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
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
    The Adventures of Prince Achmed
    rating:3.6.png

    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


    Find On Amazon
    Toothless
    rating:3.4.png

    Toothless

    1997
    After her untimely death in an accident, self-absorbed dentist Katherine Lewis (Kirstie Alley) strikes a bargain to redeem herself and work her way out of afterlife limbo by taking on the job of the fabled Tooth Fairy. Lacking compassion at first, she begins to change when she befriends a troubled child (Ross Malinger) in this genial fantasy, which aired as part of the TV anthology series "The Wonderful World of Disney."

    Directed by:

  • Melanie Mayron
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Aquamarine
    rating:3.4.png

    Aquamarine

    2006
    Two 12-year-olds (Emma Roberts and pop singer JoJo) get more than they bargained for when they discover sassy mermaid Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) lolling at the bottom of their beach club's pool, having come ashore to search for true love. Before you can say "fish out of water," the finned beauty develops a crush on a boy who works at the club and recruits the girls to help her capture his heart in this family comedy directed by Elizabeth Allen.

    Directed by:

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


    Find On Amazon
    Drama
    Ambulance Girl
    rating:3.3.png

    Ambulance Girl

    2005
    In the midst of a serious depression, a food writer (Kathy Bates) changes her career path by training to become an emergency medical technician, hoping that in the process of saving others, she may just save herself. Originally aired on the Lifetime channel, this inspirational made-for-TV movie based on Jane Stern's autobiographical novel co-stars Michael Bach, Robin Thomas and Marcia Kash.

    Directed by:

  • Kathy Bates
    • rating:3.3.png 3.3 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Take My Eyes
    rating:3.5.png

    Take My Eyes

    2005
    Winner of seven Goya Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor and Actress, Iciar Bollain's raw drama exposes the hard truths about domestic abuse. With her son in tow, battered wife Pilar (Laia Marull) finally flees her violent husband, Antonio (Luis Tosar), taking asylum at her sister Ana's (Candela Peña) home. Free from the clutches of her abusive husband, Pilar struggles to start a new life; problem is, she still loves Antonio.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth
    rating:3.7.png

    Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth

    1995
    At the dawn of the new millennium, mankind has awakened a threat unlike any faced before: the Angels. They can only be stopped by the Evangelions -- bioengineered vessels born from the Angels' own technology. But this forbidden knowledge is also the key to a startling new genesis for the human race. Placed in the hands of three young pilots, the final fate of humanity resting upon their shoulders, the Evangelions are the world's last hope.

    Directed by:

  • Hideaki Anno
  • Amanda Winn Lee
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Almost a Woman
    rating:3.4.png

    Almost a Woman

    2001
    As the oldest of six siblings in a Puerto Rican New York City family, 13-year-old Negi (Ana Maria Lagasca) grows up fast in this adaptation of Esmeralda Santiago's memoir. An obedient daughter, hardworking student and family interpreter, Negi must play many roles. But her skills come in handy when she chases her biggest dream: to become a stage actress. Wanda De Jesus co-stars as Negi's passionate mother.

    Directed by:

  • Betty Kaplan
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Gay & Lesbian
    Monster
    rating:3.5.png

    Monster

    2003
    Charlize Theron took home the Best Actress Oscar for her electrifying performance as Aileen Wuornos, an emotionally scarred highway hooker who shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer. The film, based on a true story, centers more on the surrounding circumstances than on the murders. Christina Ricci co-stars as Aileen's self-centered lesbian lover, Selby Wall.

    Directed by:

  • Patty Jenkins
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me
    rating:3.9.png

    Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me

    2009
    In her Emmy-nominated comedy special for HBO (filmed at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.), Wanda Sykes brings her take-no-prisoners comedy style to bear on Barack Obama's presidency, Republican tea parties and the inhuman torture that is bikini waxing. Whether she's sharing true stories about her interracial lesbian marriage or doing hard time as a performer on a gay cruise, Sykes is frequently abrasive -- and fearlessly funny.

    Directed by:

  • Beth McCarthy-Miller
    • rating:3.9.png 3.9 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    The Kids Are All Right
    rating:3.4.png

    The Kids Are All Right

    2010
    Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), the children of same-sex parents Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), become curious about the identity of their sperm-donor dad (Mark Ruffalo) and set out to make him part of their family unit, often with hilarious results. But his arrival complicates the household dynamics, and nobody is sure how he fits in -- if at all -- in this Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning comedy.

    Directed by:

  • Lisa Cholodenko
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Andre's Mother
    rating:3.1.png

    Andre's Mother

    1990
    Terrence McNally's play (presented here as part of the "American Playhouse" series) centers on the AIDS-related death of a young man named Andre. In just over an hour's time, we see how Andre's mother (Sada Thompson) and his lover, Cal (Richard Thomas), come to terms with their grief both separately and together, and how they take the first difficult steps to move forward with their lives in the wake of the tragedy. Deborah Reinisch directs.

    Directed by:

  • Deborah Reinisch
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Foreign
    Sequins
    rating:3.5.png

    Sequins

    2004
    After learning she's five months pregnant, 17-year-old Claire (Lola Naymark) leaves her former life behind to give birth in anonymity. An excellent embroiderer, Claire finds work with a professional in the business, Madame Melikian (Ariane Ascaride). Both women bear a heavy burden -- the Madame can't cope with her son's death, and Claire doesn't want to have a child. As they pour themselves into the work they love, the two develop a strong bond.

    Directed by:

  • Eleonore Faucher
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    My Tehran For Sale
    rating:4.0.png

    My Tehran For Sale

    2009
    At a rave, Marzieh (Marzieh Vafamehr), an actress whose work is banned by the Iranian government, meets Saman (Amir Chegini), an artist who escaped such oppression by emigrating to Australia. When Saman proposes, Marzieh dreams of the freedom she'll find in his adopted home country. But fate seems to work against the couple, forcing Marzieh to decide how far she'll go for artistic liberty. Asha Mehrabi and Mobina Karimi co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Granaz Moussavi
    • rating:4.0.png 4.0 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Map of the Sounds of Tokyo
    rating:3.1.png

    Map of the Sounds of Tokyo

    2009
    When the daughter of prominent Tokyo businessman Mr. Nagara (Takeo Nakahara) commits suicide, Nagara's heartbroken employee Ishida (Hideo Sakaki) hires part-time hit woman Ryu (Rinko Kikuchi) to kill the man (Sergi López) perceived as responsible for the daughter's death. Meanwhile, a curious sound engineer becomes obsessed with Ryu and her life in this lyrical and mysterious drama from acclaimed Spanish director Isabel Coixet.

    Directed by:

  • Isabel Coixet
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


    Find On Amazon
    Big Girls Don't Cry
    rating:3.2.png

    Big Girls Don't Cry

    2002
    Seventeen-year-olds Kati (Anna Maria Mühe) and Steffi (Karoline Herfurth) are best friends. But while Steffi has a great boyfriend and a loving home, Kati is lovelorn amid her family's incessant squabbling -- but the tables are about to turn. Kati discovers that Steffi's father is having an affair, and as Steffi's perfect world falls apart, the girls try to find out all they can about her father's new lover.

    Directed by:

  • Maria von Heland
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 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