Empowering the Silver Screen: The Triumph of Female Directors

As long as there are movies, there are women involved in filmmaking. When the Lumière Brothers created the world's first motion picture, Alice Guy ventured into this new art form and she was the first director to film a narrative story.

(The Photo of Alice Guy)

However, for female professionals, especially female directors, the film industry can be a challenging field to enter. Hollywood mostly offered big-budget and commercial films to male directors. In contrast, there is a market conclusion that women enjoy watching movies. Multiple reports on the film industry suggest that women are increasingly becoming the primary audience for movies.

The successes of movies like Hi Mom（a 2021 Chinese comedy film written, directed by and starring Jia Ling，achieving a remarkable box office success with 850 million USD in revenue）and Barbie are considered proof that female audiences, as the main viewers. Therefore, this eagerly anticipates more works from female directors, with their unique cinematic perspectives enriching the big screen.

(Jia Ling and Hi Mom)

In light of this, we have compiled a list of excellent films directed by women. This list celebrates the wide-ranging and diverse work created by women behind the scenes, reminding us that female directors have left their mark on the path of cinematic development.

1. Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire

In the past 13 years, Céline Sciamma has become one of the most influential directors in the French. She excels at exploring coming-of-age drama from new angles and assessing gender perceptions and rebellious instincts. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which is a poetic 18th-century film, depicts a young female artist, Marianne, who is assigned to paint a portrait of the wealthy heiress Héloïse during her stay on a remote island. The scenery gradually changes into a picturesque texture, highlighting the connection that forms between two women while revealing how this environment breaks the boundaries of their gender and love.

(Portrait of a Lady on Fire)

2. Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman

Emerald Fennell made and directed the Promising Young Woman, after gaining recognition for her acting in Oscar-nominated films like The Danish Girl and being nominated for an Emmy as a writer for the hit series Killing Eve. Promising Young Woman is a non-conventional female revenge film that doesn't follow the typical violent and bloody path. The film employs a romantic and dreamy candy-colored palette to portray the weighty issues faced by women, creating a contrast between the film's themes and visual presentation. The film's ironic title reminds us that women's challenges are not limited by nationality or ethnicity: if we are always thinking about the promising future of those who commit sexual assault, where can the promising young women go?

(Promising Young Woman)

3. Jennifer Lee’s Frozen

Jennifer Lee is the Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, making her one of the most influential women in the animation world. She began her journey with Wreck-It Ralph(2012) and gained recognition when Frozen (2013) hit theaters. Frozen marked a turning point for Disney, because it was the most feminist musical fairy tale to date. Frozen told the story of two royal sisters, Elsa and Anna of Arendelle. They faced a frozen kingdom due to Elsa's magical ice powers so Anna embarked on a journey with friends to find Elsa and restore summer. With the completion of Frozen 2 (2019), Lee's efforts in reshaping the film are evident, making the narrative more inclusive and diverse.

(Jennifer and Frozon)

4. Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is Eliza Hittman's third feature film and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2020. Eliza Hittman has directed several films focusing on teenagers in American suburbs, and in her movies, the teenage characters are different from typical impressions of American teenagers. The story of Never Rarely Sometimes talks about a Pennsylvania teen who accidentally gets pregnant and, due to restrictive local abortion laws, embarks on a journey with her cousin to New York. The film gently avoids lecturing, accusation, and criticism, instead it provides a moderate perspective on the theme of women's control over their own bodies.

(Eliza Hittman is on the Set. )

5. Regina King's One Night in Miami

Academy Award-winning actress Regina King, known for her work in films and television series, stepped into directing with One Night in Miami. As a black female director, Regina King focuses on racial equality issues. The film fictionalized a pivotal, mysterious night when four real-life black icons came together. After a night of discussions, arguments, and profound thoughts, one of them had a spiritual transformation, another wrote a seminal work for the Black Civil Rights movement, and a third was shot dead within a year. The majority of the latter part of the film takes place in a hotel room. In the moive, Regina talks about the topic of the dangers of exposing one's private talk and thought in the public arena.

(Regina and One Night in Miami )

6. Greta Gerwig's The Little Women

Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation breathes new life into the timeless tale of The Little Women. The film tells the story of the March family's home life and the growing-up journey of the four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. It captures their evolution from childhood to adulthood, showcasing the ups and downs they experience. When Jo's writing and life hit a low point, she compromised her dreams, feeling that she should accept Laurie's proposal despite her lack of romantic feelings for him. Gerwig's exceptional storytelling ability seamlessly transitions between different periods, locations, and between the sisters and their varying temperaments.

(Greta and the Actresses of The Little Woman)

In the past, a female director arriving on a film would be considered as an assistant or a makeup artist, with no one realizing that she could be the director. However, being a female director is just one form of professional womanhood. We are increasingly embracing the idea that women can be programmers, firefighters, pilots, and, of course, directors.

We not only need women's "voices," but also the visual power that comes from women - an art form that is perhaps the most vibrant expression of female strength and has the potential to touch and influence more people.

Have you heard the name of any female director before?

• 0%Never
• 0%Heard of a few
• 0%Heard of many

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