Top 200 Films (Directed by Women)
by minalex | created - 18 Aug 2011 | updated - 1 month ago | Public[D] Most films are directed by Bigelow (7), Campion (5), Bier (4) and Wertmuller (4).
Page 1 (1922-2006), Page 2 (2006-2021).
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1. Blood and Sand (1922)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
A toreador's (Rudolph Valentino) familial and social life is threatened when he has an affair.
Directors: Fred Niblo, Dorothy Arzner | Stars: Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee, Nita Naldi, George Field
Votes: 1,408 | Gross: $2.73M
Dorothy Arzner was an uncredited editor and claims she has also directed small segments of the film
2. Moana (1926)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty presents a docufictional account of a family living in a Samoan village in the early 1920s.
Directors: Frances H. Flaherty, Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Ta'avale, Fa'amgase, T'ugaita, Tama
Votes: 642
3. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery
A 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.
Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
Votes: 13,152
4. Daisies (1966)
74 min | Comedy
After realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?
Director: Vera Chytilová | Stars: Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová, Marie Cesková, Jirina Myskova
Votes: 12,475
5. Night Games (1966)
105 min | Drama
The story about a man who's trying to get rid of his memories from his past. He grew up in an upper-class family in a castle and now revisits the castle with his fiancee.
Director: Mai Zetterling | Stars: Ingrid Thulin, Keve Hjelm, Lena Brundin, Jörgen Lindström
Votes: 490
6. Out 1 (1971)
Not Rated | 776 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the May 1968 civil unrest in France, a deaf-mute and a con artist simultaneously stumble upon the remnants of a secret society.
Directors: Jacques Rivette, Suzanne Schiffman | Stars: Michèle Moretti, Hermine Karagheuz, Karen Puig, Pierre Baillot
Votes: 1,373 | Gross: $0.03M
7. The Seduction of Mimi (1972)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
MimÃ, forced to leave his family in Sicily, finds a job in a factory in Turin, where he gets involved in an extramarital affair.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Agostina Belli, Luigi Diberti
Votes: 2,418 | Gross: $0.47M
8. F for Fake (1973)
PG | 89 min | Documentary
A documentary about fraud and fakery.
Directors: Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach | Stars: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach, Elmyr de Hory
Votes: 16,891
The film includes material Oja Kodar had directed for a different project.
9. John the Violent (1973)
180 min | Crime, Drama
The story of Ioannis Zachos, a young psychopath who commits a murder in Athens.
Director: Tonia Marketaki | Stars: Manolis Logiadis, Mika Flora, Vangelis Kazan, Nikos Glavas
Votes: 179
10. Love & Anarchy (1973)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a friend is murdered by the Facists, a melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Eros Pagni, Pina Cei
Votes: 3,136
11. Swept Away (1974)
R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Riccardo Salvino, Isa Danieli
Votes: 6,233
12. The Night Porter (1974)
R | 118 min | Drama
A concentration camp survivor rekindles her sadomasochistic relationship with her lover, a former SS officer - now working as a night porter at a Vienna hotel - but his former Nazi associates begin stalking them.
Director: Liliana Cavani | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Leroy, Gabriele Ferzetti
Votes: 13,288 | Gross: $0.63M
13. Seven Beauties (1975)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore
Votes: 5,937 | Gross: $0.01M
14. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama
A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.
Directors: Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Angela Winkler, Mario Adorf, Dieter Laser, Jürgen Prochnow
Votes: 4,453
15. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Not Rated | 202 min | Drama
A 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.
Director: Chantal Akerman | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
Votes: 9,066 | Gross: $0.02M
16. India Song (1975)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Anne-Marie Stretter, wife of a French diplomat, lives in 1930s India. She takes many lovers as systems of oppression decay around her.
Director: Marguerite Duras | Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Carrière, Claude Mann
Votes: 2,203
17. Adoption (1975)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
A lonely middle-aged woman wants to give birth to a child, but her acquaintance with dysfunctional teenagers leads her to the idea of adoption.
Director: Márta Mészáros | Stars: Katalin Berek, Gyöngyvér Vigh, Péter Fried, László Szabó
Votes: 1,222
18. My Brilliant Career (1979)
G | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes, Robert Grubb
Votes: 4,395
19. Germany Pale Mother (1980)
123 min | Drama, History, War
Germany 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms | Stars: Eva Mattes, Ernst Jacobi, Elisabeth Stepanek, Angelika Thomas
Votes: 779
20. Love Wanders in the Night (1981)
90 min | Drama
Two lonely middle-aged sisters living in Athens will come into conflict with the return of a cousin from Paris, whom they were once in love with.
Director: Frieda Liappa | Stars: Maria Skountzou, Mirka Papakonstantinou, Grigoris Evangelatos, Stamatis Fasoulis
Votes: 72
21. Testament (1983)
PG | 90 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
The life of a suburban American family is scarred after a nuclear attack.
Director: Lynne Littman | Stars: Jane Alexander, William Devane, Rossie Harris, Roxana Zal
Votes: 6,318 | Gross: $2.04M
22. Love Letters (II) (1983)
R | 88 min | Drama, Romance
A story of love and obsession. A young radio personality who, after her mother dies, discovers she had been having a love affair for 15 years. Now she finds herself recreating her mother's romance by getting involved with a married man.
Director: Amy Holden Jones | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Bonnie Bartlett, Matt Clark, James Keach
Votes: 819 | Gross: $5.27M
23. The Price of Love (1984)
110 min | Drama, Romance
Set on the island of Corfu at the beginning of the century. Story of the troubled love affair between Rene and Andreas and the refusal of Rene's mother to give Andreas the dowry he demands.
Director: Tonia Marketaki | Stars: Toula Stathopoulou, Anny Loulou, Stratis Tsopanellis, Giorgos Agiovlassitis
Votes: 213
24. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A 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.
Director: Susan Seidelman | Stars: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum
Votes: 23,738 | Gross: $27.40M
25. Vagabond (1985)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
A young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Méril, Stéphane Freiss, Setti Ramdane
Votes: 11,358
26. Topos (1985)
91 min | Drama, History
During its 85-minute, this jarring experimental film takes a no-holds-barred look at the way women have been treated and depicted in Western art.
Director: Antouanetta Angelidi | Stars: Jany Gastaldi, Magia Lymberopoulou, Annita Santorinaiou, Arietta Moutousi
Votes: 106
27. Children of a Lesser God (1986)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A new speech teacher at a school for the deaf falls in love with the janitor, a deaf woman speechless by choice.
Director: Randa Haines | Stars: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, Philip Bosco
Votes: 17,069 | Gross: $31.85M
28. Rosa Luxemburg (1986)
Not Rated | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
After years of political agitation, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Leo Jogiches form a revolutionary German party, the Spartacists.
Director: Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Daniel Olbrychski, Otto Sander, Adelheid Arndt
Votes: 1,708
29. Near Dark (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror
A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Votes: 39,310 | Gross: $3.37M
30. Kobieta samotna (1987 TV Movie)
92 min | Drama
A story of a middle-aged woman, Irena, living alone on the outskirts of Wroclaw with her 8-year old son. They live in a drab apartment. She is a mail carrier and her son is her only pride ... See full summary »
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Maria Chwalibóg, Boguslaw Linda, Pawel Witczak, Danuta Balicka
Votes: 451
31. Making Mr. Right (1987)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
A reclusive scientist builds a robot which looks exactly like Dr. Ulysses, a scientist set to go on a long-term space mission. Since the (real) scientist seems to lack all emotions, he is ... See full summary »
Director: Susan Seidelman | Stars: John Malkovich, Ann Magnuson, Glenne Headly, Ben Masters
Votes: 2,802 | Gross: $1.58M
32. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 218,769 | Gross: $114.97M
33. Permanent Record (1988)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A man who seemingly has it all together, being smart, talented, funny, and popular, is secretly overwhelmed by expectations of himself and those of his parents, and suffers what is assumed to be a horrible accident.
Director: Marisa Silver | Stars: Alan Boyce, Keanu Reeves, Pamela Gidley, Michael Elgart
Votes: 2,130 | Gross: $1.89M
34. Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Not Rated | 113 min | Crime, Drama
Young Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Shafiq Syed, Anjaan, Amrit Patel, Murari Sharma
Votes: 9,470 | Gross: $2.08M
35. My Twentieth Century (1989)
104 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two twin sisters, who grew up separately, Dóra, a pseudo-aristocrat, and Lili, an anarchist bomber, are reunited through Z, a mysterious traveller of the luxurious Orient-Express.
Director: Ildikó Enyedi | Stars: Dorota Segda, Oleg Yankovskiy, Paulus Manker, Péter Andorai
Votes: 1,743 | Gross: $0.68M
36. Sweetie (1989)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
An introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Geneviève Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, Jon Darling
Votes: 4,284 | Gross: $0.94M
37. She-Devil (1989)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy
A surprisingly resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.
Director: Susan Seidelman | Stars: Meryl Streep, Roseanne Barr, Ed Begley Jr., Linda Hunt
Votes: 17,570 | Gross: $15.35M
38. Awakenings (1990)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson
Votes: 140,108 | Gross: $52.10M
39. An Angel at My Table (1990)
R | 158 min | Biography, Drama
Janet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn
Votes: 7,874 | Gross: $1.05M
40. Proof (1991)
R | 86 min | Drama, Romance
The life of a blind photographer who is looked after by a housekeeper is disrupted by the arrival of an agreeable restaurant worker.
Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Geneviève Picot, Russell Crowe, Heather Mitchell
Votes: 6,747 | Gross: $0.52M
41. Point Break (1991)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
Votes: 180,801 | Gross: $43.22M
42. The Prince of Tides (1991)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 18,239 | Gross: $74.79M
43. Little Man Tate (1991)
PG | 99 min | Drama
A single mother raises a child prodigy on her own, struggling to give him every opportunity he needs to express his gift.
Director: Jodie Foster | Stars: Jodie Foster, Dianne Wiest, Adam Hann-Byrd, Alex Lee
Votes: 15,090 | Gross: $25.01M
44. Dogfight (1991)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance