The 20 Most Influential Female Directors

The narrative surrounding women in film is always changing — even whether or not it is valuable to label someone a "female director" is up for debate. Makes sense! The term "female director" does not mean any one thing. Some women influenced cinema by developing technology. Others defined, or re-defined, a genre. Many made history by being the first woman to reach a milestone (no filmmaker needs to be the first at anything in order to be considered influential or culturally significant, but each and every one of those "firsts" does influence the industry).

And yet, while women have been a guiding force behind the camera since the artform began, they often don't end up on lists of auteurs or blockbuster superstars. Let's change that. These are the 20 female filmmakers who have had the biggest impact on movie-making. Their films are not restricted by subject matter, budget, or audience. They are not inherently feminist. They are definitely not meant to be judged against each other. They're just really good films from game-changing directors. Sometimes, the only way to recognize someone's contributions is to do so loudly, and to do it often.

Skipping ahead several decades, Agnés Varda's films "Le Bonheur," "Cléo from 5 to 7" and "Vagabond" often show up on lists of essential films from female directors, and for good reason. Varda's work manages to employ realism while experimenting with both form and genre. It also has strong social messages. Because of Varda's background in photography, she established a distinct visual style and often uses still images in her storytelling. She was the first woman to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and to this day, she is the only woman to receive an honorary Oscar for directing. At the Telluride Film Festival in 2019, a few months after Varda passed away, Martin Scorcese called her a "God of Cinema."

If you like her work, you might be interested in French filmmakers like Claire Denis — who also makes both narrative and documentary films — and Varda's contemporary Ida Lupino, the first woman to direct a film noir.

Penny Marshall originally started as an actress, known best for playing the first half of "Laverne and Shirley," but her biggest contributions to cinema might've come in terms of box office receipts and classic movie moments. Marshall's "Big" grossed over $100 million domestically, the first film from a female director to do so. "A League Of Their Own" has been inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, and also crossed $100 million at the box office. While her films are often regarded as "feel good," a phrase which sometimes holds a negative or frivolous connotation, they stuck with audiences. No montage of major moments in Hollywood is complete without Tom Hanks playing "Heart and Soul" in "Big" or shouting, "There's no crying in baseball!"

Marshall broke ground as a woman who achieved such great success as a double threat, or multi-hyphenate, which is becoming more and more common. Today, many actresses-turned-directors make critically acclaimed and crowd-pleasing films, including Elizabeth Banks and Emerald Fennell.

Jane Campion's female protagonists are complex. They are outsiders. They are not what you're used to seeing in film. Over the years, critics have described her heroines in terms as innocuous as "quirky," as respectful as "resilient," and as damning as "lunatic." Her films cover multiple genres: "Bright Star" and the Palm D'Or-winning "The Piano" blend romance and dramedy; "In The Cut" and the miniseries "Top Of The Lake" are crime thrillers. 

As a New Zealander, Campion's films are shot on her home soil and feature gorgeous locations. Campion won an Academy Award for screenwriting (again, for "The Piano"), although that same year she became the second woman ever to be nominated for Best Director. She deserves more, but at least her influence as a filmmaker is everywhere. Campion has paved the way for female protagonists to be messier, more challenging, and even — dare we say it — unlikable.

If her work interests you, you may enjoy the films of Andrea Arnold, who has a very different approach to storytelling but offers similarly rich and complex characters. You may also like British auteur Joanna Hogg.

Until 2021, Katherine Bigelow was the only woman to be awarded Best Director at the Oscars, and was additionally the first woman to direct a Best Picture winner. While that statistic is depressing, it should not overshadow Bigelow's contributions to film. TIME Magazine voted her one of the most influential people of the year in 2010 for the way she examined the Iraq War in "The Hurt Locker." With films like "The Hurt Locker" as well as "Point Break" and "Zero Dark Thirty" on her resume, Bigelow has made a name for herself deconstructing masculinity and violence as well as American society's obsession with both.

But don't dismiss her as a simple action director. "'Action' is a label for video store owners. I guess if I had to single out a theme for what I've been up to, I'd say it's some sort of journey to explore film's potential to be kinetic," Bigelow tells the Director's Guild of America Quarterly Magazine. "This probably started unconsciously, but it's there in one way or another in all my movies. I'm always trying to squeeze the most energy out of the frame."

In 1991, "Daughters of the Dust" became the first feature directed by an African American woman to get a wide theatrical release in the United States. Dash was part of the "L.A. Rebellion," a group of Black film school graduates who made alternative films. "Daughters of the Dust" also happens to be a masterpiece; like "A League Of Their Own," "The Matrix," and "The Hurt Locker," its listed in the National Film Registry for its cultural and aesthetic significance. The film tells the story of a family that lives off the coast of South Carolina, and that considers moving to the mainland, debating what could be lost along the way.

"Daughters of Dust" also happens to be Dash's only feature film. She didn't disappear or anything; since the '90s, Dash has been working steadily, directing television movies, music videos, and museum commissions. Her ability to "shape shift" in order to enjoy a long and varied career inspired Ava DuVernay to do the same, according to The New York Times. And if you haven't seen "Daughters of the Dust," you may have seen another masterpiece that is heavily influenced by Dash's film: Beyoncé's "Lemonade." 

Another period film about Black womanhood from the '90s that is an absolute must-see is Kasi Lemmons' "Eve's Bayou."

Over 20 years after it was named Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival, Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman" had a cultural and critical resurgence in 2020 as a recommendation for those who sought to decolonize their media diet. It is key to the New Queer Cinema movement of the '90s, as the first film about Black lesbians to be directed by an out Black lesbian herself. The film blends documentary elements into the narrative, one of Dunye's signature techniques. 

In fact, many of Dunye's films are experimental documentaries; on more than one occasion, Dunye steps in front of the camera to play a fictionalized version of herself. She also was instrumental in making queer cinema a more intersectional space. According to IndieWire, in conducting research for "The Watermelon Woman," Dunye studied queer film history and found no mention of race. Today, we have films like Dee Rees' "Pariah" and Wanuri Kahiu's "Rafiki," among so many others, thanks to the road that Dunye paved.

Patty Jenkins was showered with accolades for her debut feature "Monster," which was awarded by the AFI and the Independent Spirit Awards, and won Charlize Theron an Oscar for Best Actress. She won a Director's Guild Award for directing the pilot of AMC's "The Killing" in 2011. 

But it was Jenkins' second film that made real history. With "Wonder Woman," Jenkins became the first female director of a Hollywood superhero film. For once, this glass ceiling seems to have stayed broken; "Wonder Woman" will not be an isolated incident. Warner Brothers, Marvel Studios, and other major blockbuster makers have been hiring female directors — including women of color — to helm big film and television projects based on major IPs ever since, thanks largely to Jenkins and the success of "Wonder Woman." It doesn't stop there, either; Jenkins is currently set to direct "Rogue Squadron," which will make her the first woman to direct a Star Wars feature film.

It feels like cheating to recommend this, but if you like "Wonder Woman" and Jenkins' work and haven't seen Cathy Yan's movies, including her DCEU film, "Birds of Prey," get on it!

Coppola is the first woman to receive the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and is one of the more recognizable female directors in independent film. Her last name certainly didn't hurt, but Coppola proved her worth with a directorial style that is very different from her father's. You know what you're getting from a Sofia Coppola film: a soft, "girly" style of filmmaking that's unapologetic and not afraid to go dark. Coppola won the Academy Award for screenwriting in 2003 for "Lost in Translation" which she also directed. This is an oddly common practice for the Academy: women are far more likely to be recognized for writing than directing, even if they do both.

If you like Coppola's films you're probably already a fan of Greta Gerwig, so check out the late great Lynn Shelton for more independent films from female voices, particularly in the mumblecore subgenre. Speaking of which, if you like Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides" and "The Beguiled," check out Amy Seimetz's excellent film "Sun Don't Shine."

Patricia Cardoso's "Real Women Have Curves," easily one of the best films of the '00s, was recognized by the Library of Congress, the National Board of Review, the National Film Preservation Board, and the Independent Spirit Awards, and won the audience award at Sundance. It is a seminal classic and influential piece of cinema as an independent film, a Latin American film, and a coming-of-age story that challenges Euro-centric and fatphobic beauty standards. It also launched the career of "Ugly Betty" and "Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants" star America Ferrara. 

Cardoso was the first Latina woman to win the coveted Sundance Audience Award, and was also the first Latina woman to receive a Student Academy Award, which she won her 1994 film "The Water Carrier of Cucunuba." Unlike some of her contemporaries, Cardoso does not come from a background in painting or photography. Before studying film at UCLA, she was an anthropology student in Colombia.

In 2019, Isabel Sandoval became the first out trans woman of color to compete at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, where her film "Lingua Franca" debuted. She is an up and comer in Hollywood, but already one whose influence is clear: Sandoval has already been recognized by both the Criteron Collection and the Museum of Modern Art! In addition, "Lingua Franca" was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, reserved for films made with a budget under $500,000, and was acquired by Array Films. 

"Shangri-la," Sandoval's latest shorts, and "Lingua Franca" can be streamed on YouTube, Mubi, the Criterion Channel, and Netflix. "Shangri-la" is a short, experimental art film that was commissioned by Miu Miu as part of its Women's Tales series, which seeks to "investigate vanity and femininity in the 21st century." Other filmmakers who appear on this list and have participated in this series over the years include Varda, DuVernay, and Martel. Excellent company to be in.