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
Bright Star
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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


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    Little Dorrit
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    Little Dorrit

    1988
    In this two-part adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel, Derek Jacobi stars as Arthur, a well-meaning middle-aged man who, through an unexpected relationship with seamstress Little Dorrit (Sarah Pickering), is drawn into the plight of a group of debtor prisoners. Christine Edzard directs and writes this expansive, award-winning drama for the screen; Alec Guinness co-stars as the imprisoned William Dorritt.

    Directed by:

  • Christine Edzard
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    The Waiting City
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    The Waiting City

    2009
    Radha Mitchell and Joel Edgerton star as adoptive parents-to-be, en route from Australia to Calcutta to pick up their new baby, in this unconventional love story infused with the exotic charms of India from director Claire McCarthy. To foreigners who have never been on Indian soil, the city is at once intoxicating and overwhelming. But it also has the power to pull the couple's already fragile marriage apart at the seams.

    Directed by:

  • Claire McCarthy
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    The Old Settler
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    The Old Settler

    2001
    Themes of trust, forgiveness and the constancy of family unfold against the backdrop of 1940s Harlem in this adaptation of John Henry Redwood's play. Following her recent separation, Quilly (Debbie Allen) arrives in New York to stay with her sister Elizabeth (Phylicia Rashad). But all bets are off when Quilly discovers that her sister has taken on a boarder -- and that Elizabeth is having an affair with the young man.

    Directed by:

  • Debbie Allen
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Foreign
    Circus Kids
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    Circus Kids

    2010
    Kids from diverse backgrounds find common joy in the circus in this lively documentary about a youth troupe from St. Louis, Mo., that travels to Israel to join forces with the young members of the Arab-Jewish Galilee Circus. The language barrier dissolves at the first juggling pass, and the kids bridge the cultural gap in front of Arab and Jewish audiences across Israel, showing grown-ups how to put aside their differences.

    Directed by:

  • Alexandra Lipsitz
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Marimar
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    Marimar

    1994
    In this second installment of the beloved María trilogy of telenovelas, Thalía reprises her signature role as Marimar, the impoverished girl who lives by the sea. When Marimar marries the spoiled son of a wealthy local family, happiness continues to elude her. She soon becomes an unwitting pawn in her husband's plan to claim his inheritance and anger his parents. The explosively popular series helped propel Thalía to international superstardom.

    Directed by:

  • Beatriz Sheridan
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Born Into Brothels
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    Born Into Brothels

    2004
    British filmmaker Zana Briski's Oscar-winning documentary is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta's red-light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes to ensure their survival. Spurred by the kids' fascination with her camera, Briski decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids awaken to their own talents and sense of worth.

    Directed by:

  • Ross Kauffman
  • Zana Briski
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Hipsters
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    Hipsters

    2008
    In this hit Russian musical, a group of friends flaunts Soviet authority in 1950s Moscow by embracing jazz. When Communist Mels (Anton Shagin) falls for Polly (Oksana Akinshina), a free-spirited jazz fan, he risks losing his party membership by associating with her rebellious crew. Equally smitten, Polly introduces her new beau to jazz and other forbidden Western delights. Writer-director Valery Todorovsky helms this colorful take on the Cold War.

    Directed by:

  • Valery Todorovsky
    • rating:4.3.png 4.3 Average Rating


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    Romance
    Love & Basketball
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    Love & Basketball

    2000
    It's about winning, losing and playing the game. Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) grow up next door to each other playing basketball, fighting and falling in love. When simultaneous turns in the big leagues throw their off-court relationship off-kilter, the pair discovers that very little is fair in Love & Basketball. Spike Lee produced this warm, witty film.

    Directed by:

  • Gina Prince
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


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    Blood & Chocolate
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    Blood & Chocolate

    2007
    After moving from America to Bucharest, Romania, a teenage werewolf finds herself torn between loyalty and love when she falls for a human and incurs the ire of the pack leader -- who's planning to make her his mate.

    Directed by:

  • Katja von Garnier
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


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    Can't Hardly Wait
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    Can't Hardly Wait

    1998
    At a wild party, newly minted high school graduates celebrate and ponder the future -- including love-struck dork Preston Meyers, who tries to work up the courage to act on his feelings for beautiful prom queen Amanda Beckett.

    Directed by:

  • Harry Elfont
  • Deborah Kaplan
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure
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    The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure

    2009
    When Denmark's King Edvard and Queen Paige journey to a distant kingdom to celebrate the arranged marriage of the beautiful Princess Myra, they discover that the girl hates her creepy fiancé and secretly loves Alu, a common elephant handler.

    Directed by:

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


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    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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    The Adventures of Prince Achmed
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    The Adventures of Prince Achmed

    1926
    Considered by many to be the first full-length animated film, the story of Lotte Reiniger's mesmerizing work is taken from &NFi;The Arabian Nights&NFi_;. A young prince named Achmed embarks on a series of great adventures, including uniting with Aladdin and the Witch of the Fiery Mountains to save a beautiful princess. Produced in Germany, this color-tinted film utilizes laboriously cut out silhouettes to tell its story.

    Directed by:

  • Lotte Reiniger
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Orlando
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    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


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    The Preacher's Wife
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    The Preacher's Wife

    1996
    When God overhears a church preacher (Courtney B. Vance) despairing the potential loss of a youth center, he dispatches an angel (Denzel Washington) to help him out. Trouble is, the preacher isn't easily convinced that his guardian angel is the real thing. An inspired reworking of the uplifting 1940s movie The Bishop's Wife, The Preacher's Wife stars Washington and Whitney Houston at their dazzling best.

    Directed by:

  • Penny Marshall
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 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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