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.
Independent
Strangers in Good Company
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Strangers in Good Company

1990
When a bus filled with eight elderly women breaks down in the wilderness, the group of strangers is stranded at a deserted farmhouse with only their wits, their memories and eventually some roasted frogs' legs to sustain them. For several days, the women share their life stories and intimate thoughts. Director Cynthia Scott directs these nonprofessional actors delivering largely improvised dialogue to heartwarming effect.

Directed by:

  • Cynthia Scott
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Down in the Delta
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    Down in the Delta

    1998
    Unemployed single mother Loretta Sinclair (Alfre Woodard) lives with her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), in a Chicago apartment until drug abuse causes Loretta to neglect her children in this familly drama directed by renowned poet Maya Angelou. To get Loretta back on her feet, Rosa Lynn ships her and the kids to their Mississippi Delta hometown, where Uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) takes them in and teaches them about their rich heritage.

    Directed by:

  • Maya Angelou
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Gas Food Lodging
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    Gas Food Lodging

    1992
    A hardworking, blue-collar mother (Brooke Adams) and her two diametrically opposed daughters, Shade (Fairuza Balk) and Trudi (Ione Skye), try to live a normal life in their whistle-stop desert town in New Mexico. Melancholy Shade escapes via the romantic melodramas at the local Mexican cinema, while Trudi throws herself into meaningless sexual relationships with men. Directed by indie filmmaker Allison Anders.

    Directed by:

  • Allison Anders
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    The Sea Change
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    The Sea Change

    2010
    Having endured a dreadful upbringing spent in foster homes and institutions, Nikki (Natalie Press) sets out to murder the birth mother (Janet McTeer) who abandoned her. But while carrying out her plan, Nikki meets a likable half brother (Colin Morgan) who drastically alters her outlook. Based on the novel Island by Jane Rogers, this psychological drama captures the tension of Nikki's internal struggle as she's torn between revenge and redemption.

    Directed by:

  • Elizabeth Mitchell
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Drama
    Flores de Otro Mundo
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    Flores de Otro Mundo

    1999
    Looking for companionship, a group of lonely Spaniards (including Luis Tosar, Jose Sancho and Chete Lara) hold a soiree for single women. But for the most part, their party guests are poor immigrants from third-world countries. Based on a true story, this award-winning drama from director Iciar Bollain traces the relationships of three new couples, documenting their struggles with clashing cultures, sex and racism.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Hysteria
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    Hysteria

    2011
    In 1880s London, forward-thinking young doctor Mortimer Granville has a difficult time keeping a job until he and an inventor friend concoct an electrifying solution to the rampant "hysteria" affecting England's sexually and socially repressed women.

    Directed by:

  • Tanya Wexler
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Yentl
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    Yentl

    1983
    Based on Isaac Bashevis Singer's story, this Oscar-winning musical stars Barbra Streisand as Yentl, the bookish daughter of a Talmud teacher who instructs her even though it's forbidden to teach the sacred text to girls. Determined to continue her schooling after her father dies, Yentl disguises herself as a boy to gain entry to a yeshiva. There, she meets the brilliant Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), who only has eyes for Hadass (Amy Irving).

    Directed by:

  • Barbra Streisand
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Eden
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    Eden

    2012
    Hyun Jae is still a teenager when she's kidnapped and spirited to Las Vegas, where she's forced to work as a prostitute for the next two years. Renamed Eden by her captors, she works to gain their respect in a bid to win her liberty.

    Directed by:

  • Megan Griffiths
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Television
    Gangland: Bullets Over Hollywood
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    Gangland: Bullets Over Hollywood

    2005
    Exploring Tinseltown's portrayal of the underworld, this made-for-cable documentary is packed with film clips, interviews and archival footage featuring bona fide gangsters. Boasting stars such as Edward G. Robinson and Al Pacino, along with fare ranging from The Godfather to "The Sopranos," the mobster genre has always thrived. James Caan, ex-wiseguy Henry Hill, former G-man Joe Pistone and others discuss our fascination with organized crime.

    Directed by:

  • Elaina Archer
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    The Women of Brewster Place
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    The Women of Brewster Place

    1989
    A single mother moves to a tumbledown housing project on Brewster Place, where she meets a group of strong-minded women facing similar woes. During the course of three decades, the ladies do battle against abject poverty, bigotry and unreliable men.

    Directed by:

  • Donna Deitch
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Mission Hill: The Complete Series
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    Mission Hill: The Complete Series

    1999
    This uproarious animated series follows protagonist Andy French, a 24-year-old waterbed salesman and wanna-be cartoonist whose world is disrupted when his geeky teenage brother becomes his roommate, along with a slobbery pooch named Stogie. French is one of a tight-knit group of slackers who work dead-end jobs in the hipper-than-thou neighborhood of Mission Hill in this show from the former executive producers and head writers of "The Simpsons."

    Directed by:

  • Lauren MacMullan
  • Tricia Garcia
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    What Are Dreams?: Nova
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    What Are Dreams?: Nova

    2009
    The stuff of dreams -- not just the content, but the circuitry and neurological coding, too -- is the subject of this penetrating "Nova" inquiry into the most mystifying of human activities. Researchers are taking a variety of investigative tacks, from "eavesdropping" on sleeping rats to methodical studies of thousands of dreams, in an effort to fill in the blanks of understanding. Their findings give tantalizing glimpses of the mind at rest.

    Directed by:

  • Charles Colville
  • Sarah Holt
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Special Interest
    Red Dirt Rising
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    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


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    Cirque Du Soleil: Corteo
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    Cirque Du Soleil: Corteo

    2008
    In this addition to the Cirque du Soleil canon, the performers explore the vivid imagination of the Dead Clown (Mauro Mozzani). Picturing his own funeral, the clown fantasizes about a carnival-filled world he believes awaits him after death. Despite the omission of the masks and makeup that the troupe is known for, the dynamic collective creates another indelible production full of dazzling imagery and spellbinding acrobatics.

    Directed by:

  • Jocelyn Barnabe
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 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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    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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    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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