100 great movies by female directors as selected by Little White Lies magazine
This was a list published in July 2015 by Little White Lies magazine. It was followed up with a riposte/rejoinder/amplification/complement (whichever takes your fancy) when Sight & Sound published in their October 2015 issue a list of 100 female-directed hidden gems (listed here: S&S 100). The Sight & Sound one has done a considerable amount of archive spelunking and cinematic archaeology compared with this list which is very fresh by comparison, each to their own.
Some of the listings appear a mite nerdish, i.e. iconic but not particularly good movies that you probably didn't know were directed by women. However there is something about the list that is very refreshing, e.g. an entry like Sharon Lockhart's Double Tide, a personal favourite of mine, but as a feature film with just two shots, both of which are static and showing a lady picking clams in an estuary, is not the type of film you would expect to see in a list of 100 great male directed films (although someone like James Benning would cheerfully make a film of this ilk). Similarly Double Agent 73, a sexploitation movie starring Chesty Morgan, would probably not be in a male list, although Radley Metzger would have been fine to make this movie (as cheerfully as James Benning no doubt). The list compilers appear to have broken free from the type of canonical "anchoring" that goes on when you see unisex lists, i.e. back in the 50s movies like Kane and Bicycle Thieves were on top, and it's very hard to move away from that conceptual anchoring of this is what a great movie looks like.
A personal quibble for me is that Josephine Decker's second feature film Thou Wast Mild and Lovely comes off as more accomplished than the rather raw piece Butter On The Latch, listed here. In general I had a bit of a feeling that some of the movies were not necessarily the director's best. It seems disappointing for example to list Penelope Spheeris for Wayne's World when she has made a wonderful socially responsible film like I Don't Know.
It is a Solveig-less list, no Solveig Anspach, no Solveig Nordlund. They have obviously had to leave out many great female directors given only 100 slots (the highest profile filmmakers I can think of who are out of the picture are Naomi Kawase, Camera d'Or and Jury Prize winner at Cannes, Mai Zetterling, Golden Lion winner for short film at Venice with several other Cannes and Venice nominations and Liliana Cavani, 3 wins at Venice).
There is a contemporary bias to the listing, which is I guess fair enough as the magazine itself it very contemporary in its focus and I guess is trying to support living filmmakers. If this were not the case, doubtless you would be seeing Mädchen in Uniform (1931) in the mix. Given that the list is fine with experimental cinema it seems a real gap that Marie Menken doesn't gets a mention.
Everyone has their own take on this subject, and I believe it to be a useful and important list, hence taking the time to cc it on IMDb.
Some of the listings appear a mite nerdish, i.e. iconic but not particularly good movies that you probably didn't know were directed by women. However there is something about the list that is very refreshing, e.g. an entry like Sharon Lockhart's Double Tide, a personal favourite of mine, but as a feature film with just two shots, both of which are static and showing a lady picking clams in an estuary, is not the type of film you would expect to see in a list of 100 great male directed films (although someone like James Benning would cheerfully make a film of this ilk). Similarly Double Agent 73, a sexploitation movie starring Chesty Morgan, would probably not be in a male list, although Radley Metzger would have been fine to make this movie (as cheerfully as James Benning no doubt). The list compilers appear to have broken free from the type of canonical "anchoring" that goes on when you see unisex lists, i.e. back in the 50s movies like Kane and Bicycle Thieves were on top, and it's very hard to move away from that conceptual anchoring of this is what a great movie looks like.
A personal quibble for me is that Josephine Decker's second feature film Thou Wast Mild and Lovely comes off as more accomplished than the rather raw piece Butter On The Latch, listed here. In general I had a bit of a feeling that some of the movies were not necessarily the director's best. It seems disappointing for example to list Penelope Spheeris for Wayne's World when she has made a wonderful socially responsible film like I Don't Know.
It is a Solveig-less list, no Solveig Anspach, no Solveig Nordlund. They have obviously had to leave out many great female directors given only 100 slots (the highest profile filmmakers I can think of who are out of the picture are Naomi Kawase, Camera d'Or and Jury Prize winner at Cannes, Mai Zetterling, Golden Lion winner for short film at Venice with several other Cannes and Venice nominations and Liliana Cavani, 3 wins at Venice).
There is a contemporary bias to the listing, which is I guess fair enough as the magazine itself it very contemporary in its focus and I guess is trying to support living filmmakers. If this were not the case, doubtless you would be seeing Mädchen in Uniform (1931) in the mix. Given that the list is fine with experimental cinema it seems a real gap that Marie Menken doesn't gets a mention.
Everyone has their own take on this subject, and I believe it to be a useful and important list, hence taking the time to cc it on IMDb.
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100 titles
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsMace GreenleafBlanche CornwallMarian SwayneTrixie believe the only way she can save her older sister from dying of tuberculosis is by preventing the autumn leaves from falling, so one night she steals into the garden in her nightie and fastens fallen leaves to branches with twine.
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyLois WeberStarsLois WeberVal PaulDouglas GerrardAbandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.
- DirectorLotte ReinigerCarl KochA handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
- DirectorGermaine DulacStarsAlex AllinLucien BatailleGenica AthanasiouObsessed with a general's woman, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.
- DirectorDorothy ArznerStarsSylvia SidneyFredric MarchAdrianne AllenA drunken newspaperman is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress whose love sobers him up and encourages him to write a play, but he lapses back into dipsomania.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
- DirectorMaya DerenAlexander HammidStarsMaya DerenAlexander HammidA woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
- DirectorEdith CarlmarStarsClaus WieseBjørg Riiser-LarsenEva BerghThe story of a working man who has a gorgeous fiancee but she falls for a rich older woman - who turns out to be a femme fatale.
- DirectorMargaret TaitStarsMargaret TaitA short film from Margaret Tait capturing the daily life of her mother, Ga.
- DirectorIda LupinoStarsEdmond O'BrienFrank LovejoyWilliam TalmanTwo fishermen pick up a psychopathic escaped convict who tells them that he intends to murder them when the ride is over.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsWilliam RedfieldWarren FinnertyGarry GoodrowA director tries to film a group of junkies in Leach's room while they are waiting for Cowboy to bring their heroin connection.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsEva BosákováVera UzelacováJosef LangmilerTwo stories are simultaneously told. One dutiful mother progressively becomes a frustrated woman who is the only one assuming the family responsibilities of working at home and looking after her only son, whereas her husband works all day, does not appreciate his wife's efforts and the only thing he does by the time he gets home is to read the newspaper and watch soccer matches. On the other hand, a female gymnast prepares for her last competition before her career retirement, but faces pressure from her trainer and a lack of motivation to keep going. The film depicts frustration on both sides, and parallels two worlds dominated by men, where women do not receive any recognition, and in case they do, it is momentary.
- DirectorForugh FarrokhzadStarsForugh FarrokhzadEbrahim GolestanHossein MansouriSet in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
- DirectorKira MuratovaStarsNina RuslanovaVladimir VysotskiyKira MuratovaA maid works for the estranged wife of a geologist who once visited her village and whom she loves.
- DirectorBarbara LodenStarsBarbara LodenMichael HigginsDorothy ShupenesWanda, a lonely housewife, drifts through mining country until she meets a petty thief who takes her in.
- DirectorShu Shuen TongStarsLisa LuRoy ChiaoHilda Chow HsuanA woman falls in love with a visiting cavalry captain, but chooses to suppress it for the sake of her daughter.
- DirectorStephanie RothmanStarsDon MarshallPhyllis DavisEna HartmanAfter the abolishment of the death penalty, California murderers are dumped on an island to spend the rest of their lives unsupervised. There, two groups are formed, one lead by a psychopath, and another group determined to bring him down.
- DirectorDoris WishmanStarsChesty MorganFrank SilvanoSaul MethAn unusually proportioned secret agent uses her unique anatomy to spy on the members of an international drug ring.
- DirectorMarguerite DurasStarsDelphine SeyrigMichael LonsdaleMathieu CarrièreAnne-Marie Stretter, wife of a French diplomat, lives in 1930s India. She takes many lovers as systems of oppression decay around her.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniFernando ReyShirley StolerThe defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.
- DirectorBarbara KoppleStarsJohn L. LewisCarl HornNorman YarboroughA heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
- DirectorLarisa ShepitkoStarsBoris PlotnikovVladimir GostyukhinSergey YakovlevTwo Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the winter cold, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.
- DirectorClaudia WeillStarsMelanie MayronEli WallachAdam CohenA photographer and her girlfriend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsTina EngelSilvia ReizeKatharina ThalbachThree people rob a bank to help a daycare center that's in debt. Wolf is captured, Werner is identified, and police suspect that Christa is the third. She and Werner ask Hans, a clergyman, to launder the money and give it to the kindergarten; he refuses. They try Christa's friend Ingrid, who tries to help, but the school rejects the money. When tragedy strikes Werner, Hans helps Christa bolt to a collective in Portugal; when Ingrid visits her there, their relationship makes the collective nervous, so she returns to Germany and stops living in hiding. The police are still looking for her and so is a witness to the robbery: bank clerk Lena, whose interest brings Christa's second awakening.
- DirectorJoan Micklin SilverStarsJohn HeardMary Beth HurtPeter RiegertCharles is a bored civil servant struggling through a harsh Utah winter. He spends most of his time reflecting on his romance with Laura, a coworker who left him to return to her husband, an A-Frame salesman.
- DirectorJoan TewkesburyStarsTalia ShireRichard JordanJohn BelushiWhen her marriage falls apart, a psychiatrist seeks out the former boyfriends who left the biggest impacts on her life, mostly in negative ways.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorHelma Sanders-BrahmsStarsEva MattesErnst JacobiElisabeth StepanekGermany 1939. Hans and Lene marry the day before the war breaks out, and Hans is sent to the Eastern front. During a bombing raid their daughter Anna is born. The house is destroyed and Lene and Anna moves in with relatives in Berlin. Hans survives the war but he is not the same person as in 1939, and he and Lene find it difficult to live together again.
- DirectorUlrike OttingerStarsMagdalena MontezumaDelphine SeyrigAlbert HeinsIn the form of a "small theater of the world", a history of the world from its beginnings to our day, including the errors, the incompetence, the thirst for power, the fear, the madness, the cruelty and the commonplace, in a story of five episodes.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsGeorge LamCora MiaoSeason MaA Japanese photojournalist revisits Vietnam after the Liberation and learns harsh truths about its regime and its "New Economic Zones".
- DirectorLizzie BordenStarsHoneyAdele BerteiJean SatterfieldSet ten years after the most peaceful revolution in United States history, it presents a dystopia in which the issues of many groups - minorities, liberals, gay rights organizations, feminists - are dealt with by the government.
- DirectorMartha CoolidgeStarsNicolas CageDeborah ForemanElizabeth DailyJulie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
- DirectorSusan SeidelmanStarsRosanna ArquetteMadonnaAidan QuinnA bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsSandrine BonnaireMacha MérilStéphane FreissA young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.
- DirectorElaine MayStarsWarren BeattyDustin HoffmanIsabelle AdjaniTwo terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the C.I.A., the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsTom HanksElizabeth PerkinsRobert LoggiaAfter wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
- DirectorAnn TurnerStarsRebecca SmartNicholas EadieVictoria LongleyAn imaginative and somewhat disturbed young girl fantasizes about evil creatures and other oddities to mask her insecurities while growing up in rural Australia.
- DirectorMary LambertStarsDale MidkiffDenise CrosbyFred GwynneAfter tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
- DirectorJulie DashStarsCora Lee DayAlva RogersBarbara OA languid, impressionistic story of three generations of Gullah women living on the South Carolina Sea Islands in 1902.
- DirectorNancy SavocaStarsRiver PhoenixLili TaylorRichard PanebiancoBefore leaving to fight in Vietnam, a group of teenagers play a game where they try to seduce the ugliest girl they can find.
- DirectorSally PotterStarsTilda SwintonBilly ZaneQuentin CrispAfter Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsMike MyersDana CarveyRob LoweTwo slacker friends try to promote their public-access cable show.
- DirectorTamra DavisStarsAdam SandlerDarren McGavinBridgette Wilson-SamprasIn order to inherit his fed up father's hotel empire, an immature and lazy man must repeat grades 1-12 all over again.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsRalph FiennesAngela BassettJuliette LewisA former cop turned street-hustler accidentally uncovers a conspiracy in Los Angeles in 1999.
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsAlicia SilverstoneStacey DashBrittany MurphyShallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
- DirectorJodie FosterStarsHolly HunterAnne BancroftRobert Downey Jr.After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her family.
- DirectorAllison AndersStarsIlleana DouglasJohn TurturroSissy BoydEdna wins a recording contract singing her own song at a competition in 1958. After trying to make it as a singer/songwriter for 11 months in NYC, she has success writing songs for others at the Brill Building.
- DirectorKasi LemmonsStarsSamuel L. JacksonJurnee SmollettMeagan GoodWhat did little Eve see--and how will it haunt her? Husband, father and womanizer Louis Batiste is the head of an affluent family, but it's the women who rule this gothic world of secrets, lies and mystic forces.
- DirectorDeepa MehtaStarsShabana AzmiNandita DasKarishma JhalaniTwo women who are abandoned by their husbands find love and solace in each other.
- DirectorKim LonginottoZiba Mir-HosseiniA documentary about real divorce cases in Iran's tribunals.
- DirectorJoan ChenStarsXiaolu LiLopsangZheng QianYoung teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
- DirectorSamira MakhmalbafStarsMassoumeh NaderiZahra NaderiGhorban Ali NaderiAfter twelve years of imprisonment by their own parents, two sisters are finally released by social workers to face the outside world for the first time.
- DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsHilary SwankChloë SevignyPeter SarsgaardA young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
- DirectorAntonia BirdStarsGuy PearceRobert CarlyleDavid ArquetteIn a remote military outpost in the 19th century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsDenis LavantMichel SuborGrégoire ColinAn ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.
- DirectorLiv UllmannStarsLena EndreErland JosephsonKrister HenrikssonAn imaginary woman recollects the painful experience of adultery to a storyteller.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsChristian BaleJustin TherouxJosh LucasA wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAnaïs RebouxRoxane MesquidaLibero De RienzoTwo sisters confront their sexual attitudes and experiences while on a family holiday.
- DirectorNicole HolofcenerStarsCatherine KeenerBrenda BlethynTroy RuptashSelf-esteem and insecurity are at the heart of this comedy about the relationship between a mother and her three confused daughters.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsKeisha Castle-HughesRawiri ParateneVicky HaughtonA contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- DirectorMarina de VanStarsMarina de VanLaurent LucasLéa DruckerA woman grows increasingly fascinated with her body after suffering a disfiguring accident.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsSamantha MortonKathleen McDermottLinda McGuireAfter her beloved boyfriend's suicide, a mourning supermarket worker and her best friend hit the road in Scotland, but find that grief is something that you can't run away from forever.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
- DirectorLucile HadzihalilovicStarsZoé AuclairLea BridarolliBérangère HaubrugeA look inside an offbeat boarding school for young girls.
- DirectorMiranda JulyStarsJohn HawkesMiranda JulyMiles ThompsonA lonely shoe salesman and an eccentric performance artist struggle to connect in this unique take on contemporary life.
- DirectorSandhya SuriStarsYash Pal SuriThe myth of return. In 1966, Yash and Sheel Suri leave India for a temporary stay in England while he burnishes his resume as a doctor. He buys projectors, tape recorders, and movie cameras, and sends one set to India beginning a 40-year exchange of tapes and Super 8 movies between his family in India and his household near Manchester. We watch their three daughters grow and we hear increasingly plaintive calls from Yash's parents and sister to return home. In 1982, it's back to India where Yash sets up a practice. A return to England, one daughter's marriage, another's move to Australia, and the third's film project complete the 40-year story. Yash still loves his homeland.
- DirectorValeska GrisebachStarsAndreas MüllerIlka WelzAnett DornbuschA metalworker and volunteer firefighter, who is content with his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, sees his life turn upside down when he falls in love with an attractive waitress from a nearby town.
- DirectorLone ScherfigStarsCarey MulliganPeter SarsgaardAlfred MolinaA coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
- DirectorJessica HausnerStarsSylvie TestudLéa SeydouxBruno TodeschiniIn order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains.
- DirectorLucía PuenzoStarsRicardo DarínValeria BertuccelliGermán PalaciosThe story of an intersex fifteen-year-old. She lives with her parents, who have to cope with the challenges of her medical condition.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMaría OnettoClaudia CanteroCésar BordónAfter hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.
- DirectorSo Yong KimStarsChae Gil ByoungJung Gil JaShin Hyun JeIn Seoul, Korea, two sisters must look after each other when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.
- DirectorKelly ReichardtStarsMichelle WilliamsLucyDavid KoppellOver the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorTacita DeanStarsMerce Cunningham
- DirectorSharon LockhartWatching & observing. A meditation.
- DirectorMaren AdeStarsLars EidingerBirgit MinichmayrHans-Jochen WagnerWhile on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsKatie JarvisMichael FassbenderKierston WareingEverything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
- DirectorClaudia LlosaStarsMagaly SolierSusi SánchezEfraín SolísFausta is suffering from a rare disease called the Milk of Sorrow, which is transmitted through the breast milk of pregnant women who were abused or raped during or soon after pregnancy. While living in constant fear and confusion due to this disease, she must face the sudden death of her mother. She chooses to take drastic measures to not follow in her mother's footsteps.
- DirectorJoanna HoggStarsChristopher BakerKate FahyTom HiddlestonDeep fractures within a family dynamic begin to surface during a getaway to the Isles of Scilly.
- DirectorClio BarnardStarsManjinder VirkChristine BottomleyNatalie GavinPortrayal of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar.
- DirectorDebra GranikStarsJennifer LawrenceJohn HawkesGarret DillahuntAn unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.
- DirectorAthina Rachel TsangariStarsAriane LabedVangelis MourikisEvangelia RandouStuck in her boring factory town, twenty-three-year-old Marina is at the mercy of both her father's impending death and her distaste for other humans.
- DirectorCarol MorleyStarsZawe AshtonAlix Luka-CainAlistair AbrahamsA filmmaker sets out to discover the life of Joyce Vincent, who died in her bedsit in North London in 2003. Her body wasn't discovered for three years, and newspaper reports offered few details of her life - not even a photograph.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsZoé HéranMalonn LévanaJeanne DissonA family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.
- DirectorValérie MassadianStarsKelyna LecomteMarie DelmasAlain SabrasNana is 4 years old and lives in a stone house beyond the forest. Back from school, a late afternoon, all she finds is silence in the house. A journey into the darkness of her childhood. The world from her height.
- DirectorMania AkbariStarsNeda AmiriMohammad Hassan MadjooniPayam DehkordiIn a society where all social customs are based on the beauty of a woman, her challenge is to find self confidence and inner beauty despite having lost her physical beauty.
- DirectorJulia LoktevStarsGael García BernalHani FurstenbergBidzina GujabidzeAn engaged couple's backpacking trip in the Caucasus Mountains is derailed by a single misstep that threatens to undo everything the pair believed about each other and about themselves.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsMichael PolleyJohn BuchanMark PolleyA film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
- DirectorHaifaa Al-MansourStarsWaad MohammedReem AbdullahAbdullrahman Al GohaniAn enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
- DirectorUrsula MeierStarsLéa SeydouxKacey Mottet KleinMartin CompstonA drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.
- DirectorJosephine DeckerStarsSarah SmallIsolde Chae-LawrenceCharlie HewsonAt a Balkan folk song and dance camp in the woods of Mendocino, California, Sarah reunites with her old friend Isolde and with a song she learned years before about dragons who entwine themselves in women's hair and carry them off through the forest, burning it as they go. When Sarah pursues a romance with a new camper Steph, the nights of sensual secrets and singing with Isolde come to an abrupt end. Sarah and Steph explore a simple attraction, but in Sarah's dreams, women spin their wild hair and Isolde darkly approaches. When reality and fantasy collide, Sarah finds that the dragons she's visioning may be inside her.
- DirectorMati DiopStarsMagaye NiangWasis DiopBen D. BeyeMagaye Niang, the main actor of Senegalese film classic Touki Bouki (1973), is an average farmer today. After a screening of the film he recalls his first love, who left the country years ago.
- DirectorJodie MackInterweaving the forms of personal filmmaking, abstract animation, and the rock opera, this animated musical documentary examines the rise and fall of a nearly-defunct poster and postcard wholesale business; the changing role of physical objects and virtual data in commerce; and the division (or lack of) between abstraction in fine art and psychedelic kitsch. Using alternate lyrics as voice over narration, the piece adopts the form of a popular rock album reinterpreted as a cine-performance.
- DirectorDesiree AkhavanStarsDesiree AkhavanRebecca HendersonHalley FeifferShirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite but fails miserably in her attempt at all identities. Being without a cliché to hold onto can be a lonely experience.
- DirectorSigne BaumaneStarsSigne BaumaneSigne Baumane and five women in her family battle with depression and madness.
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsEssie DavisNoah WisemanDaniel HenshallA single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.
- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsDavid OyelowoCarmen EjogoOprah WinfreyA chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
- DirectorMia Hansen-LøveStarsFélix de GivryPauline EtienneVincent MacaignePaul, a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris, forms a DJ collective with his friends and together they plunge into the nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music.