Women Directors are making their presence known to the cinema world through their remarkable masterpieces. So, to recognize them, we’ve produced a list of the industry’s most significant and classic female filmmakers, relatively few of whom are given the same tremendous opportunities as their male counterparts. Some are potential newcomers, while others are seasoned veterans. Their work ranges from humor to drama, action to arthouse. It’s a celebration while watching these movies on the big screens. Here we have compiled the names of the women directors whose works have left a mark and created ripples in the cinema industry.
Top 10 Women Directors
Kathryn Bigelow
Bigelow is the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director. She began her career with fantastic genre films like Near Dark, Point Break, and Strange Days before moving on to warfare thrillers The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. The Hurt Locker earned her an Academy Award for Best Director. In 2010, Time Magazine announced her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 1978
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 10
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Hurt Locker (2008)
Know About the Director:
Kathryn Bigelow Wins Best Directing | 82nd Oscars (2010)
Jane Campion
Campion is well known for the celebrated films The Piano (Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), An Angel at My Table, The Portrait of a Lady, Holy Smoke!, and The Power of the Dog (Academy Award for Best Director). Campion was made the Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours to honor her contribution to the film world.
- Nationality: New Zealand
- Started her Career in 1982
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 20
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Power of the Dog (2021)
Know About the Director:
Jane Campion Oscar Acceptance Speech
Guillermo Del Toro & Jane Campion on Netflix and Directing Genre | Directors on Directors
Sofia Coppola
Coppola, the first American woman nominated for Best Director, won an Oscar in 2004 for her minimalist but brilliantly calibrated screenplay for Lost in Translation. Her characters don’t say much — and sometimes, as in Lost in Translation‘s final whisper, you can’t tell what they’re saying — but her films’ rudimentary longing and loneliness speak volumes.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 1993
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 26
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Lost in Translation
Know About the Director:
Sofia Coppola Talks Teen Girls, Sexual Desire and Her New Film ‘The Beguiled’
Ava DuVernay
With Selma, DuVernay demonstrated her uncanny ability to blend the serious with the personal, a skill she honed in her previous two films, I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere. DuVernay, the first black woman to be the Best Picture nominee, also launched ARRAY, a distribution firm focused on female filmmakers and people of color.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 2005
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 23
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Middle of Nowhere Trailer
Know About the Director:
How Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman to direct a film Oscar-nominated for Best Picture
Patty Jenkins
Jenkins directed Charlize Theron in her ferocious, Oscar-winning performance as unstable murderer Aileen Wuornos in Monster, then expertly instilled intrigue and atmosphere in The Killing‘s pilot that the program struggled to retain without her. In addition, she is one of the few female directors to direct a superhero film Wonder Woman.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 2001
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 13
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Wonder Woman (2017)
Know About the Director:
Patty Jenkins | Director’s Trademarks
Mira Nair
Lupita Nyong’o has only had one extra live-action part since her Oscar-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave in 2013, but God bless Mira Nair for taking it on. Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! was nominated for “Best Foreign-Language Film.” She has also directed Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, and Vanity Fair. Her film The Namesake demonstrated that she might be the only director who knows that Kal Penn is sensuous and should be given sexy, full-fledged characters to play.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her Career in 1979
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 27
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Know About the Director:
Mira Nair’s journey — From Selling Mattar Paneer To An Award-Winning Filmmaker
Nancy Meyers
Meyers, one of Hollywood’s most successful female filmmakers, creates trenchant battle-of-the-sexes comedies that are pleasant to watch, thanks to their glossy studio surfaces! Many of her films have been raucous, crowd-pleasing hits, but it’s still tricky for Meyers to get a film financed in a climate that primarily caters to young men; she faced so many rejections when pitching The Intern that she was ready to bury the script in her backyard before Warner Bros. finally caught on.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 1980
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 18
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Know About the Director:
Nancy Meyers | BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lecture Series
Dee Rees
We thought coming-out stories were over until we saw Rees’ Pariah, a gorgeous-looking, genre-reviving drama about a young black lesbian (Adepero Oduye) starting to understand herself even if her family is sluggish to catch up. Reese proved her worth as a director with the HBO miniseries Bessie (featuring Queen Latifah).
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2005
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 15
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Mudbound (2017)
Know About the Director:
Dee Rees Was Inspired By 70s New Hollywood for The Last Thing He Wanted | Netflix
Lynne Ramsay
We’re still determining what happened with the Jane Got a Gun saga, in which Ramsay (along with some of her cast members) bailed on the Natalie Portman Western just as filming began. Still, the rest of Ramsay’s projects — including Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar, and We Need to Talk About Kevin — are flawlessly crafted and ferociously unique. She’s a formidable artist.
- Nationality: Scottish
- Started her Career in 1996
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 10
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
Know About the Director:
Lynne Ramsay – The Poetry of Details
Lynne Ramsay | Top Movies by Lynne Ramsay| Movies Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Deepa Mehta
Mehta, a baller, began the Elements Trilogy, a triptych of semi-connected films, with Fire, one of the few Indian films to depict a same-sex affair. That film caused quite a stir in Mumbai, but Mehta didn’t back down with her follow-ups, Earth and Water, which tackled other taboos head-on. Mehta has previously directed Midnight’s Children, a Salman Rushdie adaptation, and Beeba Boys, an unusual Sikh-Canadian twist on Goodfellas.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 1976
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 26
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Heaven On Earth (2008)
Know About the Director:
Deepa Mehta | Top Movies by Deepa Mehta
Other Well-known Women Directors
1. Agnieszka Holland
Europa Europa, released in 1990, was a breakthrough for the Polish filmmaker, who has since directed two Best Foreign-Language Film nominees (Angry Harvest and In Darkness). On the other hand, Holland is excellent at English-language work, having directed The Secret Garden, Total Eclipse, and several American television episodes, including two chapters of House of Cards.
- Nationality: Polish
- Started her Career in 1970
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 46
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Spoor (2018)
Agnieszka Holland | Movies Directed by Agnieszka Holland
2. Alankrita Shrivastava
Lipstick Under My Burkha, Made in Heaven, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, and Netflix’s Bombay Begums are among her notable films and television shows.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her Career in 2011
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 6
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016)
PERFECT STROKES | ALANKRITA SHRIVASTAVA
3. Alice Winocour
Disorder, Winocour’s Cannes thriller, had audiences on the edge of their seats, and not just because the taut story of a PTSD-suffering war vet (Matthias Schoenarts) assigned to guard a criminal’s wife (Diane Kruger) is positively electric with tension — it’s also a great calling card for Hollywood managers looking for a female director adept at action and suspense.
- Nationality: French
- Started her Career in 2005
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Proxima (2019)
‘Proxima’ Filmmaker Alice Winocour Describes What It’s Like to Be A Female Director
4. Allison Anders
We used to think of Anders as a distaff equivalent to Gus Van Sant because both enlivened the indie-movie landscape by focusing on underrepresented subcultures with warmth and precision. But, of course, Van Sant and the other men who governed the indie scene (such as Richard Linklater) are now in demand as film filmmakers, whereas Anders is working in television. The woman behind Gas Food Lodging and Mi Vida Loca needs more screen time.
- Nationality: American
- Started her Career in 1987
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 32
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Things Behind The Sun (2001)
Allison Anders | Top Movies by Allison Anders| Movies Directed by Allison Anders
5. Amma Asante
Asante’s Belle, a unique costume drama starring a black protagonist, was one of the year’s biggest indie sleepers, grossing more than buzzed-about specialized films like Inherent Vice, Under the Skin, and A Most Violent Year. In addition, she is filming The United Kingdom, a daring race drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.
- Nationality: British
- Started her Career in 2004
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 8
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Belle (2013)
Amma Asante: ‘I’m not the shape or color a film director usually comes in’
6. Amy Heckerling
When the blog Cinema Fanatic recently polled a diverse group of filmmakers and film enthusiasts to determine the finest film directed by a woman, Heckerling’s Clueless came out on top. But, then again, the picture is a stone-cold masterpiece, one of the best teen comedies ever made, and so full of care for its characters — and a brilliantly funny vocabulary — that every rewatch is almost as good as the first.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1978
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 21
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Look Who’s Talking (1989)
Know About the Director:
7. Ana Lily Amirpour
Watch this poetic, patient art piece from Amirpour’s acclaimed A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night to comprehend why the Iranian-American filmmaker has intrigued Jason Momoa, Keanu Reeves, and Jim Carrey to star in the gangsta The Bad Batch, a post-apocalyptic cannibal love story created by Megan Ellison.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2009
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 20
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Bad Batch (2016)
Know About the Director:
Final Draft: Ana Lily Amirpour on Film
8. Andrea Arnold
Arnold, an Oscar winner for Best Live-Action Short Film (for “Wasp”) in 2003, has emerged as one of the most intriguing British filmmakers working today. She gave Michael Fassbender a dynamic, seductive display in 2009’s Fish Tank before directing a wonderfully beautiful rendition of Wuthering Heights two years later. She then snags Shia LaBeouf for the independent American Honey.
- Nationality: British
- Started her career in 1996
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 14
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Fish Tank (2019)
Know About the Director:
Andrea Arnold – The Most Daring Director
9. Angelina Jolie
Jolie is already one of the world’s top movie actors, but she is on track to become one of our most prolific female directors, making one feature every year. That was the $115 million-grossing Unbroken in 2014, and By the Sea, which she wrote, directed, and starred in alongside her husband Brad Pitt. Jolie’s last project, First They Killed My Father, is a biopic that revolves around the life of the Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2007
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 6
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: First They Killed My Father (2017)
Know About the Director:
Angelina Jolie, Christopher Nolan and more Directors on THR’s Roundtable | Oscars 2015
10. Anjali Menon
Anjali has directed films such as Kerala Cafe, Manjadikuru, Bangalore Days, and Wonder Woman earning her a national prize and establishing her as one of the best in Malayalam cinema.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2002
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Bangalore Days (2014)
Know About the Director:
“Nobody has an insecurity about….” | Wonder Women Cast Interview
11. Anna Boden
Boden co-directed the gorgeous, quiet Half Nelson, which won Ryan Gosling an Oscar nod for his performance as a smack-addicted grade-school teacher. However, Boden and Fleck have a flair for finding the tired humanity in just about anyone. That gift is in their gambling film, Mississippi Grind, starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2003
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 11
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Captain Marvel (2019)
Know About the Director:
TIFF 2015: Mississippi Grind, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
12. Anne Fletcher
Sandra Bullock spent most of the 2000s in mediocre films before Fletcher’s 2009 rom-com. Bullock’s career was revitalized by The Proposal, her most considerable success. Fletcher also directed the Step Up film, which helped launch Channing Tatum’s career. Not just this. She also directed a few episodes of This is Us. We owe this woman a lot for her direction.
- Nationality: Amerian
- Started her career in 2006
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 14
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Proposal (2009)
Know About the Director:
Director Anne Fletcher Talks Hocus Pocus 2 At D23 Expo
13. Anne Fontaine
Fontaine primarily works in France. However, she occasionally directs an English-language drama. Her significant breakthroughs are Dry Cleaning and Coco Before Chanel, featuring Audrey Tautou as the legendary designer. While Fontaine’s Adore — the erotic drama starring Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, where childhood friends and neighbors fall in love with each others’ sons — is sensitive and expressive, it’s also immensely watchable and sexy.
- Nationality: French
- Started her career in 1993
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 19
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Innocents (2016)
Know About the Director:
Anne Fontaine | Top Movies by Anne Fontaine| Movies Directed by Anne Fontaine
GEMMA BOVERY: Interview with director Anne Fontaine
14. Aparna Sen
With nine National Film Awards and a Padma Shri to her record, this Bengali film director, screenwriter, and actor has directed, written, and acted in films such as 36 Chowringhee Lane, Paroma, and Goynar Baksho.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 1981
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 16
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Mr. And Mrs. Iyer (2002)
Know About the Director:
Aparna Sen Family With Parents, Husband, Daughter, Career & Biography
15. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Ashwiny made it to Bollywood after a successful career in advertising with films such as Nil Battey Sannata, Bareilly Ki Barfi, and Panga.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2015
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 10
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Panga (2020)
Know About the Director:
*The video is in Hindi, the director’s mother tongue.
16. Barbra Streisand
Streisand was one of the first significant actresses to pursue a directing career, making her directorial debut with 1983’s Yentl, which received five Oscar nominations. Her second picture, the Best Picture–nominated The Prince of Tides, fared even better, though Streisand was not nominated for Best Director. She’s among the few to win an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and Tony for her multifaceted career.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1983
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 11
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Yentl (1983)
Know About the Director:
Barbra Streisand Is Not a Diva
17. Beeban Kidron
“People have a right to have their lives documented,” Kidron remarked in a TED Talk about cinema’s transforming effect. “If we cohabit with systems that mistreat people, we have a responsibility to comprehend.” That passion has led her to film two documentaries about prostitution, yet she also has a flair for bringing undersung characters and subcultures to life onscreen, as she did in To Wong Foo.
- Nationality: British
- Started her career in 1983
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 18
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Oranges Are Not The Fruit (1990)
Know About the Director:
Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film
18. Beth McCarthy-Miller
McCarthy—an eight-time Emmy nominee— Miller directed Saturday Night Live for nearly a decade, directed 23 episodes of 30 Rock (including the series finale), and has contributed to Modern Family, Young Sheldon, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Hollywood, there isn’t a studio comedy in your arsenal that this woman can’t handle.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1988
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 167
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: 30 Rock
Know About the Director:
Beth McCarthy-Miller | Top Movies by Beth McCarthy-Miller
19. Betty Thomas
Thomas is a rare artist who has won Emmys for acting and directing: she won her first award as a member of the cast of Hill Street Blues, then only a few years later became the first woman to win the comedy-directing Emmy for an episode of Dream On. On the big screen, Thomas directed Private Parts, the first Brady Bunch film, and Sandra Bullock’s 28 Days, while her 2009 sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks made her one of the few women to make a film that grossed more than $200 million in the United States.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1989
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 30
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: 28 Days (2000)
Know About the Director:
Betty Thomas | Top Movies by Betty Thomas
20. Brenda Chapman
Chapman was the first woman to co-direct an animated film for a major studio (1998’s The Prince of Egypt), which put her on Pixar’s radar. Despite being replaced by Mark Andrews on Brave due to creative issues with the studio, Chapman retained co-director credit. As a result, she became the first female Oscar winner for Best Animated Film.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1998
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 3
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Brave (2012)
Know About the Director:
Creative Spark: Brenda Chapman
21. Catherine Hardwicke
It’s all too common in Hollywood for a woman to direct the first installment of a blockbuster franchise before being deposed and replaced by men, but that doesn’t diminish what Hardwicke accomplished by launching Twilight: not only did she launch a series that provided distaff competition for all the boy-targeted supernatural stories at Comic-Con, but she also earned a then-record debut opening by a female filmmaker.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2003
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 25
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Twilight (2008)
Know About the Director:
Director Catherine Hardwicke Details Her First Film Thirteen and Getting it Made
22. Claire Denis
Although Denis’s films, such as Trouble Every Day, Beau Travail, and White Material, have established her as a titan of international cinema, nobody believed she was interested in getting famous. Denis then hired Zadie Smith to write a sci-fi film and Robert Pattinson to feature in it.
- Nationality: French
- Started her career in 1971
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 35
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: High Life(2018)
Know About the Director:
The Sensual World Of Claire Denis
23. Courtney Hunt
Frozen River, Hunt’s debut drama, cost less than $1 million. Still, it drew the Academy’s attention: Melissa Leo was nominated for Best Actress, and Hunt herself was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Next up for this former law student is The Whole Truth, a legal drama starring Keanu Reeves.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2008
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 9
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Utopia (2020)
Know About the Director:
Frozen River – Exclusive: Director Courtney Hunt
24. Debbie Allen
Studios could have done a better job giving large movies to female filmmakers, but the figures for women of color are even worse. So why not hire Debbie Allen, a pioneer who has directed many television episodes over the past nearly 30 years? Allen has recently offered her talents to Scandal and Gray’s Anatomy, with the actress-director continuing to appear in recurrent roles on the latter.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1984
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 51
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Amistad (1997)
Know About the Director:
A Conversation with Debbie Allen
25. Debra Granik
Granik’s last narrative feature, Winter’s Bone, received four Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and brought Jennifer Lawrence to Hollywood; before that, she directed Down to the Bone, an addiction drama that gave Vera Farmiga her first lead role. Let’s hope Granik can soon mount another impressive feature film, given her incredible aptitude for selecting and nurturing top-tier actresses.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1997
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 6
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Leave No Trace (2018)
Know About the Director:
Debra Granik: ‘There aren’t many women who love making films about blood and gore’
26. Donna Deitch
Donna Deitch, an American film and television director, producer, and writer, is well-known for Desert Hearts (1985), the first feature film to portray a lesbian love story with positive and compliant scenes. Her popular directions include Woman to Woman, Angel on My Shoulder, Heroes, and NYPD Blue.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1975
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 43
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Heroes (2006)
Know About the Director:
27. Elizabeth Banks
After producing the surprise success Pitch Perfect (and appearing as a cappella commentator Gail), Banks grabbed the helm for this summer’s colossal sequel, which nearly tripled the first film’s box office with an eye-popping $183 million. Universal has also recently hired Banks to helm the third installment of Pitch Perfect, but the busy actress-director is also rumored to be considering a Charlie’s Angels reboot.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2010
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Charlie’s Angels
Know About the Director:
Conan Had No Idea Elizabeth Banks Directed “Cocaine Bear”
28. Farah Khan Kunder
Farah is one of Bollywood’s most entertaining filmmakers, creating cult classics such as Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om. She certainly has a penchant for masala films, which we adore.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2004
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 4
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Om Shanti Om (2007)
Know About the Director:
Farah Khan Cries at Shahrukh Khan Press Conference
29. Floria Sigismondi
Sigismondi is a highly sought-after music video director, working with musicians such as Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and David Bowie. It’s no surprise, however, that she was inspired to direct The Runaways, a rowdy girl-band comedy (which, in addition to starring Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart, also has an incredible Michael Shannon performance).
- Nationality: Canadian
- Started her career in 1992
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 89
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Runaways (2010)
Know About the Director:
Floria Sigismondi | The Art of Surrealism
30. Gail Mancuso
Mancuso was the second woman in history to win an Emmy for directing a comedy. (The first, Betty Thomas, also appears on this list.) The fact that she got it for an episode of the mainstream hit Modern Family should have studio executives wooing her to help all of their big-screen comedy, so what’s the holdup, Hollywood?
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1992
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 120
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Ben And Kate (2012)
Know About the Director:
Gold Derby Q&A: Gail Mancuso (‘Modern Family’ director)
