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.
Gay & Lesbian
Fire
rating:3.6.png

Fire

1996
Two Hindu women struggle with loveless, arranged marriages: Sita (Nandita Das), who discovers that her husband (Javed Jaffrey) has a mistress, and her sister-in-law, Radha (Shabana Azmi), who cannot give birth. As the lukewarm coals of their long-term relationships fade, the women ignite passion in their lives by finding comfort in each other. Director Deepa Mehta's drama is supposedly the first Indian film about lesbians.

Directed by:

  • Deepa Mehta
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Priest
    rating:3.5.png

    Priest

    1994
    Director Antonia Bird's film centers on Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache), a devout Catholic priest who struggles with a love for his church and congregation -- and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover (Robert Carlyle). After hearing the confession of a young girl in his parish, who tells him her father is sexually abusing her, the priest is torn between the laws of the church and his need to choose one life over the other.

    Directed by:

  • Antonia Bird
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Entre Nous
    rating:3.7.png

    Entre Nous

    1983
    Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this film beautifully captures the rare friendship that blossoms between two married women, Lena Weber (Isabelle Huppert) and Madeleine (Miou-Miou), living in WWII France, 1942. They attempt to defy the social rules of their time in order to escape their unfulfilling lives. Written and directed by Diane Kurys, who was inspired by her parents' relationship and the woman who came between them.

    Directed by:

  • Diane Kurys
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love
    rating:3.3.png

    The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love

    1995
    While working part-time at her aunt's gas station, defiant tomboy Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman) falls in love with Evie Roy (Nicole Ari Parker), a rich, straight honor student who's already in a relationship. The two girls navigate the magical and confusing world of young love. Writer-director Maria Maggenti's touching and funny debut won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Independent Film in 1996.

    Directed by:

  • Maria Maggenti
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Thrillers
    K-19: The Widowmaker
    rating:3.4.png

    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


    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
    The Escape
    rating:3.3.png

    The Escape

    2009
    When terrorists in war-ravaged Afghanistan kidnap and threaten to slay outspoken Danish journalist Rikke Lynvig (Iben Hjejle), young, English-speaking Taliban operative Nazir Osmani (Faegh Zamani) helps her plan a daring getaway. But when Nazir himself also escapes Afghanistan and seeks Rikke's help in Denmark, she is torn between personal loyalty and the political fallout of aiding a terrorist. Kathrine Windfeld directs this tense thriller.

    Directed by:

  • Kathrine Windfeld
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Twisted Seduction
    rating:3.1.png

    Twisted Seduction

    2010
    Applying his computerlike mind to the subject of dating, transplanted British mathematician David Grant (Tom Broadwell) searches all of Montreal for the perfectly compatible woman. But when he finds her (Caroline Brassard), Grant goes one step further and kidnaps her. Stealing a person's heart is one thing, but holding someone hostage based merely on statistical data seems like the antithesis of romance.

    Directed by:

  • Dominique Adams
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Special Interest
    Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Teatro alla Scala
    rating:3.3.png

    Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Teatro alla Scala

    2007
    Titania (Alessandra Ferri), Oberon (Roberto Bolle), Puck (Riccardo Massimi) and company find romance and adventure during one wild midsummer night in this sumptuous ballet staging of the Shakespeare classic, featuring music by Felix Mendelssohn and original choreography by George Balanchine. Israeli conductor Nir Kabaretti presides over the Corps de Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala in this glorious production.

    Directed by:

  • Tina Protasoni
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Trouble with Angels
    rating:3.8.png

    The Trouble with Angels

    1966
    Two teens turn a staid convent upside down with their youthful glee and zany antics. Although the pair gets in trouble for transgressions like invading the nuns' quarters and substituting soap for sugar in the kitchen, their charm wins everyone over.

    Directed by:

  • Ida Lupino
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Red Dirt Rising
    rating:3.6.png

    Red Dirt Rising

    2010
    The birth of stock-car racing is captured through the story of pioneer Jimmie Lewallen (Brad Yoder), who began as a moonshine runner in 1930s North Carolina, took a break to serve in World War II and came home to witness the formation of NASCAR. From dirt tracks to international speedways, Lewallen and his buddies Bill Blair (Burgess Jenkins) and Fred Harb (Quentin Kerr) see their lives transformed by a sport they'd pursued purely out of passion.

    Directed by:

  • Kathleen 'Bo' Bobak
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Heartbreak Kid
    rating:3.1.png

    The Heartbreak Kid

    1972
    While honeymooning with his new wife in Florida, Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) begins to rue his nuptials. When his irksome spouse gets stuck in their hotel room with a nasty sunburn, footloose Lenny meets gorgeous blond coed Kelly (Cybill Shepherd). She soon provides all the incentive he needs to ditch his new bride. But Lenny isn't home free with Kelly -- his hot pursuit of her quickly hits a brick wall of resistance: her loathing father.

    Directed by:

  • Elaine May
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Children & Family
    Old Enough
    rating:3.8.png

    Old Enough

    1983
    Twelve-year-old Lonnie (Sarah Boyd) lives in a wealthy New York neighborhood and is curious upon meeting Karen (Rainbow Harvest), a working-class teen who seems very different from her. The girls begin an unlikely yet meaningful friendship in this wry, tender comedy. Along with Karen's boisterous older brother, the girls spend the summer discovering who they really are. Alyssa Milano co-stars in her feature film debut.

    Directed by:

  • Marisa Silver
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    True Heart
    rating:3.3.png

    True Heart

    1999
    Alone after a plane crash strands them in a remote region of Canada, two siblings are rescued by Khonanesta, a Native American who teaches them how to live in the wilderness. But the trio soon finds themselves wrangling with a band of poachers.

    Directed by:

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


    Find On Amazon
    New York Minute
    rating:3.1.png

    New York Minute

    2004
    Twins Jane and Roxy Ryan (Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen) couldn't be more different: Jane is a straight-A student, while Roxy's a punk-rock rebel. But when they accidentally land in the middle of a criminal operation, they'll have to work together to get themselves out of trouble. Throw in a couple of cute guys, a bungling truant officer (Eugene Levy) and a hit man posing as a limo driver, and you've got one madcap New York adventure.

    Directed by:

  • Dennie Gordon
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Christmas Do-Over
    rating:3.1.png

    Christmas Do-Over

    2006
    When jingle writer Kevin (Jay Mohr) travels to a remote town to spend Christmas with his son Ben, ex-wife Jill (Daphne Zuniga) and her parents, he finds himself living the very same Christmas Day over and over again -- giving him a chance to win back his family. But blocking his path to redemption are a pair of ornery ex-in-laws and Jill's seemingly perfect new boyfriend -- not to mention Kevin's own abundant shortcomings.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Cyran
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 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