Drama
First Among Equals
rating:3.2.png

First Among Equals

1986
Adapted from Jeffrey Archer's best-selling novel, this BAFTA-nominated miniseries about four British politicians goes behind the closed doors of Parliament, where unscrupulous behavior and political corruption abound.

Directed by:

  • John Gorrie
  • Brian Mills
  • Sarah Harding
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Loser
    rating:3.2.png

    Loser

    2000
    For Paul Tannek (Jason Biggs), life couldn't get much worse: His college roommates hate him, the girl he likes (Mena Suvari) can't stand him and everyone on campus thinks he's a dork. But things improve when Paul moves into a nearby veterinary hospital. He now has access to the best party locale -- and that could make his dream girl sit up and take notice.

    Directed by:

  • Amy Heckerling
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Lady Chatterley: Uncut Special Edition
    rating:3.2.png

    Lady Chatterley: Uncut Special Edition

    2006
    When her husband (Hippolyte Girardot) is paralyzed in World War I, frustration drives Lady Chatterley (Marina Hands) into an affair with a gamekeeper (Jean-Louis Coullo'ch). She finds in her new lover not only physical passion but also an inner kindness, both of which her husband can no longer provide. Director Pascale Ferran's uncut edition includes almost an hour of additional footage.

    Directed by:

  • Pascale Ferran
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Autumn in New York
    rating:3.2.png

    Autumn in New York

    2000
    Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a middle-aged playboy working the Big Apple who experiences true love for the first time when he falls under the spell of Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder), a young, vibrant woman harboring a tragic secret. Autumn is the season for this genuine tearjerker directed by actress Joan Chen (The Last Emperor), which features able supporting performances from Anthony LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch and Sherry Stringfield.

    Directed by:

  • Joan Chen
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Portrait of a Lady
    rating:3.2.png

    The Portrait of a Lady

    1996
    Jane Campion's adaptation of Henry James's novel stars Nicole Kidman as Isabel Archer, an American heiress visiting relatives in 1872 England who falls prey to the manipulations of a scheming friend (Barbara Hershey, in an Oscar-nominated performance), who arranges her betrothal to an utter scoundrel (John Malkovich). Ironically, Archer's poor choice ultimately leads to discovery of her true self -- and her one true love.

    Directed by:

  • Jane Campion
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    A Plumm Summer
    rating:3.2.png

    A Plumm Summer

    2007
    Based on a true story, this family film set in late-1960s Montana tells the tale of the Plumm boys (Owen Pearce and Chris Massoglia), two young brothers from a hardscrabble background who set out to solve the kidnapping of their favorite TV puppet, Froggy Doo. Though the intriguing FBI-caliber search for a missing marionette is great fodder for adventure, equally compelling is the theme of repairing familial rifts as a part of coming of age.

    Directed by:

  • Caroline Zelder
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Mrs. Dalloway
    rating:3.2.png

    Mrs. Dalloway

    1997
    In 1923, middle-aged Clarissa Dalloway (Vanessa Redgrave) prepares for a party, and as she does, she reflects on the events that have shaped her life. A young Clarissa (Natascha McElhone) makes her choice between two men, the steadfast Richard Dalloway (John Standing) and sparkling Peter Walsh (Michael Kitchen). Did Clarissa choose wisely? From the director of the Academy Award-winning Antonia's Line and adapted from the novel by Virginia Woolf.

    Directed by:

  • Marleen Gorris
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Helen
    rating:3.2.png

    Helen

    2009
    Ashley Judd stars as Helen, an adored wife, mother and successful music professor who also struggles to mask her debilitating depression until a breakdown lands her in the hospital. But this apparent setback offers Helen a new perspective on life and her condition in the form of Mathilda (Lauren Lee Smith), a fellow patient with whom Helen forms a potent bond. Sandra Nettelbeck directs this touching drama; Goran Visnjic and Alexia Fast co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Sandra Nettelbeck
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Wasted
    rating:3.2.png

    Wasted

    2009
    To feed their dangerous drug habits, troubled runaways Connor (Neil Leiper) and Suzanne (Emma Hartley-Miller) prostitute themselves on the streets of Glasgow. Madly in love, the volatile teens struggle to cope with countless ordeals in an unforgiving environment. An unflinching look at Scotland's dark underbelly, this gritty yet tender drama also stars Kate Dickie, Paul Thomas Hickey and David Hayman.

    Directed by:

  • Caroline Paterson
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    High Art
    rating:3.2.png

    High Art

    1998
    Magazine editor Syd (Radha Mitchell) is stuck in a dreary relationship with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann) when she befriends her upstairs neighbor Lucy (Ally Sheedy), a well-known photographer whose live-in actress girlfriend (Patricia Clarkson) is struggling with a drug addiction. Lucy fascinates Syd, and the pair hit it off. But when Syd calls on Lucy to do an assignment for the magazine, their friendship soon grows into something much more.

    Directed by:

  • Lisa Cholodenko
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Lost in Translation
    rating:3.2.png

    Lost in Translation

    2003
    Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

    Directed by:

  • Sofia Coppola
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Unstrung Heroes
    rating:3.2.png

    Unstrung Heroes

    1995
    Steven Lidz (Nathan Watt) is 12 years old, confused and angry. Overwhelmed by life with an ailing mother (Andie MacDowell) and an emotionally distant father (John Turturro), Steven runs off to live with his two eccentric uncles (Michael Richards and Maury Chaykin). There, he finds a measure of solace in his uncles' strange and endearing idiosyncrasies -- and makes the transition from boyhood innocence to a young man's understanding of life.

    Directed by:

  • Diane Keaton
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Way We Are
    rating:3.2.png

    The Way We Are

    2008
    In the Tin Shui Wai area of Hong Kong, single mom Kwan (Hee Ching Paw), her well-behaved teenage son Ka On Cheung (Chun-lung Leung) and their elderly neighbor Granny (Lai-wun Chan) find contentment in their lives despite their meager surroundings. Director Ann Hui's upbeat slice-of-life drama upends many stereotypes about life in the crime-ridden city. The film scored four Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Actress and Best Director.

    Directed by:

  • Ann Hui
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Vanished Empire
    rating:3.2.png

    The Vanished Empire

    2008
    Noted Russian director Karen Shakhnazarov offers this lyrical drama that follows rebellious 1970s-era Soviet university student Sergei (Aleksandr Lyapin), who literally trades his family's intellectual and ideological heritage for black-market loot from the West. But as Sergei loses himself in American clothes, music and ideas, he may also lose his beautiful lover, Lyuda (Lidiya Milyuzina), to his best comrade, Stepan (Yegor Baranovsky).

    Directed by:

  • Karen Shakhnazarov
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Grosse Pointe: The Complete Series
    rating:3.2.png

    Grosse Pointe: The Complete Series

    2000
    From the creator of "Beverly Hills, 90210" comes this satire that goes behind the scenes of a fictional teen soap opera called "Grosse Pointe." And while the zip code might be different, this sharp comedy features plenty of familiar characters, including a backstabbing prima donna, a studly surfer dude and a heartthrob with a receding hairline. With a cast like this, the offscreen melodrama rivals the intrigue played out in front of the cameras.

    Directed by:

  • Allison Anders
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Cater Street Hangman
    rating:3.2.png

    The Cater Street Hangman

    1998
    Inspector Pitt (Eoin McCarthy), a working-class police detective in Victorian London, investigates a series of murders of young girls. The only thing the victims share are recent visits to the same vicarage in a wealthy neighborhood. With the help of headstrong, aristocratic Charlotte Ellison (Keeley Hawes), Pitt races to find the culprit before another girl is killed. To his surprise, he becomes the object of Ellison's affection along the way.

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Hellings
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Now and Then
    rating:3.8.png

    Now and Then

    1995
    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.png 3.8 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    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   
    We periodically update our movie database by adding new female directors and their movies. If you would like to receive notice of these new additions when they happen, please email us at:
    frances 'at' femaledirectors.com