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 World According to Sesame Street
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The World According to Sesame Street

2006
Traveling to areas marked by poverty, unrest and disease -- including Bangladesh, Kosovo and South Africa -- this insightful documentary looks at efforts to regionalize "Sesame Street" for maximum social, cultural and educational impact. Can Cookie Monster be an agent of global change? You bet, according to the show's producers, who work to localize the beloved children's series for different parts of the world.

Directed by:

  • Linda Hawkins
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Our Brand Is Crisis
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    Our Brand Is Crisis

    2005
    Following members of a political consulting firm to Bolivia, where they've been hired to help controversial candidate Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada reclaim the presidency, filmmaker Rachel Boynton reveals the manipulation and orchestration involved in big-time political campaigning. With only a few weeks before the election, consultants Jeremy Rosner, Stan Greenberg and James Carville work their magic, shaping Goni into the ideal candidate.

    Directed by:

  • Rachel Boynton
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Payback
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    Payback

    2012
    Drawing from Margaret Atwood's book, documentarian Jennifer Baichwal examines the role of debt throughout human history. The film holds religion, politics, literature and sociology up to the light, finding every aspect of culture touched by debt.

    Directed by:

  • Jennifer Baichwal
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    The Lottery
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    The Lottery

    2010
    In this penetrating look at public education in America, filmmaker Madeleine Sackler follows four children through the highs and lows of a life-changing lottery, where the prize is a spot in one of New York City's best charter schools. When presented with a chance to pull their youngsters out of a failing system, some parents dare to be cautiously optimistic, knowing full well there are hundreds of thousands of kids in the pool.

    Directed by:

  • Madeleine Sackler
    • rating:3.9.png 3.9 Average Rating


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    Independent
    I'll Take You There
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    I'll Take You There

    1999
    Adrienne Shelly directs and co-stars in this offbeat comedy about Bill (Reg Rogers), a man whose wife just ran off with his best friend. Trying to help, Bill's sister sets him up with Bernice (Ally Sheedy), an odd woman who takes their blind date in an unsettling direction. While Bill tries to make it clear that Bernice isn't his type, she grows increasingly obsessive and forces him to take a bizarre journey with her.

    Directed by:

  • Adrienne Shelly
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    The Big Shot-Caller
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    The Big Shot-Caller

    2008
    When his life hits an all-time low after a failed romance, nearsighted loner Jamie Lesser (David Rhein) calls on his spirited sister Lianne (director Marlene Rhein) to help him achieve his cherished childhood dream of becoming a fiery salsa dancer. As Jamie learns to turn his inner dancer loose, he also discovers the courage to confront the other obstacles standing in his way to happiness. Laneya Wiles co-stars in this inspiring drama.

    Directed by:

  • Marlene Rhein
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    16 to Life
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    16 to Life

    2009
    On her 16th birthday, never-been-kissed Kate (Hallee Hirsh) decides to play cupid for two people she works with, pairing her boss (Theresa Russell) with a paraplegic customer (Jaime Gomez) and setting up short-order cook Rene (Shiloh Fernandez) with an oversexed co-worker (Emily Foxler). But in the process of matchmaking, Kate learns some surprising lessons about love and the mechanics of romantic relationships.

    Directed by:

  • Becky Smith
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Me and You and Everyone We Know
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    Me and You and Everyone We Know

    2005
    Miranda July writes, directs and stars in this poignant drama about both the unique and oftentimes humorous nature of people's idiosyncrasies. At the center is eccentric Christine Jesperson (July), who seeks emotional connections in the modern world. Meanwhile, shoe salesman Richard (John Hawkes) copes with his recent separation while his teen son (Miles Thompson) experiences a sexual awakening. Carlie Westerman and Brad William Henke co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Miranda July
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    Television
    American Experience: The Great Fever
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    American Experience: The Great Fever

    2005
    The scourge of 19th-century America, yellow fever stymied health officials for decades before a team of doctors and scientists ventured to Cuba for answers. This documentary tells their story. When a yellow fever outbreak threatened the lives of U.S. soldiers occupying Cuba in 1900, the U.S. Army sent a team to investigate. Soon, they found the culprit -- mosquitoes -- and set in motion the first public health triumph of the 20th century.

    Directed by:

  • Adriana Bosch
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    First Among Equals
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    First Among Equals

    1986
    Adapted from Jeffrey Archer's best-selling novel, this BAFTA-nominated miniseries about four British politicians goes behind the closed doors of Parliament, where unscrupulous behavior and political corruption abound.

    Directed by:

  • John Gorrie
  • Brian Mills
  • Sarah Harding
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Vanished: Season 1
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    Vanished: Season 1

    2006
    When the wife (Joanne Kelly) of Sen. Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson) goes missing at a swank event held in her honor, FBI agents Graham Kelton (Gale Harold) and Lin Mei (Ming-Na) are charged with finding her. First, however, they must get to the bottom of the many secrets surrounding her. Esai Morales and Penelope Ann Miller also star in this drama told through the eyes of the FBI, family members and a tenacious reporter (Rebecca Gayheart).

    Directed by:

  • Stephen Cragg
  • Fred Keller
  • Helen Shaver
  • Dwight Little
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    The Wild Thornberrys Movie
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    The Wild Thornberrys Movie

    2002
    The Thornberry clan is on safari, and things are shaping up the way they usually do: Debbi (voiced by Danielle Harris) is annoyed; Nigel (Tim Curry) and Marianne (Jodi Carlisle) are wrapped up in their work; Donnie (Flea) is doing his wild-boy thing; and Eliza (Lacey Chabert) is chatting with her chimpanzee buddy. But when a poacher snatches one of the cheetah cubs Eliza and Darwin (Tom Kane) are traveling with, it's time for a daring rescue.

    Directed by:

  • Cathy Malkasian
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Drama
    Charms for the Easy Life
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    Charms for the Easy Life

    2002
    This finely honed Showtime drama based on a novel by Kaye Gibbons chronicles three generations of a matriarchal Southern family that includes midwife and holistic healer Charlie Kate Birch (Gena Rowlands), her daughter, Sofia (Mimi Rogers), and granddaughter, Margaret (Susan May Pratt). Directed by Joan Micklin Silver and tinged with more than a little humor, the movie goes down as smooth as a mint julep on a muggy day.

    Directed by:

  • Joan Micklin Silver
    • 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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    Suburbia
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    Suburbia

    1984
    Escaping their hard-boozing mother, Evan (Bill Coyne) and his brother, Ethan (Andrew Pece), take refuge with punks who live as squatters in an abandoned home next to a highway in this Penelope Spheeris-helmed film, which examines Los Angeles' punk rock scene in the 1980s. But the boys' newfound clan is tested when a group of discontented suburbanites comes down on them. T.S.O.L., The Vandals and D.I. deliver live performances.

    Directed by:

  • Penelope Spheeris
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Oyster Farmer
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    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


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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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