The Coolest Female Film Directors

1. Kathryn Bigelow

A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art and waited to be ...

Best Director Academy Award - The Hurt Locker Best Picture Academy Award - The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker 7.7 Point Break 6.9 Zero Dark Thirty 7.5 Strange Days 7.1 The Weight of Water 5.9 Near Dark 7.0 K-19 6.6 The Loveless 6.2 Blue Steel 5.4

2. Leni Riefenstahl

Producer | Das blaue Licht - Eine Berglegende aus den Dolomiten

Leni Riefenstahl's show-biz experience began with an experiment: she wanted to know what it felt like to dance on the stage. Success as a dancer gave way to film acting when she attracted the attention of film director Arnold Fanck, subsequently starring in some of his mountaineering pictures. With...

Das Blaue Licht 6.9 Tiefland 6.1 - such a low rating comes from personal hate for a Nazi director, not from honest estimation of the artistic excellence

Triumph of the Will 7.5 Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations 8.0 Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty 7.9

a true genius, destroyed so ruthlessly

3. 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 ...

American Psycho 7.6 I Shot Andy Warhol 6.5 The Notorious Bettie Page 6.7

4. Patty Jenkins

Director | Wonder Woman

Patty Jenkins is a writer/director best known for directing Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros./DC Comics blockbuster of 2017, and her debut feature Monster. Patty also works in television where she is best known for the pilot and finale episode of AMC's hit show The Killing.

Patty began her career as a ...

Monster 7.3 the movie won Best Lead Actress Oscar - Charlize Theron

5. Penny Marshall

Actress | Laverne & Shirley

Penny Marshall was born Carole Penny Marshall on October 15, 1943 in Manhattan. The Libra was 5' 6 1/2", with brown hair and green eyes. She was the daughter of Marjorie (Ward), a tap dance teacher, and Anthony "Tony" Marshall, an industrial film director. She was the younger sister of filmmakers ...

Awakenings was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor Big - nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Screenplay, Best Actor

Jumpin' Jack Flash 5.4 one of the funniest feel good comedies ever Awakenings 7.6 A League of Their Own 7.0 Big 7.2 The Preacher's Wife 5.2 Renaissance Man 5.9 Riding in Cars with Boys 6.2

6. 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...

The Piano won this screenwriter/director the Best Screenplay Oscar she was also nominated for the Best Director Oscar for this film

The Piano 7.5 Holy Smoke 5.8 Bright Star 7.0 Sweetie 6.7 An Angel at My Table 7.4 The Portrait of a Lady 6.0 In the Cut 5.2

7. Betty Thomas

Self | Howard Stern

Betty Thomas was born July 27, 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri, graduating from Ohio University with a BA in fine arts. Initially sidetracked, Betty first taught school in Chicago but found herself restricted and needing more of an open forum for self-expression than a classroom. She found herself drawn...

Private Parts 6.7 one of the best movies I've ever seen I Spy 5.2 28 Days 5.8 Only You 5.3 John Tucker Must Die 5.5 Doctor Dolittle 5.2 The Brady Bunch Movie 5.6 The Late Shift 6.9 Alvin and the Chipmunks The squeakale 4.1

8. Agnieszka Holland

Director | Pokot

Having graduated from FAMU in Prague film (1971), Agnieszka Holland returned to Poland and began her film career working with Krzysztof Zanussi as assistant director, and Andrzej Wajda as her mentor. Her first feature film was PROVINCIAL ACTORS (1978), one of the flagship pictures of the "cinema of...

nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Europa Europa

Copying Beethoven 6.8 Europa Europa 7.6 The Secret Garden 7.1 Bittere Ernte 7.4 Olivier, Olivier 7.5 Total Eclipse 6.3 The Third Miracle 6.6 To Kill a Priest 5.9 Washington Square 6.5 Julie Walking Home 6.8 The Third Miracle 6.6 In Darkness

9. Coline Serreau

Director | 3 hommes et un couffin

Coline Serreau was born on October 29, 1947 in Paris, France. She is an actress and director, known for Three Men and a Cradle (1985), Why Not! (1977) and Chaos (2001). She was previously married to Benno Besson.

Why Not! (1977) 3 hommes et un couffin 6.5 Chaos (2001) 7.0 Romuald et Juliette 6.8 La Crise 6.2 18 ans après (2003) 4.9 Saint-Jacques... La Mecque (2005) 6.3

5

10. Lisa Cholodenko

Director | The Kids Are All Right

Lisa Cholodenko earned an MFA at Columbia University Film School where she made an award-winning short film Dinner Party (1997) Her feature High Art (1998) won the National Society of Film Critics award for Ally Sheedy's performance and The Waldo Salt Screenwriting award at Sundance. Both "High Art...

The Kids Are All Right was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay

The Kids Are All Right (2010) 7.3 High Art (1998) 6.7 Laurel Canyon (2002) 6.5 Cavedweller (2004) 5.7

11. Mimi Leder

Producer | The Morning Show

Mimi Leder was born on January 26, 1952 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a producer and director, known for The Morning Show (2019), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and Deep Impact (1998). She has been married to Gary Werntz since January 26, 1986. They have one child. She was previously married ...

The Peacemaker (1997) 5.9 Deep Impact (1998) 6.0 Pay It Forward (2000) 6.9 The Code (2009) 5.9

12. Penelope Spheeris

Director | Suburbia

Spheeris is often referred to as a 'rock 'n roll anthropologist'.

In 1974 she formed the first Los Angeles music video production company, ROCK 'N REEL. She concluded her music video work with the Grammy-nominated, "Bohemian Rhapsody" video for "Wayne's World". Spheeris' feature film debut was the ...

Wayne's World (1992) 6.9 Senseless (1998) 5.5 The Kid & I (2005) 5.1

Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales Suburbia (1983) 6.9 The Boys Next Door (1985) 6.3 Hollywood Vice Squad (1986) 4.3 Dudes (1987) 5.1

13. Phyllida Lloyd

Director | Mamma Mia!

Phyllida Lloyd was born on June 17, 1957 in Bristol, England, UK. She is a director and producer, known for Mamma Mia! (2008), The Iron Lady (2011) and Herself (2020).

Mamma Mia 6.4 The Iron Lady 6.2

14. Julie Taymor

Director | Frida

Julie Taymor is an Academy Award-nominated director, known for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007).

She was born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her father, Melvin Lester Taymor, was a gynecologist. Her mother, Elizabeth Bernstein, was a ...

Frida was nominated for 6 Oscars, but in the minor categories + Best Actress

Frida 7.3

Titus 7.2 Across the Universe 7.4 The Tempest 5.3

15. 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.

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) 7.8 Vagabond (1985) 7.7 Jacquot de Nantes 7.3 Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma 6.2 Le Bonheur 7.6 La Pointe-Courte 7.1

Documentaries: The Gleaners & I 7.6 The Beaches of Agnès 7.9

16. Catherine Hardwicke

Director | Twilight

Hardwicke's first film as a director was the Sundance winner THIRTEEN which explored the transition into teenage years with an authenticity that still captures young audiences (1.3 billion Tik Tok engagements.) Hardwicke directed LORDS OF DOGTOWN before she became best known as the director of ...

Sundance Film Festival Directing Award - Thirteen

Thirteen 6.9 Lords of Dogtown 6.9 The Nativity Story 6.5 Twilight 5.4 Red Riding Hood 5.1

17. Martha Coolidge

Director | Valley Girl

Martha Patterson Coolidge was born on August 17, 1946 in New Haven Connecticut. She studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, but changed majors, becoming the first film major at the school. She attended and graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she ...

Real Genius 6.8 If These Walls Could Talk 2 6.6

Valley Girl 6.0 City Girl 6.4 Joy of Sex 3.1 Plain Clothes 5.8 Rambling Rose 6.6 Lost in Yonkers 6.4 Angie 5.2 Three Wishes 5.7 Out to Sea 5.7 The Prince and Me An American Girl Stands Strong

18. Margarethe von Trotta

Director | Hannah Arendt

Margarethe von Trotta was born in Berlin in 1942. In the 1960s she moved to Paris where she worked for film collectives, collaborating on scripts and co-directing short films. She also pursued an acclaimed acting career, starring in films by well known German directors such as Rainer Werner ...

won Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival for "The German Sisters" nominated for Palm d'Or of the Cannes Festival twice - for "Paura e amore" and "Rosa Luxemburg"

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975) 7.5 Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages (1978) 6.9 Schwestern oder Die Balance des Glücks (1979) 7.0 The German Sisters (1981) 7.5 Friends and Husbands (1983) 6.9 Rosa Luxemburg (1986) 7.3 Vision (2009) 6.6 Das Versprechen 7.0 Rosenstrasse 6.8

19. Debra Granik

Director | Leave No Trace

Debra Granik (born February 6, 1963) is an American New York City-based independent film and documentary film director and screenwriter. She is most known for 2004's Down to the Bone, which starred Vera Farmiga, 2010's Winter's Bone, which starred Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout performance and ...

Sundance Film Festival Best Directing Award for Down to the Bone Sundance Festival - Grand Jury Prize for Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone (2010) 7.3 Down to the Bone 6.6

20. Jill Sprecher

Writer | Clockwatchers

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in philosophy and literature, she moved to NewYork to study film and has since made Manhattan her home. She has worked as a coordinator, production manager and line producer on both studio and independent features. She studied film ...

Clockwatchers 6.2 Thirteen Conversations about One Thing 7.0 Thin Ice 6.6

21. Kasi Lemmons

Director | Harriet

Kasi Lemmons was born on February 24, 1961 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Harriet (2019), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Candyman (1992). She has been married to Vondie Curtis-Hall since August 19, 1995. They have two children.

The Caveman's Valentine (2001) loved this movie Talk to Me (2007) 7.3 Eve's Bayou (1997) 7.1

22. Anna Melikyan

Producer | Zvezda

Anna Melikian (born February 8, 1976) is an Armenian-Russian film and TV director/ producer whose work has been recognized with several awards. After her participation at Sundance Film Festival she was listed in the TOP 10 of most perspective film directors by Variety magazine.

Melikian studied at ...

Sundance Film Festival Best Director Award for The Mermaid Berlin International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize for The Mermaid

The Mermaid 7.2 Mars 6.9

23. Jamie Babbit

Director | But I'm a Cheerleader

Jamie Babbit was born on November 16, 1970 in Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA. She is a director and producer, known for But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Silicon Valley (2014) and Girls (2012). She was previously married to Karey Dornetto.

But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) 6.2 The Quiet (2005) 6.4 Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007) 5.4 Breaking the Girl (2012)

24. Tamra Davis

Director | A Conversation with Basquiat

Began her career directing music videos for acts like Tone Loc, Depeche Mode, Indigo Girls, NWA, Hanson and Sonic Youth and made her first feature in 92 with Guncrazy starring Drew Barrymore. Ms Barrymore received a Golden Globe Nomination. She then went on to direct feature films starring Chris ...

Guncrazy 5.3 CB4 (1993) 5.8 Billy Madison 6.3 Best Men 5.6 Half Baked 6.4 The Wonder of Sex 6.2 Crossroads 2.9

25. Lone Scherfig

Director | An Education

Writer/director Lone Scherfig graduated from The National Film School of Denmark in 1984. Her first feature film, THE BIRTHDAY TRIP (1990), was selected for Panorama in Berlin, the New Directors section at MOMA in New York and won the Grand Jury Prix in Rouen. Her next film, ON OUR OWN (1998), ...

nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards - Best Director and Film An Education was nominated for 3 Oscars - Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actress

An Education 7.4 Wilbor Wants to Kill Himself 6.9 One Day 6.7 Just Like Home 5.2

26. Jennifer Leitzes

Director | Montana

Jennifer Leitzes is known for Montana (1998), Dog 41 (2008) and No Dessert, Dad, Till You Mow the Lawn (1994).

Montana 6.3

she made this fantastic movie and dissappeared. such a shame, I wish she returned to film making

Dog 41 (2008)

27. Beeban Kidron

Director | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

She came to prominence with the much lauded adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's autobiographical novel 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'. Since then she's directed feature films, television dramas and documentaries. In 2008, she founded the charity called Filmclub with Lindsay Mackie. It has since ...

To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar 5.8 Used People 5.8 Amy Foster 6.7 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 5.6 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (tv series) 7.8 Vroom 4.8

28. Kimberly Peirce

Director | Boys Don't Cry

Kimberly Peirce was born on September 8, 1967 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Boys Don't Cry (1999), Stop-Loss (2008) and Carrie (2013).

Boys Don't Cry won Best Actress Oscar - Hilary Swank

Boys Don't Cry (1999) 7.6 Stop-Loss (2008) 6.5

29. Lynne Ramsay

Director | You Were Never Really Here

Lynne Ramsay was born on December 5, 1969 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. She is a director and writer, known for You Were Never Really Here (2017), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and Ratcatcher (1999). She was previously married to Rory Stewart Kinnear.

BAFTA Award for Ratcatcher

Ratcatcher (1999) 7.4 Morvern Callar (2002) 6.5 We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) 7.7

30. Tamara Jenkins

Director | The Savages

Tamara Jenkins was born on May 2, 1962 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a director and writer, known for The Savages (2007), Private Life (2018) and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). She has been married to Jim Taylor since 2002. They have one child.

nominated for the Best Screenplay Academy Award for The Savages

The Savages 7.3 Slums of Beverly Hills 6.4

31. Miranda July

Writer | Me and You and Everyone We Know

Filmmaker Magazine rated her #1 in their "25 New Faces of Indie Film" in 2004!

She is a performance artist and published short story writer. Since becoming a filmmaker, her debut feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) has won several film awards.

Daughter of Lindy Hough and Richard ...

Me and You and Everyone We Know won 4 Cannes Film Festival Awards & Best First Time Director at Philadelphia Film Festival

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) 7.4 The Future (2011) 6.2

32. Marleen Gorris

Director | Antonia

Marleen Gorris was born on December 9, 1948 in Roermond, Limburg, Netherlands. She is a director and writer, known for Antonia's Line (1995), A Question of Silence (1982) and Broken Mirrors (1984).

De stilte rond Christine M. 6.8 Antonia 7.4 won Oscar Mrs Dalloway(1997) 6.8 The Luzhin Defence (2000) 6.9 Carolina 6.1 Within the Whirlwind 6.4

33. Mary Lambert

Director | Pet Sematary

Mary Lambert was born in 1951 in Helena, Arkansas, USA. She is a director and writer, known for Pet Sematary (1989), Madonna: Like a Prayer (1989) and The in Crowd (2000). She has been married to Jerome Gary since September 28, 1991. They have one child.

Pet Sematary 6.3 Pet Sematary II 4.3 Urban Legends: Bloody Mary 4.2

Siesta 5.2 Grand Isle 5.5 Clubland 5.0 The In Crowd 4.2 The Attic 3.5

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid 3.2 - omfg kind of movie lol, acting like in a porn, props like in a porn, dialogue like in a porn, only...it's not porn! :D Troma Entertainment works look like Paramount Pictures production compared to this masterpiece :)

34. Lexi Alexander

Director | Green Street

Born in Germany, to a Palestinian father and German mother, Lexi Alexander, a former World Kickboxing Champion and USMC close-quarter-combat instructor, worked her way up from stunt woman to Oscar-nominated director with her first short film Johnny Flynton, a drama about a boxer. Eager to learn a ...

nominated for Oscar for Best Short - Johnny Flynton

Punisher: War Zone 6.0 Green Street 7.5

35. Susanne Bier

Director | Hævnen

Though Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director Susanne Bier's work often plays out against a wide-reaching global backdrop, its focus is intimate, carefully exploring the explosive emotions and complexities of familial bonds. This unique combination is part of ...

Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film - In a Better World (2010)

In a Better World 7.7 Den eneste ene 6.7 Brothers 7.6 After the Wedding 7.8 Things We Lost in the Fire 7.8 Civilization 7.6

36. Amy Heckerling

Writer | Clueless

Amy Heckerling studied Film and TV at New York University and got a Masters Degree in Film from The American Film Institute. Despite this education she couldn't get a break in Hollywood. However, in 1982, she made Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and people started to take notice. In 1985, ...

Fast Times at Ridgemont High(1982) 7.2 Johnny Dangerously 5.9 European Vacation (1985) 5.8 Loser (2000) 5.1 Look Who's Talking (1989) 5.6 Look Who's Talking Too (1990) 4.0 Clueless (1995) 6.6 I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) 6.0

37. Ida Lupino

Actress | High Sierra

Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was ...

The Hitch-Hiker 7.0 The Trouble with Angels 7.0 The Bigamist 6.7

38. Allison Anders

Director | Gas Food Lodging

Anders weathered a rough childhood and young adult life which not only encouraged an escapist penchant for making up characters but also an insider's sympathy for the strong but put-upon women who people her films. Growing up in rural Kentucky, Anders would always remember hanging onto her father's...

Gas, Food Lodging 6.6 Four Rooms 6.5 Things Behind the Sun 7.3 Mi vida loca 6.2 Grace of My Heart 6.5 Sugar Town 5.8

39. Jane Anderson

Writer | Olive Kitteridge

Jane Anderson grew up in the Bay Area of Northern California where her father, an inventor and electronics engineer, was one of the early entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley. Passionate about the theater, Ms. Anderson dropped out of college after two years and moved to New York City to become an ...

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio 7.1

TV movies Normal 7.1 If These Walls Could Talk 2 (segment 1961) The Baby Dance 6.3 When Billie Beat Bobby 6.0

40. 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...

S'en fout la mort (1990) 6.9 J'ai pas sommeil (1994) 6.9 Nénette et Boni (1996) 6.9 Beau Travail (1999) 7.0 Friday Night (2002) 6.6 The Intruder (2004) 6.9 35 Shots of Rum (2008) 7.1 White Material (2009) 6.9 Chocolate 6.9 Trouble Every Day 6.2

lol, makes you think of 69 :D

41. Nancy Meyers

Writer | It's Complicated

Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent ...

nominated for Best Screenplay Academy Award for Private Benjamin

The Parent Trap 6.1 What Women Want 6.3 It's Complicated 6.6 The Holiday 6.8 Something's Gotta Give 6.7

42. Mira Nair

Director | Salaam Bombay!

Accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard. She began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing award-winning documentaries, including So Far From India and India Cabaret. Her debut feature film, Salaam ...

nominated for 2 Best Film BAFTA Awards - for Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay! won 2 Cannes Festival Awards

Vanity Fair 6.1 Salaam Bombay! 7.9 Monsoon Wedding 7.2 The Namesake 7.5 Mississippi Masala 6.5 The Perez Family 5.9 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love 5.7 Amelia 5.7

43. Caroline Link

Director | Nirgendwo in Afrika

Caroline Link was born on June 2, 1964 in Bad Nauheim, Hesse, Germany. She is a director and writer, known for Nowhere in Africa (2001), Beyond Silence (1996) and Annaluise & Anton (1999).

Jenseits der Stille 7.4 Pünktchen und Anton 6.9 Nowhere in Africa 7.7 A Year Ago in Winter 6.9

44. Kirsten Sheridan

Writer | In America

Kirsten Sheridan was born on July 14, 1976 in Dublin, Ireland. She is a writer and director, known for In America (2002), Patterns (1999) and Disco Pigs (2001).

nominated for Best Screenplay Oscar for In America

August Rush 7.4 Disco Pigs 6.5

45. Catherine Breillat

Writer | À ma soeur!

Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a "porno auteuriste", Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies....

Une vieille maîtresse (2007) was nominated for Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival

Anatomy of Hell (2004) 4.3 - probably the most disturbing movie ever made

A Real Young Lady (1976) 5.6 Virgin (1988) 6.1 A ma soeur! (2001) 6.4 Bluebeard (2009) 6.5 Une vieille maîtresse (2007) 6.4 Brief Crossing (2001) 7.0 Parfait amour! (1996) 6. Sex Is Comedy 5.8

46. Niki Caro

Director | Whale Rider

Niki Caro is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter, born in 1967. Caro was born in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. She was educated first at the Kadimah College in Auckland, and then the Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland. The School is a private girls' school, and ranks ...

won Sundance Festival Audience Award for Whale Rider North Country was nominated for 2 Oscars - Best Leading Actress (Charlize Theron) and Best Supporting Actress (Frances McDormand)

North Country 7.2 Whale Rider 7.7 The Vintner's Luck 5.4

I have no idea why imdb put some dude's photo instead of her own that's what Niki Caro looks like: http://www.torontolife.com/daily/toronto-international-film-festival-2009/2009/09/13/photo-gallery-gaspard-ulliel-and-keisha-castle-hughes-on-the-red-carpet-before-the-vinters-luck-premiere/attachment/niki-caro0244/

47. Antonia Bird

Director | Priest

Antonia Bird was born on May 27, 1951 in London, England, UK. She was a director and producer, known for Priest (1994), Face (1997) and Ravenous (1999). She was married to Ian Ilett. She died on October 24, 2013 in London, England, UK.

Priest 7.2 Mad Love 4.9 Face 6.7 Ravenous 6.9 The Hamburg Call 6.9 Cracker 7.3

48. Randa Haines

Director | Children of a Lesser God

Randa Haines was born on February 20, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Children of a Lesser God (1986), Antwone Fisher (2002) and Something About Amelia (1984).

Children of a Lesser God 7.1 The Doctor 6.6 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway 6.7 Dance with Me 5.3

The Ron Clark Story 7.5 The Outsider 6.5

49. Agnès Jaoui

Actress | Le goût des autres

Agnès Jaoui was born on October 19, 1964 in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France. She is an actress and writer, known for The Taste of Others (2000), Look at Me (2004) and Family Resemblances (1996). She was previously married to Jean-Pierre Bacri.

Le Gout des Autres (2000) 7.1 Look at Me (2004) 6.9 Let's Talk About the Rain (2008) 6.2

50. Nora Ephron

Writer | Julie & Julia

Nora Ephron was educated at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. She was an acclaimed essayist (Crazy Salad 1975), novelist (Heartburn 1983), and had written screenplays for several popular films, all featuring strong female characters, such as anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood (Silkwood (1983), ...

nominated for 3 Best Original Screenplay Oscars: Sleepless in Seattle When Harry Met Sally Silkwood

Sleepless in Seattle 6.7 Michael 5.5 great feel good comedy You've Got Mail 6.3 Bewitched 4.8 Julie & Julia 7.1 This is My Life 5.6 Mixed Nuts 5.0 Lucky Numbers 4.9

51. Kari Skogland

Director | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Emmy-nominated, BAFTA award-winning director Kari Skogland is CEO of Mad Rabbit, a development and production company. Skogland is committed to producing high-end one-hour dramas for the international market while she continues her award- winning work. Most recently she was Executive Producer and ...

Fifty Dead Men Walking 6.8 Liberty Stands Still 5.7 The Stone Angel 6.1

52. 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 ...

won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award and was nominated for Best Director for Lost in Translation Lost in Translation was also nominated for Best Picture

won Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Somewhere Best new Filmmaker MTV Award for The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides 7.2 Lost in Translation 7.8 Marie Antoinette 6.4 Somewhere 6.4

53. Rebecca Miller

Writer | Maggie's Plan

Rebecca Miller was born on September 15, 1962 in Roxbury, Connecticut, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Maggie's Plan (2015), Personal Velocity (2002) and Angela (1995). She has been married to Daniel Day-Lewis since November 13, 1996. They have two children.

won Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Personal Velocity: Three Portraits

The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) 6.7 Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002) 6.6 The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) 6.4 Angela 6.3

54. 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 ...

A New Leaf 7.3 The Heartbreak Kid (the original one) 6.9 Mikey and Nucky 7.2 Ishtar 3.9

55. Gurinder Chadha

Writer | Bend It Like Beckham

Gurinder Chadha was born in Kenya, and grew up in Southall, London, England. She began her career as a news reporter with BBC Radio, directed several award winning documentaries for the BBC, and began an alliance with the British Film Institute (BFI) and Channel Four. In 2001, Chadha set up her own...

Bend It Like Beckham 6.8 Bride and Prejudice 6.1 Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (2008) 6.3 It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010) 5.0 What's Cooking? 6.8 Bhaji on the Beach (1993) 6.4

56. Deepa Mehta

Director | Fire

Deepa Mehta is a transnational artist and a screenwriter, director, and producer whose work has been called "courageous", "provocative" and "breathtaking". Her visually lush and emotionally resonating films have played at every major international film festival; receiving numerous awards and ...

Oscar Nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Water

Water (2005) 7.6 Camilla (1994) Fire (1996) 7.1 Earth (1998) 7.6 Bollywood/Hollywood (2002) 6.1 The Republic of Love (2003) 6.1 Heaven on Earth (2008) 6.4

57. Sally Potter

Director | The Tango Lesson

Sally Potter made her first 8mm film aged fourteen. She has since written and directed seven feature films, as well as many short films (including THRILLER and PLAY) and a television series, and has directed opera (Carmen for the ENO in 2007) and other live work. Her background is in choreography, ...

Orlando 7.0 The Tango Lesson (1997) 6.5 The Man Who Cried 6.0 Yes 6.3 Rage 4.2

58. Andrea Arnold

Director | American Honey

Andrea Arnold was born on April 5, 1961 in Dartford, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for American Honey (2016), Fish Tank (2009) and Red Road (2006).

won Oscar for Best Short Film - Wasp won 2 BAFTA Awards, one - in Outstanding British Film category for Fish Tank won Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival twice - for "Fish Tank" and "Red Road"

Red Road 6.8 Fish Tank 7.4 Wuthering Heights 6.4

sometimes compared to Michael Hanecke and Lars Von Trier

59. Lana Wachowski

Writer | The Matrix

Lana Wachowski and her sister Lilly Wachowski, also known as the Wachowskis, are the duo behind such ground-breaking movies as The Matrix (1999) and Cloud Atlas (2012). Born to mother Lynne, a nurse, and father Ron, a businessman of Polish descent, Wachowski grew up in Chicago and formed a tight ...

she is so low on the list solely because she works exclusively with her brother, Andy Wachowski, almost impossible to figure out what she's worth on her own

60. Nancy Savoca

Director | True Love

Director Nancy Savoca was born in the Bronx, New York of Argentine and Sicilian immigrant parents, She graduated from New York University's film school where she was awarded for her short films. Savoca and her husband, producer Richard Guay, raised private funds to shoot their first film, "True ...

won Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for True Love

If These Walls Could Talk (segment) 6.9 True Love 6.0 Dogfight 7.2 Household Saints 6.9 The 24 Hour Woman 5.6 Dirt 6.2 Union Square 7.0

61. Sharon Maguire

Director | Bridget Jones's Baby

Sharon Maguire was born on November 28, 1960 in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, Wales, UK. She is a director and producer, known for Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Incendiary (2008).

Bridget Jones's Diary nominated for Best Actress Oscar and 2 Golden Globes including Best Musical or Comedy category

Bridget Jones's Diary 6.8

62. Karyn Kusama

Director | The Invitation

Karyn Kusama was born on March 21, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for The Invitation (2015), Destroyer (2018) and Girlfight (2000). She has been married to Phil Hay since October 2006. They have one child.

won Sundance Film Fisteval Best Director Award for Girlfight

Girlfight (2000) 6.7 Aeon Flux 5.4 Jennifer's Body 5.2

63. Anne Fontaine

Writer | Les innocentes

Anne Fontaine was born on July 15, 1959 in Luxembourg. She is an actress and writer, known for The Innocents (2016), Coco Before Chanel (2009) and Reinventing Marvin (2017). She is married to Philippe Carcassonne. They have one child.

Venice Film Festival Golden Osella for Best Original Screenplay - Nettoyage a sec BAFTA nomination for Best Film Not in the English Language - Coco Before Chanel

Coco Before Chanel 6.5 Nathalie... 6.2 The Girl from Monaco 5.9 Comment j'ai tué mon père 6.8 Nettoyage à sec 6.9 My Worst Nightmare (2011) 6.2

64. Isabel Coixet

Director | My Life Without Me

Isabel Coixet was born on April 9, 1960 in Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is a director and writer, known for My Life Without Me (2003), The Secret Life of Words (2005) and The Bookshop (2017).

Venice Film Festival award for The Secret Life of Words nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear of the Berlin Film Festival for My Life Without Me (2003) and Elegy (2008)

My Life Without Me 7.6 The Secret Life of Words 7.5 Elegy 6.8 Cosas que nunca te dije 6.7

65. Larisa Shepitko

Director | Voskhozhdenie

Larisa Shepitko was born on January 6, 1938 in Bakhmut, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. She was a director and writer, known for The Ascent (1977), Heat (1963) and You and Me (1971). She was married to Elem Klimov. She died on July 2, 1979 in near Redkino, Kalinin Oblast...

The Ascent (1977) 8.4 Wings 7.6 V trinadtsatom chasu nochi 8.0

66. Floria Sigismondi

Director | The Runaways

Floria Sigismondi is a photographer and director. Apart from her art exhibitions she is best known for directing music videos. Her trademark dilating, jittery camerawork, noticeable as early as her video for Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People", has been replicated by a great number of directors...

The Runaways 6.5

67. Kelly Reichardt

Director | Wendy and Lucy

Kelly Reichardt was born and raised in Miami-Dade Country, Florida, to a family of police officers. She had an interest in photography from a very young age. She started by using her father's camera, which he used for photographing crime scenes. She went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in ...

River of Grass 6.5 Old Joy 6.7 Wendy and Lucy 7.1 Meek's Cutoff 6.7 Ode 6.5

68. Marjane Satrapi

Director | Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi was born on November 22, 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She is a director and actress, known for Persepolis (2007), The Voices (2014) and Chicken with Plums (2011). She is married to Mattias Ripa. She was previously married to Reza.

Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year - Persepolis (2007)

Persepolis 8.0 Chicken with Plums 7.3

69. Lina Wertmüller

Writer | Pasqualino Settebellezze

During the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller emblazoned her name into the pantheon of Italian cinema with a series of intensely polemical, deeply controversial and wonderfully entertaining films. Among the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of postwar directors - the ...

not familiar with her work, but she was the first girl director to be nominated for Oscar

2 Oscar nominations, to be precise - Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Seven Beauties (1975)

nominated for 2 Palm d'Or of the Cannes Festival

Seven Beauties (1975) 7.8 Swept Away (1974) 7.3 Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore (1972) 7.2 Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero 'stamattina alle 10 in via dei Fiori nella nota casa di tolleranza...' (1973) 7.5

70. Sarah Polley

Actress | My Life Without Me

Sarah Polley is an actress and director renowned in her native Canada for her political activism. Blessed with an extremely expressive face that enables directors to minimize dialog due to her uncanny ability to suggest a character's thoughts, Polley has become a favorite of critics for her ...

nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Away from Her

Away From Her 7.6 Take This Waltz 7.3

71. Tatyana Lioznova

Director | Tri topolya na Plyushchikhe

Tatyana Lioznova was born on July 20, 1924 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She was a director and assistant director, known for Three Poplars on Plyuschikha Street (1968), Karnaval (1982) and Konets sveta s posleduyushchim simpoziumom (1987). She died on September 29, 2011 in Moscow, Russia.

17 Moments of Spring the best and most viewed TV-series in the history of Soviet Union

Three Poplars at Plyuschikha Street (1967) 7.4 Seventeen Moments of Spring mini-series (1973) 8.8

72. Susanna White

Director | Generation Kill

Susanna White is a BAFTA winning British film and television director. She attended Bromley High School and Oxford University before being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study on the MFA Program at UCLA. Her work ranges from the hard-hitting HBO mini-series Generation Kill about the US invasion...

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang 6.0 Jane Eyre mini-series (2006) 8.6

some of the best Generation Kill episodes

73. Lucrecia Martel

Director | La mujer sin cabeza

Born in 1966 in Salta in the North of Argentina,Lucrecia Martel settled down in Buenos Aires where she attended the ENERC (National Film School). She started by directing a few shorts among which Historias Breves I: Rey muerto (1995), which garnered several awards in the international film festival...

The Swamp 6.9 The Holy Girl 6.6 The Headless Woman 6.4

74. Hilary Brougher

Director | Stephanie Daley

Hilary Brougher is known for Stephanie Daley (2006), South Mountain (2019) and Innocence (2013).

The Sticky Fingers of Time 5.7 - unique sci-fi movie, one of a kind Stephanie Daley 6.2

75. 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.

Hôtel Monterey 6.3 I, You, He, She (1976) 6.8 News from Home (1977) 7.5 Anna's Meetings (1978) 7.4 A Whole Night (1982) 7.0 Golden Eighties 6.8 Nuit et jour (1991) 6.3 A Couch in New York 5.9 The Captive (2000) 6.0 Tomorrow We Move 5.8

76. Valerie Faris

Director | Little Miss Sunshine

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have built an impressive body of work by perpetually seeking innovative projects in a variety of mediums.

After introducing bands such as REM and The Red Hot Chili Peppers on their ground breaking MTV show The Cutting Edge, Jonathan and Valerie continued to work in ...

Little Miss Sunshine 7.9

77. Nicole Holofcener

Director | Enough Said

Nicole Holofcener was born on March 22, 1960 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a director and writer, known for Enough Said (2013), Friends with Money (2006) and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018). She was previously married to Benjamin Allanoff.

Walking and Talking (1996) 6.6 Lovely & Amazing (2001) 6.8 Friends with Money (2006) 6.0 Please Give (2010) 6.7

78. Inessa Kovalevskaya

Director | Skazka o pope i o rabotnike ego Balde

Inessa Kovalevskaya was born on March 1, 1933. She is a director and writer, known for The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda (1973), Pictures from the Exhibition (1984) and Stories from My Childhood (1998).

one of the best cartoons ever made

Bremenskie muzykanty (1969) 8.1

79. Sam Taylor-Johnson

Director | Nowhere Boy

Sam Taylor-Johnson was born on March 4, 1967 in London, England, UK. She is a director and producer, known for Nowhere Boy (2009), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and Love You More (2008). She has been married to Aaron Taylor-Johnson since June 21, 2012. They have two children. She was previously ...

nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards, including Outstanding British Film Award for Nowhere Boy won the Sundance Film Festival Award for a short - Love You More nominated for the Best Short Film Palm d'Or of the Cannes Festival - Love You More and she's got Kick-@ss for boyfriend

Nowhere Boy 7.1

80. Adrienne Shelly

Actress | Waitress

The late Adrienne Shelly was born in Queens, New York, to Elaine Langbaum and Sheldon Levine. After graduating Jericho High School in Jericho, New York, she enrolled at Boston University and majored in film production. She dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan, where she made a ...

Waitress 7.1

81. Dennie Gordon

Director | Jack Ryan

Dennie Gordon has been a trailblazing female director her entire career; spanning the worlds of feature films, television series, mini-series and branded content. Her range of genre busting entertainment spans an unusual spectrum of comedy and drama. After being one of the first women to graduate ...

What a Girl Wants (2003) 5.7 Joe Dirt (2001) 5.5 New York Minute 4.0

82. Angela Robinson

Writer | D.E.B.S.

Angela Robinson was born on February 14, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for D.E.B.S. (2004), Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (2017) and D.E.B.S. (2003). She is married to Alexandra Kondracke. They have one child.

D.E.B.S. 5.0 Herbie Fully Loaded 4.7

83. Gillian Armstrong

Director | My Brilliant Career

Gillian Armstrong was born on December 18, 1950 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a director and producer, known for My Brilliant Career (1979), Not Fourteen Again (1996) and Little Women (1994). She is married to John Pleffer. They have two children.

Death Defying Acts 5.8 Charlotte Gray (2001) 6.4 Oscar and Lucinda (1997) 6.7 Little Women (1994) 7.1 The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992) 6.6 High Tide (1987) 7.2 Mrs. Soffel (1984) 6.1 My Brilliant Career (1979) 7.3

84. Patricia Rozema

Director | Into the Forest

Patricia Rozema was born on August 20, 1958 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is a director and writer, known for Into the Forest (2015), Mansfield Park (1999) and Grey Gardens (2009).

Mansfield Park 7.0 Kit Kittredge 6.6 I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) 6.7 When Night Is Falling (1995) 6.8

85. Stephanie Rothman

Writer | Terminal Island

Writer/director Stephanie Rothman was one of the few female filmmakers who specialized in low-budget drive-in exploitation fare in the '60s and '70s. Her movies are distinguished by gutsy, strong-willed and sympathetic women main characters and a radical libertarian feminist point of view. ...

Blood Bath (1966) 4.5 The Velvet Vampire (1971) 5.1 Knuckle-Men (1973) 5.5 The Working Girls (1974) 5.0

a cult B-horror director

86. Anne Fletcher

Director | The Proposal

Anne Fletcher was born on May 1, 1966 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is a director and actress, known for The Proposal (2009), Step Up (2006) and Hairspray (2007).

The Proposal was nominated for Golden Globe - Best Acrtress - Sandra Bullock

Step Up 6.1 The Proposal 6.7 27 Dresses 6.0

87. Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer | Love & Basketball

Gina Prince-Bythewood (Writer/Producer/Director) studied at UCLA Film School, where she received the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing and the Ray Stark Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduate. She was a member of UCLA's track and field team, qualifying for the Pac-10 Championships...

Love and Basketball 6.7 Secret Life of Bees 7.0

88. Valeriya Gay Germanika

Director | Vse umrut a ya ostanus

Valeriya Gay Germanika (born on March 1, 1984, Moscow, USSR) - a Russian film director. Guild member of the Filmmakers Union of the Russian Federation. Graduated from the School of Cinematography and Television "Internews" in 2008. General director of the film company "Leosfilm". Was awarded with "...

Everybody Dies But Me 6.8

89. Callie Khouri

Producer | Thelma & Louise

Raised in Texas and Kentucky by her doctor father and mother. Went to Purdue University to study landscape architecture but switched to drama. Moved to Nashville after college to be with her family before heading to Los Angeles in 1982 to study at the Strasburg Institute. Worked for a commercials ...

won Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Thelma & Louise

Mad Money 5.5 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 5.5

90. Danièle Thompson

Writer | La bûche

Danièle Thompson was born on January 3, 1942 in Monaco. She is a writer and director, known for The Log (1999), Orchestra Seats (2006) and Queen Margot (1994). She is married to Albert Koski. She was previously married to Richard Thompson.

La bûche 6.4 Jet Lag 6.2 Orchestra Seats 6.8 Le code a changé 5.7

91. Susan Seidelman

Director | Desperately Seeking Susan

Susan Seidelman was born on December 11, 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Sex and the City (1998) and Smithereens (1982).

She-Devil (1989) 4.8 Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) 5.7 Making Mr. Right (1987) 5.1 Cookie 5.3 Smithereens 6.6

92. Susan Stroman

Director | The Producers

Susan Stroman is the recipient of 5 Tony Awards, 2 Laurence Olivier Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards, 8 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 2 Lucille Lortel Awards, a record 5 Fred Astaire Awards, and the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Theater. She directed and choreographed "The ...

The Producers has 4 Golden Globe nominations including Best Comedy or Musical

The Producers 6.4

93. Zoe R. Cassavetes

Director | Broken English

Zoe R. Cassavetes was born on June 29, 1970 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She is a director and actress, known for Broken English (2007), Day Out of Days (2015) and Junior (2016). She is married to Sebastien Chenut.

Broken English 6.3

94. Karen Moncrieff

Director | The Dead Girl

After receiving a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, Moncrieff moved to California to pursue a career as an actress. She appeared in numerous TV shows and B-movies and was a series regular on Santa Barbara (as Cassandra Lockridge) and Days of Our Lives (as Gabrielle Pascal.)

...

The Dead Girl 6.8 Blue Car 6.7

95. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo

Director | Pâté

Agnieszka Vosloo is a Polish-born New York-based film director and screenwriter. She graduated from the Directing Department of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she was honored with the prestigious Wasserman Award for directing. Her award-winning films screened at Sundance, Toronto and AFI ...

After.Life 6.0

96. Fina Torres

Writer | Oriana

FINA TORRES is currently a director/producer who brings experience from all areas of filmmaking to the role. After studying design, photography and journalism in Venezuela, Torres moved to Paris, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in cinematography from the Institute de Hautes Etudes ...

Woman on Top 5.0 Oriana (1985) 6.9 Mécaniques célestes (1995) 6.9

97. Anna Biller

Director | Viva

Anna Biller is a writer and director who creates unique, female-focused, highly visual films. She has a BA from UCLA in art and an MFA from CalArts in art and film. Her first feature Viva played in film festivals all over the world and gained minor cult status, and her second feature The Love Witch...

Viva

98. Barbra Streisand

Actress | Yentl

Barbra Streisand is an American singer, actress, director and producer and one of the most successful personalities in show business. She is the only person ever to receive all of the following: Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Cable Ace, National Endowment for the Arts, and Peabody awards,...

Yentl (1983) 6.2 The Prince of Tides 6.4 The Mirror Has Two Faces 6.0

99. Jodie Foster

Actress | The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...

Little Man Tate (1991) 6.6 Home for the Holidays (1995) 6.4 The Beaver (2011) 6.8

100. Alice Guy

Director | The Woman of Mystery

The world's first female filmmaker, French-born Alice Guy entered the film business in 1896 as a secretary at Gaumont, a manufacturer of movie cameras and projectors who had purchased a "cinématographer" from its inventors, the Lumiere brothers. The next year Gaumont became the world's first motion...

considered to be the world's first female film director, so she HAS to be on the list