The Top 15 Greatest Female Directors of All Time
by EmboldenedLoser | created - 14 Aug 2016 | updated - 6 days ago | PublicTo provide a quick idea of the lack of female direction representation in the filmmaking industry: based on my own research, there are only two films in the IMDb Top 250 that had a woman involved in the directing of the film: "The Matrix" co-directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski (the Wachowski sisters), and "City of God" co-directed by Katia Lund.
One of the most appreciative aspect of films directed by women, in my opinion, are how their films typically implement social commentary themes and messages in them (which are often ignored by male directors), such as; misogyny, female empowerment, racial injustice, homophobia, transphobia, social class and poverty, mental health, political unrest, sex work, animal rights, etc.
It should be noted that this list isn't restricted to just cis women, but also broadened to include trans women and gender non-conforming individuals (though, at the moment in July 2019, all of the directors listed below are women) because they are all too often excluded and overlooked in favor of cishet male directors in the film industry worldwide.
Thanks for viewing!
1. Agnès Varda
Director | Cléo de 5 à 7
Agnès Varda was born on May 30, 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985) and Faces Places (2017). She was married to Jacques Demy. She died on March 29, 2019 in Paris, France.
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10)
- The Gleaners & I (8/10) [documentary film]
- Le Bonheur (7.5/10)
- Vagabond (8/10)
- Cleo from 5 to 7 (8.5/10)
- Faces Places (6.5/10) [co-directed - documentary film]
2. Lilly Wachowski
Writer | The Matrix
Director, writer, and producer Lilly Wachowski was born in 1967 in Chicago, the daughter of Lynne, a nurse and painter, and Ron, a businessman. Lilly was educated at Kellogg Elementary School in Chicago, before moving on to Whitney M. Young High School. After graduating from high school, she ...
& Lana Wachowski (the Wachowski sisters)
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- The Matrix (8.5/10)
- The Matrix Reloaded (6/10)
- The Matrix Revolutions (5.5/10)
- Cloud Atlas (6.5/10) [co-directed]
- The Matrix Resurrections (6/10) [directed solely by Lana Wachowski]
- Speed Racer (7/10)
- Bound (7.5/10)
3. Elaine May
Actress | Small Time Crooks
Elaine May (born under the name Elaine Iva Berlin) is an American actress, comedian, film director, playwright, and screenwriter from Philadelphia. Her professional career started in the 1950s and is still ongoing. She has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. She ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Mikey and Nicky (8/10)
- A New Leaf (7.5/10)
- The Heartbreak Kid (7/10)
- Ishtar (6.5/10)
4. Jane Campion
Writer | Bright Star
Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- An Angel at My Table (6.5/10)
- The Piano (7.5/10)
- Bright Star (5/10)
- The Power of the Dog (8/10)
5. Claire Denis
Director | High Life
The films of Claire Denis frequently explore the fragile connections between people and the ways in which the most seemingly inconsequential relationship can have life-changing effects. At the heart of Denis' cinema is a fascination with the delights and difficulties of belonging and otherness, the...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Beau travail (8.5/10)
- High Life (5.5/10)
6. Chantal Akerman
Director | Les rendez-vous d'Anna
Chantal Akerman was born on June 6, 1950 in Brussels, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for The Meetings of Anna (1978), I, You, He, She (1974) and A Couch in New York (1996). She was married to Sonia Wieder-Atherton. She died on October 5, 2015 in Paris, France.
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (8.5/10)
- News from Home (5/10) [documentary film]
7. Julia Ducournau
Director | Titane
Julia Ducournau is a French film director and screenwriter. She attended film school at La Fémis in Paris, where she studied screenwriting. In 2011, her short film JUNIOR won the Petit Rail d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Her first feature, the horror movie Raw (2016), won the coveted ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Raw (6.5/10)
- Titane (8/10)
8. Maya Deren
Director | Meshes of the Afternoon
Maya Deren came to the USA in 1922 as Eleanora Derenkowsky. Together with her father Solomon Derenkowsky, a psychiatrist, and her mother Maria Fidler, an artist, she fled the pogroms organized by the Bolsheviks against the Jews. She studied journalism and political science at the Syracuse ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Meshes of the Afternoon (8/10) [co-directed - short film]
- At Land (7/10) [short film]
9. Sofia Coppola
Actress | The Godfather Part III
Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Lost In Translation (7.5/10)
- The Virgin Suicides (7.5/10)
- Marie Antoinette (6/10)
- On the Rocks (4.5/10)
- Priscilla (5/10)
10. Mary Harron
Director | American Psycho
Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), American Psycho (2000), and The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). She co-wrote American Psycho and ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- American Psycho (8/10)
- The Notorious Bettie Page (5.5/10)
- I Shot Andy Warhol (6/10)
11. Justine Triet
Director | Anatomie d'une chute
Justine Triet is a graduate from the Paris National School of Fine Arts. Since then, she has directed a couple of films dealing with the place of the individual within a group: Sur place (2007) was shot right in the middle of the 2006 student protest; Solférino (2009) was filmed during the ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Anatomy of a Fall (8/10)
12. Barbara Kopple
Producer | Harlan County U.S.A.
Barbara Kopple was born on July 30, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), American Dream (1990) and Shut Up & Sing (2006).
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Harlan County, U.S.A. (9/10) [documentary film]
- American Dream (8.5/10) [co-directed - documentary film]
13. Jennie Livingston
Producer | Paris Is Burning
Jennie Livingston is known for Paris Is Burning (1990), Pose (2018) and Who's the Top? (2005).
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Paris Is Burning (9/10) [documentary film]
14. Jehane Noujaim
Producer | Control Room
Jehane Noujaim was born on May 17, 1974 in Cairo, Egypt. She is a producer and director, known for Control Room (2004), Startup.com (2001) and The Square (2013).
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Control Room (8/10) [documentary film]
- The Square (9/10) [documentary film]
- The Great Hack (5.5/10) [co-directed - documentary film]
15. Vera Chytilová
Director | O necem jiném
Vera Chytilová was born on February 2, 1929, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She studied philosophy and architecture in Brno for two years, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a fashion model, a photo re-toucher, then worked as a clapper girl for Barrandov Film ...
Films seen (my rating for the film/out of 10):
- Daisies (7.5/10)
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