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.
Documentary
The Cats of Mirikitani
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The Cats of Mirikitani

2006
Filmmaker Linda Hattendorf becomes an integral part of the action in this heartfelt documentary about her efforts to help aging Japanese-American artist Jimmy Mirikitani get off the streets of New York City and make peace with his complicated past. As she and Jimmy sift for long-lost relatives and even revisit the internment camp where he was forced to spend several years during World War II, Hattendorf hauls her camera along to capture every moment.

Directed by:

  • Linda Hattendorf
    • rating:4.1.png 4.1 Average Rating


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    Paris Is Burning
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    Paris Is Burning

    1990
    Penetrating the tight-knit community of minority drag queens living in New York City, Jennie Livingston's acclaimed documentary offers an early glimpse at the art of "voguing," the underground dance style later popularized by Madonna in her hit song. The film also explores issues such as racism, homophobia and AIDS, while offering a detailed examination of the intricate Ball culture, in which queens are judged for their style and expression.

    Directed by:

  • Jennie Livingston
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    The Fall of Fujimori
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    The Fall of Fujimori

    2006
    Ellen Perry's true-life political thriller documents the reign of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, a man who ran on a ticket to fight poverty but whose rule was ultimately marked by violence, corruption and controversy. With promises to restore stability and crush terrorist insurgents, Fujimori won popular support -- and the 1990 election -- but his administration eventually dissolved under the weight of political abuses and scandal.

    Directed by:

  • Ellen Perry
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Sister Helen
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    Sister Helen

    2002
    This award-winning documentary centers on Sister Helen Travis, an unconventional nun and recovering alcoholic who runs a halfway house in the Bronx, dispensing her unique form of tough love in a tireless effort to help recovering addicts.

    Directed by:

  • Rebecca Cammisa
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Romance
    The Luzhin Defence
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    The Luzhin Defence

    2001
    In Europe's heady days following World War I, grandmaster Alexander Luzhin (John Turturro) teeters on the brink of madness, consumed with the World Chess Championship -- and is also drawn to the radiant Natalia (Emily Watson) in this adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel. As the relationship between the tortured chess player and society beauty deepens, Luzhin's opponents set out to rattle his psyche and sabotage his ability to compete.

    Directed by:

  • Marleen Gorris
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    I Could Never Be Your Woman
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    I Could Never Be Your Woman

    2006
    Just as Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) strikes up a passionate romance with a handsome younger man (Paul Rudd), her daughter, Izzie (Saoirse Ronan), falls in love for the first time -- and Mother Nature (Tracey Ullman) can't resist the temptation to meddle in their affairs. Writer-director Amy Heckerling delivers a twisted romantic comedy that shows what happens when a mother and daughter come to blows with the forces of nature.

    Directed by:

  • Amy Heckerling
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    You Got Me!
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    You Got Me!

    2007
    Kevin (Sam Milby) is a geeky cop who's afraid of just about everything, especially confessing his love for his tough fellow officer, the beautiful Moe (Toni Gonzaga). He's never had the courage to speak to her, and now, video bootlegger Caloy (Zanjoe Marudo), also smitten with Moe, may beat Kevin to the punch. Seizing an opportunity, Kevin undertakes a plan that will make this love triangle even more complicated.

    Directed by:

  • Cathy Garcia-Molina
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Leaving
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    Leaving

    2009
    Bored with her life of leisure, Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) decides to reestablish her career as a physiotherapist. But first, she'll need an office ... and that's where her troubles begin in this drama from Catherine Corsini. As soon as Suzanne meets the man her husband hired to construct her backyard office, she falls hard -- and the attraction is mutual ... and dangerous. Sergi López and Yvan Attal co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Corsini
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    Independent
    Lou
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    Lou

    2010
    This poignant drama follows Lou, an 11-year-old Australian coping with having been abandoned by her father when her estranged grandfather, Doyle, comes to live with the family. Much to Lou's surprise, she develops a deep bond with the ailing Doyle.

    Directed by:

  • Belinda Chayko
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Speak
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    Speak

    2004
    A violent crime against Melinda (Kristen Stewart) has left her shunned by her friends and completely traumatized as she enters the ninth grade a selective mute, isolating herself from everyone at school until a sympathetic teacher (Steve Zahn) encourages her to express herself. Elizabeth Perkins and D.B. Sweeney co-star in this powerful teen drama from writer-director Jessica Sharzer, which debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

    Directed by:

  • Jessica Sharzer
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Sister My Sister
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    Sister My Sister

    1994
    This darkly engaging film dramatizes real-life events that scandalized French society in the 1930s, when Christine (Joely Richardson) and Lea Papin (Jodhi May), sisters who worked as maids, murdered their overbearing bourgeois mistress and her daughter. Their lives stifled by their employer, the sisters also formed an incestuous sexual relationship. Nancy Meckler directs this tale of rage and twisted love that also features Julie Walters.

    Directed by:

  • Nancy Meckler
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    All Over the Guy
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    All Over the Guy

    2001
    Striking a healthy, loving balance in a relationship is no easy trick, no matter what your sexual orientation. For Eli and Tom, a set-up first date goes horribly awry. But when they meet again later, without any pressure, a connection is made.

    Directed by:

  • Julie Davis
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Anime & Animation
    Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights
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    Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights

    1994
    Spineless sleuth Scooby-Doo and his pal Shaggy wind up in the midst of a trio of Middle Eastern tales based on The Arabian Nights, which also feature some of your favorite animated Hanna-Barbera stars. Yogi Bear and Boo Boo find a magic lamp in "Alliyah-Din and His Magic Lamp," Magilla Gorilla stars in a new take on "Sinbad," and Shaggy and Scooby give up their mystery solving to become storytellers for a cantankerous caliph in "Scheherezade."

    Directed by:

  • Jun Falkenstein
  • Joanna Romersa
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
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    Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess

    2008
    Dora the Explorer teams up with Boots and the Snowflake Fairy in this feature-length adventure that follows the trio as they try to save Princess Sabrina and her snowy forest from a wicked witch who's stolen the princess's magic snow crystal. Dora and her friends must also stop the mean old witch from melting the beautiful wintry forest. Two other episodes, "Dora's Jack-in-the-Box" and "Bark, Bark to Play Park" are also included.

    Directed by:

  • Allan Jacobsen
  • Henry Madden
  • Katie McWane
  • George S. Chialtas
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Arthur Christmas
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    Arthur Christmas

    2011
    This all-ages animated holiday feature draws back the curtain on the super-secret toy-making facility Santa Claus keeps hidden beneath the North Pole. It also reveals the ultra-important mission Mr. Claus entrusts to his son, Arthur, one Christmas.

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Smith
    • rating:4.0.png 4.0 Average Rating


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    Alvin and the Chipmunks Scare-riffic Double Feature
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    Alvin and the Chipmunks Scare-riffic Double Feature

    1999
    Irrepressible chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore star in a pair of wacky animated features. In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, Alvin's vivid imagination stirs up suspicions about secretive new neighbor Mr. Talbot. In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, the trio finds themselves locked inside a theme park, where mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein re-creates his famous monster -- and strikes fear into the three little mischief-makers.

    Directed by:

  • Kathi Castillo
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Now and Then
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    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


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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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