A Year With Women: 103 Essential Films By Female Filmmakers
Created by Panunzio.
Favorited 33 times, disliked 1 time, added to 40 watchlists.
From Cinemafanatic.com:
Lately I’ve become more and more frustrated with the various “best ever” lists that have been released because they rarely feature films by women, or if they do it’s usually one or two films. I think this is more a reflection of those who are polled for these kinds of lists, as well as a compounding of history on itself. For so long films by men have made up the bulk of the film canon and I think people are afraid to add new films to these revered lists. I also think many people haven’t seen very many films by women, or if they have it’s always the same handful of films. In an attempt to create a better, more inclusive list of great films by women, I polled over 500 critics, filmmakers, bloggers, historians, professors and casual film viewers, asking them to tell me what films directed (or co-directed) by women are essential viewing. Some people only responded with as little as five votes, others submitted hundreds of films. In the end, I received over 7,000 votes for 1,100+ different films. After tallying up this data, with ties factored in, I then had a list of 103 essential films directed by women.
While this list is in no way the end all and be all of female filmmakers, it does include films from multiple countries, filmmakers of all ages, films from all kinds of genres and spans 9 decades. Also, I would like to point out that although the earliest film on this list is from 1935, there were several filmmakers from the silent era who were women (and whose films were in the initial 1,100+ list), including Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber and others. This list should be looked at as a springboard, a way to get your feet wet with the most beloved films made by women. There are lots of resources to find even more great films by women. DirectedByWomen.com and TheDirectorList.com are two such invaluable places to start learning more about the thousands of women who have been making films since the beginning of cinema.
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1 new
Clueless
1995, in 8 top lists Check -
2 new
Lost in Translation
2003, in 19 top lists Check -
3 new
The Piano
1993, in 14 top lists Check -
4 new
Selma
2014, in 7 top lists Check -
5 new
American Psycho
2000, in 12 top lists Check -
6 new
Cléo de 5 à 7
1962 — a.k.a. Cleo from 5 to 7, in 15 top lists Check -
7 new
The Hurt Locker
2008, in 13 top lists Check -
8 new
Fish Tank
2009, in 8 top lists Check -
9 new
The Virgin Suicides
1999, in 6 top lists Check -
10 new
Winter's Bone
2010, in 6 top lists Check -
11 new
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080...
1975, in 12 top lists Check -
12 new
The Babadook
2014, in 4 top lists Check -
13 new
Zero Dark Thirty
2012, in 8 top lists Check -
14 new
Sedmikrásky
1966 — a.k.a. Daisies, in 19 top lists Check -
15 new
A League of Their Own
1992, in 5 top lists Check -
16 new
Meshes of the Afternoon
1943, in 10 top lists Check -
17 new
Big
1988, in 7 top lists Check -
18 new
Boys Don't Cry
1999, in 7 top lists Check -
19 new
Orlando
1992, in 7 top lists Check -
20 new
Point Break
1991, in 9 top lists Check -
21 new
Stories We Tell
2012, in 7 top lists Check -
22 new
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011, in 5 top lists Check -
23 new
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
2014, in 3 top lists Check -
24 new
An Education
2009, in 1 top list Check -
25 new
The Hitch-Hiker
1953, in 7 top lists Check -
26 new
Bright Star
2009, in 4 top lists Check -
27 new
Beau travail
1999, in 15 top lists Check -
28 new
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982, in 8 top lists Check -
29 new
Wayne's World
1992, in 4 top lists Check -
30 new
Near Dark
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
31 new
Persepolis
2007, in 9 top lists Check -
32 new
Marie Antoinette
2006, in 4 top lists Check -
33 new
Little Women
1994, in 2 top lists Check -
34 new
Meek's Cutoff
2010, in 6 top lists Check -
35 new
Wadjda
2012, in 3 top lists Check -
36 new
Beyond the Lights
2014 — a.k.a. Blackbird, in 0 top lists Check -
37 new
Pariah
2011, in 7 top lists Check -
38 new
Wendy and Lucy
2008, in 5 top lists Check -
39 new
Bande de filles
2014 — a.k.a. Girlhood, in 4 top lists Check -
40 new
An Angel at My Table
1990, in 8 top lists Check -
41 new
Obvious Child
2014, in 1 top list Check -
42 new
Ratcatcher
1999, in 7 top lists Check -
43 new
Bend It Like Beckham
2002, in 2 top lists Check -
44 new
Tomboy
2011, in 4 top lists Check -
45 new
Sans toit ni loi
1985 — a.k.a. Vagabond, in 10 top lists Check -
46 new
But I'm a Cheerleader
1999, in 3 top lists Check -
47 new
Me and You and Everyone We Know
2005, in 5 top lists Check -
48 new
35 rhums
2008 — a.k.a. 35 Shots of Rum, in 4 top lists Check -
49 new
À ma soeur!
2001 — a.k.a. Fat Girl, in 4 top lists Check -
50 new
Monster
2003, in 3 top lists Check
Last updated on Jan 10, 2016; source