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.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Big
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Big

1988
Penny Marshall directs this whimsical comedy in which 12-year-old Josh yearns to be a grown-up, and when he makes that wish at a Coney Island fortunetelling machine, he awakens the next morning as a 30-year-old man (Tom Hanks). Josh lands a job at a Manhattan toy company, where his child's-eye view helps him climb the ranks -- but he finds himself pining for all he left behind, despite the attention of a beautiful co-worker (Elizabeth Perkins).

Directed by:

  • Penny Marshall
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Snow White
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    Snow White

    2000
    This isn't the classic Disney version, but it's still a family favorite! This live-action TV version, brought to you by the producers of Hallmark Entertainment specials, stars Miranda Richardson as the Evil Queen and Kristin Kreuk as Snow White. Direction by Caroline Thompson (The Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands) and top-notch special effects provide a splendid new take on the Brothers Grimm's beloved fairy tale.

    Directed by:

  • Caroline Thompson
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Halloweentown / Halloweentown 2: Double Feature
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    Halloweentown / Halloweentown 2: Double Feature

    1998
    There's more adventure than you can shake a broomstick at in this Disney Channel double feature. Young Marnie's (Kimberly J. Brown) learning to deal with the magical powers she's inherited from her grandmother, Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), who happens to be a witch. In Halloweentown, Marnie discovers a secret portal and to an enchanted place where ghosts live apart from the human world. In Halloweentown II, Marnie has to stop the evil warlock Kalabar.

    Directed by:

  • Duwayne Dunham
  • Mary Lambert
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    Michael
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    Michael

    1996
    Two struggling tabloid reporters and an "angel expert" are sent by their boss to check out an old kook who claims to have an angel living with her. Sure enough, the guy's got wings, but he's also into smoking, drinking and womanizing. Unconvinced that Michael (John Travolta) is not an Earthly being, the reporters take him to Chicago, when Michael's unconventional methods begin to work heavenly magic. Director Nora Ephron also wrote the script.

    Directed by:

  • Nora Ephron
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Gay & Lesbian
    Sissyboy
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    Sissyboy

    2009
    Follow the improbable rise of Portland-based drag troupe Sissyboy, which, for more than three years, infused its members with pride and a sense of possibility while serving its fans cutting-edge social commentary. In this documentary, Sissyboy members, known for testing the boundaries of good taste, talk about the acceptance they felt as part of the troupe and how this unconventional art movement changed their lives.

    Directed by:

  • Katie Turinski
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Saving Face
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    Saving Face

    2005
    Dutiful daughter Wil (Michelle Krusiec) sidesteps her mother's (Joan Chen) attempts to marry her off in Alice Wu's romantic comedy. At 28, Wil's the old maid of her traditional Chinese family, so there's no way she can tell them about her budding lesbian romance with Vivian (Lynn Chen). But her widowed mom has her own problems, as she learns she's pregnant at 48. Kicked out by her disapproving father, she seeks refuge at Wil's place.

    Directed by:

  • Alice Wu
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Little Man
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    Little Man

    2005
    Turning the camera lens on her own life, lesbian filmmaker Nicole Conn captures the heart-wrenching process of having a surrogate child with her life partner, political activist Gwen Baba, only to have the baby be born 100 days too early. Weighing just 1 pound with a heart the size of a cashew, the tiny infant Nicholas fights valiantly for his own survival while his parents fight to keep their commitment alive.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Conn
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Total Eclipse
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    Total Eclipse

    1995
    Leonardo DiCaprio plays the prodigious 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this captivating historical drama. Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), an older and more traditional writer, finds himself infatuated with the young Rimbaud. That make him unable to keep the peace with his wife (Romane Bohringer). A love/hate relationship develops between the two men as they forge the rough waters of creative expression.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Special Interest
    Born to be Wild: The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre
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    Born to be Wild: The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre

    2004
    Fans of the American Ballet Theatre will delight in this documentary that profiles the renowned company's four lead male dancers: Angel Corella, Vladimir Malakhov, Jose Manuel Carreno and Ethan Stiefel. Find out how each dancer got started in classical ballet, learn about their individual approaches to the discipline and their strengths onstage, and view clips of their best performances from the beginning to the apex of their careers.

    Directed by:

  • Judy Kinberg
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas
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    Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas

    1989
    Through interviews and performance excerpts, ballerinas Mary Ellen Moylan, Maria Tallchief, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent, Merrill Ashley and Darci Kistler salute their legendary teacher, George Balanchine, and share the impact he had on their lives. A perfectionist who demanded the best from his students, Balanchine achieved considerable acclaim for his wonderful ballets such as "Concerto Barocco," "Serenade," "Firebird," and "Stars and Stripes."

    Directed by:

  • Deborah Dickson
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    The Life and Death of Owen Hart
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    The Life and Death of Owen Hart

    1999
    This documentary profiles professional wrestler Owen Hart (younger brother of WWF star Bret Hart), whose life and career with the World Wrestling Federation were cut short via tragic means -- a fatal accident during a live pay-per-view stunt. While Owen was attempting to swing down from the rafters of a Kansas City arena, his safety harness failed, and he fell 75 feet to his death in front of masses of horrified fans.

    Directed by:

  • Sally Blake
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Minkus: La Bayadère: Teatro alla Scala
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    Minkus: La Bayadère: Teatro alla Scala

    2006
    Noteworthy Bolshoi Ballet superstar Svetlana Zakharova, Corps de Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala and their lead dancer, Roberto Bolle, bring a stirring live performance of Marius Petipa's "La Bayadère" ("The Temple Dancer") to the Milan stage. Choreographed by Natalia Makarova and directed for video by Tina Protasoni, the 2006 performance is inspired by a libretto purportedly written by the choreographer himself and conducted by David Coleman.

    Directed by:

  • Tina Protasoni
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Independent
    Sunshine Cleaning
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    Sunshine Cleaning

    2008
    Financially on shaky ground yet determined to send her son to a top private school, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) teams up with her unreliable sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), to start a new company that specializes in biohazard removal and crime scene cleanup. Tired of doing all of the work for other people, whether in her job cleaning homes or in her failed relationships, Rose is finally ready to use her entrepreneurial spirit to tidy up her own life.

    Directed by:

  • Christine Jeffs
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Thirteen
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    Thirteen

    2003
    Thirteen-year-old Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is a good girl. She's smart, gets along with her mom (Holly Hunter) and is never in trouble. But then she befriends Evie (Nikki Reed), a gorgeous and popular classmate who introduces her to the beguiling world of sex, alcohol, drugs and self-mutilation. This puts Tracy at odds with her friends, relatives and, most of all, her mother. Catherine Hardwicke directs a script co-written with Reed.

    Directed by:

  • Catherine Hardwicke
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Desert Hearts
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    Desert Hearts

    1985
    Uptight literature professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) heads to Reno, Nev., in 1959 for a quickie divorce. While staying with Frances Parker (Audra Lindley) at her ranch to establish residency, Bell meets Parker's adopted daughter (Patricia Charbonneau), a casino worker 10 years her junior. Bell finds herself increasingly drawn to the open and self-assured lesbian, and their developing intimacy releases buried emotions Bell has never explored.

    Directed by:

  • Donna Deitch
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    American Splendor
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    American Splendor

    2003
    Paul Giamatti stars as Harvey Pekar, a working-class stiff file clerk who found an outlet for his creativity by chronicling the minutia of his life in Cleveland, Ohio, in a comic-book series called &NFi;American Splendor&NFi_; for more than 20 years. Hope Davis co-stars as Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, in this revealing biopic, which tells Pekar's story through a blend of two-dimensional images, archival footage and more.

    Directed by:

  • Shari Springer Berman
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 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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