Drama
Click for Instant Only
Marie Antoinette
rating:3.1

Marie Antoinette

2006Runtime:0 minutes
Sofia Coppola directs a stylized portrait of Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst), the naive Austrian princess who married Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) to become queen of France at age 19. The film explores the effects of a luxurious yet terribly confining lifestyle on the young queen. Her resulting youthful indiscretion and frivolity ultimately led to her undoing. A Cannes Golden Palm nominee, this biopic also took Oscar honors for costume design.

Directed by:

  • Sofia Coppola
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Death Defying Acts
    rating:3.1

    Death Defying Acts

    2007Runtime:0 minutes
    When legendary escape artist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) offers a handsome reward to anyone who can contact his dead mother beyond the grave, a sultry Scottish psychic and con artist (Catherine Zeta-Jones) takes up the challenge. But when the two fall in love, the boundaries between truth and deception become blurred. Directed by Gillian Armstrong, this entertaining period costume drama co-stars Saoirse Ronan and Timothy Spall.

    Directed by:

  • Gillian Armstrong
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    15 Park Avenue
    rating:3.1

    15 Park Avenue

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    Anjali (Shabana Azmi), a successful type-A, has spent her life protecting her schizophrenic sister, Mithi (Konkona Sen Sharma), by any means necessary -- even going so far as to discourage Jojo (Rahul Bose) from marrying her. So when the siblings bump into Jojo and his new wife while on holiday, Anjali expects the encounter to be awkward. She needn't worry, though, because Mithi is already happily married to someone else, in her mind.

    Directed by:

  • Aparna Sen
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Madeinusa
    rating:3.1

    Madeinusa

    2006Runtime:0 minutes
    As her Peruvian village prepares to celebrate the Holy Day festival of Sin -- a raucous fiesta just days before Easter Sunday -- Madeinusa (Magaly Solier) finds an unlikely suitor in a traveling laborer (Carlos J. de la Torre) who's been arrested by her mayor father (Juan Ubaldo Huamàn). Meanwhile, amid the bubbling chaos, young Madeinusa struggles to find a sense of identity under a cloud of abuse in this Spanish-language drama.

    Directed by:

  • Claudia Llosa
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Unloved
    rating:3.1

    The Unloved

    2009Runtime:0 minutes
    Abused by her father, Lucy is removed by social services and placed in a group children's home. While intended to help Lucy, the move inflicts a new brand of torture on the young girl: bullies, capricious rules and loneliness.

    Directed by:

  • Samantha Morton
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Of Love and Shadows
    rating:3.1

    Of Love and Shadows

    1994Runtime:0 minutes
    Irene (Jennifer Connelly), a magazine editor who's lived a sheltered existence under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1973 Chile, gradually awakens to the political tumult when handsome photographer Francisco (Antonio Banderas) enters her life and opens her eyes to the brutal atrocities being committed by the state. Betty Kaplan directs this romantic drama based on a novel by Isabel Allende.

    Directed by:

  • Betty Kaplan
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    A French Gigolo
    rating:3.1

    A French Gigolo

    2008Runtime:0 minutes
    Josiane Balasko's part farce, part drama centers on Judith (Nathalie Baye), an entrepreneur in her 50s who gets caught in a tangle of emotions with sensitive, money-strapped prostitute Patrick (Eric Caravaca) and his cute wife, Fanny (Isabelle Carré). While financially supporting relatives in the Paris projects, Patrick begins to despair until Fanny, who has learned of her husband's secret profession, drives him back to Judith's arms and money.

    Directed by:

  • Josiane Balasko
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Don't Tell
    rating:3.1

    Don't Tell

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    As her due date approaches, pregnant Sabina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is suddenly plagued by disturbing memories of childhood abuse. Ashamed, she keeps her past a secret from her boyfriend, traveling to America to seek answers from her brother, Daniele (Luigi Lo Cascio). But instead of reassurance, she finds her sibling also scarred by the trauma inflicted by their father. Cristina Comencini directs this Oscar-nominated drama.

    Directed by:

  • Cristina Comencini
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Venus Beauty Institute
    rating:3.1

    Venus Beauty Institute

    1999Runtime:0 minutes
    Unable to find long-term romance, aging hair stylist Angèle (Nathalie Baye) settles for the salon's distaff camaraderie and for living by proxy through her co-workers. But her life gets upended when shaggy-haired stud Antoine (Samuel Le Bihan) abruptly declares his love for her. The guarded Angèle faces a choice between taking a chance on intimacy and remaining inside her protective shell. Audrey Tautou co-stars as Angèle's salon co-worker.

    Directed by:

  • Tonie Marshall
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    The Ballad of Jack and Rose
    rating:3.1

    The Ballad of Jack and Rose

    2005Runtime:0 minutes
    Writer-director Rebecca Miller elicits an astounding performance from husband Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Jack, a father intent on raising his daughter (Camilla Belle) as an environmentally responsible adult. His complete devotion to the cause moves him to the remotest of islands, where he feels he'll be able to lead a more compassionate, "green" life. No matter how he tries, however, he can't seem to run from the demands of human interaction.

    Directed by:

  • Rebecca Miller
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Rosalinda
    rating:3.1

    Rosalinda

    1999Runtime:0 minutes
    Mexican songstress Thalia takes the title role in this popular telenovela, playing a flower shop girl who dreams of becoming a singer. When she meets the handsome Franciso Jose (Fernando Carrillo) on a routine delivery, she finally has someone to love -- and, as luck would have it, someone to write and play songs for her. But soon after they wed, Rosalinda uncovers some long-buried secrets about her family, jeopardizing the couple's relationship.

    Directed by:

  • Beatriz Sheridan
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Gas Food Lodging
    rating:3.1

    Gas Food Lodging

    1992Runtime:0 minutes
    A hardworking, blue-collar mother (Brooke Adams) and her two diametrically opposed daughters, Shade (Fairuza Balk) and Trudi (Ione Skye), try to live a normal life in their whistle-stop desert town in New Mexico. Melancholy Shade escapes via the romantic melodramas at the local Mexican cinema, while Trudi throws herself into meaningless sexual relationships with men. Directed by indie filmmaker Allison Anders.

    Directed by:

  • Allison Anders
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Amelia
    rating:3.1

    Amelia

    2009Runtime:0 minutes
    Hilary Swank stars as famed aviator Amelia Earhart in this dramatic biopic that follows the daring pilot's rise from obscurity in Kansas to her troubled marriage to businessman George Putnam (Richard Gere), who recruited her for her first transatlantic flight. Mira Nair (The Namesake, Vanity Fair) directs; Ewan McGregor, Joe Anderson, Christopher Eccleston and Mia Wasikowska co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Mira Nair
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Total Eclipse
    rating:3.1

    Total Eclipse

    1995Runtime:0 minutes
    Leonardo DiCaprio plays the prodigious 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this captivating historical drama. Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), an older and more traditional writer, finds himself infatuated with the young Rimbaud. That make him unable to keep the peace with his wife (Romane Bohringer). A love/hate relationship develops between the two men as they forge the rough waters of creative expression.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    200 Cigarettes
    rating:3.1

    200 Cigarettes

    1999Runtime:0 minutes
    Set on the last day of 1981, 200 Cigarettes is a manic romantic comedy that follows a group of loquacious, chain-smoking twentysomethings seeking love and happiness as they converge for a blowout party in New York City's East Village. A cab driver (Dave Chappelle) provides the link between the disparate groups who seek to overcome personal drama to avoid being alone when the clock strikes midnight.

    Directed by:

  • Risa Bramon Garcia
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    Vital Signs
    rating:3.1

    Vital Signs

    1990Runtime:0 minutes
    A group of medical students experience life's ups and downs while struggling to complete their residencies in this drama. Guided by head surgeon Dr. David Redding (Jimmy Smits), the group includes married student Kenny (Jack Gwaltney) and doctor's son Michael (Adrian Pasdar), both of whom compete for the attention of their beautiful colleague Gena (Diane Lane). Meanwhile, students Bobby and Suzanne become more than merely study buddies.

    Directed by:

  • Marisa Silver
  • rating:3.1 3.1 Average Rating

    Buy On Amazon
    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

    Buy 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