Films Directed by Women

By the time Clarke made a biopic on Robert Frost for public television, he was a long-celebrated American institution. Though featuring him accepting the Congressional Gold Medal from President Kennedy at the White House, Clarke lingers on the 88-year-old poet busily ambling about his house and property in Vermont and intersperses this with relaxed talks to students at Sarah Lawrence and Amherst Colleges. Jokingly acknowledging his film crew at times, Frost appears comfortable and amused with his place in the sun. Relatively conventional with a verité cognizance, Clarke’s stroll “above ground” earned her the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 1963.

Four men meet up on the rooftop of an office block for an unusual suicide plan. Driven to the edge by problems and stresses, are going to jump off the roof in a protest against the miserable lives of men. They are in for a big surprise when two more unexpected "guests" with the same suicidal intent join them and share a man-to-man talk.

Three sisters, played by Fanny Ardant, Greta Scacchi and Valeria Golino, struggle with their illusions, goals and desires in Margarethe von Trotta’s film adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play.

The strain of juggling her responsibilities as wife, mother, and successful paralegal have worn Emma Burke out. Thus it is that Emma welcomes the opportunity to briefly take leave of her Boston home and head for sunny Hawaii. It is not, however, a pleasure trip: Having promised to honor the dying wishes of her Hawaiian-born surrogate mother. Leaving her husband, Mike, behind to care for their two children, Emma arrives in Hawaii for the first time since childhood, where she is reunited with her childhood friend Kala, the handsome son of her late surrogate parent.

Cora spends her days begrudgingly answering phones at a Prayer Call Center under the watch of well-intentioned leader Bill. m.77mi.cc When a caller shows up convinced he's been saved by her voice, she must decide if she's the one he thinks she is.

Three lovable party buds try to bail their friend out of jail. But just when the guys have mastered a plan, everything comes dangerously close to going up in smoke.

A pair of childhood friends reunite during their summer break from college and deal with a traumatizing experience from their past.

A drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.

With her son Edward (Tom Hiddleston) about to embark on a volunteer trip to Africa, doting mother Patricia (Kate Fahy) wants to give him a good send-off, and gathers her family together for a getaway to a holiday home on idyllic Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly. Edward’s father’s attendance is eagerly anticipated, though sister Cynthia (Lydia Leonard) appears to be there under some duress, going through dutiful motions. Cook Rose (Amy Lloyd) is happy to tend to the family, though her presence causes some discomfort. The holidaymakers spend their time walking, cycling, taking picnics and being tutored in oil painting, appreciating the breathless beauty of their surroundings. Gradually, deep fractures within the family set-up begin to surface. One of the most eagerly anticipated features of the year, Joanna Hogg’s follow up to Unrelated serves as a worthy companion piece to her brilliant and acclaimed debut, as she continues to make astute and authoritative observations on the malaises of the middle-class, extracting sometimes painful drama from incidental events. Archipelago confirms Hogg as one of the most intriguing and vital voices in modern British cinema.

When Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.

2006 film by Naoko Ogigami

Lil and Roz are two lifelong friends, having grown up together as neighbors in an idyllic beach town. As adults, their sons have developed a friendship as strong as that which binds their mothers. One summer, all four are confronted by simmering emotions that have been mounting between them, and each find unexpected happiness in relationships that cross the bounds of convention.

New York, 1961. Alexander Ivanov, a high-ranked Soviet bureaucrat, reluctantly defects to the West while is part of a diplomatic mission, feeling the grief of being unable to know the fate of his wife Katya, whom he has had to leave behind in Moscow. Only many years later, in 1991, he will finally find out the truth when his niece Lauren travels to Moscow to participate in a painting exhibition.

Two unlikely friends — a supply teacher and a lonely young boy suspended between two estranged parents — embark on a weekend motorcycle voyage full of surprises and unforeseen consequences in this surprisingly tough, unsentimental drama.

2014 film by Naomi Kawase

Otto and Leo are two men from Germany who have launched a successful business in which they import koi, the beautiful Japanese fish, for collectors in their native land. While on a business trip to Japan, Otto and Leo meet Ida, a German tourist who is studying fashion design. Ida begins traveling with the two men, and surprisingly develops an infatuation with the rumpled Otto instead of the handsome Leo. When Ida discovers she's pregnant with Otto's child, the two marry, and upon their return to Germany, Ida attempts to join in the business by creating a line of scarves decorated with koi patterns. However, the honeymoon proves short-lived, and Ida's presence creates a rift between Otto and Leo, as the latter sets up his own concern, raising koi with his new bride, Yoko.

Propelled by Elizabeth Streb's edict that "anything too safe is not action," the STREB company challenges the assumptions of art, injury, gender, aging, and human possibility. Revealing the passions behind the STREB dancers' bruises and broken noses, BORN TO FLY: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity inspires audiences hungry for a fiercer existence in the world.

A story of children who feel safer in the streets than at home, about children seeking out sturdy lifeboats that cross between the world of fantasy and the harsh reality of life. Jarka is one of these children. Ten years-old, and living with a mother who is not yet ready to be a mom, Jarka spends most of her time alone. Pushed by her desire for love and to form a fully functional family, she finds herself substituting a "mother" to two babies.

1965 Chínese film by Wang Ping