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.
Foreign
African Leaders: Frantz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work
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African Leaders: Frantz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work

2001
These absorbing documentaries profile two African leaders whose courage and defiance of colonial forces changed the lives of millions. Via archival footage and interviews with scholars and colleagues, both men take their rightful places in history. Renaissance man Frantz Fanon spearheaded the Algerian revolution against France, while Amílcar Cabral founded a political party to foster the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde from Portugal.

Directed by:

  • Cheikh Djemai
  • Ana Lucia Ramos Lisboa
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    My Tehran For Sale
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    My Tehran For Sale

    2009
    At a rave, Marzieh (Marzieh Vafamehr), an actress whose work is banned by the Iranian government, meets Saman (Amir Chegini), an artist who escaped such oppression by emigrating to Australia. When Saman proposes, Marzieh dreams of the freedom she'll find in his adopted home country. But fate seems to work against the couple, forcing Marzieh to decide how far she'll go for artistic liberty. Asha Mehrabi and Mobina Karimi co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Granaz Moussavi
    • rating:4.0.png 4.0 Average Rating


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    Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
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    Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

    2002
    Mrs. Iyer is traveling by bus to Calcutta to be with her husband. But a flare-up between Hindus and Muslim extremists closes the roads, and a curfew descends. While the riders are trapped on the bus, a gang of Hindus boards to ferret out any Muslims. Mrs. Iyer was brought up to believe that Muslims were inferior, but during the journey, she comes to realize that it's who a person is, not their religions, that's the defining factor.

    Directed by:

  • Aparna Sen
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Gangs of Baghdad
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    Gangs of Baghdad

    2007
    In this gripping documentary, filmmaker Aida Schlaepfer -- born to an Iraqi father and a Lebanese mother -- captures stories of brutal gang violence that erupted in Baghdad during the wake of the city's fall in 2003. Among the victims' heartbreaking narratives are a grieving family's memories of their relative's violent murder and a wealthy clan's harrowing escape from the hands of abusive kidnappers.

    Directed by:

  • Aida Schlaepfer
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Gay & Lesbian
    Andre's Mother
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    Andre's Mother

    1990
    Terrence McNally's play (presented here as part of the "American Playhouse" series) centers on the AIDS-related death of a young man named Andre. In just over an hour's time, we see how Andre's mother (Sada Thompson) and his lover, Cal (Richard Thomas), come to terms with their grief both separately and together, and how they take the first difficult steps to move forward with their lives in the wake of the tragedy. Deborah Reinisch directs.

    Directed by:

  • Deborah Reinisch
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement
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    Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement

    2009
    Forty-two years of romance, struggle and shared adventures finally culminate in marriage for lifelong lesbian couple Edie and Thea, who met in the 1960s and stayed together through the turbulent decades of activism and social change that followed. Looking at pictures from their past, the women marvel at simple triumphs -- buying their first house together -- and reminisce about the constant fear of exposure they once felt.

    Directed by:

  • Susan Muska
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    When Night Is Falling
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    When Night Is Falling

    1995
    A professor at a Christian college, Camille (Pascale Bussières) enjoys a conventional life with her minister fiancé, Martin (Henry Czerny). But when reserved Camille meets free-spirited circus acrobat Petra (Rachael Crawford), her conservative life takes a sensuous left turn. With Petra, Camille begins an erotic adventure of self-discovery and finds herself emotionally teetering between the forbidden and the familiar.

    Directed by:

  • Patricia Rozema
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Boys Don't Cry
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    Boys Don't Cry

    1999
    Based on actual events, director Kimberly Peirce's powerful, often harrowing drama stars Hilary Swank (in an Oscar-winning performance) as Brandon Teena, a transgender young man searching for love and acceptance in a small Midwestern town. But even as he forges a deep connection with local beauty Lana (Chloë Sevigny), the prejudices of the community threaten to doom the fledgling romance.

    Directed by:

  • Kimberly Peirce
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Thrillers
    The Peacemaker
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    The Peacemaker

    1997
    Terrorists be damned! After some baddies trigger a nuclear explosion in Russia, U.S. Special Forces intelligence agent Thomas Devoe (George Clooney) and White House nuclear weapons expert Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman) come to the rescue. Trouble is, the web of conspiracy stretches from Europe to New York, and the terrorists have no demands. Clooney, hip and hard as nails, riffs wonderfully off a more circumspect Kidman.

    Directed by:

  • Mimi Leder
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    K-19: The Widowmaker
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    K-19: The Widowmaker

    2002
    The amazing true story of Russia's first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffered a nuclear reactor malfunction on its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic in 1961. The unyielding Capt. Vostrikov and his second-in-command must race against time to prevent a Chernobyl-like nuclear explosion that not only threatens the lives of the crew it could also ignite a world war between the superpowers.

    Directed by:

  • Kathryn Bigelow
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Punisher: War Zone
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    Punisher: War Zone

    2008
    When Frank Castle -- a one-man force of vengeance known as the Punisher -- battles mob boss Billy Russoti, the encounter leaves him disfigured. But Russoti soon reemerges as a psychotic villain with a small army at his command.

    Directed by:

  • Lexi Alexander
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    After.Life
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    After.Life

    2009
    As the life of young Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci) hangs precariously in the balance, funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson), who has a mysterious ability to help the dead transition to the afterlife, has complete control over her fate. Though it's possible she isn't dead after all, it's equally possible that she's already in hell. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo directs and co-writes this macabre thriller; Justin Long co-stars.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Anime & Animation
    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman
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    Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman

    2000
    In this spooky feature-length movie, Alvin, Simon and Theodore stage a production of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and things get seriously creepy! Could it be that their neighbor Mr. Talbot is a werewolf?

    Directed by:

  • Kathi Castillo
    • rating:3.9.png 3.9 Average Rating


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    Martha Speaks: Martha Says It with Flowers
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    Martha Speaks: Martha Says It with Flowers

    2008
    After eating a bowl of alphabet soup, Martha the dog finds that she can talk to her 10-year-old owner in this animated series that helps kids learn vocabulary. In these episodes, Martha awakens one morning unable to stop singing.

    Directed by:

  • Colleen Holub
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Superman Doomsday
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    Superman Doomsday

    2007
    To defend Earth, Superman (voiced by Adam Baldwin) battles an evil entity known as Doomsday, who proves too strong for the Man of Steel. But as the world mourns the fallen superhero, Lex Luthor's (James Marsters) joy in his enemy's demise is short-lived: Even death can't stop Superman. This animated epic is based on DC Comics' 1993 "The Death and Return of Superman" story arc.

    Directed by:

  • Lauren Montgomery
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth
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    Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth

    1995
    At the dawn of the new millennium, mankind has awakened a threat unlike any faced before: the Angels. They can only be stopped by the Evangelions -- bioengineered vessels born from the Angels' own technology. But this forbidden knowledge is also the key to a startling new genesis for the human race. Placed in the hands of three young pilots, the final fate of humanity resting upon their shoulders, the Evangelions are the world's last hope.

    Directed by:

  • Hideaki Anno
  • Amanda Winn Lee
    • 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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