GIRLS ON FILM.
Stuck on what to watch? Have a gander at some of our favourite female-directed films.Emma (2020)
dir. Autumn de Wilde
In 1800s England, a well-meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.
The Wonders (2014)
dir. Alice Rohrwacher
Gelsomina’s family works according to some special rules. First of all, Gelsomina, at twelve years of age, is head of the family and her three younger sisters must obey her: sleep when she tells them to and work under her watchful eye. But the world, the outside, mustn’t know anything about their rules, and must be kept away from them. They must learn to disguise themselves.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
dir. Eliza Hittman
A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.
Babyteeth (2019)
dir. Shannon Murphy
A terminally ill teen upsets her parents when she falls in love with a small-time drug dealer.
In My Blood It Runs (2019)
dir. Maya Newell
The story of Dujuan, a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy living in Alice Springs, Australia, who is struggling to balance his traditional Arrernte/Garrwa upbringing with a state education.
It Felt Like Love (2013)
dir. Eliza Hittman
A gauzy summer in South Brooklyn. Lila, an awkward adolescent girl, passes her time breaking into beach homes and tagging along on dates between her pretty friend Chiara and Chiara’s new boyfriend, Patrick. Lila decides this will be the summer she loses her virginity, too—her interest is piqued when she meets Sammy, an older boy reputed to sleep with just about anyone. Yet Lila’s attempts at sexual conquest risk taking her beyond her limits, and into dangerous uncharted territory.
Booksmart (2019)
dir. Olivia Wilde
Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.
The Nightingale (2018)
dir. Jennifer Kent
In 1825, Claire, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Tomboy (2011)
dir. Céline Sciamma
A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Mickaël.
American Honey (2016)
dir. Andrea Arnold
A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
dir. Ana Lily Amirpour
In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
And While We Were Here (2012)
dir. Kat Coiro
Trapped in a loveless marriage, a troubled writer experiences a sexual awakening when she meets a carefee American in Italy.
Thirteen (2003)
dir. Catherine Hardwicke
Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy’s world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn’t long before Tracy’s new world and attitude finally takes a toll on her, her family, and old friends.
La Ciénaga (2001)
dir. Lucrecia Martel
Chekhov in contemporary Argentina. Mecha and Gregorio are at their rundown country place near La Ciénaga with their teen children. It’s hot. The adults drink constantly; Mecha cuts herself, engendering a trip to the hospital and a visit from her son José. A cousin, Tali, brings her children. The kids are on their own, sunbathing by the filthy pool, dancing in town, running in the hills with shotguns, driving cars without licenses. One of the teen girls loves Isabel, a family servant constantly accused of stealing. Mother and son, son and sisters, teen and Isabel are in each other’s beds and bathrooms with a creepy intimacy. With no adults paying attention, who’s at risk?
Unrelated (2007)
dir. Joanna Hogg
A woman in an unhappy relationship takes refuge with a friend’s family on holiday in Tuscany.
But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
dir. Jamie Babbit
Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn’t like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she’s pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to “sexual redirection” school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.
Breakfast With Curtis (2013)
dir. Laura Colella
Syd is an eccentric bookseller with delusions of grandeur fueled by red wine. He caused a rift 5 years ago between his bohemian housemates and the family next door, but now tries to recruit his 14-year-old neighbor as a collaborator.
Gummo (1997)
dir. Harmony Korine
Solomon and Tummler are two teenagers killing time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s.
Now and Then (1995)
dir. Lesli Linka Glatter
Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends – Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta – recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more.
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother’s past.