Mind the gap

Admittedly, we shouldn't have to publish this article. But even in a year where a woman took home the Academy Award for best director (for the first time), female filmmakers still aren't getting the same recognition or opportunities that male directors do.
When Kathryn Bigelow collected her Oscar trophy earlier this year, she did so as only the fourth woman ever nominated in the director category. But the Academy certainly isn't the only organization to overlook female directors; Bigelow is also the only female to win BAFTA and DGA awards as top director, and Barbra Streisand is the only female Golden Globe-winning director. The Cannes Film Festival also has a poor record in recognizing the achievements of women directors, and this year the festival came under fire when not a single one of the 18 films selected for the main competition were directed by women.
And this lack of recognition does not stem from a lack of quality films. While Christopher Nolan's Inception 76 may be getting all the buzz, two of this summer's most acclaimed American films -- with some of the best reviews for any film this year -- were directed by women: Debra Granik's Winter's Bone 90 and Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right 86. (Only Toy Story 3 91 has a higher Metascore among this summer's dramatic films.) As we shall see in a moment, these are far from the only critically acclaimed titles from women filmmakers.
Women directors, of course, aren't limited to directing critically-acclaimed indie dramas -- or even films geared toward female moviegoers. For decades, women have been directing in genres ranging from comedy (Martha Coolidge's Real Genius, Penelope Spheeris' Wayne's World, Penny Marshall's Big) and horror (Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary) to animation (Vicky Jenson's Shrek) and sports (Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham). Female directors have even made their mark in the "major box office flop" category (Elaine May's Ishtar). However, not every genre has been open to directors of all genders; for example, few women other than Bigelow or Mimi Leder (Deep Impact) have ever had the opportunity to direct an action film.
And opportunities for women directors in any genre are still relatively rare. San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film routinely reports on trends in the industry, and their findings confirm a major disparity: just 7% of last year's 250 top-grossing films were directed by women. That percentage is actually a decline of two points compared to 2008, and the number has held steady within that 7% - 9% range for the past 25 years. The gender disparity extends, though not quite as severely, to all behind-the-camera crew positions and even to film critics.
We won't be exploring the possible reasons why such a disparity exists here; instead, our focus is on the work turned out by these women directors over the past 30 years.
The directors
Which women directors have made the most of these limited opportunities? Below, we look at the average Metascores for the more prolific female filmmakers of the past three decades. We're only covering dramatic films here, so noted documentarians like Ondi Timoner, Barbara Kopple, and Agnès Varda are not included. (Documentary films are actually the one genre where the number of female filmmakers is comparable to that of male directors.) Films released prior to 1980 are also excluded from the averages.
Director | # of scored films |
Average Metascore | Average User Score |
Average Box Office Gross* |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lone Scherfig | 3 | 77 | 8.6 | $6.5m |
Best film: An Education (2009) 85 |
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Lucrecia Martel | 3 | 77 | 8.0 | $0.2m | |
Best film: The Headless Woman (2009) 81 |
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3 | Sofia Coppola | 3 | 77 | 6.3 | $28.3m |
Best film: Lost in Translation (2003) 89 |
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4 | Agnès Jaoui | 3 | 76 | 7.3 | $1.2m |
Best film: Look at Me (2005) 79 |
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5 | Claire Denis | 5 | 75 | 6.7 | $0.1m |
Best film: 35 Shots of Rum (2009) 92 |
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6 | Susanne Bier | 4 | 74 | 8.3 | $1.6m |
Best film: After the Wedding (2007) 78 |
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7 | Lisa Cholodenko | 3 | 73 | 8.3 | $2.9m ** |
Best film: The Kids Are All Right (2010) 86 |
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8 | Nicole Holofcener | 3 | 72 | 7.2 | $7.0m ** |
Best film: Please Give (2010) 78 |
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9 | Mary Harron | 3 | 68 | 8.1 | $9.1m |
Best film: I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) 75 |
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10 | Jane Campion | 5 | 67 | 7.0 | $14.3m |
Best film: The Piano (1993) 89 |
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11 | Anne Fontaine | 4 | 66 | 7.7 | $1.8m |
12 | Kathryn Bigelow | 3 | 66 | 6.5 | $26.3m |
13 | Kasi Lemmons | 3 | 64 | 8.5 | $10.6m |
14 | Agnieszka Holland | 3 | 63 | 7.6 | $14.5m |
The Europa Europa director has also worked in American television, directing episodes of Treme and The Wire | |||||
15 | Gillian Armstrong | 4 | 62 | 8.3 | $18.0m |
Mira Nair | 4 | 62 | 7.2 | $12.6m | |
17 | Deepa Mehta | 4 | 62 | 8.7 | $3.2m |
18 | Catherine Breillat | 7 | 61 | 6.3 | $0.6m |
19 | Gurinder Chadha | 3 | 59 | 7.7 | $13.5m |
Rebecca Miller | 3 | 59 | 6.8 | $0.8m | |
21 | Catherine Hardwicke | 4 | 59 | 7.4 | $69.7m |
22 | Julie Taymor | 3 | 58 | 7.6 | $22.1m |
Katherine Dieckmann | 3 | 58 | 7.6 | $0.1m | |
24 | Penny Marshall | 4 | 58 | 8.0 | $109.1m |
25 | Nancy Meyers | 5 | 57 | 6.8 | $145.4m |
26 | Vicky Jenson | 3 | 56 | 7.3 | $196.2m |
27 | Karyn Kusama | 3 | 51 | 7.0 | $17.2m |
28 | Amy Heckerling | 5 | 50 | 7.2 | $96.0m |
29 | Anne Fletcher | 3 | 48 | 6.9 | $113.0m |
30 | Betty Thomas | 6 | 46 | 6.7 | $110.9m |
One of Hollywood's most commercially successful women directors, Thomas first gained fame as an Emmy-winning actor on the acclaimed 1980s cop series Hill Street Blues | |||||
31 | Nora Ephron | 7 | 44 | 6.3 | $101.3m |
32 | Penelope Spheeris | 3 | 42 | 7.9 | $99.4m |
Not included in her score average are a trio of documentaries about the Los Angeles music scene, The Decline of Western Civilization | |||||
33 | Clare Kilner | 3 | 42 | 6.2 | $19.4m |
34 | Mimi Leder | 3 | 41 | 6.4 | $119.7m |
35 | Julie Davis | 3 | 37 | 7.7 | $0.4m |
36 | Tamra Davis | 3 | 20 | 7.3 | $40.4m |
Among the director's critic-unfriendly films are the 1998 drug comedy Half Baked 16 |
Excludes documentary films. Directors are ranked by average Metascore prior to rounding.
* Adjusted for inflation; U.S. grosses only. Source for box office data: Box Office Mojo.
** One of the director's films is still playing in theaters. Box office data accurate as of July 15, 2010.
Other prominent women directors of the past 30 years not listed above (because many or all of their movies do not have Metascores) include Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging), Antonia Bird (Priest), Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl), Marleen Gorris (Antonia's Line), Randa Haines (Children of a Lesser God), Beeban Kidron (To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar), Mary Lambert (Pet Sematary), Sally Potter (Orlando), Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan), and Barbra Streisand (Prince of Tides).
Also note that Kathryn Bigelow, Amy Heckerling. Agnieszka Holland, Penny Marshall, Mira Nair, and Penelope Spheeris have many older films without Metascores; thus, their score averages indicated above paint an incomplete picture of the quality of their films.
Here are the top women directors from a commercial standpoint:
Director | Lifetime Domestic Gross * | Average Gross Per Film * | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nora Ephron | $810,462,500 | $101.3m |
2 | Betty Thomas | $776,402,800 | $110.9m |
3 | Amy Heckerling | $767,737,300 | $96.0m |
4 | Penny Marshall | $764,042,300 | $109.1m |
5 | Nancy Meyers | $726,866,100 | $145.4m |
* Adjusted for inflation; U.S. grosses only. Source for box office data: Box Office Mojo.
Films directed by women
First, let's see how films from women directors have performed at the box office. According to a recent report by INDIEwire, only seven of the 241 films with domestic grosses of $100m or more over the past decade were directed or co-directed by women. Why are so few women directors represented on the box office leaderboard? According to another study from San Diego State University, the reason is that women rarely get the chance to direct big budget films: "When women and men filmmakers have similar budgets for their films, the resulting box office grosses are also similar."
Here are the best-performing films directed by women over the past 30 years. Note that all box office figures are adjusted for inflation to make comparing films released across different years a bit easier.
Title | Director | Year | Metascore | Users | U.S. Gross* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shrek | Vicky Jenson † | 2001 | 84 | 8.6 | $376.0m |
2 | Look Who's Talking | Amy Heckerling | 1989 | 51 | n/a | $277.0m |
3 | What Women Want | Nancy Meyers | 2000 | 47 | 6.3 | $263.1m |
4 | Dr. Dolittle | Betty Thomas | 1998 | 46 | 5.6 | $244.4m |
5 | Sleepless in Seattle | Nora Ephron | 1993 | 71 | 9.6 | $243.3m |
6 | Deep Impact | Mimi Leder | 1998 | 40 | 3.6 | $238.1m |
7 | Wayne's World | Penelope Spheeris | 1992 | 53 | 9.8 | $233.1m |
8 | Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Betty Thomas | 2009 | 41 | 5.3 | $225.0m |
9 | Big | Penny Marshall | 1988 | 70 | 7.4 | $222.4m |
10 | Twilight | Catherine Hardwicke | 2008 | 56 | 5.6 | $213.4m |
* Adjusted for inflation; U.S. grosses only. Source for box office data: Box Office Mojo.
† Film was co-directed with a male director.
Finally, let's look at the best and worst films directed by women (at least out of those in Metacritic's database; some films from the 1990s may not be available, and few if any films from the 1980s or earlier have Metascores).
Title | Director | Year | Metascore | Users | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow | 2009 | 94 | 6.9 |
Sita Sings the Blues | Nina Paley | 2010 | 94 | 7.3 | |
3 | 35 Shots of Rum | Claire Denis | 2009 | 92 | 5.5 |
4 | Beau Travail | Claire Denis | 2000 | 91 | 7.6 |
5 | American Splendor | Shari Springer Berman † | 2003 | 90 | 8.0 |
Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi † | 2007 | 90 | 8.1 | |
Winter's Bone | Debra Granik | 2010 | 90 | 7.6 | |
8 | Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola | 2003 | 89 | 6.3 |
The Piano | Jane Campion | 1993 | 89 | 7.1 | |
10 | Away from Her | Sarah Polley | 2007 | 88 | 8.0 |
11 | Little Women [1994] | Gillian Armstrong | 1994 | 87 | 9.2 |
12 | Boys Don't Cry | Kimberly Peirce | 1999 | 86 | 8.6 |
The Kids Are All Right | Lisa Cholodenko | 2010 | 86 | 8.0 | |
14 | An Education | Lone Scherfig | 2009 | 85 | 8.1 |
The Intruder | Claire Denis | 2005 | 85 | 5.0 | |
The Savages | Tamara Jenkins | 2007 | 85 | 7.4 | |
17 | Old Joy | Kelly Reichardt | 2006 | 84 | 5.5 |
Shrek | Vicky Jenson † | 2001 | 84 | 8.6 | |
19 | Frozen River | Courtney Hunt | 2008 | 82 | 8.4 |
The Namesake | Mira Nair | 2007 | 82 | 8.0 | |
21 | Bright Star | Jane Campion | 2009 | 81 | 6.9 |
Chaos | Coline Serreau | 2003 | 81 | 8.3 | |
Fish Tank | Andrea Arnold | 2010 | 81 | 8.2 | |
The Headless Woman | Lucrecia Martel | 2009 | 81 | 6.6 | |
The Secret of Kells | Nora Twomey † | 2010 | 81 | 7.7 | |
26 | Little Miss Sunshine | Valerie Faris † | 2006 | 80 | 7.4 |
Set Me Free | Léa Pool | 2000 | 80 | 9.2 | |
Wendy and Lucy | Kelly Reichardt | 2008 | 80 | 6.2 | |
29 | City of God | Kátia Lund † | 2003 | 79 | 8.7 |
Look at Me | Agnes Jaoui | 2005 | 79 | 7.7 | |
Whale Rider | Niki Caro | 2003 | 79 | 6.3 | |
32 | After the Wedding | Susanne Bier | 2007 | 78 | 8.5 |
Eve's Bayou | Kasi Lemmons | 1997 | 78 | 10.0 | |
How I Killed My Father | Anne Fontaine | 2002 | 78 | 7.5 | |
Innocence | Lucile Hadzihalilovic | 2005 | 78 | 7.3 | |
The Last Mistress | Catherine Breillat | 2008 | 78 | 7.6 | |
Morvern Callar | Lynne Ramsay | 2002 | 78 | 5.7 | |
Please Give | Nicole Holofcener | 2010 | 78 | 7.5 | |
The Taste of Others | Agnes Jaoui | 2001 | 78 | 6.8 | |
40 | Fat Girl | Catherine Breillat | 2001 | 77 | 6.7 |
Italian for Beginners | Lone Scherfig | 2002 | 77 | 9.8 | |
Monsoon Wedding | Mira Nair | 2002 | 77 | 7.9 | |
Open Hearts | Susanne Bier | 2003 | 77 | 8.8 | |
Stephanie Daley | Hilary Brougher | 2007 | 77 | 6.8 | |
Water | Deepa Mehta | 2006 | 77 | 6.7 |
Excludes documentary films.
† Film was co-directed with a male director.
Title | Director | Year | Metascore | Users | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The In Crowd | Mary Lambert | 2000 | 14 | 2.5 |
Mixed Nuts | Nora Ephron | 1994 | 14 | 6.4 | |
3 | Billy Madison | Tamra Davis | 1995 | 16 | 8.7 |
Half Baked | Tamra Davis | 1998 | 16 | 8.7 | |
5 | I Hate Valentine's Day | Nia Vardalos | 2009 | 17 | 4.9 |
Material Girls | Martha Coolidge | 2006 | 17 | 4.0 | |
7 | Beautiful | Sally Field | 2000 | 23 | 5.2 |
8 | Boxing Helena | Jennifer Lynch | 1993 | 26 | 6.6 |
Filth and Wisdom | Madonna | 2008 | 26 | 5.8 | |
A Night at the Roxbury | Amy Heckerling † | 1998 | 26 | 8.9 |
† Film was co-directed with a male director.
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