young girl's coming-of-age. Another iconic actress, Anna Karina had her directorial debut in 1973 with ''Vivre ensemble'' which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2008 she directed and starred in the film ''Victoria (2008 film), Victoria''.


1980s – 2000s

Notable directors to debut in the 1980s –
Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
, Catherine Corsini, Tonie Marshall, Claire Devers, Patricia Mazuy, Agnès Merlet, Sólveig Anspach, Juliet Berto, Josiane Balasko, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa.
Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
is one of the most acclaimed French directors to emerge from the late 1980s. Her film debut ''Chocolat (1988 film), Chocolat'' premiered at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. Her film ''Beau Travail'' received rave reviews at the time of its release. In 2022 she won the Grand Prix at Cannes for ''Stars at Noon (2022 film), Stars at Noon''. Her career has lasted over three decades. Director Yolande Zauberman had her debut in 1988 with ''Classified People''. She won an award for ''Me Ivan, You Abraham'' at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Filmmaker Catherine Corsini began directing films in the 1980s. Her films ''Replay (2001 film), Replay'' (2001) and ''Three Worlds (film), Three Worlds'' (2012) screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Director and screenwriter Pascale Ferran had her feature directorial debut with ''Coming to Terms with the Dead'' in 1994 which won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Her film ''Bird People (film), Bird People'' (2014) was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2000 Tonie Marshall was the first woman to receive the César award as Best Director. Her directorial debut film was ''Pentimento'' (1989). Lisa Azuelos is a well known French director who directed her first film in 1993. Her film ''LOL (Laughing Out Loud)'' (2008) was LOL (2012 film), remade in Hollywood in 2012. Marion Vernoux directed her first film in 1994. She is best known for her 1999 film ''Empty Days''. Sylvie Verheyde had her directorial debut in 1997. Her 2012 film ''Confession of a Child of the Century'' was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.


2000s – present

Modern French directors to become well known in the 2000s and later include Cannes Film Festival winners Julia Ducournau,
Céline Sciamma Céline Sciamma (; born 12 November 1978) is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed '' Water Lilies'' (2007), '' Tomboy'' (2011), '' Girlhood'' (2014), '' Portrait of a Lady on Fire'' (2019), and '' Petite Maman'' (2021). ...
, Mia Hansen-Løve and Mati Diop, Marie Amachoukeli, Rebecca Zlotowski, Claire Burger, Julie Lopes-Curval, Houda Benyamina, Justine Triet. Other notable directors include Virginie Despentes, Valérie Donzelli, Alix Delaporte, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Marion Laine, Léa Mysius, Sophie Barthes, Marina de Van, Houda Benyamina, Karin Albou, Mona Achache, Lola Bessis. Many famous actors decide to later on undertake directing duties. Fanny Ardant, Sophie Marceau, Julie Delpy, Zabou Breitman, Maïwenn and Isild Le Besco, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Zabou Breitman, Marilou Berry, Sylvie Testud, Brigitte Sy, Emmanuelle Bercot — are all well-known actresses who started to also direct films in the 2000s.


German language countries


Austria

Luise Fleck Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film director, and has been considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Al ...
was an Austrian film director, and considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Alice Guy-Blaché. Luise Fleck worked with her husband Jacob Fleck, Jacob and they both shared director credits. In 1911 Luise Fleck directed ''
Die Glückspuppe ''Die Glückspuppe'' is a 1911 Austrian silent short film directed by Jakob and Luise Fleck Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film direc ...
''. Austrian filmmaker Leontine Sagan is a notable director who worked in Germany. Contemporary Austrian women directors include Barbara Albert, Jessica Hausner, Marie Kreutzer and Katharina Mückstein. Films by Hausner have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival and at Berlinale. Katharina Mückstein is a notable feminist and metoo activist, who has been vocally critical of sexual harassment in the Austrian film industry. Feminist artist and experimental filmmaker
Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer a ...
is notable for her video art works made in the 1970s. Her work was groundbreaking at the time and aroused controversy in the conservative Austrian art world.


Germany

Lotte Reiniger was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', (1926), the first feature-length animated film, and ''Papageno'' (1935). 1931 film ''Mädchen in Uniform, Girls in Uniform'' by Leontine Sagan is one of the earliest narrative films to explicitly portray homosexuality. The film is about a 14-year-old girl who falls in love with her female teacher at an all-girls boarding school. Actress and director
Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...
is best known for making the infamous 1935 Nazi propaganda film ''Triumph of the Will'' which despite its controversial nature is still considered as one of the greatest films of all time due to its technical and visual innovations. German woman filmmakers Helke Sander and Cristina Perincioli are also pioneers of the feminist movement. A feminist newspaper Frauen und Film was founded in 1974 by Helke Sander. Other prominent female film-makers include Margarethe von Trotta and Helma Sanders-Brahms who both began their careers in the 1970s. Monika Treut has also won recognition for her depictions of queer and alternative sexuality. Contemporary German women directors of note include Maren Ade, Doris Dörrie, Frauke Finsterwalder, Katja von Garnier, Nicolette Krebitz, Caroline Link and Angela Schanelec.


Switzerland

Anna Indermaur is the first woman film director from Switzerland. Indermaur opened the Nord-Süd cinema studio in 1935. Ursula Meier is a notable modern Swiss film director. Her films have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival.


Hungary

In Hungary film director and screenwriter Marta Meszaros has been making important films for decades, starting from 1968 until 2020. Her full-length directorial debut, ''Eltavozott nap/The Girl'' (1968), was the first Hungarian film to have been directed by a woman. Meszaros is best known for her 1984 Cannes Film Festival winning picture ''Diary for My Children''. Director Ildikó Enyedi is known for her 2017 film ''On Body and Soul'' which won the top prize at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival and went on to be nominated for a Foreign Language Academy Award. She has directed eight feature films since 1989.


Italy

Elvira Notari Elvira Notari (born Elvira Coda; 10 February 1875 – 17 December 1946) was an Italian film director, one of the country's early and more prolific female filmmaker. She is credited as the first woman who made over 60 feature films and about 100 s ...
was a pioneer of Italian cinema, and she was followed by other prominent female directors as
Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta "Lina" Wertmüller (; 14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art film, art house films ''Seven Beauties'',' ''The Seduction of Mimi'', ''Lov ...
and
Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...
. Countess Marina Cicogna is the first female European producer. Elvira Notari is the first Italian woman director to make a film. She has directed more than sixty feature films and about 100 documentaries. Notari's first films are ''Maria Rosa di Santa Flavia'', ''Carmela la pazza'', ''Bufera d'anime'', all made in 1911. Director Diana Karenne was a Polish film pioneer, who directed many of her films in Italy. Her film debut was ''Lea'' in 1916 which she directed in Italy. In 1917 she opened her film production company in Milan. Lina Wertmüller is best known for her satiric films ''Swept Away (1974 film), Swept Away'' (1974) and ''Seven Beauties'' (1975). With ''Seven Beauties'' Wertmüller became the first female director to be nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director. Liliana Cavani is best known for her controversial film ''The Night Porter'' (1974). Set in Vienna in the 1957, the film centers on the sadomasochistic relationship between a former Nazi concentration camp officer and one of his inmates. The film starred Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling. In 2002 Cavani directed ''Ripley's Game (film), Ripley's Game'' starring John Malkovich, based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. Alice Rohrwacher is a notable modern film director from Italy whose films were award winners at the Cannes Film Festival. Her best known films are ''The Wonders (film), The Wonders (2014) and ''Happy as Lazzaro'' (2018).


Norway

Norwegian actress Aud Egede-Nissen opened her own production company in 1917 and produced at least 29 films. Edith Carlmar is Norway's first woman director. Her directorial debut was ''Death Is a Caress'' in 1949. Her last film featured the debut of actress Liv Ullmann. Liv Ullmann herself turned to directing in the 1990s. Notable directors who emerged in the 1960s-1970s period include Anja Breien, Vibeke Løkkeberg, Vibeke Lokkeberg, Laila Mikkelsen and Unni Straume. Eva Dahr had her directorial debut with the film ''Burning Flowers'' in 1985. She was also a prolific director of short films. Norwegian director Deeyah Khan who debuted in 2012 is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the Royal Television Society award for Best Factual Director. Director Anne Sewitsky, Anne Sewitsky's 2010 film ''Happy, Happy'' was Norway's submission to the Academy Awards. Maria Sødahl is best known for her 2019 film ''Hope (2019 film), Hope''. Director Mona Fastvold, Mona Fastvold's directorial debut ''The Sleepwalker'' (2014) was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She is based in the US.


Poland

Nina Niovilla was the first Polish female film director and the only female director of the silent film era in Poland. She debuted in 1918 with the film ''Die Heiratsannonce''. Director Diana Karenne was another Polish film pioneer, who directed most of her films abroad, in Italy, Germany and France. Her film debut was ''Lea'' in 1916 which she directed in Italy. Wanda Jakubowska was a Polish film director best known for her work on the Holocaust. Her 1948 film ''The Last Stage'' was an early and influential depiction of concentration camps. It was filmed on location at Auschwitz, where Jakubowska had been interned. Jakubowska was active as a director for more than 50 years, starting from 1932 until 1988. Agnieszka Holland is a notable modern film director who has been active in cinema since 1973. Her films have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. Her sister Magdalena Łazarkiewicz and daughter Kasia Adamik are both film directors. Other Polish film directors include Maria Kaniewska, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Urszula Antoniak, Małgorzata Szumowska, Ewa Petelska, Teresa Kotlarczyk, Anna Kazejak-Dawid, Dorota Kobiela.


Portugal

Bárbara Virgínia became the first woman film director of Portugal in 1945 with the film ''Três Dias Sem Deus''. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Portuguese editor and director Manuela Viegas' 1999 film ''Gloria (1999 Portuguese film), Gloria'', premiered in competition at the 57th Berlinale, is considered in her country the climax of a cinema of feminine sensibility. Other Portuguese female film directors include Teresa Villaverde, Catarina Ruivo, Raquel Freire, Margarida Gil, Cláudia Tomaz and Rita Azevedo Gomes. The current president of the Portuguese Directors Association is Margarida Gil.


Russia


Russian Empire and Soviet Union Era

Russian cinematography has seen a number of women directors who created nationally and internationally acclaimed movies. The first Russian moving picture produced by a female director came out in 1910s. Olga Preobrazhenskaya was introduced into the fledgling film industry by Yakov Protazanov. In 1913 Olga Preobrazhenskaya began directing films in the "Timan and Reingardt" studio. Her first work as a director was a joint effort with actor, screenwriter and director Vladimir Gardin—in 1916, they filmed ''Miss Peasant'' based on the work of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, Pushkin. As Olga Preobrazhenskaya put it, "the film came out, it was praised, but since it was the first production of a woman director, it was treated with distrust, and on the posters and reviews my name was often written with a male ending or attributed to the production of other directors." In the first years after the Revolution, Olga Preobrazhenskaya was also the first woman to teach directing: she taught classes at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, State School of Cinematography (now VGIK). Preobrazhenskaya's most successful work is the drama ''Women of Ryazan'' (1927), which the writer Theodore Dreiser, who visited the USSR at the time, called a miracle. The film was about the difficult life of an ordinary Russian peasant woman in the countryside on the eve and after the revolution. Preobrazhenskaya created this picture together with the director Ivan Pravov, as many of her other films, designed in the spirit of socialist realism: ''And Quiet Flows the Don (1930 film), And Quiet Flows the Don'', ''Stepan Razin (film), Stepan Razin'', ''The Lad from the Taiga''. Brumberg sisters were pioneer animators. They were active between 1925 and 1970. In a career lasting almost 50 years, they created around 50 films as animation directors, animators and screenwriters. Nadezhda Kosheverova was considered the greatest fairy tale director of the Soviet cinema. In spite of the fact that the director tried herself in different genres, from realistic (''Galya'') to comedies (''Tamer of Tigers''), it was in the fairy tale genre that her talent revealed itself most fully. The most famous of her ten works in this genre is ''Cinderella (1947 film), Cinderella'' released in 1947, filmed together with Mikhail Shapiro on the script of Evgeny Schwartz. ''Cinderella'' was, perhaps, the first fairy tale in the history of the Soviet cinema, devoid of any ideological overtones, but at the same time reflecting with mild satire the features of the Soviet way of life. For example, in the stepmother, played by Faina Ranevskaya, one may easily recognize the exemplary communal activist. And also for the first time in the Soviet cinema aristocratic heroes—King Erast Garin and Prince Alexei Konsovsky—are not portrayed as caricatured negative characters. Margarita Barskaya was the first director who succeeded in showing the world through the eyes of a child. In 1933, she released ''Tattered Shoes'', the first sound film for children in the history of the world cinema. It told the story of children growing up in a conventional European country where the fascist regime came to power. After the film's release, Barskaya was immediately talked about as a new, original talent, and much later, almost as a forerunner of Italian neo-realism. Viewers were delighted by how casually children behaved in the frame, as if not noticing the lens—the credit goes to Barskaya who developed her own system of working with young actors. Margarita Barskaya was the initiator of the world's first children's film studio "Soyuzdetfilm", where a full-length film ''Father and Son'' was shot. It never appeared on the screens: the critics branded the picture as "fake", because Barskaya, true to her style, reflected the life of a Soviet family without embellishment. The director was no longer allowed to shoot—mainly because of her friendship with the disgraced oppositionist Karl Radek, as a result, the film ''Father and Son'' was the last work of Barskaya. Filmmaker
Yulia Solntseva Yuliya Ippolitovna Solntseva (; born Yuliya Ippolitovna Peresvetova; 7 August 1901 – 28 October 1989) was a Soviet actress and film director. As an actress, she is known for starring in the silent sci-fi classic ''Aelita'' (1924). She is t ...
, before becoming a famous director, managed to attract attention as an actress thanks to her main roles in silent films ''Aelita'' and ''The Cigarette Girl from Mosselprom''. The most famous work of Solntseva was ''Poem of the Sea'', filmed in 1958 from a script by her husband, director Alexander Dovzhenko, in which the director presented the construction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station in the style of an ancient Greek epic. Another notable work by Solntseva was the first wide-screen film in Europe, ''Chronicle of Flaming Years'' (1960), which won the award for best director at Cannes. Iskra Babich, a 1958 graduate of VGIK, was a favorite student of director and teacher Ivan Pyryev. She had only four full-length films in her filmography – all four melodramas. Babich made penetrating films about love, conscience and kindness—but without excessive expression and eccentric plots. The director's most famous film is ''Muzhiki!'' (1982), which won many awards and achieved international recognition. Dinara Asanova, a student of Mikhail Romm, is known as a director who accurately shows the conflicting nature of an adolescent. Two of her most famous films—a lyrical story about unrequited love ''Woodpeckers Don't Get Headaches'' (1975) and a drama about young hooligans ''Boys (1983 film), Boys'' (1983), which featured amateur actors, real troubled teens. After the movie Asanova began to receive packs of letters: people were asking for advice, believing that the director was a qualified specialist in the education of "difficult children". However, Asanova's only task was to show that the transition period between adolescence and youth is not a rehearsal for "real", adult life, but an important part of our only, big, life. Larisa Shepitko was one of the central figures of the Soviet cinema in the 1960s and '70s. One of her most acclaimed films, ''Wings (1966 film), Wings'', released in 1966, reflected on the fate of front-line soldiers. The war veteran in the film was a woman, a former aviator Nadezhda Petrukhina, who after the war became the director of a vocational school. The main character, forced to abandon the sky, had to live by the new rules, which did not have the moral clarity inherent in wartime, which eventually brought her to an existential dead end, like many in her generation. In order to shoot her main film, ''The Ascent (1977 film), The Ascension'' (1976), Shepitko had to confront the authorities. The film became the first Soviet picture to win the "Golden Bear" at the Berlin International Film Festival. Tatiana Lukashevich debuted as a film director at the age of 24: her film ''Ivan Karavaev's Crime'' was more like an artistically designed film propaganda than an artistic statement, but it still drew attention to the young director. Later Lukashevich made mostly films that contributed to the "moral education of the younger generation" ("Gavrosh", "The Foundling", "The Maturity Certificate"). Despite the director's strict adherence to the canons of socialist realism, such values as humanity and genuineness were always in the foreground in Lukashevich's films. This is most noticeable in the film The Foundling, whose main idea is expressed in the lines of a lullaby: "In our big city, everyone is kind to the baby." For Aida Manasarova, perhaps the most important thing in her work was the careful avoidance of everything too idealistic and far-fetched. According to Manasarova, it was "much more important for her to show the real drama of the search for moral ideals," so her characters were never one-dimensional and positive. Almost all of her films told about people experiencing a deep inner crisis. "I like heroes who are tormented by their imperfection," Manasarova admitted. One of the highlights of the directors works is a family drama "Look away" (1983) about the difficult relationship between mother and son. ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'', one of the most famous and nationally acclaimed series known in the Soviet cinema, was also made by a female director Tatyana Lioznova. However, the director is known not only for the story of the popular Soviet spy. A key character in all her works was a man who finds himself in unnatural conditions, a white crow, who is tested for his resilience, and not always successfully. Nyura from the film ''Three Poplars in Plyushchikha'' in 1967 who never found love; Nina from ''Carnival (1981 film), Carnival'' (1981) who returned to her small town, not having achieved any success as a great actress; Lenya from the film ''We, below'' (1980) who failed at collecting the signatures he so badly needed. This combination of stubbornness and humility is characteristic of her films. As the playwright Alexander Gelman put it, "her films are sincere, the truth of the soul in them surpasses the truth of facts, as it happens in life with real people." Alla Surikova is notable for directing many successful comedy films. Her most popular film is the satiric Red-Western ''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (1987).
Kira Muratova Kira Georgievna Muratova (; ; ; née Korotkova, 5 November 1934 – 6 June 2018) was a Ukrainian
always strove to make films which she herself wanted to create, irrespective of changes of political agenda, regimes and aesthetic guidelines. This led to her first films—''Brief Encounters (film), Brief Encounters'' (1967) and ''The Long Farewell'' (1971) getting shelved; the third, ''Getting to Know the Big, Wide World'' (1979), was never shown in wide distribution, and the fourth, ''Among Grey Stones'' (1983), heavily cut down by censorship, and released under the pseudonym of Ivan Sidorov. Finally, ''The Asthenic Syndrome'' (1989), released as Muratova wanted, brought her worldwide acclaim. Today Muratova is one of the most acclaimed Soviet directors.


Post-Soviet Era

There are many new and important names in the strong Russian female tradition of filmmaking in the 21-century, and the number is constantly increasing. Svetlana Baskova gained nationwide notoriety for directing the Exploitation film, exploitation shock-horror film ''The Green Elephant'' in 1999. Renata Litvinova, initially famous as an actress in Kira Muratova's films, honed her directorial skills in ''Goddess: How I fell in Love'' (2004) and ''The Last Tale of Rita''. Her latest notable work is the 2021 feature ''The North Wind (film), The North Wind''. Litvinova usually also stars in her films. One of the most popular modern Russian directors Anna Melikyan, is known as author of Sundance winner ''Mermaid (2007 film), Mermaid'' (2007), and satiric romantic drama ''The Three (film), The Three'' (2020). Director Avdotya Smirnova, initially known as a screenwriter, is the author of the films ''Two Days'' (2011), ''Story of One Appointment'' (2018) and biopic series ''Vertinskiy'' (2021) about the Alexander Vertinsky, famous Russian singer. Oksana Bychkova, is best known as director of the romantic drama ''Piter FM'' (2006). Valeriya Gai Germanika, one of the most provocative names in the Russian film industry, initially only directed documentary films. She is well known for her Cannes Film Festival winning feature ''Everybody Dies but Me'' (2008). Her latest work, series ''Mutual Consent'' (2022) about a raped schoolteacher has been described by the authors as the first MeToo movement, MeToo series from Russia. Diana Ringo, is director of the dystopia film ''Quarantine (2021 film), Quarantine'' (2021) starring Anatoly Bely. ''Quarantine'' is a philosophical and experimental art-house film about a man who lives in a bunker for 20 years. Diana Ringo is the director, producer, screenwriter, and composer of the film's score. Besides directing, Diana Ringo is also a professional musician and composer. 2021 film ''Gerda (film), Gerda'' about a young striptease dancer by director Natalya Kudryashova premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it received several awards. Kudryashova is also active as an actress. Natalya Merkulova is well-known for her films co-directed with her husband, Aleksey Chupov. Her films ''The Man Who Surprised Everyone'' (2018) and ''Captain Volkonogov Escaped'' (2021) have been screened at the Venice International Film Festival. Radda Novikova is a film and television director. She is one of the most prolific Russian television comedy directors of the 21st century. She has directed many popular TV series including ''Girls with Makarov'' (2022), ''Interns (TV series), Interns'' (2013), ''Two Fathers, Two Sons'' (2011).


Spain

Elena Jordi was the first woman director of Spain. She directed ''Thaïs'' in 1918. Pioneer filmmakers Josefina Molina, Helena Cortesina, Rosario Pi were among the first women film directors of Spain. :es:María Forteza, María Forteza was the first woman director of a sound picture in 1934 with the short film documentary ''Mallorca''. Ana Mariscal was a prolific actress in the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1950s she became a producer and shortly after started directing and writing her own films. Her best-known film is perhaps ''El camino'' (1963), an adaptation of the novel by Miguel Delibes. Other films include ''Segundo López, aventurero urbano'' (1953) inspired by Italian neorealism or ''Con la vida hicieron fuego'' (1959), about a former combatant of the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican faction who tries to start a new life while battling the haunting memories of the Spanish Civil War. Josefina Molina, also a novelist, started her career in the 1960s. She was the first woman who graduated from Spain's National Film School in 1967. Her prolific TV résumé includes the highly successful miniseries ''Teresa de Jesús (film), Teresa de Jesús'' (1984), a dramatization of Teresa of Avila's life. Her work on film includes ''Vera, un cuento cruel'' (1974), ''Función de noche'' (1981) or ''Esquilache'' (1989) which was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. Pilar Miró was a celebrated director and screenwriter of film and TV whose notable works include ''Gary Cooper, Who Art in Heaven'' (1980), ''Prince of Shadows'' (1991) which won the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival and ''El perro del hortelano'' (1996), an adaptation of a Lope de Vega play which won 7 Goya Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. She was also in charge of Spain's national broadcast television Televisión Española, TVE from 1986 to 1989. Icíar Bollaín made her acting debut as a teenager under Víctor Erice's direction in ''The South (film), El sur'' (1983). She made the jump to directing and writing in 1995 with ''Hola, ¿estás sola?'' which earned her a nomination for a Goya Award for Best New Director. Her subsequent filmography includes ''Flores de otro mundo'' (1999) winner of the Grand Prix award at the International Critics' Week at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, ''Te doy mis ojos'' (2003) which won her a Goya Award for Best Director and a nomination for a European Film Award for Best Director or ''Even the Rain'' (2010) which made the January shortlist for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
. Isabel Coixet directed numerous television commercials during the 1990s. She usually films in English with international actors. Some of her best known films include ''My Life Without Me'' (2003), starring
Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and actress.Howell, Peter (September 24, 199"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft s ...
, Mark Ruffalo, Scott Speedman and Deborah Harry, ''The Secret Life of Words'' (2005) once again starring Polley as well as Tim Robbins and Julie Christie, a segment on the omnibus film ''Paris, je t'aime'' (2006) and the Philip Roth adaptation ''Elegy (film), Elegy'' (2008) starring Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz, Dennis Hopper and Patricia Clarkson. Gracia Querejeta has won acclaim for her ensemble dramas ''By My Side Again'' (1999), ''Héctor'' (2004) and ''Seven Billiard Tables'' (2007). She has also directed documentaries and TV episodes. Other notable filmmakers include María Ripoll (''Tortilla Soup'', ''The Man with Rain in His Shoes''), Patricia Ferreira, Chus Gutiérrez, María Lidón aka Luna (''Stranded: Náufragos'', ''Moscow Zero''), Rosa Vergés, Lydia Zimmermann, Laura Mañá, Carla Simón, Elena Martin and Neus Ballús.


Sweden

Ebba Lindkvist Ebba Johanna Bergman Lindkvist, also Lindqvist, (1882–1942) was a Swedish actress and film director. In 1910 she directed the short film, short drama, ''Värmländingarna'', which premièred in Sweden on 27 October 1910. As a result, she is co ...
is the first Swedish woman to direct a film. In 1910 she directed the short drama, ''Värmländingarna'', which premièred in Sweden on 27 October 1910. Another Swedish film pioneer is Anna Hofman-Uddgren who directed ''Stockholmsfrestelser'' in 1911. Swedish actress Mai Zetterling directed a number of films in the 1960s and 1970s. A notable recent film made by a female Swedish film director, ''Pleasure (2021 film), Pleasure'' (2021) by Ninja Thyberg, was screened at Sundance Film Festival.


United Kingdom

Joy Batchelor was an English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer. She married John Halas in 1940, and subsequently co-established Halas and Batchelor cartoons, whose best known production is the animated feature film ''Animal Farm (1954 film), Animal Farm'' (1954), which made her the first woman director of an animated feature since Lotte Reiniger. Muriel Box was an English screenwriter and director, directing her first film in 1941. She was active for two decades, until the 1960s. In Britain Jane Arden (director), Jane Arden (1927–82), following up her television drama ''The Logic Game'' (1965), wrote and starred in the film ''Separation (1967 film), Separation'' (Jack Bond (director), Jack Bond 1967), which explores a woman's mental landscape during a marital breakup. Arden went on to be the only British woman to gain a solo feature-directing credit for ''The Other Side of the Underneath'' (1972), a disturbing study of female madness shot mainly in South Wales. Arden's overtly feminist work was neglected and almost lost until the British Film Institute rediscovered and reissued her three features, and the short ''Vibration'' (1974), in 2009. Andrea Arnold won a 2005 Academy Award for her short film ''Wasp (2003 film), Wasp'', and has won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival three times; in 2006 for ''Red Road (film), Red Road'', in 2009 for ''Fish Tank (film), Fish Tank'' and in 2016 for ''American Honey (film), American Honey''. Two of
Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay (born 5 December 1969) is a Scottish filmmaker and cinematographer, best known for the feature films '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), '' Morvern Callar'' (2002), '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), '' You Were Never Really Here'' (2017) ...
's early short films (''Small Deaths'' and ''Gasman'') won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, and her subsequent four feature films, ''Ratcatcher (film), Ratcatcher'' (1999), ''Morvern Callar (film), Morvern Callar'' (2002), ''We Need to Talk About Kevin (film), We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), and ''You Were Never Really Here'' (2017) have all screened at the Cannes Festival. Georgina Willis made her debut at Cannes with the independently produced controversial feminist film ''Watermark'' (2003). ''Watermark'' is about a woman who faces mental health issues and ends up killing her own child. ''Mamma Mia! (film), Mamma Mia!'' directed by Phyllida Lloyd became the #5 highest-grossing film of 2008 and the highest-grossing film ever in the United Kingdom. Lloyd's next film, the Margaret Thatcher biopic ''The Iron Lady (film), The Iron Lady'' (2012) grossed $114 million worldwide. Debbie Isitt has directed successful mainstream films, including "Confetti" and the "Nativity!" trilogy. Cinenova is a London-based organization that distributes women produced films.
Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She directed '' Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born and raised in L ...
is a prominent British feminist film maker who made her breakthrough as director of Tilda Swinton starrer ''Orlando (film), Orlando'' (1992). Her films regularly screen and win awards at major film festivals, including Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival. Other notable films by Potter include ''The Party (2017 film), The Party'' (2017), ''The Man Who Cried'' (2000) and ''Ginger & Rosa'' (2012). British filmmakers Ngozi Onwurah and Pratibha Parmar explore the legacies of colonialism. Film director
Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...
primarily makes films about women of Indian origin living in England. Work by British film director and writer Shamim Sarif often draws upon her own personal experience with cross cultural, non-heterosexual love. Some of her notable films include lesbian romantic drama ''I Can't Think Straight'' (2008) and Cold War espionage film ''Despite the Falling Snow (film), Despite the Falling Snow'' (2016) starring Rebecca Ferguson. Partially as a result of funding from the UK Film Council (disbanded in 2010), a new generation of British female filmmakers has emerged in the 21st-century, including Penny Woolcock, Carol Morley, Joanna Hogg, Clio Barnard, Sally El Hosaini, Amma Asante, and Tina Gharavi. Gallery artists Gillian Wearing and Sam Taylor-Wood have both moved into feature cinema, with Taylor-Wood (now Taylor-Johnson) named as director of the Fifty Shades of Grey (film), adaptation of ''Fifty Shades of Grey''.


Oceania


Australia

Increased government funding for the Australian cinema, film industry in Australia in the 1970s led to a renaissance in cinema, and, as part of the growing feminism in Australia#1970 onwards, feminist movement in Australia at that time, women's cinema grew. The role of women's films was discussed at the Women's Liberation Conference in Melbourne in 1970, and groups such as the Feminist Film Workers collective (1970s and 1980s), Sydney Women"s Film Group (SWFG, 1972–), Melbourne Women's Film Group (1973–), Reel Women (1979 to 1983 in Melbourne), and Women's Film Unit (Sydney and Melbourne, 1984/5) were established. A number of filmmakers, including Jeni Thornley, Sarah Gibson, Susan Lambert, Martha Ansara, Margot Nash and Megan McMurchy, were involved in these groups. The 1975 International Women's Film Festival (Australia), International Women's Film Festival, the first of its kind, was initiated by the SWFG, but groups around the country organised screening events in other state capitals. In Melbourne and Sydney the festivals ran for nine days (with an audience of around 56,000), and in the other states they spanned two to three days. Gillian Armstrong is a notable Australian filmmaker, best known for her 1979 film ''My Brilliant Career (film), My Brilliant Career''. Other significant Australian film directors include Jocelyn Moorhouse (''The Dressmaker (2015 film), The Dressmaker''), Catriona McKenzie, and Kitty Green. Jill Bilcock is a world-renowned film editor, editor, about whom two documentaries have been made. The 2020 film ''Brazen Hussies'', a feature documentary about second-wave feminism in Australia, written and directed by Catherine Dwyer (filmmaker), Catherine Dwyer, despite having great difficulty in getting it financed, proved highly successful


New Zealand

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...
(born 1954) is the most well-known woman director from New Zealand. For her film ''The Piano'' (1993) she received the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 2022 she received the Academy Award as Best Director for the film ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog''. Pietra Brettkelly (born 1985) is known for her documentaries, which include ''Yellow is Forbidden'' and ''A Flickering Truth''.


See also

* Black women filmmakers * Feminist film theory * List of female film and television directors * List of films directed by women * List of LGBT-related films directed by women * List of women's film festivals * Women in film *
Woman's film The woman's film is a film genre that includes women-centered narratives, female protagonists and is designed to appeal to a female audience. Woman's films usually portray stereotypical women's concerns such as domestic life, family, motherhood, s ...
* Women's suffrage in film


References


Sources

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Bibliography


Books

*Ally Acker, ''Reel Women. Pioneers of the Cinema. 1896 to the Present'', London: B.T. Batsford 1991 *Attwood, Lynne, Ed., ''Red Women on the Silver Screen: Soviet Women and Cinema from the Beginning to the End of the Communist Era'', London: Pandora 1993 *Jacqueline Bobo (ed.), ''Black Women Film and Video Artists'' (AFI Film Readers), Routledge 1998 *Russell Campbell, ''Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema'' University of Wisconsin Press 2005 *Ellerson, Beti, ''Sisters of the screen : women of Africa on film, video and television'', Trenton, New Jersey [u.a.] : Africa World Press, 2000 *Lucy Fischer, ''Shot/Countershot: Film Tradition and Women's Cinema'', Princeton University Press 1989 *G.A. Foster, ''Women Film Directors'' (1995) *Kenneth W. Harrow, ed., ''With open eyes : women and African cinema'', Amsterdam [u.a.] : Rodopi, 1997 (=Matatu – Journal for African Culture and Society) *Rebecca Hillauer, ''Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers'', American University in Cairo Press, 2005, *Claire Johnston (film theorist), Claire Johnston, "Women's Cinema as Counter-Cinema" (1975) in: Claire Johnston (ed.), ''Notes on Women's Cinema'', London: Society for Education in Film and Television, reprinted in: Sue Thornham (ed.), ''Feminist Film Theory. A Reader'', Edinburgh University Press 1999, pp. 31–40 *Julia Knight, ''Women and the New German Cinema'', Verso 1992 *Denise Lowe, ''An encyclopedic dictionary of women in early American films, 1895–1930'', New York [u.a.] : Haworth Press, 2005 *Karen Ward Mahar, ''Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008 *Judith Mayne, ''The Woman at the Keyhole: Feminism and Women's Cinema'', Indiana University Press 1990 *Janis L- Pallister, ''French-Speaking Women Film Directors: A Guide'', Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press 1998 *Sarah Projansky, ''Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture'', New York University Press 2001 *Quart, Barbara Koenig: ''Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema'', Praeger 1988 *Judith Redding, Victoria A. Brownworth, ''Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors'', Seal Press 1997, based on interviews with 33 film makers *Rich, B. Ruby. ''Chick Flicks: Theories and Memories of the Feminist Film Movement''. Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press, 1998. *Carrie Tarr with Brigitte Rollet, ''Cinema and the Second Sex. Women's Filmmaking in France in the 1980s and 1990s'', New York, Continuum, 2001. *Amy L. Unterburger, ed., ''The St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia: Women on the Other Side of the Camera'', Paperback, Visible Ink Press 1999 *''Women Filmmakers: Refocusing'', edited by Jacqueline Levitin, Judith Plessis and Valerie Raoul, Paperback Edition, Routledge 2003 * Rashkin, E. (2001). Women Filmmakers in Mexico: The Country of Which We Dream. University of Texas Press; annotated edition.


Journals

*''Camera Obscura (journal), Camera Obscura'' *
cléo Journal
' *''Frauen und Film'' *''Women and Film''
''Jump Cut''
*''New German Critique'' *''Vertigo'' and ''Vertigo Online''


External links


Women Behind the Lens : Female Filmmakers from Around the World at subtitledonline.com

Women with a movie camera: a gallery of images of female directors on set at Sight & Sound film magazine's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's cinema Women and the arts Women in film Cinema by culture Women's entertainment