FemaleDirectors.com is a website for female-directed movies: you can find, play, and add them to your Netflix queue, and buy them on Amazon.com. Browse within our genres to find movies from the female perspective.
Independent
Monster
rating:3.5

Monster

2003Runtime:0 minutes
Charlize Theron took home the Best Actress Oscar for her electrifying performance as Aileen Wuornos, an emotionally scarred highway hooker who shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer. The film, based on a true story, centers more on the surrounding circumstances than on the murders. Christina Ricci co-stars as Aileen's self-centered lesbian lover, Selby Wall.

Directed by:

  • Patty Jenkins
    • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Chutney Popcorn
    rating:3.1

    Chutney Popcorn

    2000Runtime:0 minutes
    When Reena (Nisha Ganatra, in her feature film debut) learns that married sister Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey) can't have a baby, she decides to play surrogate mother, but Reena's girlfriend (Jill Hennessy) worries that three might be a crowd. Themes of love, family obligations and fertility swirl through the story as Sarita grapples with her failure to conceive, and Reena's mother remains in the dark about her daughter's same-sex relationship.

    Directed by:

  • Nisha Ganatra
    • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Grace of My Heart
    rating:3.3

    Grace of My Heart

    1996Runtime:0 minutes
    The daughter of a Philadelphia steel tycoon, Edna Buxton (Illeana Douglas) wants nothing more than to be a singer. She's thrilled when she wins a contract at a talent show and moves to New York City to record an album. But Edna soon finds her career -- and her relationships -- hitting one dead end after another. Matt Dillon and Eric Stoltz co-star in this poignant and intimate portrayal of the 1960s music scene.

    Directed by:

  • Allison Anders
    • rating:3.3 3.3 Average Rating

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    Maman Est Chez le Coiffeur
    rating:3.6

    Maman Est Chez le Coiffeur

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    Frustrated after yet another fight with her daughter, Élise (Marianne Fortier), Simone (Céline Bonnier) leaves her family to pursue a full-time career. Now, Élise must try to keep her physician father and her brothers in line as she fills in for her mother. But as she struggles to take care of everything her mother handled, she learns that sudden adulthood is not nearly as liberating as she'd expected. Léa Pool directs this drama set in the 1960s.

    Directed by:

  • Lea Pool
    • rating:3.6 3.6 Average Rating

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    Thrillers
    Blue Steel
    rating:3.1

    Blue Steel

    1990Runtime:0 minutes
    When psychotic Wall Street broker Eugene (Ron Silver) witnesses rookie cop Megan (Jamie Lee Curtis) gunning down an armed robber in a store, he becomes instantly obsessed with her. After lifting the robber's gun from the crime scene, Eugene carves Turner's name into the bullets and uses them in a series of murders. Soon, Turner is drawn into a deadly game of wits with a psychopath who's always a step ahead ... and much closer than she thinks!

    Directed by:

  • Kathryn Bigelow
    • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Surveillance
    rating:3.1

    Surveillance

    2007Runtime:0 minutes
    Revealing the stunning truth behind a horrific string of homicides near Santa Fe, a young girl (Ryan Simpkins), a police officer (Kent Harper) and a drug addict (Pell James) spill their wildly different eyewitness accounts to FBI agents Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman). Michael Ironside, Cheri Oteri and French Stewart co-star in this thriller from director Jennifer Chambers Lynch (Boxing Helena).

    Directed by:

  • Jennifer Chambers Lynch
    • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

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    Point Break
    rating:3.6

    Point Break

    1991Runtime:0 minutes
    To nab the culprits behind a string of bank heists, brash young G-man Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) poses as a wave rider to infiltrate a group of surfers who may have pulled off the robberies in this high-speed cult favorite. But after gaining the trust of the gang's charismatic leader (Patrick Swayze), Utah gets swept up in their heady lifestyle -- and is soon forced to decide where his loyalties lie. Gary Busey plays Utah's testy partner.

    Directed by:

  • Kathryn Bigelow
    • rating:3.6 3.6 Average Rating

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    Murderland
    rating:3.2

    Murderland

    2009Runtime:0 minutes
    Proving that murder is a multifaceted crime, this thriller about a slain prostitute (Lucy Cohu) is told from the viewpoints of three people: the woman's daughter, Carrie (Bel Powley); the investigating detective, Douglas Hain (Robbie Coltrane); and the victim herself. Alternating between the present and the past, the story scrutinizes Carrie's obsession with finding the killer and Hain's guilt over failing at his job.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Morshead
    • rating:3.2 3.2 Average Rating

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    Documentary
    Somewhere Between
    rating:4.0

    Somewhere Between

    2011Runtime:0 minutes
    Questions of race, identity and heritage are explored through the lives of young American women growing up as adoptees from China. These four distinct individuals reflect on their experiences as members of transracial families.

    Directed by:

  • Linda Goldstein Knowlton
    • rating:4.0 4.0 Average Rating

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    Detropia
    rating:3.5

    Detropia

    2012Runtime:0 minutes
    As the focus of this sobering documentary, the decline of Detroit also reflects the nation's larger failure to keep up in a modern global economy. The film also examines the efforts of its residents to maintain Detroit's vibrant cultural base.

    Directed by:

  • Heidi Ewing
    • rating:3.5 3.5 Average Rating

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    Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire
    rating:3.9

    Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

    2004Runtime:0 minutes
    As Europeans worked to extend their reach across the globe, the people of Japan were decidedly isolationist. This documentary spotlights 16th- and 17th-century Japan as seen through the eyes of the samurai, the artist, the foreigner and many others.

    Directed by:

  • Lyn Goldfarb
  • Deborah Ann DeSnoo
    • rating:3.9 3.9 Average Rating

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    After Innocence
    rating:3.7

    After Innocence

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    With the emergence of DNA evidence, the justice system is seeing a wave of reversed criminal convictions. But what happens to those who are set free, sometimes decades after being imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit? Jessica Sanders takes a close look at some of these people in this gripping documentary that's both a harsh criticism of the current judicial system and a touching look at those profoundly affected by it.

    Directed by:

  • Jessica Sanders
    • rating:3.7 3.7 Average Rating

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    Sci-Fi & Fantasy
    Hideaways
    rating:3.7

    Hideaways

    2011Runtime:0 minutes
    James is a troubled young man whose family possesses supernatural talents. After discovering the lethal nature of his own abilities, James isolates himself in the woods until he meets fearless Mae, a cancer patient who has escaped from a hospital.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.7 3.7 Average Rating

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    The Preacher's Wife
    rating:3.3

    The Preacher's Wife

    1996Runtime:0 minutes
    When God overhears a church preacher (Courtney B. Vance) despairing the potential loss of a youth center, he dispatches an angel (Denzel Washington) to help him out. Trouble is, the preacher isn't easily convinced that his guardian angel is the real thing. An inspired reworking of the uplifting 1940s movie The Bishop's Wife, The Preacher's Wife stars Washington and Whitney Houston at their dazzling best.

    Directed by:

  • Penny Marshall
    • rating:3.3 3.3 Average Rating

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    Twilight
    rating:3.6

    Twilight

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    When Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest to live with her father, she starts school and meets the reclusive Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward's repeated cautions, Bella can't help but fall in love with him, a fatal move that endangers her own life when a coven of bloodsuckers try to challenge the Cullen clan.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Hardwicke
    • rating:3.6 3.6 Average Rating

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    Three Wishes
    rating:3.4

    Three Wishes

    1995Runtime:0 minutes
    &NFb;&NFb_;A mysterious drifter (Patrick Swayze) and his dog move in with a struggling single mother (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) whose husband died in the Korean War. Does the stranger really have magical powers, or is he just a tall-tale spinner? Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl, Rambling Rose) directs this period romance with a touch of fantasy.

    Directed by:

  • Martha Coolidge
    • rating:3.4 3.4 Average Rating

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    Now and Then
    rating:3.8

    Now and Then

    1995Runtime:0 minutes
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
    • rating:3.8 3.8 Average Rating

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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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    frances 'at' femaledirectors.com