31 Women Directors You Need To Know
In light of the Golden Globes' gaffe where no women directors were nominated for Best Director, here are the female directors you need to know
Representation onscreen and in the director's chair has never been a hotter topic in Hollywood, with the excitement (and box office numbers) surrounding Patty Jenkin's Wonder Woman propelling that conversation to a fever pitch. As A Wrinkle in Time director and Queen Sugar showrunner Ava DuVernay put it, "[Wonder Woman] was a beautiful example of what Hollywood can be, and that's what happens when you let women direct." Are you listening, Hollywood? Here, we'll give you a hand: these are the 30 women directors breaking down barriers and making art worth paying attention to right now.
From: Harper's BAZAAR US
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Asante's beautiful film grapple with race against some some of history's darkest moments. There's Belle, about a mixed-race girl mixed in with British aristocracy during the time of the transatlantic slave trade; A United Kingdom, about a Botswana prince and his white bride defying encroaching Apartheid; and now Where Hands Touch, about a young woman of colour growing up under Hitler's rule. Photo: Getty
Amma Asante
As the director of Deliver Us from Evil, an Oscar-nominated documentary about rape within the Catholic Church, and An Open Secret, the shockwave exposé about Hollywood insiders molesting teenagers in the industry, Berg is a filmmaker not afraid to go there- and we need more like her. Photo: Getty
Amy Berg
Dubbed "one of the indie world's best kept secrets", actress/director Seimetz is making a name for herself directing thrillers like Sun Don't Shine, a neo-noir trip through the Sunshine State, and The Girlfriend Experience, a Steven Soderbergh-produced series based on his film of the same name. The secret's officially out. Photo: Getty
Amy Seimetz
Ever since she dropped Middle of Nowhere at Sundance 2012, DuVernay has been breaking ground and blazing trails. The first black woman director to score a Best Picture nom (Selma) she's also the first to helm a $100 million studio feature: Disney's A Wrinkle in Time, starring Oprah, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mindy Kailing, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine. That hits theatres next spring, but in the meantime, stay tuned for Season 2 of OWN's hit Queen Sugar, which DuVernay executive produces with Oprah- and they only hire women directors. Photo: Getty
Ava Duvernay
Best known for the ship (Winter's bone) that launched Jennifer Lawrence's career, Granik answered the sizzling reception for that Sundance breakout with another superb watch, Stray Dog, a portrait of a biker who loves little dogs. Her next venture, My Abandonment, starring Ben Foster, is due later this year. Photo: Getty
Debra Grank
She attracted fans with Pariah, a portrait of a conflicted lesbian teen, then went to the Globes with Queen Latifah and Bessie. Now Rees, who masterfully weaves stories about women and race, is bound for Netflix with the American South drama Mudbound, the biggest buy at Sundance 2017 at $12.5 million. Photo: Getty
Dee Rees
America swooned over Mustang, but the Turkish-
French debut drama about the demonisation of female sexuality saw a more controversial reception in her native Turkey. That hasn't stopped her, though: her thriller about the Rodney King trial, Kings, and an adaption of Charlotte Rogan's The Lifeboat are on the way. Photo: Getty
Deniz Gamze Ergüven
A master at character-driven drama, Prince-Bythewood now has some very Marvelous characters in her focus: Silver Sable and Black Cat in the Spider-Man spin-off Silver and Black. Two reasons we're pumpes: 1) She's the first woman of colour to direct a superhero movie, and 2) she's the mind behind Love and Basketball and Beyond the Lights. Photo: Getty
Gina Prince Bythewood
A director who's made her mark on the big screen with features like Sweetie, The Piano, and Bright Star, Campion's at the top of her game with the art-house thriller series Top of the Lake. As creator of the New Zealand-set saga, she has us hooked and salivating for Season 2, China Girl, which premiers in September. Photo: Getty
Jane Campion
Though Egyptian filmmaker Jehane Noujaim has an Emmy and an Oscar nomination for her explosive Netflix documentary The Square, there's not time to rest on her laurels. She's the first to tackle the Sony hack with an untitled documentary that promises to probe theories and drop bombshells. Photo: Getty
Jehane Noujaim
The Badabook director turned grown adults into blubbering versions of their former selves with her terrifying debut, which helped reinvigorate the nerve- jangling genre. And though we'd love another modern horror from the Aussie, we'll also take a period thriller: Nightingale is currently in production. Photo: Getty
Jennifer Kent
"Write what you know," is a statement Soloway has taken to her heart, as the writer/director pulls from life experience to amuse screens both big and streaming. Her indie stripper comedy Afternoon Delight charmed the festival circuit, just as her wildly popular Amazon original Transparent continues to do so.
Jill Soloway
Move over, David Lynch, and make room for this French auteur, who's the mind behind Raw, a lauded coming-of-age body horror about a vegan whose sexual appetite has the insatiable compulsion to gnaw on human flesh. It's such bold filmmaking that we can't wait to see what Ducournau sinks her teeth into next. Photo: Getty.
Julia Ducournau
"Women have a lot to be really fucking afraid of." That's Kusama to THR about her chapter in the female- directed horror anthology XX. That hasn't stopped her from tackling a range of genres and platforms, from films including the prizewinning Girlfight, sleeper hit The Invitation and cult favourite Jennifer's Body to the summit of primo TV with episodes of Causal, Masters of Sex, Billions. Photo: Getty
Karyn Kusama
Bieglow's been forging her career for decades, elbowing her way through the boys' club to get to the epicentre of Hollywood. Two Oscars (including the coveted Best Director), an Emmy, and a Johnny Utah classic later, and she has yet to take her foot off the gas. Buzzy riot Detroit drama hits theatres this August. Photo: Getty
Kathryn Bieglow
After holding her directing chops on the set of Children's Hospital, Bell, a self professed Guns N' Roses enthusiast, vowed with her feature debut, In a World, and proved that she can rock a director's hat even better than Axl Rose can rock a crop top. Up nex for her: a matrimony laugher called What's the Point? Photo: Getty
Lake Bell
Love her or hate, the socially charged bombast doesn't know how to fail. Popping onto the scene with her deadpan Tiny Furniture, she went on to create, direct, and star in millennial phenomenon Girls. Now that that's wrapped, Dunham can focus on her next directing venture: the 1960s-set HBO comedy Max. Photo: Getty
Lena Dunham
Think of Headland as an R-rated Nora Ephron. She writes and directs her own rom-coms, including Sleeping with Other People and Bachelorette, and her humour- as seen in her writing contribution to the underrated Terriers- bites in the best way possible. We can't wait for her Heathers pilot to drop. Photo: Getty
Leslye Headland
An artiste of art house, as in The Riot Club and Italian for Beginners, this Danish director's also an ace with crowd-pleasers, as in An Education and Their Finest. Keep your eyes peeled for her next project, Secrets from the Russian Tea Room, a drama bout the intersecting lives of New Yorkers, out in 2018. Photo: Getty
Lone Scherfig
Ramsay is a storyteller who takes emotional intensities to to almost- therapeutic levels, In 2011, we needed to talk about Kevin, but now, after her trip to Croisette this May, we need to talk about You Were Never Really Here, her sex-traffic thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix . Trust us, you will too. Photo: Getty
Lynne Ramsay
Heller pooped onto the scene with Sundance success Diary of a Teenage Girl in 2015 and her calendar's been full ever since. Not only is she juggling episodes of Casual and Transparent, but she has three- yes, three- features including a biopic starring Melissa McCarthy as literary forger as Lee Israel, in the pipeline. Photo: Getty
Marielle Heller
Menon's firework of a road-trip buddy comedy debut, Farah Goes Bang, had the festival circuit in a state of acclaim in 2013. Her follow-up-female-driven financial drama, Equity, was no different. Next stop: dominating the small screen with episodes of Blood Drive and Snowfall set to premiere later this year. Photo: Getty
Meera Menon
The Deep Impact director has been wildly busy on the small screen, with recent projects including episodes of Shameless, Nashville, and Almost Human, but it's her tour de force The Leftovers, which also she produced, which you'll want to bookmark, especially her magnificent work directing the pitch-perfect series finale, "The Book of Nora". Photo: Getty
Mimi Leder
Mira Nair
Whether you know her by name yet or not, you've welcomed Holofcener and her heartfelt humour into your home. She's directed episodes of Orange is the New Black and Parks and Recreation, as well as features like the Julia- Louis Deyfrus charmer Enough Said. Up next: Ben Madelsohn in The Land of Steady Habits. Photo: Getty
Nicole Holofcener
There's a recurring theme in Caro's work: strong women in meaty roles. See: Jessica Chastain in The Zookeeper's Wife, Charlize Theron in North Country, Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider, and Noomi Rapace in the upcoming Callas. Which brings us to this question: Who will Caro direct in Mulan?! Photo: Getty
Niki Caro
After her beast of directional debut, Monster secured a Best Actress Oscar win for Charlize Theron, Jenkins dabbled in Tv- Entourage, The Killing- and then took on her biggest feat yet: treading through gender politics to direct a superhero movie. The result? Wonder Woman is killing it. Photo: Getty
Patty Jenkins
Collecting cinematography accolades since 1999, Morano has only recently occupied the director's chair, but her talent's undeniable. She directed several episodes of The Handmaid's Tail, including the seething premiere, and has the apocalyptic I Think We're Alone Now with Elle Fanning heading to the big screen. Photo: Getty
Reed Morano
A poetic storyteller, Kim works magic turning shoestring-budget films into poignant character studies with massive emotional punch. She just recently finished her fourth feature, Lovesong, and when she's not directing an episode of Transparent or American Crime, she's teaching at Bard College in NYC. Photo: Getty
So Yong Kim
For 18 years, Coppola has been climbing to the upper echelons on filmmaking, beginning with 1999's The Virgin Suicides and 2003's Lost in Translation , but it's her latest evocative masterpiece that's making history. The Beguiled just won her Best Director at Cannes, making her the second woman to ever do so. Photo: Getty
Sofia Coppola
Knowing for telling stories about characters that are going through hell (In A Better World, Open Hearts, The Night Manager), Bier isn't gun-shy with complicated matters of the heart. Instead, she pulls the trigger and we're left gawking at the aftermath. Stay tuned for her rumoured Cuba-set Tropicana. Photo: Getty
Susanne Bier
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Amma AsanteAmy BergAmy SeimetzAva DuvernayDebra GrankDee ReesDeniz Gamze ErgüvenFemale DirectorsFemale EmpowermentGina Prince BythewoodJane CampionJehane NoujaimJennifer KentJill SolowayJulia DucournauKaryn KusamaKathryn BieglowLake BellLena DunhamLeslye HeadlandLone ScherfigLynne RamsayMarielle HellerMeera MenonMimi LederMira NairNicole HolofcenerNiki CaroPatty JenkinsReed MoranoSo Yong KimSofia CoppolaSusanne BierWonder Woman