The Best Female Directors Ever!

1. Agnès Varda

Agnès Varda was born on May 30, 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985) and Faces Places (2017). She was married to Jacques Demy. She died on March 29, 2019 in Paris, France.

3251 points

2. Susanne Bier

Director | Hævnen

Though Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director Susanne Bier's work often plays out against a wide-reaching global backdrop, its focus is intimate, carefully exploring the explosive emotions and complexities of familial bonds. This unique combination is part of ...

2803 points

3. Margarethe von Trotta

Director | Hannah Arendt

Margarethe von Trotta was born in Berlin in 1942. In the 1960s she moved to Paris where she worked for film collectives, collaborating on scripts and co-directing short films. She also pursued an acclaimed acting career, starring in films by well known German directors such as Rainer Werner ...

2001 points

4. Isabel Coixet

Director | My Life Without Me

Isabel Coixet was born on April 9, 1960 in Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is a director and writer, known for My Life Without Me (2003), The Secret Life of Words (2005) and The Bookshop (2017).

1926 points

5. Lina Wertmüller

Writer | Pasqualino Settebellezze

During the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller emblazoned her name into the pantheon of Italian cinema with a series of intensely polemical, deeply controversial and wonderfully entertaining films. Among the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of postwar directors - the ...

1828 points

6. Agnieszka Holland

Director | Pokot

Having graduated from FAMU in Prague film (1971), Agnieszka Holland returned to Poland and began her film career working with Krzysztof Zanussi as assistant director, and Andrzej Wajda as her mentor. Her first feature film was PROVINCIAL ACTORS (1978), one of the flagship pictures of the "cinema of...

1663 points

7. Larisa Shepitko

Director | Voskhozhdenie

Larisa Shepitko was born on January 6, 1938 in Bakhmut, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. She was a director and writer, known for The Ascent (1977), Heat (1963) and You and Me (1971). She was married to Elem Klimov. She died on July 2, 1979 in near Redkino, Kalinin Oblast...

1422 points

8. Kathryn Bigelow

Director | Zero Dark Thirty

A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art and waited to be ...

1399 points

9. Julie Taymor

Director | Frida

Julie Taymor is an Academy Award-nominated director, known for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007).

She was born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her father, Melvin Lester Taymor, was a gynecologist. Her mother, Elizabeth Bernstein, was a ...

1312 points

10. Nadine Labaki

Actress | Et maintenant on va où?

Nadine Labaki was born on February 18, 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon. She is an actress and director, known for Where Do We Go Now? (2011), Capernaum (2018) and Caramel (2007). She has been married to Khaled Mouzanar since October 2007.

1307 points

11. Leni Riefenstahl

Producer | Das blaue Licht - Eine Berglegende aus den Dolomiten

Leni Riefenstahl's show-biz experience began with an experiment: she wanted to know what it felt like to dance on the stage. Success as a dancer gave way to film acting when she attracted the attention of film director Arnold Fanck, subsequently starring in some of his mountaineering pictures. With...

1176 points

12. Nora Fingscheidt

Director | Systemsprenger

Nora Fingscheidt was born on February 17, 1983 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is a director and writer, known for System Crasher (2019), The Unforgivable (2021) and Ohne diese Welt (2017).

1073 points

13. Chloé Zhao

Director | Nomadland

Chloé Zhao or Zhao Ting (born March 31, 1982) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer. Her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was critically acclaimed and received several accolades ...

1067 points

14. Deepa Mehta

Director | Fire

Deepa Mehta is a transnational artist and a screenwriter, director, and producer whose work has been called "courageous", "provocative" and "breathtaking". Her visually lush and emotionally resonating films have played at every major international film festival; receiving numerous awards and ...

1011 points

15. Céline Sciamma

Writer | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

Céline Sciamma was born on November 12, 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).

1011 points

16. Caroline Link

Director | Nirgendwo in Afrika

Caroline Link was born on June 2, 1964 in Bad Nauheim, Hesse, Germany. She is a director and writer, known for Nowhere in Africa (2001), Beyond Silence (1996) and Annaluise & Anton (1999).

969 points

17. Paola Cortellesi

Actress | C'è ancora domani

Cortellesi debuted in the show business at the age of 13, as a singer for "Cacao meravigliao", the jingle of the popular RAI TV show "Indietro tutta!" by Renzo Arbore. At 19 she began studying as an actress at the Teatro Blu in Rome (the same theatre school that Kim Rossi Stuart, Gianmarco Tognazzi...

822 points

18. Mercedes García Guevara

Director | Río escondido

Mercedes García Guevara is known for Río escondido (1999), Tango, un giro extraño (2005) and Silencios (2009).

821 points

19. Chantal Akerman

Director | Les rendez-vous d'Anna

Chantal Akerman was born on June 6, 1950 in Brussels, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for The Meetings of Anna (1978), I, You, He, She (1974) and A Couch in New York (1996). She was married to Sonia Wieder-Atherton. She died on October 5, 2015 in Paris, France.

818 points

20. Sarah Polley

Actress | My Life Without Me

Sarah Polley is an actress and director renowned in her native Canada for her political activism. Blessed with an extremely expressive face that enables directors to minimize dialog due to her uncanny ability to suggest a character's thoughts, Polley has become a favorite of critics for her ...

816 points

21. Haifaa Al-Mansour

Director | Wadjda

Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia and is regarded as one of the most significant cinematic figures in the Kingdom. She finished her bachelor's degree in Literature at the American University in Cairo and completed a Master's degree in Directing and Film Studies from ...

812 points

22. Justine Triet

Director | Anatomie d'une chute

Justine Triet is a graduate from the Paris National School of Fine Arts. Since then, she has directed a couple of films dealing with the place of the individual within a group: Sur place (2007) was shot right in the middle of the 2006 student protest; Solférino (2009) was filmed during the ...

810 points

23. Laura Poitras

Producer | Citizenfour

Laura Poitras was born on February 2, 1964 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Citizenfour (2014), The Oath (2010) and My Country, My Country (2006).

800 points

24. Mira Nair

Director | Salaam Bombay!

Accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard. She began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing award-winning documentaries, including So Far From India and India Cabaret. Her debut feature film, Salaam ...

701 points

25. Dorota Kedzierzawska

Director | Nic

Dorota Kedzierzawska was born on June 1, 1957 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. She is a director and writer, known for Nothing (1998), Time to Die (2007) and Crows (1994).

691 points

26. Greta Gerwig

Writer | Barbie

Greta Gerwig is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and director. She has collaborated with Noah Baumbach on several films, including Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination, and Mistress America (2015). Gerwig made her solo directorial debut ...

645 points

27. Icíar Bollaín

Director | Te doy mis ojos

Born in Madrid, Iciar Bollain has worked as an actress in films such El Sur (1983), directed by Víctor Erice; Sublet (1991) directed by Chus Gutiérrez, Malaventura (1988) directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón; El Mejor de los Tiempos (1990) and Un Paraguas para Tres (1992) directed by Felipe Vega, ...

642 points

28. Jasmila Zbanic

Writer | Quo vadis, Aida?

Jasmila Zbanic was born on December 19, 1974 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. She is a writer and director, known for Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020), Grbavica (2006) and Na putu (2010). She is married to Damir Ibrahimovic. They have one child.

631 points

29. Márta Mészáros

Director | Örökbefogadás

Márta Mészáros was born on September 19, 1931 in Budapest, Hungary. She is a director and writer, known for Adoption (1975), Diary for My Children (1984) and Diary for My Lovers (1987). She was previously married to Miklós Jancsó, Laszlo Karda and Jan Nowicki.

602 points

30. Lone Scherfig

Director | An Education

Writer/director Lone Scherfig graduated from The National Film School of Denmark in 1984. Her first feature film, THE BIRTHDAY TRIP (1990), was selected for Panorama in Berlin, the New Directors section at MOMA in New York and won the Grand Jury Prix in Rouen. Her next film, ON OUR OWN (1998), ...

588 points

31. Ann Hui

Director | Nu ren si shi

Born in China in 1947, Ann Hui moved to Hong Kong when she was still in her youth. After graduating in English and Comparative Literature from Hong Kong University, she spent two years at the London Film School. Returning to Hong Kong, she worked as an assistant to director King Hu before joining ...

580 points

32. Sally Potter

Director | The Tango Lesson

Sally Potter made her first 8mm film aged fourteen. She has since written and directed seven feature films, as well as many short films (including THRILLER and PLAY) and a television series, and has directed opera (Carmen for the ENO in 2007) and other live work. Her background is in choreography, ...

537 points

33. Niki Caro

Director | Whale Rider

Niki Caro is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter, born in 1967. Caro was born in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. She was educated first at the Kadimah College in Auckland, and then the Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland. The School is a private girls' school, and ranks ...

517 points

34. Maria Schrader

Director | She Said

Maria Schrader was born in Hanover, Federal Republic of Germany, on September 27th, 1965. She directed and co-wrote the screenplay of the awards-winning film Liebesleben (2007). As well, she directed Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (2016) and the Emmy-award wining miniseries Unorthodox (2020) (...

512 points

35. Lynne Ramsay

Director | You Were Never Really Here

Lynne Ramsay was born on December 5, 1969 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. She is a director and writer, known for You Were Never Really Here (2017), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and Ratcatcher (1999). She was previously married to Rory Stewart Kinnear.

506 points

36. Aisling Walsh

Director | Maudie

Aisling Walsh studied Fine Art at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology. There was no film course there at that time but there was a film appreciation society that she joined and through this she developed an interest in filmmaking and started making her own short movies. The ...

444 points

37. Kira Muratova

Director | Nastroyshchik

Kira Muratova was born on November 5, 1934 in Soroca, Romania [now Moldova]. She was a director and writer, known for Nastroyshchik (2004), Vtorostepennye lyudi (2001) and The Asthenic Syndrome (1989). She was married to Aleksandr Muratov and Yevgeni Golubenko. She died on June 6, 2018 in Odessa, ...

437 points

38. Claire Denis

Director | High Life

The films of Claire Denis frequently explore the fragile connections between people and the ways in which the most seemingly inconsequential relationship can have life-changing effects. At the heart of Denis' cinema is a fascination with the delights and difficulties of belonging and otherness, the...

435 points

39. Randa Haines

Director | Children of a Lesser God

Randa Haines was born on February 20, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Children of a Lesser God (1986), Antwone Fisher (2002) and Something About Amelia (1984).

410 points

40. Anna Muylaert

Writer | Que Horas Ela Volta?

Ana Luiza Machado da Silva Muylaert (born 21 April 1964), known professionally as Anna Muylaert, is a Brazilian film and television director, producer and screenwriter. Anna studied filmmaking at the School of Communications and Arts at University of São Paulo (USP) from 1980 to 1984. She became a ...

402 points

41. Pelin Esmer

Director | Ise Yarar Bir Sey

Pelin Esmer, writer&director of both fiction and documentary films studied sociology and afterwards moved on to cinema. She established her film company Sinefilm and since 2001 she has made her independent films The Collector, The Play, 10 to 11, Watchtower, Something Useful and Queen Lear. A ...

400 points

42. Jane Campion

Writer | Bright Star

Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early...

399 points

43. Emerald Fennell

Writer | Saltburn

Emerald Lilly Fennell is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. Fennell first ...

399 points

44. Kátia Lund

Director | Cidade de Deus

Kátia Lund was born in 1966 in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. She is a director and writer, known for City of God (2002), News from a Personal War (1999) and Anaconda (1997).

399 points

45. Jordan Scott

Director | Cracks

Jordan Scott was born in 1977 in London, England, UK. She is a director and writer, known for Cracks (2009), Legend (1985) and All the Invisible Children (2005).

399 points

46. Maren Ade

Producer | Toni Erdmann

Maren Ade was born in Karlsruhe on 12 December 1976 to a couple of teachers.She studied cinema at Munich's Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film. As of 2001 she co-founded, together with Janine Jackowski, a fellow graduate from HFF, the "Komplizen" film company. It is through Komplizen that Maren would...

398 points

47. Nana Ekvtimishvili

Writer | Grzeli nateli dgeebi

Nana Ekvtimishvili was born on July 9, 1978 in Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR. She is a writer and director, known for In Bloom (2013), My Happy Family (2017) and Waiting for Mum (2011).

397 points

48. Darin J. Sallam

Director | Farha

Jordanian writer/director Darin J. Sallam holds an MFA from the Red Sea Institute for Cinematic Arts (RSICA), affiliated with the University of Southern California. To her credit are 5 award-winning shorts, including THE DARK OUTSIDE (2012) and THE PARROT (2016). A Berlinale Talent 2021, a Robert ...

397 points

49. Dee Rees

Director | Mudbound

Writer/Director Dee Rees is an alumna of New York University's graduate film program and a Sundance Screenwriting & Directing Lab Fellow.

In 2018, Dee became the first Black woman nominated for an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for her highly-acclaimed film Mudbound (2017). The film, ...

395 points

50. Sally George

Producer | Young @ Heart

Sally George is known for Young@Heart (2007), Cutting Edge (1990) and Forty Minutes (1981).

395 points

51. Ildikó Enyedi

Director | Teströl és lélekröl

Ildikó Enyedi was born on November 15, 1955 in Budapest, Hungary. She is a director and writer, known for On Body and Soul (2017), Simon, the Magician (1999) and My Twentieth Century (1989).

394 points

52. Marleen Gorris

Director | Antonia

Marleen Gorris was born on December 9, 1948 in Roermond, Limburg, Netherlands. She is a director and writer, known for Antonia's Line (1995), A Question of Silence (1982) and Broken Mirrors (1984).

393 points

53. Byambasuren Davaa

Director | Die Höhle des gelben Hundes

Byambasuren Davaa was born in 1971 in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. She is a director and writer, known for The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005), Veins of the World (2020) and Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel (2003).

393 points

54. Penny Marshall

Actress | Laverne & Shirley

Penny Marshall was born Carole Penny Marshall on October 15, 1943 in Manhattan. The Libra was 5' 6 1/2", with brown hair and green eyes. She was the daughter of Marjorie (Ward), a tap dance teacher, and Anthony "Tony" Marshall, an industrial film director. She was the younger sister of filmmakers ...

392 points

55. Valerie Faris

Director | Little Miss Sunshine

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have built an impressive body of work by perpetually seeking innovative projects in a variety of mediums.

After introducing bands such as REM and The Red Hot Chili Peppers on their ground breaking MTV show The Cutting Edge, Jonathan and Valerie continued to work in ...

392 points

56. Ava DuVernay

Writer | Queen Sugar

A director, producer, writer, marketer and film distributor, Ava DuVernay made her feature film debut with the documentary This is the Life (2008), a history on hip hop movement that flourished in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries which ...

392 points

57. Barbara Kopple

Producer | Harlan County U.S.A.

Barbara Kopple was born on July 30, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), American Dream (1990) and Shut Up & Sing (2006).

392 points

58. Susanne Rostock

Editor | Sing Your Song

Long esteemed as "an aural and visual poet", Susanne Rostock's filmmaking is a stunning 40 years of some of the most compelling documentaries of each decade. Her most recent film as director/editor, Sing Your Song, about Harry Belafonte's life as an artist and activist, was chosen to open the U.S. ...

392 points

59. Anne Fontaine

Writer | Les innocentes

Anne Fontaine was born on July 15, 1959 in Luxembourg. She is an actress and writer, known for The Innocents (2016), Coco Before Chanel (2009) and Reinventing Marvin (2017). She is married to Philippe Carcassonne. They have one child.

390 points

60. Sofia Coppola

Actress | The Godfather Part III

Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and ...

376 points

61. Angelina Jolie

Actress | Maleficent

Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become ...

373 points

62. Dorothy Arzner

Director | Christopher Strong

Dorothy Arzner, the only woman director during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood's studio system--from the 1920s to the early 1940s and the woman director with the largest oeuvre in Hollywood to this day--was born January 3, 1897 (some sources put the year as 1900), in San Francisco, California, to a ...

372 points

63. Barbra Streisand

Actress | Yentl

Barbra Streisand is an American singer, actress, director and producer and one of the most successful personalities in show business. She is the only person ever to receive all of the following: Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Cable Ace, National Endowment for the Arts, and Peabody awards,...

332 points

64. Samira Makhmalbaf

Director | Panj é asr

Samira Makhmalbaf Filmmaker

Born on February 15,1980 in Tehran. At the age of eight, she played in "The Cyclist" directed by her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf the celebrated Iranian filmmaker.

At the age of 17, she directed her first feature titled "The Apple" and She went on to become the youngest ...

327 points

65. Debra Granik

Director | Leave No Trace

Debra Granik (born February 6, 1963) is an American New York City-based independent film and documentary film director and screenwriter. She is most known for 2004's Down to the Bone, which starred Vera Farmiga, 2010's Winter's Bone, which starred Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout performance and ...

305 points

66. Doris Dörrie

Writer | Kirschblüten - Hanami

Dörrie completed her schooling at a humanistic high school, from which she graduated in 1973 with her Abitur. In the same year he spent two years in the USA. There she studied film and acting at the Drama Department at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. This was followed by ...

305 points

67. Andrea Arnold

Director | American Honey

Andrea Arnold was born on April 5, 1961 in Dartford, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for American Honey (2016), Fish Tank (2009) and Red Road (2006).

305 points

68. Joanna Kos-Krauze

Writer | Ptaki spiewaja w Kigali

Joanna Kos-Krauze is a Polish director and screenwriter. She graduated in Polish and Hebrew studies, showing an interest in film early on. She initially worked on TV programs, commercials, and documentaries. Joanna formed one of the most creative duos in Polish cinema with her husband, Krzysztof ...

302 points

69. Lucía Puenzo

Writer | XXY

Lucía Puenzo was born on November 28, 1976 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a writer and director, known for XXY (2007), The German Doctor (2013) and The Fish Child (2009).

301 points

70. Nancy Meyers

Writer | It's Complicated

Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent ...

301 points

71. Vera Chytilová

Director | O necem jiném

Vera Chytilová was born on February 2, 1929, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She studied philosophy and architecture in Brno for two years, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a fashion model, a photo re-toucher, then worked as a clapper girl for Barrandov Film ...

290 points

72. Pernille Fischer Christensen

Director | En familie

Pernille Fischer Christensen was born on December 24, 1969 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a director and writer, known for A Family (2010), A Soap (2006) and Someone You Love (2014).

290 points

73. Jocelyn Moorhouse

Director | The Dressmaker

Jocelyn Moorhouse was born on September 4, 1960 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a director and writer, known for The Dressmaker (2015), Proof (1991) and Muriel's Wedding (1994). She is married to P.J. Hogan.

290 points

74. Euzhan Palcy

Writer | Siméon

Euzhan Palcy was born in Saint-Joseph, Martinique, France. Euzhan is a writer and director, known for Siméon (1992), Sugar Cane Alley (1983) and A Dry White Season (1989).

289 points

75. Ursula Meier

Director | La ligne

Ursula Meier was born on June 24, 1971 in Besançon, Doubs, France. She is a director and writer, known for The Line (2022), Home (2008) and Sister (2012).

263 points

76. Gillian Armstrong

Director | My Brilliant Career

Gillian Armstrong was born on December 18, 1950 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a director and producer, known for My Brilliant Career (1979), Not Fourteen Again (1996) and Little Women (1994). She is married to John Pleffer. They have two children.

262 points

77. Jodie Foster

Actress | The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...

261 points

78. Deniz Gamze Ergüven

Director | Mustang

In 2011 Ergüven was invited to attend the Cannes Film Festivals Atelier to help develop her project, The Kings. While there she met fellow director Alice Winocour who was there to develop her first feature film Augustine. After Ergüven was unable to find financing for her film Winocour suggested ...

258 points

79. Leontine Sagan

Director | Mädchen in Uniform

Leontine Sagan was born on February 13, 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was a director and actress, known for Mädchen in Uniform (1931), Men of Tomorrow (1932) and Showtime (1946). She was married to Dr. Victor Fleischer (dramatist). She died on May 20, 1974 in Pretoria, ...

258 points

80. Houda Benyamina

Director | Divines

Houda Benyamina was born on November 30, 1980 in Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, France. She is a director and writer, known for Divines (2016), Sur la route du paradis (2011) and Ma poubelle géante (2009).

258 points

81. Marina Zenovich

Director | Lance

Marina Zenovich is an American filmmaker known for her biographical documentaries. Her films include Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which won two Emmy awards. Zenovich was born in Fresno, California. She is the daughter of George N. Zenovich, a former ...

257 points

82. Wanda Jakubowska

Director | Ostatni etap

Wanda Jakubowska was born on October 10, 1907 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland]. She was a director and writer, known for The Last Stage (1948), Król Macius I (1958) and Pozegnanie z diablem (1957). She died on February 24, 1998 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, ...

256 points

83. Julie Cohen

Director | My Name Is Pauli Murray

Julie Cohen is known for My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021), RBG (2018) and The Sturgeon Queens (2014).

256 points

84. Betsy West

Producer | RBG

Betsy West is known for RBG (2018), My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021) and The Lavender Scare (2017).

256 points

85. Liz Garbus

Producer | What Happened, Miss Simone?

Liz Garbus was born on April 11, 1970 in the USA. She is a producer and director, known for What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015), The Farm: Angola, USA (1998) and Becoming Cousteau (2021). She is married to Dan Cogan. They have two children.

256 points

86. Irina Poplavskaya

Director | Goryanka

Irina Poplavskaya was born on December 8, 1924 in Moscow, USSR. She was a director and writer, known for Goryanka (1975), Vasiliy i Vasilisa (1981) and Matveeva radost (1986). She died on May 28, 2012.

256 points

87. Ariane Mnouchkine

Director | Molière

Ariane Mnouchkine was born on March 3, 1939 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France. She is a director and writer, known for Molière (1978), That Man from Rio (1964) and 1789 (1974).

255 points

88. Kimberly Peirce

Director | Boys Don't Cry

Kimberly Peirce was born on September 8, 1967 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Boys Don't Cry (1999), Stop-Loss (2008) and Carrie (2013).

255 points

89. Anjelica Huston

Actress | The Grifters

Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951 to director and actor John Huston and Russian prima ballerina Enrica 'Ricki' Soma. Huston spent most of her childhood overseas, in Ireland and England, and in 1968 first dipped her toe into the world of show business, taking on the lead role of her father's ...

255 points

90. Jennifer Fox

Producer | The Tale

Jennifer Fox is known for The Tale (2018), My Reincarnation (2011) and Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman (2006).

255 points

91. Iryna Tsilyk

Director | The Earth Is Blue as an Orange

Iryna Tsilyk is known for The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (2020), Ya i Felix (2022) and Home (2016).

255 points

92. Mary Harron

Director | American Psycho

Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), American Psycho (2000), and The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). She co-wrote American Psycho and ...

254 points

93. Naoko Ogigami

Writer | Karera ga honki de amu toki wa,

After graduation from Chiba University's Image Science program, Naoko Ogigami went to the United States in 1994 to study film at the University of Southern California. During this period, she worked as an assistant for TV commercials, promotional videos, and films, and also created short films of ...

254 points

94. Ilinca Calugareanu

Editor | Chuck Norris vs. Communism

Ilinca Calugareanu was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is a director and editor, known for Chuck Norris vs. Communism (2015), A Cops and Robbers Story (2020) and The Joys and Sorrows of Young Yuguo (2022).

254 points

95. Nancy Savoca

Director | True Love

Director Nancy Savoca was born in the Bronx, New York of Argentine and Sicilian immigrant parents, She graduated from New York University's film school where she was awarded for her short films. Savoca and her husband, producer Richard Guay, raised private funds to shoot their first film, "True ...

253 points

96. Lulu Wang

Director | The Farewell

Lulu Wang was born on February 25, 1983 in Beijing, China. She is a director and writer, known for The Farewell (2019), Touch (2015) and Family Meal.

253 points

97. Amy Berg

Producer | Deliver Us from Evil

Amy Berg was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is known for Deliver Us from Evil (2006), West of Memphis (2012) and Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015).

253 points

98. Marzieh Makhmalbaf

Writer | Roozi ke zan shodam

Marziyeh Meshkini Born in 1969 in Tehran. She is the wife of celebrated Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. She studied Cinema in Makhmalbaf Film school for 8 years. Her first film 'The Day I Became a Woman", (a 3-episode story) attended the Critics Week category in Venice International Film ...

252 points

99. Kirsten Sheridan

Writer | In America

Kirsten Sheridan was born on July 14, 1976 in Dublin, Ireland. She is a writer and director, known for In America (2002), Patterns (1999) and Disco Pigs (2001).

252 points

100. Feo Aladag

Producer | Die Fremde

Feo Aladag is an Austrian showrunner, producer, director, screenwriter and actress who lives in Berlin, Germany. She is the producer, executive producer, director and writer of the multi-awarded feature films "When We Leave", "Inbetween Worlds" and "Alone - A Family Story" (aka "The Boy Who Wants ...

252 points