Feminist film is currently in a renaissance. Flying in the face of the male-dominated cinema days of yore, female filmmakers of today are ushering in a new golden age. While there are countless groundbreaking films from women, femmes, and feminists filling the world, these 10 are some of the finest.
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A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
The title of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night paints a portrait of vulnerability and turns it on its ear. Set in a fictional Iranian desert town called Bad City, Ana Lily Amirpour’s film centers around a lone, chador-clad woman who wanders the streets after sundown. What is she doing? Hunting. The mysterious woman is a vampire, looking for predatory men to make prey out of. One night, she meets a drugged-out man walking home from a Halloween party dressed as Dracula. Is he her next meal? Or will he evolve into something more?
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a masterclass in the female gaze. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, the story centers around a young painter named Marianne who is commissioned to paint the portrait of the soon-to-be-married noblewoman Heloise in 18th-century France. As the painter gazes upon her subject, the subject gazes back. During the long hours the two must spend looking at one another, Heloise and Marianne develop a relationship that transcends art and artist as they begin to burn for each other. It’s passionate, painful, and witheringly romantic.
Kajillionaire (2020)
Miranda July’s Kajillionaire is the story of Old Dolio Dyne, an emotionally stunted twentysomething whose con artist parents see her as an asset instead of a daughter. Old Dolio is happy to take part in her parents’ endless schemes until the arrival of a young woman named Melanie causes the scammer accomplice to question everything. Kajillionaire is essentially the story of one woman’s emancipation facilitated by the genuine love of another. And the soundtrack? Banger after instrumental banger.
Vagabond (1985)
Agnès Varda’s Vagabond is a rough watch. It’s the story of a young drifter named Mona, who ambles aimlessly through the French countryside towards her untimely demise in a frozen field (not a spoiler, they show you she’s going to die at the beginning). It’s a tragic tale of alienation and isolation, and a commentary on the social repercussions that women who stray from the beaten path suffer. Perhaps the most complicated and enduring aspect of the film is Mona’s often unsympathetic portrayal. Mona is not a hapless heroine hard done by a cruel world. Her antisocial tendencies cause many of her problems in the first place. Mona has agency, but sadly, she uses that agency to become the architect of her own destruction. Vagabond is a commentary on the gritty reality that women face in a world that is, by design, out to get them, and the gritty means some use to adapt and survive.
Women Talking (2022)
Sarah Polley’s Women Talking revolves around a group of Mennonite women who discover that the men in their community have been drugging and sexually assaulting them. In response, the women gather together in secret to decide what to do. Some believe that they should fight back, others think that they should flee in the night, and some decide that the best thing to do is nothing at all. Inspired by the real-life assault of a group of Mennonite women in Bolivia, Women Talking paints a portrait of female resilience, compassion, and camaraderie in the face of a brutal, male-dominated world.
Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott’s Alien is responsible for the introduction of arguably the greatest female action hero of the 20th Century. Ellen Ripley kicks ass. The film itself is a psychosexual nightmare about a crew of astronauts who are terrorized by a giant dick-shaped alien that has wormed its way onto their ship. Through her intelligence and tenacity, Ripley survives the encounter with the alien (and saves the ship’s cat in the process). She walked, ran, and threw xenomorphs out of airlocks so modern female action heroes could fly.
Lady Bird (2017)
Before the blockbuster Barbie movie, Greta Gerwig was busy painting tender cinematic portraits of young women in times of great change. Lady Bird is a coming-of-age story about the titular young woman who dreams of flying away from the nest and her controlling mother to start life anew on the East Coast. While struggling to free herself from her mother’s grip, Lady Bird also learns a few hard lessons about love and friendship along the way. The film is a love letter to mothers and daughters everywhere, and the sometimes complicated dynamic that such close relationships can foster.
Paris Is Burning (1990)
Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning is a documentary film about New York City’s ballroom culture of the late 1980s. Pioneered by queer Black and Latinx femmes, the ballroom community is responsible for irrevocably changing pop culture consciousness. From Madonna’s Vogue to Beyonce’s Renaissance, ball culture has inspired countless works of music and dance. Despite being responsible for tremendous cultural impact, many of the ballroom’s leading lights were ignored by society at large. Paris Is Burning sought to change that, casting a spotlight on the performers who were denied it but deserved it most.
Persepolis (2007)
Inspired by Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis is the autobiographical story of Satrapi’s coming of age during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Formerly a nation that embraced progressive politics and modernization, Iran came under the control of a far-right political sect, causing the young Satrapi to be caught in a massive cultural shift that limited the rights of women and girls. Boasting gorgeous and austere animation, Persepolis is the story of one girl’s struggle for individuality and identity in a culture that demanded her subservience and conformity.
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise is an ode to female friendships everywhere. Housewife Thelma joins waitress Louise for a fishing trip, but things take a turn when Louise shoots a man trying to assault Thelma at a bar. On the run from the law, the pair decide to roadtrip down to Mexico and lay low for a while. As they travel across the country, the love between the pair deepens, and finally they take matters into their own hands, raising their middle fingers high to the society that spurns them in a fiery, unforgettable finale.
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