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For as long as there have been movies, there have been women making them. When the Lumière brothers were shocking audiences with their unbelievable depiction of a running train, Alice Guy-Blaché was pioneering her own techniques in the brand-new artform. When D.W. Griffith was pioneering advances in the art, and building his own studio to make his work, Lois Weber was doing, well, the exact same thing. When Hollywood was deep in its Golden Age, Dorothy Arzner, Dorothy Davenport, Tressie Souders, and many more women were right there, making their own films. It’s not even a trend that really abated, because it was never a trend. For so long, women being filmmakers was simply part of the norm.
And yet around the time of the advent of sound cinema, female participation in filmmaking began to drop. And the numbers have dipped immeasurably in recent decades. The latest Celluloid Ceiling report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University reveals that the percentage of women working as directors on the top 250 grossing films declined from 11% in 2017 to 8% in 2018. The percentages of women directing films in the top 100 and 500 films declined as well, with women only directing four of the top 100 films (a decline of four percentage points) and 15% of the top 500 (a decline of three percentage points). And despite highly acclaimed films released in 2018 by women such as Debra Granik, Chloe Zhao, Marielle Heller, Tamara Jenkins, Lucrecia Martel, and more, women were again completely left out of the Best Director nominees at the Academy Awards.
But the riches are there, and they are decades-deep. The IndieWire staff put together this list of the 100 All-Time Greatest Films Directed by Women to celebrate the work of creators who have been making their mark on cinematic culture since it began. Our writers and editors suggested over 200 titles and then voted on a list of finalists to determine the ultimate ranking.
We hope it’s a list that captures the wide range and diversity of the work women create behind the camera, and a reminder that female directors have put their mark on every decade, genre, and kind of film, and will continue to do just that.
100. “American Psycho” (Mary Harron, 2000)
99. “Frozen” (Jennifer Lee & Chris Buck, 2013)
98. “I Am Not a Witch” (Rungano Nyoni, 2018)
97. “They” (Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, 2017)
96. “The Secret Garden” (Agnieszka Holland, 1993)
95. “Rambling Rose” (Martha Coolidge, 1991)
94. “Monsoon Wedding” (Mira Nair, 2001)
93. “The Breadwinner” (Nora Twomey, 2017)
92. “Nitrate Kisses” (Barbara Hammer, 1992)
91. “Outrage” (Ida Lupino, 1950)
90. “35 Shots of Rum” (Claire Denis, 2008)
89. “Near Dark” (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)
88. “Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” (Alanis Obomsawin, 1993)
87. “The Souvenir” (Joanna Hogg, 2019)
86. “Gas Food Lodging” (Allison Anders, 1992)
85. “Something’s Gotta Give” (Nancy Meyers, 2003)
84. “One Way or Another” (Sara Gómez, 1974)
83. “Crossing Delancey” (Joan Micklin Silver, 1988)
82. “Appropriate Behavior” (Desiree Akhavan, 2014)
81. “After the Wedding” (Susanne Bier, 2006)
80. “Girlfriends” (Claudia Weill, 1978)
79. “Boys Don’t Cry” (Kimberly Pierce, 1999)
78. “The Connection” (Shirley Clarke, 1961)
77. “Enough Said” (Nicole Holofcener, 2013)
76. “Antonia’s Line” (Marleen Gorris, 1995)
75. “Thirteen” (Catherine Hardwick, 2003)
74. “High Art” (Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)
73. “Love & Basketball” (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2000)
72. “Orlando” (Sally Potter, 1992)
71. “Wendy and Lucy” (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
70. “Pariah” (Dee Rees, 2011)
69. “Portrait of Jason” (Shirley Clarke, 1967)
68. “Cameraperson” (Kirsten Johnson, 2016)
67. “Morvern Callar” (Lynne Ramsey, 2002)
66. “Girlfight” (Karyn Kusama, 2000)
65. “A New Leaf” (Elaine May, 1971)
64. “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Marielle Heller, 2018)
63. “Real Women Have Curves” (Patricia Cardoso, 2002)
62. “Bend It Like Beckham” (Gurinder Chadha, 2003)
61. “Reassemblage” (Trinh T. Minh-ha, 1983)
60. “Big” (Penny Marshall, 1988)
59. “My Brilliant Career” (Gillian Armstrong, 1979)
58. Zora Neale Hurston’s Early Ethnographic Films (1920s-30s)
57. “Little Women” (Gillian Armstrong, 1994)
56. “Girlhood” (Celine Sciama, 2014)
55. “You Were Never Really Here” (Lynne Ramsay, 2018)
54. “The Savages” (Tamara Jenkins, 2007)
53. “Paris Is Burning” (Jennie Livingston, 1990)
52. “Breathe” (Mélanie Laurent, 2014)
51. “Mabel’s Blunder” (Mabel Normand, 1914)
50. “Sink or Swim” (Su Friedrich, 1990)
49. “The Hurt Locker” (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
48. “The Decline of Western Civilization” (Penelope Spheeris, 1981)
47. “The House Is Black” (Forough Farrokhzad, 1963)
46. “Mikey and Nicky” (Elaine May, 1976)
45. “The Hitch-hiker” (Ida Lupino, 1953)
44. “Stories We Tell” (Sarah Polley, 2012)
43. “The Watermelon Woman” (Cheryl Dunye, 1996
42. “The Virgin Suicides” (Sofia Coppola, 1999)
41. “Whale Rider” (Niki Caro, 2003)
40. “Selma” (Ava DuVernay, 2014)
39. “Monster” (Patty Jenkins, 2003)
38. “Leave No Trace” (Debra Granik, 2018)
37. “Fat Girl” (Catherine Breillat, 2001)
36. “Sugar Cane Alley” (Euzhan Palcy, 1983)
35. “Desert Hearts” (Donna Deitch, 1985)
34. “News From Home” (Chantal Akerman, 1977)
33. “The Babadook” (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
32. “Point Break” (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)
31. “Europa Europa” (Agnieszka Holland, 1990)
30. “Eve’s Bayou” (Kasi Lemmons, 1997)
29. “Desperately Seeking Susan” (Susan Seidelman, 1985)
28. “The Headless Woman” (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
27. “Losing Ground” (Kathleen Collins, 1982)
26. “Le Bonheur” (Agnes Varda, 1965)
25. “Harlan County USA” (Barbara Kopple, 1976
24. “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
23. “Persepolis” (Marjane Satrapi, 2007)
22. “Suspense” (Lois Weber, 1913)
21. “Lost in Translation” (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
20. The Matrix (Lilly and Lana Wachowski, 1999)
19. “Wanda” (Barbara Loden, 1970)
18. “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” (Lotte Reiniger, 1926)
17. “Fish Tank” (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
16. “Zero Dark Thirty” (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
15. “Dance, Girl, Dance” (Dorothy Arzner, 1940)
14. “Yentl” (Barbra Streisand, 1983)
13. “Clueless” (Amy Heckerling, 1995)
12. “Winter’s Bone” (Debra Granik, 2010)
11. “The Rider” (Chloe Zhao, 2018)
10. “Daughters of the Dust” (Julie Dash, 1991)
9. “Seven Beauties” (Lina Wertmüller, 1976)
8. “Meshes of the Afternoon” (Maya Deren, 1943)
7. “Cléo from 5 to 7” (Agnes Varda, 1962)
6. “Lady Bird” (Greta Gerwig, 2017)
5. “Daisies” (Vera Chytilova, 1966)
4. “A League of Their Own” (Penny Marshall, 1992)
3. “The Piano” (Jane Campion, 1993)
2. “Beau Travail” (Claire Denis, 1999)
1. “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
Certainly not a perfect list, and I haven't seen every movie on this of course, but some notable omissions, still a very very solid list with some great picks and some titles to watch.
