Films Directed by Women

The dorkiest thing in the world, according to feminist poet Sigrid, is the movie cliche of the young woman who in the morning dons her male lover's shirt, looking adorably "indie cute". But when she begins a relationship with Kåre Tryvle, she has difficulties living up to her ideals. Meanwhile, pregnant performance artist Trine is planning to give birth in a cage, dressed up as Marie Antoinette, on camera, and factory worker Astrid is looking for the son she had adopted away.

An intense drama about two young women desperate to escape their repressive small town, whose friendship is challenged after a night of debauchery threatens to undo their grand plans for freedom.

A restless photographer leaves her family to "find herself" and takes up deep-sea diving.

In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

In Make Me Up, multimedia artist Rachel Maclean has created a world that is both seductive and dangerous; a place where surveillance, violence and submission are a normalised part of daily life. She tackles these contradictions head-on and never balks at pushing boundaries.
This darkly-comic film takes a satirical look at the contradictory pressures faced by women today. It examines how television and social media can be fun and expressive spaces to explore identity, but simultaneously a gilded prison that encourages women to conform to strict beauty ideals.
Siri wakes to find herself trapped inside a brutalist candy-coloured dreamhouse. Despite the cutesy decor, the place is far from benign, and she and her inmates are encouraged to compete for survival while being watched over by surveillance cameras, 24/7.
Presiding over the group is an authoritarian diva who speaks entirely with the voice of Kenneth Clark from the 1960s BBC series Civilisation. As she forces the women to go head-to-head in a series of demeaning tasks, Siri, with the help of fellow inmate Alexa, starts subverting the rules and soon reveals the sinister truth that underpins their world.
Make Me Up will receive its world premiere in London on 12 October as part of the BFI London Film Festival and will be screened in cinemas and arts centres throughout autumn 2018. Make Me Up will be broadcast on BBC 4 in November 2018 (date tbc).
Produced by Hopscotch Films with NVA, Make Me Up is a major commission for the BBC, Creative Scotland and 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, and by the Department of Digital, Culture Media and Sport. Make Me Up is part of Represent, a series of works inspired by the Representation of the Peoples Act 1918.

Margaret Tait Award winner Rachel Maclean’s latest film is a parable of the pleasures and perils of indulgence, and a wicked, waspish skit on a world where greed is good. The film is a provocative exploration of the commercialisation (and sexualisation) of childhood, and a corresponding infantilism in adults. A delirious confection of multi-layered images, made more extravagant by the artist’s trademark multi-character theatrics, this is Maclean’s most ambitious film to date.

In order to escape her looming post-graduation fate that includes student debt and zero romantic prospects, Blake Conway becomes a sugar baby. As the aspiring journalist and hopeless romantic documents the adventure, she sets out on a quest to figure out if society is right to judge these women and if her own self worth comes with a price.

16-year-old Jamie Winkle and her extended family are left reeling after her calculating grandmother unveils an array of secrets on her deathbed. As her family deals with her grandmother's surprising dying messages, Jamie sets out to make the most of her summer and explores her sexuality.

Based on material that emerged during the occupation of the arena in the summer of 1976, the film shows the organization of collective work, the negotiations with the city and community and finally the demolition of the buildings.

In this documentary road movie, Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann records the diverse views and activities of Israelis and Arabs as she travels along the route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Images of Egypt: prolonged tracking shots through the streets of Cairo, cafes, bazars, hotels and gardens, footage of the desert and the sea. Ruth Beckermann is on the trail of Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sissi"), who travelled the world restlessly and was in Egypt incognito one hundred years earlier. Since Elisabeth refused to be photographed after the age of 31, she inspires projections and fantasies.

Four 12-year-olds—Sharon, Tom, Moishy, and Sophie—prepare for their bar or bat mitzvot.

In the Semperit tyre factory, the only strike after World War II takes place in May 1978, lasting for three weeks. The film shows the course of the strike in interviews, photos, graphics and talks at a pub; it draws attention to the position of the union between its loyalty to the workers and its responsibilities towards the entrepreneurs.

2014 film by Sophie Letourneur

Pam is twenty. She and her girlfriends hang out together on the couch at The Ranch, the apartment she shares with Manon. Sitting around chatting, drinking, smoking, and dancing are part of life at their age, but there comes a time when you need to cut loose from the group and go your own way...

2012 film by Sophie Letourneur

Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.

Yuki is a 2nd year high school student. She volunteers at a paediatrics ward for her summer vacation, because she wants to witness the moment a person dies. She got that thought after feeling envious of a transfer student's story of seeing a friend's dead body. Yuki has friend named Atsuko. She was bullied in the past and has anxiety issues. She volunteers at a nursing home for her summer vacation, hoping that she will gain courage if she sees the moment a person dies.

Ichie is the owner of a dressmaking shop. Her grandmother started the shop and now Ichie runs the business. Her clothes are made with an old sewing machine and are very popular. Following her grandmother’s will, Ichie only makes clothes for individuals and turns down offers to turn her clothing into a brand.

A couple decide to relocate from Tokyo to the northern island of Hokkaido where they settle and establish a bakery and café called Mani. One cooks. The other bakes. Everyone walks out happy.