6 of the Best Female Directors Working Today

I can’t begin to tell you how disheartening it is to research into female directors. You type it into your Google search bar and barely anything turns up. You go to the IMDB pages of directors that you’re a fan of to see what other movies that they’ve worked on and find that not only has their career as a director been short-lived, but many of their directorial works have been shorts rather than feature-length movies. And we’re not talking small-time directors. These are directors that have worked with big studios. These are directors who have won big awards.

Compare that to the male directors that undoubtedly dominate the industry. A quick Google search of “directors” churns out dozens of male directors, with maybe one or two female directors smiling back at you. Then you have your male directors’ IMDB pages filled to the brim with directorial credits.

Nevertheless, female directors do exist, and there are still plenty of them working today. Though there may be a lack of them, we can only hope that these brilliant directors continue finding work in TV and film while inspiring even more women to join them in the field:

 

1. Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppolla
Source: Focus Features

In 2004, Coppola was only the third woman to be nominated for an academy award for Best Director for her work in Lost In Translation. Though she didn’t win, her film received critical acclaim. She also received the Golden Globe for best director the very same year. Though Lost in Translation is probably her best-known film, my favourite Coppola production is probably The Virgin Suicides, adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same title. Coppola has a way of capturing on film a certain je ne sais quoi that leaves you thinking about the film and characters for days afterwards.

 

2. Brenda Chapman

Brenda Chapman
Source: www.midiorama.com

Despite the fact that animated features, particularly Disney animated features, by and large target girls, there’s a distinctive lack of women in the direction of these films. Brenda Chapman is one of few who have played a part in directing well-known animated films. Her body of work consists of Chicken Run, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Brave and The Prince of Egypt. Chapman is also listed to direct a new feature film entitled Come Away in the coming year. The movie will be a prequel to Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

 

3. Lana and Lilly Wachowski

wachowski-sisters
Source: timeinc.net

This sister duo have been in the industry for a while now. Previously, they directed all of the Matrix franchise, which continue to be acclaimed sci-fi successes. More recently, they’ve teamed up with Netflix to create the show Sense8. The first season of the show was released in the summer of last year. It was a brilliant debut and was a series that broke many boundaries. Not only did it go above and beyond in terms of storytelling, but also in terms of representing a diverse cast of characters with nuance and complexity that is rare in television nowadays. The sisters are currently working on the second season of Sense8 and I’m excited to see where they’ll take the show.

 

4. Sarah Gavron

Sarah gavron
Source: yumagazine.co.uk

I really came across Gavron after watching her recent film, Suffragette. If you know anything about period dramas, you know that they are financially difficult to produce. Period dramas need a lot of difficult and pricey costumes. They also need sets which can be considered appropriate representations of the time they’re trying to portray in film. In a world where securing the finances for films are extremely difficult for female directors, Gavron managed to pull off a brilliant period drama that paid tribute to the women’s suffrage movement in the UK. The movie was masterfully created and emotionally poignant. It also boasted a cast that was full of women, including esteemed actresses such as Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep. I’m definitely excited to see Garvon’s next endeavour.

 

5. Debbie Allen

Debbie Allen
Source: Variety

Though all the directors mentioned above have had a go at creating feature length films for the “big screen,” most female directors are lucky to get the chance. Though Debbie Allen hasn’t dabbled in Hollywood feature length films yet, she deserves due credit for her brilliant work in TV shows across the board. Like the Wachowski sisters, Allen has been around for a while. She has previously directed episodes of 90s classic The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Disney’s brilliant show That’s So Raven. More recently, she has directed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Jane the Virgin and even How To Get Away with Murder.

 

6. Ava DuVernay

Ava Duvernay
Source: ScreenRant

In  a recent article about the lack of female directors in Hollywood, we wrote about women still being “firsts.” DuVernay is an embodiment of this, not just as a woman, but as a black woman. DuVernay is probably best known for her recent film, Selma, a biopic of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. Specifically, the film focused on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march; the lead up to it and the events surrounding it. With Selma, DuVernay became the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She also became the first black female director to have a film nominated for the Best Picture Academy Awards. Though Selma was a pretty recent production, only being released on December of 2014, DuVernay has continued on to direct an episode of popular TV show Scandal. The first season of her show Queen Sugar, which is being co-produced by Oprah Winfrey is currently airing. DuVernay is also set to direct an adaptation of Madeleine L’engle’s novel A Wrinkle in Time.

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