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
Bhaji on the Beach
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Bhaji on the Beach

1993
A group of Indian women in England head to the resort of Blackpool and end up on a life-changing journey. Passionate feminist Simi (Shaheen Khan) organizes the seaside outing for the women's center, whose members range from traditional matrons to flirty teenagers. Despite their differences in age and ideology, the ladies form a lasting bond when one of their own is threatened. Director Gurinder Chadha helms this heartwarming comedy-drama.

Directed by:

  • Gurinder Chadha
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Priest
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    Priest

    1994
    Director Antonia Bird's film centers on Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache), a devout Catholic priest who struggles with a love for his church and congregation -- and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover (Robert Carlyle). After hearing the confession of a young girl in his parish, who tells him her father is sexually abusing her, the priest is torn between the laws of the church and his need to choose one life over the other.

    Directed by:

  • Antonia Bird
    • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Mikey and Nicky
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    Mikey and Nicky

    1976
    After 30 years, two friends, Mikey (Peter Falk) and Nicky (John Cassavetes), may finally have hit a wall in their friendship. With his pal embroiled in the mob, Mikey's near the end of his rope, especially when Nicky summons him to get him out of yet another sticky situation. This time, though, Nicky's troubles aren't petty; a contract is on his head, and he and Mikey could both wind up dead. Elaine May directs this intense thriller.

    Directed by:

  • Elaine May
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Chutney Popcorn
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    Chutney Popcorn

    2000
    When Reena (Nisha Ganatra, in her feature film debut) learns that married sister Sarita (Sakina Jaffrey) can't have a baby, she decides to play surrogate mother, but Reena's girlfriend (Jill Hennessy) worries that three might be a crowd. Themes of love, family obligations and fertility swirl through the story as Sarita grapples with her failure to conceive, and Reena's mother remains in the dark about her daughter's same-sex relationship.

    Directed by:

  • Nisha Ganatra
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Romance
    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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    Walking and Talking
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    Walking and Talking

    1996
    Amelia (Catherine Keener) and Laura (Anne Heche) have been best friends since the sixth grade. For the first time, their lives are taking different paths: Laura is in love and planning her wedding, while Amelia begins to despair that she'll ever find the right man. But as they try to adjust their childhood friendship to the challenges of adulthood, these friends continue to laugh together at life and love.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Holofcener
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
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    Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

    2008
    Georgia Nicolson (Georgia Groome) has two goals in life: Get a gorgeous boyfriend, and throw the best 15th birthday party … ever. No. 1 looks within reach when hottie Robbie (Aaron Johnson) arrives in school. That is, until Georgia's archnemesis is spotted with him. Adding to Georgia's troubles are some serious family problems back home. Luckily, she's got her cat Angus and her best mates in the Ace Gang in this winning British teen comedy.

    Directed by:

  • Gurinder Chadha
    • rating:3.7.png 3.7 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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    Gay & Lesbian
    Better Than Chocolate
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    Better Than Chocolate

    1999
    Scant hours before her uptight mother (Wendy Crewson) and brother move in with her, Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) meets the woman of her dreams (Christina Cox). Though Mom is oblivious to her daughter's sexual orientation, it's a tough thing to hide in close quarters. Meanwhile, Maggie's transgender friend (Peter Outerbridge) falls in love with the owner of the lesbian bookstore where Maggie works. Anne Wheeler directed this sexy romp about love and lust.

    Directed by:

  • Anne Wheeler
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Boys Don't Cry
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    Boys Don't Cry

    1999
    Based on actual events, director Kimberly Peirce's powerful, often harrowing drama stars Hilary Swank (in an Oscar-winning performance) as Brandon Teena, a transgender young man searching for love and acceptance in a small Midwestern town. But even as he forges a deep connection with local beauty Lana (Chloë Sevigny), the prejudices of the community threaten to doom the fledgling romance.

    Directed by:

  • Kimberly Peirce
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    Fire
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    Fire

    1996
    Two Hindu women struggle with loveless, arranged marriages: Sita (Nandita Das), who discovers that her husband (Javed Jaffrey) has a mistress, and her sister-in-law, Radha (Shabana Azmi), who cannot give birth. As the lukewarm coals of their long-term relationships fade, the women ignite passion in their lives by finding comfort in each other. Director Deepa Mehta's drama is supposedly the first Indian film about lesbians.

    Directed by:

  • Deepa Mehta
    • rating:3.6.png 3.6 Average Rating


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    A Perfect Ending
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    A Perfect Ending

    2012
    This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.

    Directed by:

  • Nicole Conn
    • rating:3.4.png 3.4 Average Rating


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    Faith & Spirituality
    The Trouble with Angels
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    The Trouble with Angels

    1966
    Two teens turn a staid convent upside down with their youthful glee and zany antics. Although the pair gets in trouble for transgressions like invading the nuns' quarters and substituting soap for sugar in the kitchen, their charm wins everyone over.

    Directed by:

  • Ida Lupino
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 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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    The Third Miracle
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    The Third Miracle

    1999
    Deeply devout Helen O'Regan (Barbara Sukowa) is nominated for sainthood when her death causes a statue of the Virgin Mary to weep blood and cure a terminally ill girl. A skeptical priest (Ed Harris) is sent to investigate the miracles and prove that Helen was only human. But as he seeks a logical explanation in a realm supported by faith, he discovers his true purpose in life. Anne Heche co-stars.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Sheffey
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    Sheffey

    1977
    An unruly young man from an affluent family becomes a Christian convert and a tireless servant of God after attending a revival meeting with friends in this affecting drama about the life and ministry of 19th-century preacher Robert Sheffey. Sheffey traveled the sawdust trail to proclaim the Gospel throughout Appalachia, and in the process, he touched lives all across America. Katherine Stenholm directs.

    Directed by:

  • Katherine Stenholm
    • 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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