List
Spotlight on Women Directors: World Films
Enjoy this wide variety of critically acclaimed international feature films from around the world. Compiled by Sharon, Rummanah, and Chris.
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Leonor Will Never Die
2023Get this itemAn affectionate hyper-creative feature movie debut from Martika Ramirez Escobar. It’s an ode to wonderfully kitschy action films from the '80s and to the life of Leonor, a retired Filipina film director. When Leonor is knocked unconscious, she finds herself the heroine of one of her old unfinished scripts. Delightfully jumping between "reality" and "fiction," she must fight her way out. Totally bonkers and a ton of fun! The film won three FAP (Film Academy of the Philippines) awards: Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing.
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The Blue Caftan
2023Get this itemMaryam Touzani directs a powerful, philosophical, and tender movie from Morocco that explores the many types of love with quiet yet commanding performances from the cast. Focusing on a woman and her closeted gay husband, who run a caftan shop that provides exquisitely handcrafted garments, when they take on a young man as an apprentice, a complex relationship develops among the husband, wife, and newcomer. The film was nominated for several awards, including three awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Neptune Frost
2022Get this itemRwandan actor and playwright Anisia Uzeyman not only codirected this film with her partner Saul Williams, she also was the cinematographer. It’s marvelously engaging and beautifully weird, a fluorescent work of musical sci-fi Afrofuturism that has the viewer leaning into the screen and falling through the multiverse. It was nominated for two awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Song without a Name
2020Get this itemInspired by true events and set in 1988 Peru, the story follows Georgina, an Indigenous young woman whose newborn baby is stolen from a clinic that advertised free assistance. Dismissed by the police, Georgina teams up with a journalist to investigate her daughter’s disappearance and expose deep-seated corruption. Directed by Melina Leon, this film was nominated for several awards and won Best Feature Film from The Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinema.
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Identifying Features
2021Get this itemWinner of the Sundance Audience Award in 2020, writer/director Fernanda Valadez calls attention to the corruption and violence that many face in Mexico and acknowledges the challenges and powerlessness migrants feel in this slow burn social political thriller.
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The Desert Bride
2018Get this itemCecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato's feature film debut stars acclaimed actor Pauline Garcia as a maid named Teresa, whose long-time employer unexpectedly lets her go, with a reference to work for another family in a distant town. There is much grace and thoughtfulness in Garcia's performance, as a reluctant Teresa hits the road and navigates her way to a new beginning. Directors Atán and Pivato won Best First Film Award from the Argentinean Film Critics Association Award.
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Bar Bahar: In Between
2018Get this itemPalestinian Israeli director Maysaloun Hamoud is definitely someone to keep on your radar. Her debut film looks at three Palestinian women from different backgrounds who share a flat in Tel Aviv. Sisterhood has a way. We see their experiences and problems when they are apart and how they help one another when they are together. The film won two Haifa International Film Festival Awards including Best Debut Feature Film.
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Toni Erdmann
2017Get this itemMaren Ade's film blends gentle absurdism with heartfelt comedy as a loving but eccentric father attempts to lure his austere, hard working professional daughter from the gloomy throes of 21st-century capitalism. It's not just a hilarious, warmhearted movie about a wayward father and daughter, it's also a film that wants to wake us from complacency and show us another, more authentic way of living. This got an Oscar nomination for Best International Film in 2017.
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Sweet Bean
2016Get this itemSentaro runs a bakery that specializes in doriyaki pastries. He puts a help wanted sign in the window and, to his surprise, 76-year-old Tokue applies for the position. In this case, you can trust the title. The movie really is sweet, yet not over the top sentimental. We love that the plotline looks at friendship between the elderly, middle aged, and young. Director Naomi Kawase was nominated for an Un Certain Regard award at Cannes Film Festival in 2015.
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The Second Mother
2016Get this itemWe meet Val, who is a live-in domestic for a wealthy family, caring for a variety of their needs, including being like a second mother to the son of the family. When Val's estranged daughter comes to stay while taking entrance exams for college, she subverts the established social norms and rules. A film with a lot to say, director Anna Muylaert drew inspiration from her own life experiences and won Cinema Brazil Grand Prize Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress in 2016.
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A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Get this itemFrom Ana Lily Amirpour, we get a spaghetti western with a feminist twist. This is an Iranian vampire tale that unfolds in a dead end ghost town called Bad City. Filmed in glorious black and white, this movie oozes with retro cool. It was nominated for several awards, and Ana Lily Amirpour won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director in 2014.
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Lemale et ha'chalal: Fill the Void
2013Get this itemSet in a strictly Orthodox community of Tel Aviv, 18-year-old Shira Mendelman is looking forward to an arranged marriage with a boy she likes. However, when her older sister Esther dies in childbirth, Shira is pressured to marry her deceased sister’s husband in order to keep the family close. This is Rama Burshtein’s feature film debut, which took her 15 years to make. It won seven Ophir Awards (Israeli Oscars), including Best Feature, Best Writing, and Best Directing.
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English Vinglish
2012Get this itemThis lovely film celebrates a woman named Shashi Godbole who is finding her inner strength to stand out, stand up, and speak out. It is incredibly satisfying to witness her journey of self discovery and proving to herself and others that she's more than just a stereotypical Indian housewife. Director Gauri Shinde won the Filmfare Award (Indian Oscars) for Best Director in 2013.
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Goodbye First Love
2012Get this itemJust about any movie made by director Mia Hansen-Løve is worth recommending, though this is the one that firmly established her. It's a sensitive, shimmering portrayal of a young woman coming to terms and growing from her first relationship. The film was nominated for two Locarno International Film Festival Awards.
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Beyond Silence
1999Get this itemIn Caroline Link's feature film debut, Lara is the daughter of deaf parents, and she has spent years acting as their bridge between the worlds of sign and sound. A gifted clarinet player, as Lara approaches adulthood, she wants to leave home to pursue an educational degree in music. Such plans are difficult for her parents to understand fully, and it threatens their close-knit family. It was nominated for Best International Film in 1998.
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