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.
Drama
Oyster Farmer
rating:3.2.png

Oyster Farmer

2005
Down-on-his-luck drifter Jack Flange (Alex O'Loughlin) heads to a secluded oyster-farming community to wait for a parcel of stolen cash that he's mailed to himself. But the package never arrives, and Jack suspects a beautiful postal worker named (what else?) Pearl (Diana Glenn) may be responsible for its disappearance. Anna Reeves directs this quirky but charming romance set along Australia's Hawkesbury River.

Directed by:

  • Anna Reeves
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Too Late to Say Goodbye
    rating:3.5.png

    Too Late to Say Goodbye

    2009
    Unwilling to believe that her sister committed suicide, Heather (Lauren Holly) begins searching for other possible causes of death, leading to surprising revelations about her seemingly perfect brother-in-law, Bart (Rob Lowe), who was secretly having an affair. Based on the best-selling novel by Ann Rule, this Lifetime original drama also stars Michelle Hurd as the lead police investigator in the case.

    Directed by:

  • Norma Bailey
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Grace of My Heart
    rating:3.3.png

    Grace of My Heart

    1996
    The daughter of a Philadelphia steel tycoon, Edna Buxton (Illeana Douglas) wants nothing more than to be a singer. She's thrilled when she wins a contract at a talent show and moves to New York City to record an album. But Edna soon finds her career -- and her relationships -- hitting one dead end after another. Matt Dillon and Eric Stoltz co-star in this poignant and intimate portrayal of the 1960s music scene.

    Directed by:

  • Allison Anders
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Orlando
    rating:3.3.png

    Orlando

    1992
    Director Sally Potter adapts Virginia Woolf's 1928 allegorical novel about a woman who lives for 400 years -- the first half as a man -- in this surrealist study of sex and gender roles throughout the ages. The transition from man to woman and from the 16th to the 20th century is realized by Tilda Swinton's breakthrough performance and the film's Oscar-nominated costumes and art direction. Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth I.

    Directed by:

  • Sally Potter
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Romance
    The Tango Lesson
    rating:3.9.png

    The Tango Lesson

    1997
    Writer-director Sally Potter also stars in this semiautobiographical drama. Frustrated with her latest movie script, a screenwriter flees to Paris, where she meets Pablo (Pablo Verón), a gifted tango dancer who changes her life. In exchange for dance lessons, she promises to cast Pablo in her film. Romance blossoms, but constant fighting threatens to undermine their partnership on the dance floor.

    Directed by:

  • Sally Potter
    • rating:3.9.png 3.9 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Crossing Delancey
    rating:3.3.png

    Crossing Delancey

    1988
    Try as she might, career woman Izzy Grossman (Amy Irving) can't escape her family's good intentions. She's a single gal with good friends and a great job, but her loving grandmother (Reizl Bozyk) is convinced that Izzy needs a man to be happy. Enter pickle vendor Sam (Peter Riegert), a local nice guy who just can't seem to win Izzy's heart. Jeroen Krabbé co-stars as Sam's competition, and Sylvia Miles appears as matchmaker Hannah Mandelbaum.

    Directed by:

  • Joan Micklin Silver
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Mrs. Dalloway
    rating:3.2.png

    Mrs. Dalloway

    1997
    In 1923, middle-aged Clarissa Dalloway (Vanessa Redgrave) prepares for a party, and as she does, she reflects on the events that have shaped her life. A young Clarissa (Natascha McElhone) makes her choice between two men, the steadfast Richard Dalloway (John Standing) and sparkling Peter Walsh (Michael Kitchen). Did Clarissa choose wisely? From the director of the Academy Award-winning Antonia's Line and adapted from the novel by Virginia Woolf.

    Directed by:

  • Marleen Gorris
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Bright Star
    rating:3.4.png

    Bright Star

    2009
    Critically acclaimed Australian filmmaker Jane Campion helms this drama detailing the passionate three-year romance between 19th-century Romantic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) -- who died tragically at age 25 -- and his great love and muse, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Much of the story was inspired by Keats's poetry and the actual love letters the pair exchanged. Thomas Sangster, Paul Schneider and Kerry Fox co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Jane Campion
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Gay & Lesbian
    Loving Annabelle
    rating:3.4.png

    Loving Annabelle

    2006
    An esteemed young poetry teacher at a Catholic boarding school (Diane Gaidry) risks everything when she engages in a feverish affair with a female student (Erin Kelly) in this controversial story of forbidden love. Directed by Katherine Brooks and co-starring Ilene Graff, this passionate yet sensitive romance explores the complexity of an unconventional relationship in the face of rigid traditionalism.

    Directed by:

  • Katherine Brooks
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Sister My Sister
    rating:3.1.png

    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


    Find On Amazon
    If These Walls Could Talk 2
    rating:3.7.png

    If These Walls Could Talk 2

    2000
    Following the same premise as the first movie -- focusing on three different women from three generations who've occupied the same house -- this Emmy-winning follow-up trains its lens on three lesbian couples. In 1961, Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) loses her longtime companion. In the 1970s, collegiate Linda (Michelle Williams) falls for townie Amy (Chloë Sevigny). And in 2000, the house's inhabitants (Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Stone) want to become parents.

    Directed by:

  • Jane Anderson
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    I Can't Marry You
    rating:3.2.png

    I Can't Marry You

    2004
    Helmed by Catherine Gray and narrated by Betty DeGeneres -- mother of lesbian celebrity Ellen DeGeneres -- this hourlong documentary tackles the controversial topic of gay marriage in the United States. Via interviews with civil-rights attorney Evan Wolfson and 20 same-sex couples, the film chronicles their struggles against religious opposition and homophobia -- issues not faced by their heterosexual counterparts.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Gray
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Foreign
    La Sierra
    rating:3.5.png

    La Sierra

    2005
    Colombia-based journalists Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez introduce us to a nation at civil war by hitting the streets of Medellín, a dangerous city ruled by a fierce paramilitary gang. By focusing on three vastly different personalities -- Edison, a gang leader; Cielo, a widowed teenage mother; and Jesus, a drug-using thug -- the filmmakers draw us into their world and capture startling moments of truth and sorrow.

    Directed by:

  • Scott Dalton
  • Margarita Martinez
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    African Leaders: Frantz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work
    rating:3.3.png

    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


    Find On Amazon
    Peepli Live
    rating:3.4.png

    Peepli Live

    2010
    When indigent farmers Natha (Omkar Das) and Budhia (Raghuvir Yadav) stand to lose their land over a loan they can't repay, a government official comes up with a modest proposal: Commit suicide and collect a subsidy that's paid to the relatives of deceased farmers. As Natha weighs his options, a journalist learns of his predicament and the media circus begins. Anusha Rizvi directs this satirical take on a real-life crisis afflicting India's underclass.

    Directed by:

  • Anusha Rizvi
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    In a Better World
    rating:3.8.png

    In a Better World

    2010
    Danish director Susanne Bier delves into the realm of fathers, sons and their perceived burden of male responsibility with this Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning drama about the interplay between two dysfunctional families. With his father working abroad, bullied Elias (Markus Rygaard) finds solace in a budding friendship with a volatile new student (William Jøhnk Nielsen). But the boys' shared revenge only seems to invite more violence.

    Directed by:

  • Susanne Bier
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 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