List of films directed by women

This is a selection of feature films directed by women directors.

1890s–1920s 1896 La Fée aux Choux; director: Alice Guy; one of the first narrative (fiction) films 1905 Esmeralda; director: Alice Guy; earliest film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1906 The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ; director: Alice Guy 1906 The Consequences of Feminism; director: Alice Guy; earliest feminist film 1912 Algie the Miner; director: Alice Guy-Blaché (uncredited); first western directed by a woman 1912 Falling Leaves; director: Alice Guy-Blaché 1912 A Fool and His Money; director: Alice Guy-Blaché; likely the first film with an all African-American cast 1913 The Jew's Christmas; director: Lois Weber, co-directed with Phillips Smalley 1913 The Pit and the Pendulum; director: Alice Guy-Blaché; first English-language adaptation of the short story 1913 Suspense; director: Lois Weber, co-directed with Phillips Smalley 1914 The Merchant of Venice (lost film as of 2025); director: Lois Weber; the first full-length feature film directed by a woman 1915 An Argentine Romance (Un Romance Argentino); director: 1915 Hypocrites; director: Lois Weber 1915 Sempre Avanti, Savoia!; director: Elvira Notari 1916 The Devil's Prize; director: Marguerite Bertsch 1916 Miss Peasant (lost film as of 2025); director: Olga Preobrazhenskaya 1916 Shoes; director: Lois Weber 1916 Where Are My Children?; director: Lois Weber, co-directed with Phillips Smalley 1917 '49–'17; director: Ruth Ann Baldwin 1917 Even As You and I; director: Lois Weber 1917 The Glory of Yolanda; director: Marguerite Bertsch 1917 The Mysterious Mrs. M; director: Lois Weber 1917 A Wife on Trial; director: Ruth Ann Baldwin 1920 La Fête espagnole; director: Germaine Dulac 1920 Remodeling Her Husband; director: Lillian Gish 1920 To Please One Woman; director: Lois Weber 1921 The Blot; director: Lois Weber 1921 Flor de España o la Leyenda de un Torero; director: Helena Cortesina 1921 The Good-Bad Wife; director: Vera McCord 1921 Just Around the Corner; director: Frances Marion 1921 The Love Light; director: Frances Marion 1921 Too Wise Wives; director: Lois Weber 1921 What Do Men Want?; director: Lois Weber 1921 What's Worth While?; director: Lois Weber 1922 The Smiling Madame Beudet (La Souriante Madame Beudet); director: Germaine Dulac; often cited as one of the first feminist feature films 1923 Salomé; director: Alla Nazimova, co-directed with Charles Bryant 1923 The Song of Love; director: Frances Marion 1925 An Orphan's Cry (孤雏悲声); director: Xie Caizhen; first female Chinese director 1926 The Adventures of Prince Achmed; director: Lotte Reiniger 1926 Bulbul-e-Paristan; director: Fatma Begum; first female Indian director 1926 The Marriage Clause; director: Lois Weber 1927 The Angel of Broadway; director: Lois Weber 1927 Antoinette Sabrier; director: Germaine Dulac 1927 The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty; director: Esfir Shub 1927 Fashions for Women; director: Dorothy Arzner 1927 Get Your Man; director: Dorothy Arzner 1927 Goddess of Love; director: Fatma Begum 1927 Laila; director: Aziza Amir 1927 Sensation Seekers; director: Lois Weber 1927 Ten Modern Commandments; director: Dorothy Arzner 1927 Women of Ryazan; director: Olga Preobrazhenskaya, co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1928 Chandravali; director: Fatma Begum 1928 Heer Ranjha; director: Fatma Begum 1928 Manhattan Cocktail; director: Dorothy Arzner 1928 The Seashell and the Clergyman; director: Germaine Dulac 1929 The Last Attraction; director: Olga Preobrazhenskaya, co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1929 The Wild Party; director: Dorothy Arzner

1930s–1940s 1930 Anybody's Woman; director: Dorothy Arzner 1930 Sarah and Son; director: Dorothy Arzner 1931 Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in uniform); director: Leontine Sagan 1931 The Mystery of the Black Domino (O Mistério do Dominó Preto); director: Cléo de Verberena 1931 Honor Among Lovers; director: Dorothy Arzner 1931 Working Girls; director: Dorothy Arzner 1932 The Blue Light (Das blaue Licht)); director: Leni Riefenstahl 1932 Merrily We Go to Hell; director: Dorothy Arzner 1933 Christopher Strong; director: Dorothy Arzner 1934 Nana; director: Dorothy Arzner 1935 Robin Hood (animated film); director: Joy Batchelor 1935 Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens); director: Leni Riefenstahl 1936 Craig's Wife; director: Dorothy Arzner 1936 New Clothing (Hatsu Sugata); director: Tazuko Sakane; first female Japanese director 1936 Onnenpotku; director Glory Leppänen 1937 The Bride Wore Red; director: Dorothy Arzner 1938 Olympia (1938 film); director: Leni Riefenstahl 1940 Dance, Girl, Dance; director: Dorothy Arzner 1942 Derailed (Afsporet); director: Bodil Ipsen 1943 Meshes of the Afternoon; director: Maya Deren 1943 First Comes Courage; director: Dorothy Arzner 1944 At Land; director: Maya Deren 1944 Melody of Murder (Mordets Melodi)); director: Bodil Ipsen 1944 Possession (Besættelse); director: Bodil Ipsen 1944 Woman is the Wild Card; director: Ansa Ikonen 1945 Três Dias Sem Deus; director: Bárbara Virgínia 1946 Ritual in Transfigured Time; director: Maya Deren 1947 Wedding Night (Bröllopsnatten)); director: Bodil Ipsen 1949 Fedakar Ana; director: Cahide Sonku 1949 Gigi; director: Jacqueline Audry 1949 The Lost People; director: Muriel Box 1949 Not Wanted; director: Ida Lupino 1949 Never Fear; director: Ida Lupino

1950s–1960s 1950 Outrage; director: Ida Lupino, the first Hollywood studio feature directed by a woman after Dorothy Arzner's films 1951 Hard, Fast and Beautiful; director: Ida Lupino 1951 Olivia; director: Jacqueline Audry 1951 Streetwalker; director: Matilde Landeta 1952 The Happy Family; director: Muriel Box 1953 The Bigamist; director: Ida Lupino 1953 The Hitch-Hiker; director: Ida Lupino, the first film noir directed by a woman 1953 Street Corner; director Muriel Box 1954 Animal Farm; co-director: Joy Batchelor 1955 The Eternal Breasts; director: Kinuyo Tanaka 1955 La Pointe Courte; director: Agnès Varda 1957 Life Flows Quietly By...; director: Binka Zhelyazkova 1959 Bridges Go-Round; director: Shirley Clarke 1961 Cléo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7); director: Agnès Varda 1961 The Connection; director Shirley Clarke 1961 The Golden Calf; director: Ritva Arvelo 1962 Les Petits Matins; director: Jacqueline Audry 1963 El Camino; director: Ana Mariscal 1963 The House is Black; director: Forough Farrokhzad 1963 The Lizards; director: Lina Wertmüller 1964 The Cool World; director: Shirley Clarke 1964 Älskande par (Loving Couples); director: Mai Zetterling 1965 Le Bonheur; director: Agnes Varda 1965 The East is Red; director: Wang Ping 1965 Let's Talk About Shafei (Questa Volta Parliamo di Uomini); director: Lina Wertmüller 1966 Blood Bath; director: Stephanie Rothman 1966 Daisies (Sedmikrasky); director: Věra Chytilová 1966 Night Games (Nattlek); director: Mai Zetterling 1966 Rita the Mosquito; director: Lina Wertmüller 1966 Wings; director: Larissa Shepitko 1967 Brief Encounters; director: Kira Muratova 1967 Don't Sting the Mosquito; director: Lina Wertmüller 1967 Portrait of Jason; director Shirley Clarke 1968 The Belle Starr Story; director: Lina Wertmüller 1968 Doctor Glas; director: Mai Zetterling 1968 The Girls (Flickorna); director: Mai Zetterling 1968 Rat Life and Diet in North America; director: Joyce Wieland 1969 A Very Curious Girl (La Fiancée du Pirate); director: Nelly Kaplan 1969 The Year of the Cannibals; director: Liliana Cavani

1970s 1970 The Dark Side of Tomorrow; director: Barbara Peeters 1970 Wanda; director: Barbara Loden 1971 Bury Me an Angel; director: Barbara Peeters 1971 For Women: Chapter 1 (Für Frauen: 1. Kapitel); director: Cristina Perincioli – documentary fiction on a women's strike in Berlin 1971 ; director: 1971 The Guest (L'ospite); director: Liliana Cavani 1971 The Long Farewell; director: Kira Muratova 1971 A New Leaf; director: Elaine May 1971 The Woman's Film; directors: Louise Alaimo, Judy Smith 1972 Dream Life; director: Mireille Dansereau 1972 The Heartbreak Kid; director: Elaine May 1972 The Other Side of the Underneath; director Jane Arden 1972 Sambizanga; director: Sarah Maldoror – feature film about the liberation movement in Angola 1972 The Seduction of Mimi; director: Lina Wertmüller 1972/73 Es kommt darauf an, sie zu verändern; director: Claudia von Alemann – organised women workers discuss the possibilities for change 1973 Hollywood 90028; director: Christina Hornisher 1973 Milarepa; director: Liliana Cavani 1974 The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived ; director: Heiny Srour 1974 I, You, He, She (Je Tu Il Elle); director: Chantal Akerman 1974 The Night Porter (Il Portiere di Notte); director: Liliana Cavani 1974 Summer School Teachers; director: Barbara Peeters 1975 Anna und Edith; writers: Cristina Perincioli and Cäcilia Rentmeister – first feature film in German TV ZDF on a lesbian relationship 1975 Before the Time Comes; director: Anne Claire Poirier 1975 Catherine & Co.; director: Catherine Breillat 1975 Hester Street; director: Joan Micklin Silver 1975 Letter from My Village (Kaddy Bekat – Lettre Paysanne); director: Safi Faye 1975 Legacy; director: Karen Arthur 1975 The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann); directors: Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlöndorff 1975 The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir; directors: Shirley MacLaine, Claudia Weill 1975 Seven Beauties (Pasqualino settebellezze); director: Lina Wertmüller; the first time a woman was nominated for an Academy Award for directing a feature film 1976 The Far Shore; director: Joyce Wieland 1976 Harlan County, USA; director: Barbara Kopple 1976 Jeanne Dielman; director: Chantal Akerman 1976 Mikey and Nicky; director: Elaine May 1976 Not a Pretty Picture; director: Martha Coolidge 1976 A Real Young Girl; director: Catherine Breillat 1977 The Ascent; director: Larissa Shepitko 1977 Beyond Good and Evil; director: Liliana Cavani 1977 First Love; director: Joan Darling 1977 News from Home; director: Chantal Akerman 1977 One Sings, the Other Doesn't; director: Agnes Varda 1977 Les Rendez-vous d'Anna; director: Chantal Akerman 1977 Starhops; director: Barbara Peeters 1978 But what do they want, after all? (Mais qu'est ce qu'elles veulent?); director: Coline Serreau 1978 (Die allseitig reduzierte Persönlichkeit – Redupers); director: Helke Sander 1978 Getting to Know the Big, Wide World; director: Kira Muratova 1978 Girlfriends; director: Claudia Weill 1978 The Mafu Cage; director: Karen Arthur 1978 (Die Macht der Männer ist die Geduld der Frauen); writer, director, producer: Cristina Perincioli; (ZDF TV) feature film/documentary fiction on domestic violence 1978 Rabbit Test; director: Joan Rivers 1979 Anti-Clock; writer and co-director Jane Arden 1979 Daughter Rite; director: Michelle Citron; a feminist pseudo-documentary which deconstructs the conventions of Direct Cinema 1979 Germany Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter); director: Helma Sanders-Brahms 1979 Heartbreak; director: Mireille Dansereau 1979 Provincial Actors (Aktorzy prowincjonalni); director: Agnieszka Holland 1979 My Brilliant Career; director: Gillian Armstrong 1979 A Scream from Silence; director: Anne Claire Poirier 1979 Ticket of No Return (Bildnis einer Trinkerin); director: Ulrike Ottinger

1980s 1980 Brutal; director: Marilou Diaz-Abaya 1980 Can't Stop the Music; director: Nancy Walker 1980 Fatso; director: Anne Bancroft 1980 The Godsend; director: Gabrielle Beaumont 1980 The Handyman; director: Micheline Lanctôt 1980 Humanoids from the Deep; director: Barbara Peeters 1980 It's My Turn; director: Claudia Weill 1980 The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter; director: Connie Field 1980 ; director: 1980 Sparsh; director: Sai Paranjpye