Female Directors to keep an eye out for

When I think about female directors to look out for, I first think of the slight disappointment that there is in the fact that we must explicitly look out for lists of female directors to keep an eye out for. Given that, there is no doubt I have a large mental list of all the female directors that have taken my breath away in their depiction of film. 

The first name that comes to mind is Karyn Kusama, an acclaimed name of the early 2000s with her release of Jennifer’s Body which has admittedly become popularised in later years rather than as it came out. Jennifer’s Body was coined as the typical teen drama. The initial critical response deemed it a failure as it was marketed towards teenage boys; Megan Fox as a demonic sex symbol for 90 minutes. But given its actual repertoire, the movie has since been recognised as so much more. Kusama’s work has since been. Recognised as the iconic feminist film that it is and has become a cultural basis for the new age horror. Its explosive with feminism and sapphic homoerotic scenes, denouncing any idea of its gaze being male-orientated, and rejecting the modern teen girl drama expectation.

Another name that has since exploded in the cinematic universe is, Céline Sciamma, director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire. This film… I cannot even come to words in explaining how its directorial decisions had me floored at the tv. The one thing that caught my eye was the expression of the female gaze in the film. Though it’s evidently suggested, there are no explicit scenes in the film, because Sciamma has made the idea of it completely futile. Instead, there is this burning chemistry elsewhere, the notice of female body hair, the gaze they share across the fire as Héloïse’s dress is caught by the flame has more intensity than any sex scene could provide. Sciamma really removes this sexualisation of the sapphic body and brings focus to the intimacy that exists between two women. A thoroughly exceptional director. 

Having said all this, I’ll give you a short list of other female directors that have taken, and are due to take, the cinematic atmosphere by force. Greta Gerwig, director of films such as Little Women (2019) and Ladybird (2017) is due to release her film, Barbie (2023) later this year. Often forgotten, The Wachowski sisters, who directed The Matrix films. Sofia Coppola, director of Lost in Translation. Amy Heckerling, director of the highly acclaimed film, Clueless. And, though not the director, Diablo Cody who was the screenwriter for both Juno (one of my all-time favourite films) and Jennifer’s Body