Female Directed Films I Saw in 2020 Ranked

The great Kelly Reichardt shooting her film Certain Women.

All the consecutive months in quarantine left me with a lot of extra time to watch movies in 2020. Appropriately, I was also on a mission to seek out titles for a class on feminist directed cinema at North Park University in the Fall. Full disclosure, yes, I am a white male, not necessarily the ideal fit to teach a class on this subject. To explain, the actual title of the class was “Cornerstone”, a required gen-ed course for first year students to build their critical thinking and writing skills. Each class section  had a topic selected by the instructor ranging from the Holocaust, graphic novels, insect conservation, and, appropriately, pandemics. I chose to focus on feminist directed film because the last time I taught a film course, I looked at my syllabus mid-semester and made an unfortunate discovery: there was not a single film directed by a woman. Though I made a constant effort to consume as many diverse types of films as I could, I still primarily lauded the work of men, directors of roughly 85 percent of films every year. Whether I was going to teach them in my class or not, I was determined to watch as many films directed by women as possible. My goal was to watch at least 52 feature films directed by women, only counting my first time viewings. However, thanks to all my newfound extra time at home, I was able to squeeze in 112 first time watches. 

Ranking all 112 was expectedly daunting, especially since there were no films that I flat out disliked. It is exciting that that there are several movies on the top quarter of this list that were released in the last five years. 2020 itself was a very strong year for female directed films, and five out of ten on my year end list were helmed by women (two of which cracked the top ten on this list as well). This is by no means a definitive list of the best films directed by women, but merely a subjective ranking of the ones I saw for the first time this past year.

10. First Cow 2020 (Kelly Reichardt)

(Left) Kelly Reichardt directing; (Right) John Magaro in First Cow

If I had a dime for every time I referred to this film as the last thing I saw in theaters before lockdown, I could finance a sequel to this quiet masterwork. Honestly, that would be fine by me because I would gladly spend more time with these characters in their humble fight against capitalism, chasing the American dream, one pale of stolen milk and oily cake at a time. Reichardt has created another great misfit story of people fighting to survive, with all the quiet tension of walking on rattlesnake eggshells.

9. The Assistant 2020 (Kitty Green)

Kitty Green directing The Assistant.

The second best film of the year overall was THE best 2020 film I saw in theaters. It unleashes the silent male predator that passively wreaks havoc on women in the workplace, but smartly reserves the center stage for Julia Garner. In a star making performance, she displays all the silent abuse and powerlessness with a mere glance to the camera.

8. Strangers in Good Company 1990 (Cynthia Scott)

A scene from Strangers in Good Company

Scott blends documentary and fiction seamlessly, using not just non-professional actresses but real elderly women playing themselves in a fictional environment. When a group of elderly Canadian women find themselves stranded when their tour bus breaks down, they pass the time telling stories from their lives, all improvised by the cast. However, while very honest and real, there is a certain commitment to these “performances” that go beyond just documentary talking heads. When they tell these stories, they engage each other like the best actors, listening, observing, and responding.

7. Little Fugitive 1953 (Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin)

Richie Andrusco as Joey in Little Fugitive

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of any movie on this list, photographer Orkin and her co-directors truly pave the way for the French New Wave with this early American indie. Using a cast of nonprofessionals, the film truly adopts the perspective of a child who disappears into the chaos of Coney Island after a cruel prank. Early America has rarely felt this raw and immediate; Orkin and company employ an early prototype of the steadicam to capture the chaotic movement of large crowds and the intimate sincerity of its subjects.

6. Born in Flames 1983 (Lizzie Borden)

Honey in Born in Flames

So dystopian and other worldly yet so real and immediate, Borden’s classic effectively blends science fiction and mockumentary as an overt feminist call to arms. Its guerilla style is ahead of its time, reflecting the tactics these women must use to remain present and challenge a system that would prefer to pay them to be homemakers than add anything else to society. Sometimes criticized for its lack of polish, its grittiness adds to the raw power of women fighting not to fall off the edge.

5. The Day I Became a Woman 2000 (Marzieh Meshkini)

Deconstructing female oppression from the inside out, Meshkini’s triptych could only be told from the Persian female gaze. Three stories follow three Iranian women (well, one’s only 9, but a woman according to them) as they put themselves and their freedom before the chauvinist traditions from whence they came. The second segment following a woman riding a bicycle to the disdain and dishonor of her husband, is also pure kinetic cinema, utilizing an effective long shot that adds to an unsettling ambiguity.

4. The Cosmic Eye 1986 (Faith Hubley)

The only feature length film by the great animation pioneer, Hubley brings her infamous amorphous in motion style in this delightful exploration of alien lightforms, world history, and jazz. The result is a colorful “Big Bang Theory” of a movie that mashes together all forms of life in harmony, even when they discuss discord. Hubley creates awe inspiring imagery that when juxtaposed against more philosophical discussions of the planet earth’s worth engages both sides of the brain with equal weight.

3. Beau Travail 1999 (Claire Denis)

It was worth the wait to finally catch this for the first time in theaters. Denis’ loose adaptation of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is poetry in motion. It’s a full fledged piece of modern dance on the fragility of toxic masculinity as the legionnaires seek to banish any vulnerability into the literal wasteland. Beyond heavy social themes, the film passes the mute test beautifully, one panning shot at a time.

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2019 (Celine Sciamma)

Adèle Haenel in Portrait of a Lady on Fire

My biggest regret was not being able to see this modern masterpiece in time for it to make my Top Ten list last year (it was released in Chicago on February 14). This is not only one of the best films of 2019, but possibly of all time. Itself a moving collection of evocative portraits, Sciamma examines forbidden love through the gaze of a visual artist, seeking out the most expressive gestures and compositions that speak louder than the words they could never say in high society. Its devastating ending is a culmination of every precise detail an audience member could not have missed because when would their eyes have ever left the screen?

1.Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles 1975 (Chantel Akerman)

Delphine Seyrig as the titular Jeanne Dielman

Often considered the ultimate feminist film, Akerman pushes less is more to the highest extreme. Three and a half hours of a chariot race or an infinity war are libel to test people’s patience, let alone a mostly silent woman doing chores and running errands. Though not always a thrill ride, the film is a master class on the mise en scene, and there’s not a frame or an image that’s wasted. It’s proof that long fixed shots of potato peeling can say more about societal gender roles than any Op-Ed piece.

The rest ranked in order:

11. Water Lilies 2007 (Celine Sciamma)

12. The Watermelon Woman 1996 (Cheryl Dunye)

13. Time 2020 (Garrett Bradley)

14. Dick Johnson Is Dead 2020 (Kirsten Johnson)

15. Prevenge 2016 (Alice Lowe)

16. A Question of Silence 1982 (Marleen Gorris)

17. Kung-Fu Master! 1988 (Agnes Varda)

18. At Five in the Afternoon 2003 (Samira Makhmalbaf)

19. Songs My Brothers Taught Me 2015 (Chloe Zhao)

20. Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. 1992 (Leslie Harris)

21. Daguerréotypes 1976 (Agnes Varda)

22. The Mafu Cage 1978 (Karen Arthur)

23. Losing Ground 1982 (Kathleen Collins)

24. The Headless Woman 2008 (Lucrecia Martel)

25. Working Girls 1986 (Lizzie Borden)

26. Kajillionaire 2020 (Miranda July)

27. River of Grass 1994 (Kelly Reichardt)

28. A New Leaf 1971 (Elaine May)

29. Nomadland 2020 (Chloe Zhao)

30. Lingua Franca 2020 (Isabel Sandoval)

31. The Forty-Year-Old Version 2020 (Radha Blank)

32. Born to Be 2020 (Tania Cypriano)

33. Marona’s Fantastic Tale 2019 (Anca Damian)

34. Never Rarely Sometimes Always 2020 (Eliza Hittman)

35. Blow the Man Down 2020 (Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy)

36. The Grand Bizarre 2018 (Jodie Mack)

37. Daughters of the Dust 1991 (Julie Dash)

38. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) 2020 (Cathy Yan)

39. Lovers and Lollipops 1956 (Ruth Orkin and Morris Engle)

40. Girlfriends 1978 (Claudia Weill)

41. She Dies Tomorrow 2020 (Amy Seimetz)

42. Knives and Skin 2020 (Jennifer Reeder)

43. Finding Yingying 2020 (Jiayan Jenny Shi)

44. Je, Tu, Il, Elle 1974 (Chantel Akerman)

45. Between the Lines 1977 (Joan Micklin Silver)

46. Welcome II the Terrordome 1995 (Ngozi Onwurah)

47. We Need to Talk About Kevin 2011 (Lynne Ramsay)

48. Not Wanted 1949 (Ida Lupino)

49. Outrage 1950 (Ida Lupino)

50. Orlando 1992 (Sally Potter)

51. One Night in Miami… 2020 (Regina King)

52. Berlin Syndrome 2017 (Cate Shortland)

53. Jennifer’s Body 2009 (Karyn Kuzama)

54. American Factory 2019 (Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert)

55. A Dry White Season 1989 (Euzhan Palcy)

56. M.F.A. 2017 (Natalia Leite)

57. Wadjda 2012 (Haifaa al-Mansour)

58. Family 2018 (Laura Steinel)

59. Blood Diner 1987 (Jackie Kong)

60. Edge of the Knife 2018 (Helen Haig-Brown and Gwaai Edenshaw)

61. Relic 2020 (Natalie Erika James)

62. Little Joe 2019 (Jessica Hausner)

63. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution 2020 (James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham)

64. Evolution 2015 (Lucile Hadžihalilović)

65. The Lodge 2020 (Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala)

66. My Twentieth Century 1989 (Ildikó Enyedi)

67. Clemency 2019 (Chinonye Chukwu)

68. On the Record 2020 (Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick)

69. La Ciénaga 2001 (Lucrecia Martel)

70. Sleepwalk 1986 (Sarah Driver)

71. Sweetie 1989 (Jane Campion)

72. Farewell Amor 2020 (Ekwa Msangi)

73. Always Shine 2016 (Sophia Takal)

74. Circus of Books 2020 (Rachel Mason)

75. Blue My Mind 2017 (Lisa Brühlmann)

76. Dogfight 1991 (Nancy Savoca)

77. Daisies 1966 (Věra Chytilová)

78. Drunktown’s Finest 2014 (Sydney Freeland)

79. Merrily We Go to Hell 1932 (Dorothy Arzner)

80. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) (Patty Jenkins)

81. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare 1991 (Rachel Talalay)

82. The Bigamist 1953 (Ida Lupino)

83. Never Fear 1949 (Ida Lupino)

84. Represent 2020 (Hillary Bachelder)

85. The Slumber Party Massacre 1982 (Amy Holden Jones)

86. Streets 1990 (Katt Shea)

87. Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall 2017 (Katherine Fairfax Wright)

88. Sea Fever 2019 (Neasa Hardiman)

89. Shirley 2020 (Josephine Decker)

90. When Pigs Fly 1993 (Sara Driver)

91. Wings 1966 (Larisa Sepitko)

92. Yes, God, Yes 2020 (Karen Maine)

93. Miss Juneteenth 2020 (Channing Godfrey Peoples)

94. Humanoids from the Deep 1980 (Barbara Peeters)

95. The Old Guard 2020 (Gina Prince Bythewood)

96. The Audition 2019 (Ina Weisse)

97. Women Without Men 2009 (Shirin Neshat)

98. The Craft: Legacy 2020 (Zoe Lister-Jones)

99. Deidra & Laney Rob a Train 2017 (Sydney Freeland)

100. Emma 2020 (Autumn de Wilde)

101. The Velvet Vampire 1971 (Stephanie Rothman)

102. The Gold Diggers 1983 (Sally Potter)

103. The Hitch-Hiker 1953 (Ida Lupino)

104. I Used to Go Here 2020 (Kris Swanberg)

105. The Photograph 2020 (Stella Meghie)

106. Baby God 2020 (Hannah Olson)

107. Selah and the Spades 2019 (Tayarisha Poe)

108. Amulet 2020 (Romola Garai)

109. Judy & Punch 2019 (Mirrah Foulkes)

110. The Edge of Democracy 2019 (Petra Costa)

111. The Selling 2011 (Emily Lou)

112. Radioactive 2020 (Marjane Satrapi)