26 Female-Directed Movies You Must Watch
Table of Contents
Despite representing 51% of the Brazilian population, women have little representation in Brazilian audiovisual – in the world too. According to research carried out by the National Film Agency – ANCINE, 2016, the participation of women in the functions of direction and photography is small and that of black women is even smaller.
Therefore, exalting works made by women is a way of bringing to view the great work they do. Inspired by the selection made by students from the Cinestesia Center at ESPM and by the cinema and audiovisual teacher, hadija sloop, we separate this list with 26 films directed by women to watch in the comfort of your own home and from several different platforms. See below!
Disney +
queen of katwe
Direction of: Mira Nair – USA – 2016
In Queen of Katwe, Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga isn't following anyone. Autodesk_new) is a young woman from Uganda who does everything she can to achieve her goal of becoming one of the best chess players in the world. Orphaned by her father and living in a very poor region, Mutesi was forced to drop out of school due to lack of money, but now she is determined to face all obstacles to make her dream come true.
balloon play
Love, Plastic And Noise
Direction of: Renata Pinheiro – Brazil 2013
Shelley (Nash Laila) is a young dancer who has the big dream of becoming a singer of Brega (a popular musical style from the Brazilian northeast). she enters the show business in search of fame and fortune, but, inserted in a world where everything is disposable, including love and human relationships, she will find it difficult to achieve fame. Following in Jaqueline's footsteps (Maeve Jinkings), her bandmate and inspirational muse, she aims to become a great singer of cheesy music.
The Last Abolition
Direction of: Alice Gomes – Brazil – 2018
A detailed retrospective of an emblematic moment in the history of Brazil, the abolition of slavery, presented from another perspective. Contrary to what was preached by textbooks and other strands of official history for a long time, it was not merely the signing of the Princesa isabel in the Golden Law on May 13, 1888 that freed the slaves, nor was such freedom a gift or a step towards the mythological racial democracy.
My Life on Mars
Direction of: Suzana Garcia – Brazil 2018
Fernanda (Monica Martelli) is married to Tom (Marcos palmeira), with whom he has a five-year-old daughter, Joana (Marianna Santos). The couple is in the midst of wear and tear caused by living together for many years, which generates constant friction. Who helps her to overcome the crisis is her partner Aníbal (Paulo Gustavo), an inseparable partner during the arduous journey between saving her marriage or ending it.
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Wadjda's Dream
Direction of: Haifaa Al-Mansour – Germany and Saudi Arabia – 2012
Wadjda is ten years old, and lives in the suburbs of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. She is a stubborn and lively girl who likes to play with boys. One day, after a dispute with her friend Abdullah, she sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. Wadjda would like to buy the bicycle, to outrun his colleague in a race, but in the conservative society where they live, girls are not allowed to drive cars or bicycles. She then decides to do everything she can to get the money, alone.
Looke
sea of roses
DIRECTED BY: Ana Carolina – Brazil – 1977
Sergio (Hugo Carvana) and happiness (norma bengell) arrive at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, with their teenage daughter, Betinha (Cristina Pereira), discussing the relationship. A fight that culminates in the wife beating her husband with a razor. Believing her husband to be dead, she flees with Betinha back to São Paulo. A journey that becomes a game of manipulation and violence.
MUBI
Farewell Love
DIRECTED BY: Ekwa Msangi – Angola and USA – 2020
In Farewell Amor, it's been 17 years since Walter (Don't Stay Alive) was forced to leave his family in Angola. Now he is looking for his wife Esther (Zainab Yes), and her daughter Sylvia (Jayme Lawson) at the airport to take them to his one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. Together, they retell each other through their newfound love of dance.
My Body Is Political
DIRECTED BY: Alice Riff – Brazil – 2017
Experienced day-to-day alongside various activists LGBT residents of the outskirts of São Paulo, the documentary provides an overview of the social context in which the characters are inserted and how their performance acts on the streets. In addition, it raises questions about the trans population in Brazil and its political disputes.
pendulum
DIRECTED BY: Julia Murat – Brazil – 2017
A couple consisting of a sculptor and a dancer share their empty apartment with masking tape to mark their respective workspaces. This division will eventually affect the relationship. Little by little, the works of the young artists begin to mix and inspire each other.
Netflix
Lost paradise
Directed by: Monique Gardenberg – Brazil – 2018
Paraíso Perdido is a nightclub managed by José (Erasmus Carlos) and moved by musical performances by his heirs. Police officer Odair (Lee Taylor) gets closer to the family when he is hired to guard the young talent Imá (jaloo), José's grandson and frequent target of homophobes, and little by little the bond between the agent and the clan of romantic artists becomes stronger and stronger.
Atlantic
DIRECTED BY: Mati Diop – Senegal, France and Belgium – 2019
Ada is a 17 year old girl in love with souleimane, a young bricklayer who is working on the construction of a futuristic building by the sea in the suburb of Dakar, at Senegal. The only problem is that she was promised to another man. When, one night, the workers disappear at sea, their spirits return possessing the bodies of their girlfriends to seek justice.
The City where I grow old
DIRECTED BY: Marília Rocha – Brazil and Portugal – 2017
A young Portuguese girl who lives in Brazil welcomes a friend to her house with whom she no longer had contact. A deep connection emerges between them: while one deals with the irremediable homesickness, the other lives an adventure in a new country.
the fever
Directed by: Maya Da-Rin – Brazil – 2019
Justin, 45 years old, is a security guard at the port of Manaus, Amazonas. As his daughter prepares to study medicine in Brasília, Justino is gripped by a mysterious fever.
Cordial Animal
DIRECTED BY: Gabriela Amaral Almeida – Brazil – 2017
Inácio owns a middle-class restaurant, which he manages with an iron fist. Such an attitude generates friction with the employees, especially with the cook. djair. When the establishment is robbed by Magno e Nuno, Ignatius and the waitress Sara they need to find ways to control the situation and deal with the customers who are still in the house: the lonely Amadeu and the wealthy couple Bruno and Verônica.
The Voice of Silence
DIRECTED BY: Naoko Yamada – Japan – 2016
Nishimiya Shoko is an elementary school student who is tired of being bullied for being hard of hearing. Transferred to a new school, she is constantly bullied by her classmates, especially by the young Ishida Shouya. After she again has to change schools because of him, Shouya is ostracized and friendless. Later, he will try to get redemption.
Crip Camp: Revolution for Inclusion
Directed by: Nicole Newnham and James Lebrechet – USA – 2020
in the plot of crypt camp, no one at Camp Jened could have imagined that those summers together in the forest would be the start of a revolution. At the end of Woodstock Road, the Camp Jened it was a camp for handicapped teenagers. This group of campers turned activists shaped the future of the disability rights movement and changed accessibility legislation for all.
Elena
DIRECTED BY: Petra Costa – Brazil – 2012
When traveling to New York, Elena follows her dream of becoming a movie actress and leaves in Brazil a childhood lived in hiding, due to the military dictatorship implanted in the country, and also her younger sister, Petra, only seven years old. Two decades later, Petra, already an actress, leaves for New York in search of her sister. In search of her Petra only has a few clues, such as letters, diaries and home movies. She ends up walking in her sister's footsteps until she finds her in an unexpected place.
Democracy in Vertigo
DIRECTED BY: Petra Costa – Brazil – 2019
Documentary about the impeachment process of the former president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, which was considered one of the reflections of political polarization and the rise of the extreme right to power. The film features internal and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the ABC Metalworkers' Union and Palácio da Alvorada, while the vote for Dilma's fall was taking place.
The Deaths of Dick Johnson
DIRECTED BY: Kristen Johnson – USA – 2020
Em Dick johnson is dead, director Kirsten Johnson searches for a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing the magic of cinema and the dark humor of her family, she commemorates Dr. Dick Johnson enacting fantasies of death and beyond. Together, father and daughter face the great inevitability that awaits us.
Like our parents
DIRECTED BY: Laís Bodanzky – Brazil – 2017
Pink is a woman who strives for perfection as a professional, mother, daughter, wife and lover. The daughter of intellectuals and the mother of two pre-teen girls, she finds herself pressured by the two generations who demand that she be engaged, modern and ubiquitous.
Prime Video
Adam
DIRECTED BY: Maryam Touzani – Morocco – 2019
Abla is a widowed woman and mother of a ten-year-old girl. Struggling to survive and secure a good future for her daughter, she starts a business selling Moroccan bread and sweets. When a young pregnant woman shows up on her doorstep seeking refuge, she is forced to rethink her pragmatic style of motherhood and her life is completely changed.
Coffee With Cinnamon
DIRECTED BY: Glenda Nicácio and Ary Rosa – Brazil – 2017
After losing her son, Margarida (Valdinéia Soriano) lives isolated from society. She separates from her husband Paulo and loses contact with friends and people of her own. One day, Violet (Aline Brunne) knocks on your door. She is a former student of Margarida's, who takes on the mission of giving back a little light to that person who had been important to her in her youth.
One Child Nation
DIRECTED BY: Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang – China – 2019
The documentary One Child Nation follows an investigation into China's one-child policy that has shaped the lives of thousands of people. Interviewing victims and instigators of violent acts against families, the director nanfu wang confronts the reality that has generated countless abandoned children in the country, especially females.
Bad hair
DIRECTED BY: Mariana Rondón – Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Germany – 2013
Junior (Samuel Lange Zambrano), a nine-year-old boy, dreams of straightening his hair to look more like his fanciful image of a long-haired singer. His mother Martha (Samantha Castillo) struggles to support the family after her husband's death and, at the same time, tries to avoid her son's different ways.
taste of life
DIRECTED BY: Naomi Kawase – Germany, France and Japan – 2016
will sit (Nagase Masatoshi) runs a small bakery that serves dorayakis – cakes filled with sweet red bean paste. When an old lady, Tokue (Kirin Kiki), offers to help in the kitchen, he reluctantly accepts. But Tokue proves to have magic on his hands when it comes to making "AN". Thanks to her secret recipe, the small business soon blossoms, and over time, Sentaro and Tokue open their hearts, revealing old wounds.
Telecine
Daughters of the Sun
DIRECTED BY: Eva Husson – Belgium, France, Georgia and Switzerland – 2018
Springtime She is the commander of the Daughters of the Sun, a battalion made up only of Kurdish women that acts offensively in the country's war. She and her soldiers are about to enter the city of Gordyene, where Bahar was once captured in the past. Mathilde is a French journalist who is accompanying the battalion during the attack. The meeting between the two women, within the chaotic scenario that surround them, changes their lives permanently.
See also:
Did you like this list? Comment here on other films directed by women and let's praise even more the incredible work of these professionals. And, of course, don't forget to check out a list of the most anticipated movies of 2022.
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