10 Women Directors Whose Names You Should Know

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June 25, 2015 by andygaby90

Hollywood seems to have always been male-centered when it comes to production. Only four women have ever been nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, and only one has taken home the statue. However, women have always been present in the production of Hollywood films, and recently they have started to gain more attention. But it’s still unlikely that they would be recognized while walking down the street, unlike big names like Spielberg and Tarantino. So, in an effort to make some of these awesome ladies’ names known, here’s a list of ten awesome female directors.

Ava DuVernay

The most recently talked about female director due to her Oscar nomination snub, DuVernay directed the award-winning picture “Selma” in 2015. Although relatively new to the Hollywood spotlight, DuVernay had been working behind the scenes as a publicist for years, helping with the promotion of films like “Spider-Man 2” and “The Help.” She made her debut as a director in 2008 with the hip-hop documentary “This Is The Life”, and went on to make more films. In 2012 she won the Sundance Film Festival Best Director Award for her film “Middle of Nowhere.” Besides directing, she founded with the AFFRM – the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement. She is rumored to have been hired by Marvel to direct the “Black Panther.”

Kathryn Bigelow

Bigelow is the only woman to ever win the Oscar for Best Director for her picture “The Hurt Locker” released in 2009. She is also known for her film “Zero Dark Thirty”, which received much acclaim and earned lead actress Jessica Chastain a Golden Globe. Her inspiration to join the filmmaking industry came from her father, who liked to draw cartoons but never made it big.  She made her first short film, “The Set-Up”, in 1978; and began working in full-length pieces in 1979. Her films are mostly centered around violence. Her last known work was a short film released in 2014 called “Last Days.”

Sofia Coppola

Coppola became the first American woman to be nominated for Best Director for the critically acclaimed film “Lost in Translation” in 2003. She is the third woman to be nominated for the award. Her career started as an actress, working in films created by her father Francis Ford Coppola. But acting was not her strong suit, and in 1993 she decided to start working on a screenplay adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ “The Virgin Suicides,” a film that put her in the spotlight. Since then she has continued to create films such as “Marie Antoinette” and “The Bling Ring”, but none quite as successful as “Lost In Translation.” She recently made headlines for stepping down from her role as director of Universal’s “The Little Mermaid” film.

Valerie Faris

Faris is part of a directing duo – she directs films together with her husband, Jonathan Dayton. Her most known work is “Little miss Sunshine,” which was released in 2006 and placed her in the Hollywood spotlight. For years, the directing team had been working on music videos with bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and R.E.M., and were highly successful. Together they created Bob Industries, a popular production company that focuses on music videos and commercials. Faris last made headlines when her and her husband decided to step down from directing “The Good Luck of Right Now.”

Loveleen Tandan

Another director that sparked debates about women in film, Tandan played a big part in creating award-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.” However, she was denied a nomination, and instead her co-director Danny Boyle received all the credit. Even though she was born in India, Tandan has never worked in any Bollywood films. She has, however, worked in films like Steven Spielberg’s “The Terminal” and Sarah Gavron’s “Brick Lane.” Since the controversy surrounding her nomination snub, she has retreated from the spotlight and is rumored to be working on a script of her own.

Mimi Leder

Mimi Leder is known was the first woman accepted as a cinematography student at the American Film Institute. She started out as a script supervisor, and moved on to directing. Most of her work is on TV, directing and producing shows like “China Beach” and “ER.” Leder’s film “The Peacemaker” became the first film released by Dreamworks, and was received very well by the critics. Other films include “Pay it Forward” and “Deep Impact.” Her latest work includes producing the TV series “The Leftovers.”

Lina Wertmuller

Wertmuller is an Italian director known for her battle-of-the-sexes themed comedies. She worked as an assistant director for Federico Fellini, and then began directing her own films. She achieved international fame with her film “The Seduction of Mimi” in 1972, and in 1976, she became the first woman to be nominated for Best Director for her film “Seven Beauties.” Her later films were not received as well as her early work. Her latest work was a TV movie titled “Mannaggia alla miseria!”, released in 2009.

Jane Campion

Campion, a New Zealand native, is best known for her Oscar nominated film “The Piano”, released in 1993. She was also the first woman to win a Palme d’Or. Her Her work often revolves around the topic of women who are, in a way, outcasts, or outside of society’s mainstream. Her stories always include strong female leads, which has gained her the label of a feminist director. She often speaks about the inequality between men and women in film, trying to bring awareness of the gap in the industry. Her latest work includes the TV series “Top of the Lake.”

Catherine Hardwicke

Hardwicke started out as a production designer and art director in the early 1980’s, but in 2003 she directed her first film, “Thirteen”, which won her the Director’s Award in the Sundance Film Festival. Her themes are often cult, dark, and even horror. She showed women had what it takes to make these types of films, too! Her most widely known work is the first part of the “Twilight” saga. Since then she has been working mostly on TV series, except for “Miss You Already”, a comedy set to premiere later this year.

Julie Taymor

A film and theater director, actor and playwright, Julie Taymor is a woman of many talents. She is mostly known for her work as director for Broadway’s “The Lion King”, but has employed her directorial talents on the screen as well. Her best-known films include “Across the Universe” and “Frida.” She directed the stage version of “Spider-Man” which made headlines for accidents involving actors. She was fired soon after it opened because she made too many last minute changes. Since then, she has returned to film, with an adaptation of “Midsummer’s Night Dream” as her latest work.

-AndyGaby