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.
Action & Adventure
The Whistleblower
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The Whistleblower

2010
Sent to Bosnia to train cops in the aftermath of that country's brutal civil war, American policewoman Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) uncovers evidence that U.N. peacekeepers are complicit in a flourishing sex-trafficking trade. But when she brings her allegations to light, she discovers that her foes are more powerful than the law. Based on a true story, this thriller from director Larysa Kondracki co-stars Monica Bellucci and David Strathairn.

Directed by:

  • Larysa Kondracki
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    True Women
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    True Women

    1997
    Based on a true story, this adaptation of Janice Woods Windle's novel is set in the plains of West Texas during the Civil War. Sarah McClure (Dana Delany) and her sister, Euphemia (Annabeth Gish), struggle to survive in this male-dominated land. When their homestead falls under attack by Mexican rebels and American Indian tribesmen, the two must find a way to bring their family to safety before it's too late.

    Directed by:

  • Karen Arthur
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Jumpin' Jack Flash
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    Jumpin' Jack Flash

    1986
    Terry (Whoopi Goldberg), a banker with an international clientele, gets a cryptic message from an unknown source. After decoding the missive, Terry finds herself in the middle of an international espionage ring with bodies piling up faster than the line at a faulty ATM machine. Directed by Penny Marshall, this riotous comedy also stars Annie Potts, Carol Kane, Jeroen Krabbe and Roscoe Lee Browne.

    Directed by:

  • Penny Marshall
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    Doctor Who: Castrovalva
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    Doctor Who: Castrovalva

    1982
    The Fifth Doctor makes his debut in this installment of the cult sci-fi series, which follows the team into the mysterious land of Castrovalva. In desperate need of regeneration, the doctor leads his companions to Castrovalva for much-needed rest.

    Directed by:

  • Fiona Cumming
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Independent
    Fish Tank
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    Fish Tank

    2009
    The life of hot-tempered teen outcast Mia (Katie Jarvis) takes an unexpected turn when her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), brings home a handsome and mysterious boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender), who pledges to bring sweeping positive changes to the household. British writer-director Andrea Arnold's sophomore feature won Best British Film at the 2010 BAFTAs.

    Directed by:

  • Andrea Arnold
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Brick Lane
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    Brick Lane

    2007
    Set in the 1980s, this cross-cultural drama follows young Nazneem (Tannishtha Chatterjee), a Bangladeshi woman who's immigrated to London for an arranged marriage to a middle-aged man, leaving her beloved family, including her sister Hasina, behind. While Hasina leads a life of adventure back home, Nazneem struggles to accept the isolation and unhappiness in her new life, until an unexpected visitor comes along and changes everything.

    Directed by:

  • Sarah Gavron
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    On the Starting Line
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    On the Starting Line

    2008
    Set against the ultracompetitive world of drum corps contests, this coming-of-age tale stars Samia Mooney as an up-and-coming color guard dancer who dreams of joining a world champion drum and bugle corps. Wendy J. Menara writes and directs this low-budget story that captures the high-stakes drama, cutthroat rivalry and unintentional hilarity surrounding the world of gung ho pageantry performance.

    Directed by:

  • Wendy J. Menara
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Pariah
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    Pariah

    2011
    Brooklyn teen Alike (Adepero Oduye) is a model child around her devoutly religious family, but she sheds the good-girl image to reveal a harder side during a nightclub excursion with butch pal Laura (Pernell Walker) in this coming-of-age tale of urban identity and sexual expression. With curfew looming and her parents none the wiser, Alike must catch the bus back home, where she faces the complex negotiation of her contradictory worlds.

    Directed by:

  • Dee Rees
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Anime & Animation
    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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    Maria Holic: The Complete Series
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    Maria Holic: The Complete Series

    2009
    Teenage boarding school student Kanako prefers girls to boys, especially since the mere thought of the opposite sex can give her a skin rash. So what's she to do when Mariya, the girl of her dreams, turns out to be a meanspirited cross-dressing boy? The quest for true love takes surprising twists and turns as Kanako peruses her school's selection of cute girls in this anime series based on the popular manga.

    Directed by:

  • Marina Inoue
    • rating:4.3.png 4.3 Average Rating


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    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipmunk Adventure
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    Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipmunk Adventure

    1987
    Everyone's favorite trio of talking rodents -- mischief-makers Alvin, Simon and Theodore -- are featured in this theatrical animated adventure that puts them in an around-the-world hot-air balloon race. When Alvin enters the chipmunks in the race that pits them against the Chipettes, the boys could take home $100,000 if they win. But unbeknownst to the high-flying chipmunks, they've become accomplices in an ingenious jewel-smuggling plot.

    Directed by:

  • Janice Karman
    • rating:3.9.png 3.9 Average Rating


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    Shark Tale
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    Shark Tale

    2004
    In this DreamWorks animated tale, Oscar (Will Smith) is a small fish whose big aspirations often get him into trouble. Meanwhile, Lenny (Jack Black) is a great white shark with a surprising secret that no sea creature would guess: He's a vegetarian. When a lie turns Oscar into an improbable hero and Lenny becomes an outcast, the two form an unlikely friendship. Robert De Niro, Renée Zellweger and Martin Scorsese also lend their voices.

    Directed by:

  • Bibo Bergeron
  • Vicky Jenson
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Documentary
    Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
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    Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train

    2004
    Matt Damon narrates this documentary chronicling Howard Zinn's commitment to social change through archival materials, commentary from Zinn and interviews with contemporaries Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden and Alice Walker, among others.

    Directed by:

  • Deb Ellis
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Frontline: Bad Voodoo's War
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    Frontline: Bad Voodoo's War

    2008
    For many civilians, military conflict is an abstract concept; this powerful documentary brings the personal drama of the Iraq war right into viewers' homes. At the height of America's military presence in Iraq in June 2007, director Deborah Scranton gave cameras to Bad Voodoo Platoon, a National Guard infantry unit, so they could tell their own stories, conveying intimate first-person accounts of the progress of their dangerous mission.

    Directed by:

  • Deborah Scranton
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    The Trials of Darryl Hunt
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    The Trials of Darryl Hunt

    2005
    This poignant documentary details the story of Darryl Hunt, a black North Carolina man who spent 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. After the rape and murder of a young white journalist in 1984, public outcry and intense media scrutiny -- along with simmering racial tensions -- pressured officials to close the case. Hunt was quickly convicted. In 1994, DNA evidence proved his innocence, but Hunt wasn't exonerated for 10 more years.

    Directed by:

  • Ricki Stern
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Mother Teresa: The Legacy
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    Mother Teresa: The Legacy

    2005
    Mother Teresa is well-known and well-loved throughout the world for her work with the needy and less fortunate. This look at her final day on earth, her passing and her touching funeral, attended by thousands of people from around the world, is a testament to the spiritual way she led her life. Through Mother Teresa's own words in exclusive footage, discover the profound wisdom of the woman who captured the heart of everyone she touched.

    Directed by:

  • Ann Petrie
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 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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