10 Best Female Directors Whose Every Movie Is a Must-See

Unfortunately, women have been historically undermined in the film industry. Their groundbreaking work is often ignored by award committees, with very few women winning awards in gender-neutral categories such as Best Director. Yet this has never stopped female filmmakers. Women have shaped the industry through their work since the birth of the industry.

In recent years, we have seen a lot of female directors dominate the industry with their thought-provoking and masterfully skilled films. The female directors on this list are groundbreaking trailblazers who left their mark on the industry. They have managed to have amazing filmographies that are worth binge-watching.

10 Mira Nair

Notable Work: ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001) and ‘Salam Bombay!’ (1988)

Mira Nair gained fame for her films exploring and showcasing Indian culture. Nair started her filmmaking career by making documentaries exploring Indian culture. In 1988, Nair made her feature film debut with the Indian Hindi-language feature Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Nair would continue to direct films centered around Indian culture in India and outside of India, with the 1991 Mississippi Masala exploring interracial relationships between African Americans and Indian Americans and the 2001 Monsoon Wedding, a comedy drama film about the preparations of a traditional Indian wedding.

Nair also directed Vanity Fair, Queen of Katwe, and was even offered to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Mira Nair essentially didn’t plan on being a filmmaker, as she started studying sociology at Delhi University. She transferred to Harvard, where she joined the theater program and initially intended to be an actor before starting her directing career. Nair tells the stories of marginalized communities in the United States and stories that international audiences don’t get to see in Bollywood films. Nair is definitely a director to watch for her unique perspectives and stories.

9 Ava DuVernay

Notable Work: ‘Selma’ (2014) and ’13th’ (2016)

Ava DuVernay is a groundbreaking director. She is the first black woman to be nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, the first black woman to be nominated for the Best Director Golden Globe, and the first Black woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival. While DuVernay’s filmography is not that big, it is very diverse as it includes films, documentaries, and TV shows. DuVernay got mainstream recognition for her Best Picture Oscar-nominated feature film Selma in 2014, and she hasn’t stopped ever since.

The work of DuVernay centers around representation of the Black community, specifically Black women. DuVernay’s scenes are usually underexposed, with light focused on her Black characters to make them shine. DuVernay has also crossed into producer territory with her production of Best Documentary Feature Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, and multiple TV shows. Moreover, she became the first black woman to direct a film with a budget of over $100 million with her 2018 feature, A Wrinkle in Time.

8 Andrea Arnold

Notable Work: ‘Fish Tank’ (2009) and ‘American Honey’ (2016)

Andrea Arnold‘s filmography is a small but effective collection of films revolving around women as well as British poverty. Arnold started writing stories about human experiences ever since she was 10. However, she didn’t start her filmmaking career until the age of 37, when she directed her short film Milk in 1998. Arnold released her future film debut, Red Road, at the age of 45! She won the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar for her short film Wasp in 2005.

Andrea Arnold’s style of direction is very relaxed with her actors, as she gives them total control over creating their characters. Her work is also characterized by being almost set in a working-class setting, which is inspired by Arnold’s upbringing in the British working class. In American Honey, she explores the displacement of American youth and presents a strong criticism of capitalism. In Fish Tank, Arnold utilizes her dancing background to implement dancing that represents her main character’s journey. For daring, brave films and societal analysis, Andrea Arnold is the right director.

Watch on AMC+

7 Lynne Ramsay

Notable Works: ‘Ratcatcher’ (1999) and ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ (2011)

With her first feature, Ratcatcher, being screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Lynne Ramsay’s was opening with a boom. Everybody in the art house space would know her name. Ratcatcher was very unique due to the fact that it was made by all first-time filmmakers who were Ramsay’s film school colleagues whom she hired. Ramsay would later release We Need to Talk About Kevin in 2011 and You Were Never Really Here in 2017. Both attracted mainstream attention to Ramsay and her work. Ramsay has only directed four feature films, but each of them is a masterpiece that will grant you a great watch.

Ramsay utilizes imagery, music, and sound design to create her worlds. Her storytelling is very visually heavy, as she uses minimal dialogue and relies on her visuals to tell more of the story. Her work often focuses on children and has recurring themes of death, guilt, grief, and rebirth. As of now, Ramsay is working on a number of feature films, including the highly anticipated adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

6 Sofia Coppola

Notable Work: ‘Lost in Translation’ (2003) and ‘Marie Antoinette’ (2006)

Sofia Coppola is the third woman ever to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar for her film Lost in Translation. Audiences were introduced to Coppola as Mary Corleone in her father’s The Godfather Part III, and it was a very sour introduction. But public opinion of Coppola changed when she premiered her debut feature film, The Virgin Suicides, which is an adaptation of a novel with the same name. Coppola kept her good favor with the public when she released her second film, Lost in Translation. Then came Coppola’s biggest film to date and a career-defining moment, Marie Antoinette, which received mixed reviews but quickly grew to be a cult classic.

Coppola is often praised for her depiction of girlhood and womanhood in her films. She is known for how stylized her films are, as every film has its very own distinctive aesthetic. Coppola often utilizes natural soft light, which invites her audience into the lives of her characters. Coppola is another director who relies on her visuals to tell the story and explore relationships while using minimal dialogue. Sofia Coppola also has a great taste in films.

5 Chloé Zhao

Notable Works: ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ (2015) and ‘Nomadland’ (2020)

Chloé Zhao quickly became an indie darling with her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, in 2015. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and earned critical acclaim. Zhao strengthened her position as one of the best up-and-coming indie directors with her second film, The Rider, which received nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director. But her mainstream breakthrough came in 2020 with the Best Picture Oscar-winning Nomadland, which made her the second woman ever and the first woman of color to win the Best Director Oscar.

Zhao’s work has been characterized by her directing through a female gaze, even in The Rider, which is a film about masculinity. Zhao tells the struggles of people from diverse backgrounds, and the stars of her stories are always the characters. She intends to create connections between her audience and her characters and to make everybody watching a little bit less lonely.

4 Greta Gerwig

Notable Works: ‘Lady Bird’ (2017) and ‘Little Women’ (2019)

Greta Gerwig is one of the biggest directors working today. Gerwig began her film career by acting and writing. But her debut solo-directed feature film, Lady Bird, took the world by storm when it was released. She was the fifth woman ever nominated for a Best Direction Oscar for Lady Bird. Additionally, the film received critical acclaim and several prestigious awards. Her second feature film, Little Women, received critical acclaim as well and was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. In fact, all three Gerwig movies—Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie—were nominated for Best Picture.

Gerwig’s biggest source of inspiration is her own life, where she takes small events and turns them into the stories audiences see on the screen. She involves her actors in the characterization of the characters they play, yet she allows a very tiny space for improvising once the script is finalized. Gerwig is praised for her authentic portrayal of girlhood and womanhood in her work. She has definitely proved herself to be one of the modern greats.

3 Jane Campion

Notable Works: ‘The Piano’ (1993) and ‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021)

Jane Campion is a trailblazer. She was the first female filmmaker to receive the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first female director to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar twice, and she won in 2021 for The Power of the Dog. Her Best Director Oscar win made her the first female filmmaker to win the Oscars for both directing and screenwriting in her different films, as she previously won Best Original Screenplay for The Piano.

Campion is known for her female narrative-centered works, which focus on complex female characters and their desires. Campion’s films often have a dreamlike feel to create an atmospheric feel that is very unique to her. She often explores class disparity and social structures and how they impact women. Another recurring theme is isolation, as her characters often grapple with feelings of loneliness and isolation. Campion’s analysis of complex social structures and complex human feelings makes her character very nuanced and easy to empathize with.

2 Justine Triet

Notable Works: ‘Age of Panic’ (2013) and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023)

Justine Triet had her breakthrough in the American market last year with her Best Picture-nominated feature film, Anatomy of a Fall. The film made her the first female French filmmaker to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar and win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Additionally, Triet became the third female director to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for the same film. However, Triet’s impact on French cinema was felt way before that.

The director premiered her debut film, Age of Panic, at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the ACID program, which focuses on independent films. The debut film was nominated for the César Award for Best First Feature Film. Triet would receive two additional César Award nominations for her film In Bed with Victoria and three César Award wins for Anatomy of a Fall. Triet is known for social commentary from a feminist perspective on female identity, relationships, and social class. Another striking theme in Triet’s work is the moral ambiguity of her characters.

1 Céline Sciamma

Notable Works: ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ (2019) and ‘Petite Maman’ (2021)

Céline Sciamma is one of the most important directors working today. In a male-dominated field, she has always brought a female perspective to her films. Her first film, Water Lilies, was awarded the award for Best First Film at the Cannes Film Festival. Sciamma garnered international acclaim and attention with her film Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which made her the first woman to win the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was voted the 30th best film of all time in the Sight & Sound critics’ poll. Her film, Petite Maman, received widespread global acclaim as well.

Sciamma’s films often explore queer sexuality between women and gender fluidity. Sciamma is praised for how she portrays queerness and lesbianism on screen. Moreover, she is credited with pioneering the female gaze in film. Sciamma also explores family dynamics, usually through the lens of the coming-of-age of younger characters. Another aspect the director focuses on is fashion, and she is often the uncredited costume designer of her films.