In celebration of International Women’s Day this text praises female directors that have done a lot for the movie industry. Since it was only 12 years ago a female director won an Oscar for best directing (Kathryn Bigelow with Hurt Locker in 2010) female directors but also producers, actors many times do not get the recognition they deserve but should get so much more. Women are very underrepresented when it comes to getting recognition for directing but these are just some of the directors from different countries that should be praised for their work.
Chloe Zhao (China) - Is quite new when it comes to producing and directing but her impact has been very impressive since then. Zhao Made her directing debut with Songs my Brothers taught me in 2015 and followed that with The Rider. Zhao was only the second female director to win an Oscar for best directing (Nomadland) and has since also directed Eternals.
Kathryn Bigelow (US) - Bigelow has often mixed longer movies together with short films but also directed a few episodes for varying tv series. Bigelow got her big break with Point Break in 1991 and followed that with K-19: The Widowmaker, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Bigelow was the first female director who won an Oscar with The Hurt Locker in 2010. Her latest movie was Detroit in 2017 and has produced short films since then.
Celine Sciamma (France) - Celine has mainly made French movies as of today. She got her big break with Water Lilies back in 2007 and followed that up with TomBoy and Girlhood etc. For the broader audience she got a lot of praise and recognition for Portrait of a woman on fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) in 2019 and later Little Mom (Petite Maman) in 2021. Celine has been nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards for Portrait of a Woman on Fire and Little Mom.
Andrea Arnold (England) - Arnold has also mixed longer movies with short films and television series. She was awarded an Oscar in 2005 for her short film Wasp. She made her long film debut with Red Road in 2006 and followed that up with Fish Tank in 2009, her latest movie is Cow, a documentary from 2021. She has also produced episodes for Transparent and Big Little Lies.
Patty Jenkins (US) - Jenkins made her debut with the movie Monster in 2003 before directing episodes for different tv series like Entourage, The Killing and Betrayal. After this she went back to longer movies with Exposed and the very popular Wonder Woman. Her latest movie was Wonder Woman 1984 but she has new projects in the making with Rogue Squadron and Wonder Woman 3. Is the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie with the upcoming Rogue Squadron.
These are just some of the female directors who have had a great impact on the movie and television industry but all women should get recognition for their hard work within the industry no matter the day of year.
#InternationalWomensDay #8thofMarch #AndreaArnold #CelineSciamma #PattyJenkins #ChloeZhao #KathrynBigelow
