films by women
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsIvana KarbanováJitka CerhováMarie CeskováAfter 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?
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsJános DerzsiErika BókMihály KormosA rural farmer is forced to confront the mortality of his faithful horse.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsDenis LavantMichel SuborGrégoire ColinAn ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.
- 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.
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
- 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.
- DirectorJacques RivetteSuzanne SchiffmanStarsMichèle MorettiHermine KaragheuzKaren PuigFollowing the May 1968 civil unrest in France, a deaf-mute and a con artist simultaneously stumble upon the remnants of a secret society.
- DirectorMoufida TlatliStarsHind SabriGhalya LacroixNejia OuerghiAs she grows up, Alia (the daughter of housemaid Khedija) learns the secrets of the peaceful palace where she and her mother live.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsKerry FoxAlexia KeoghKaren FergussonJanet 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.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsNatalia ChakhovskaiaA look at life in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMercedes MoránGraciela BorgesMartín AdjemiánThe life of two women and their families in a small provincial town of Salta, Argentina.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
- 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.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsDavid AlbrittonArvo AskolaJack BeresfordThe document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.
- DirectorSafi FayeStarsAssane FayeMaguette GueyeSafi FayeNgor is a young man living in a Senegalese village who wishes to marry Columba. Ongoing drought in the village has affected its crop of groundnuts and as a result, Ngor cannot afford the bride price for Columba.
- DirectorLarisa ShepitkoStarsMayya BulgakovaSergey NikonenkoZhanna BolotovaA fascinating and human portrayal of a once-famous fighter pilot and loyal Stalinist named Nadezhda Petrovna. Now a 41-year-old provincial schoolmistress, she has so internalized the military ideas of service and obedience that she cannot adjust to life in peacetime.
- DirectorMargot BenacerrafStarsJosé Ignacio CabrujasLaurent Terzieff"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. Margot Benacerraf captures in images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic methods of work before their definite disappearance with the arrival of the industrial exploitation.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsFrançois WertheimerAgnès VardaJean La PlancheVarda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
- DirectorLucrecia MartelStarsMercedes MoránCarlos BellosoAlejandro Urdapilleta16-year-old Amalia looks to save the soul of a middle-aged doctor.
- DirectorLeontine SaganCarl FroelichStarsDorothea WieckHertha ThieleEmilia UndaAt an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.
- DirectorEllen HovdeAlbert MayslesDavid MayslesStarsEdith Bouvier BealeEdith 'Little Edie' Bouvier BealeBrooks HyersMeet a mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, reclusive cousins of Jackie O., managing to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, NY, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsGustav LeonhardtChristiane LangPaolo CarliniThe life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.
- 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.
- DirectorLucien Castaing-TaylorVerena ParavelStarsBrian JannelleAdrian GuilletteArthur SmithA documentary shot in the North Atlantic and focused on the commercial fishing industry.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsOlimpia CarlisiGuido LombardiGino FeliciTwo segments. The first one arranges six stories from Cesare Pavese's "Dialoghi con Leucò", taken from classical mythology. The second segment is taken from Pavese's novel "La luna e i falò": after WWII the emigrant 'The Bastard' comes back to his village in the Langhe (northern Italy) to find that everyone he knew has died and the war has deeply changed relationships between people.
- DirectorSuzana AmaralStarsMarcelia CartaxoJosé DumontTamara TaxmanMacabea has just moved to the big city after her aunt, who raised her, died. She gets a job as a typist and moves into a boarding house with three other women. In her spare time she listens to time Radio Station; on Sundays she likes to ride the subways. She describes herself saying, "I am a typist and a virgin, and I like Coca-Cola." Then she meets Olimpico, a north-easterner like herself, who has dreams of becoming a Congressman.
- DirectorMira NairStarsShafiq SyedAnjaanAmrit PatelYoung Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.
- DirectorBarbara LodenStarsBarbara LodenMichael HigginsDorothy ShupenesWanda, a lonely housewife, drifts through mining country until she meets a petty thief who takes her in.
- 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.
- DirectorIrene StarewiczWladyslaw StarewiczStarsClaude DauphinRomain BouquetSylvain ItkineWhen Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.
- 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.
- DirectorKira MuratovaStarsZinaida SharkoOleg VladimirskyYuriy KayurovA single mother is confused by the changes in her teenage son, who has become distant since spending summer vacation with his father.
- 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.
- DirectorShari Springer BermanRobert PulciniStarsPaul GiamattiShari Springer BermanHarvey PekarAn original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanImpersonal and beautiful images of Akerman's life in New York are combined with letters from her loving but manipulative mother, read by Akerman herself.
- DirectorNadine LabakiStarsClaude Baz MoussawbaaNadine LabakiYvonne MaaloufA group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsJean-Claude DrouotMarie-France BoyerMarcelle Faure-BertinFrançois, a young carpenter, lives a happy, uncomplicated life with his wife Thérèse and their two small children. One day he meets Emilie, a clerk in the local post office.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsMichel SuborGrégoire ColinYekaterina GolubevaAn emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
- DirectorSarah MaldororStarsElisa AndradeDomingos de OliveiraJean M'VondoA man is wrongfully arrested and tortured to death after he is suspected of being part of a revolutionary group.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlBéla BalázsStarsLeni RiefenstahlMathias WiemanBeni FührerWhen the moon is full, young men die attempting to reach the mysterious blue light in the mountains.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsAlex DescasMati DiopNicole DoguéThe relationship between a father and daughter is complicated by the arrival of a handsome young man.
- 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.
- DirectorCheh ChangHelen Li MeiStarsHao ChenPei Chuan ChinYuan Gao
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanNiels ArestrupClaire Wauthion'Je' is a girl voluntarily lock up in a room. 'Tu' is the script. 'Il' is a lorry driver. 'Elle' is the girlfriend.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsAgnès VardaAndré LubranoBlaise FournierAgnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
- 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.
- DirectorEvelyn LambartNorman McLarenAbstract images drawn directly onto the film are accompanied by three pieces of jazz performed by the Oscar Peterson trio.
- DirectorMira NairStarsNaseeruddin ShahLillete DubeyShefali ShahA stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
- DirectorRakhshan BanietemadStarsFarimah FarjamiAbolfazl PoorarabAtefeh RazaviAdel is a young criminal who frequently teams up with his middle-aged wife Afagh in order to carry out the most audacious schemes. But when Adel falls in love with Narges, he realises he is quite prepared to start a new life on the right side of the law. Posing as his mother, Afagh assures the bride's family that Adel is reliable, but his criminal record closes most doors in his attempts to secure a legitimate career path. Trapped in a love triangle and in the limbo of a double life, can Adel ever achieve the better future for which he is striving ?
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsLioPascale SalkinDelphine SeyrigEmployees and clients of a commercial gallery only live for love; they dream it, proclaim it, sing it and dance it. Experience the encounters, reunions, passions and disappointments of a malicious chorus of girls and a group of idle boys.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsGuilaine LondezThomas LangmannFrançois NégretJack and Julie live in a bare flat in Paris. At night, Jack drives a taxi while Julie wanders around the city, and in the day they make love. One day Julie meets Joseph, the daytime driver of the taxi, and soon Julie is spending her nights with Joseph and her days with Jack.
- DirectorMarleen GorrisStarsEdda BarendsNelly FrijdaHenriëtte TolWhen three women with no previous acquaintance kill a male shopkeeper in the middle of the day, the female psychiatrist assigned to the case sets out to understand why.
- DirectorTsitsi DangarembgaStarsRachel BednarFiona BellFidelis ChezaTwo teens, Tamari and Itai, are impoverished following the death of their parents when their uncle takes their plow which they need to feed themselves. While their preoccupied neighbors in the village ignore them, Itai leaves for Harare and Tamari stays behind to care for their younger brother and sister. Finally, some of the neighbors notice and come together to support the children.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsGünter ReichLouis DevosEva CsapoIn expressive, melodic tones, the fraternal pair debate God's true message and intent for His creations, a conflict that leads their followers - in extravagantly choreographed song and dance - towards chaos and sin.
- DirectorHeddy HonigmannA documentary on Brazil's relationship with the poetry of Carlos Drummond de Andrade, and to their own sexuality.
- DirectorDorota KedzierzawskaStarsKarolina OstroznaKatarzyna SzczepanikMalgorzata HajewskaA thin child of about 10, nicknamed "Crow" because she mimics the bird, has no friends and rejects a teacher's hug. At home, she is left on her own, her mom locks her out while entertaining a lover or is asleep. One morning, Crow sees a chubby, cherubic child hugged by both parents as the father leaves for work. When the toddler is left alone, Crow lifts her through the fence and kidnaps her. That day, Crow tries to mother the child, alternately playing with and scolding her, taking her to the beach, leaving shore in a boat, pushing her into the sea in a pique, and eventually carrying the sleeping child back home. Crow returns to her own mother and asks for affection.
- 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.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsabelle HuppertChristopher LambertIsaach De BankoléAmidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- DirectorClio BarnardStarsManjinder VirkChristine BottomleyNatalie GavinPortrayal of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar.
- 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.
- DirectorSamira MakhmalbafStarsSaid MohamadiBehnaz JafariBahman GhobadiItinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?
- DirectorJana SevcikováAfter second world war the people from Ruthenia's Carpathian villages were promised a better life in Bohemia. Once settled down they felt like strangers at the new places, so memories and tales became very important reminding them of their old homes. One of these tales is about Jakub, a man who knew the bible by heart. This film follows his trace portraying the almost forgotten loss of those people who nowadays still feel without a home.
- DirectorTonia MarketakiStarsToula StathopoulouAnny LoulouStratis TsopanellisSet 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.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsPhilippe NoiretSilvia MonfortMarcel JouetFollow the story of a couple who goes to a small French fishing village to try to solve the problems of their deteriorating marriage.
- DirectorLiv UllmannStarsLena EndreErland JosephsonKrister HenrikssonAn imaginary woman recollects the painful experience of adultery to a storyteller.
- DirectorStella TheodorakiStarsIoanna TsirigouliMichail MarmarinosDimitris SiakarasThe dead end of a love triangle. A woman in love with two men, in a relationship where they can not touch each other and break their bonds.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsAischa BenteboucheKatherine BestFrançois BeukelaersThis is a making of a musical, with Chantal Ackerman behind and in front of the camera. It is mostly a collection of clips, talks, directions, and lectures, with the camera capturing the whole adventure.
- DirectorJane CampionGerard LeeStarsDavid BentonAnne BerrimanAlan BrownA collection of everyday awkward and embarrassing moments, each with an uneasy familiarity.
- DirectorKatherine GildayStarsRebecca JenkinsDocuments the contemporary obsession with an unrealistic body size and shape among North American women and the eating disorders it engenders.
- DirectorMarzieh MakhmalbafStarsFatemeh Cherag AkharHassan NebhanShahr Banou SisizadehA film comprised of three interconnected vignettes that depict women at three stages of life in Iran. The first part centers on a young girl on her ninth birthday who is told that she can no longer play with the boys she had been playing with only the day before because she is now a woman. Told from the perspective of a 9-year-old girl who does not feel like or know what the word "woman" refers to, we see how devastatingly this affects both the girl and the boy with whom she had been friends. The second part is about a young woman who decides to enter a bicycle race against her husband's wishes. As first, the husband and then increasing numbers of men from her village ride beside her on horseback to convince her to return home. The race begins to symbolize a freedom that she desperately wants from the limitations that have been placed on her. Finally, the third part shows us an old woman who has come into some money and is now free to do what she wants. The way she chooses to use this freedom, however, makes one wonder just how free she is.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsAurore ClémentHelmut GriemMagali NoëlAnna, a detached and diffident director, arrives in Germany to show her latest film; she checks into a hotel, invites a stranger to her bed, and abruptly tells him to leave. He asks her to a birthday lunch with his mother and daughter; she goes. Afterward, in Cologne, she meets an old friend, a Polish Jew and war refugee. In Brussels, she spends the night at a hotel with her mother, whom she rarely sees. On the train, a stranger tells his story. Last, it's home to Paris, where her lover Daniel picks her up and they go to a hotel. Throughout, people make personal revelations to her, and Anna listens with little affect. Although it was 30 years ago, the war seems ever present.
- DirectorMaya DerenStarsRita ChristianiMaya DerenAnaïs NinAn experiment with editing techniques that distort space and time in order to further contextualize an image.
- DirectorMaya DerenStarsJohn CageMaya DerenAlexander HammidSilently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsBolek PolívkaMiroslav DonutilAnna PantuckovaA hillbilly inherits millions and goes to the city, leaving his village to live a rich man's life in post-communist Czechia.
- DirectorMaría Luisa BembergStarsSusú PecoraroImanol AriasHéctor AlterioIn 1840's Buenos Aires, Argentina, a beautiful young socialite named Camila falls in love with Ladislao, a Jesuit priest. After several failed attempts at fighting his own feelings, he ultimately succumbs to her. The two later escape to a far off, secluded village where they assume new identities as husband and wife and begin running a children's school. After several months of relative happiness, the couple's identity is discovered by a local priest. Under moralistic pressure from both Camila's family and the Catholic church the authorities apprehend the lovers, and imprison them for sacrilege.
- DirectorMaría Luisa BembergStarsAssumpta SernaDominique SandaHéctor AlterioThis fact-based film examines the life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna), a Roman Catholic nun from Mexico City who, in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, established herself as an important New World philosopher, poet, playwright and early feminist. When Sor Juana comes under the scrutiny of a vicious archbishop (Lautaro Murúa) for her unconventional ways, she must appeal to a powerful political connection -- the Viceroy's scholarly wife.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsDanièle HuilletBahgat ElnadiGérard SamaanA sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsStanislas MerharMarc BarbéAurora MarionThe tale of an Occidental merchant whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJeremy RennerAnthony MackieBrian GeraghtyDuring the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
- DirectorKira MuratovaStarsSergei PopovOlga AntonovaGalina ZakhurdaevaIn the old days it was called hypochrondria, or black melancholia. Now, apparently, it's termed the Asthenic Syndrome. Whatever it is, Nikolai, a teacher has got it, and it's not much fun.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGabrielle ShorneggGeraldine HaywoodMarian KnightThe awkwardness and confusion of burgeoning sexuality in teenage girls in a twisted and repressed suburban culture.
- DirectorDanièle HuilletJean-Marie StraubStarsGianni BuscarinoVittorio VigneriAngela NugaraA man returns to visit his native Sicily after living in New York for a long time. He learns about the Sicilian way of life from stylized conversations with an orange picker, his fellow train passengers, his mother, and a knife-sharpener.
- 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.
- DirectorEuzhan PalcyStarsGarry CadenatDarling LégitimusDouta SeckSet in 1931, Sugar Cane Alley paints a rich impasto of native life under French colonial rules, filtered through the coming-of-age of a bright, sweetly opportunistic boy.
- DirectorIldikó EnyediStarsDorota SegdaOleg YankovskiyPaulus MankerTwo 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.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsStanislas MerharSylvie TestudOlivia BonamyAn adaptation of Proust's "La Prisoniere" (book five of "Remembrance of Things Past"). Set in Paris, France, it is a serious tale of a tragic and dysfunctional love.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.