Ranked: The Best Women Film Directors (and Their Films)

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.

Metascore Averages for Women Directors (Min. 3 Scored Films in Database)

Director		# of scored films	Average Metascore	Average User Score	Average Box Office Gross*
1	Lone Scherfig	3	77	8.6	$6.5m
The Danish director (who is part of the Dogme 95 movement founded by Lars von Trier) first attracted attention in the U.S. with her 2002 film Italian for Beginners 77, while her most recent film earned a nomination for Best Picture at this year's Oscars. Best film: An Education (2009) 85
	Lucrecia Martel	3	77	8.0	$0.2m
Hailing from Argentina, Martel has helmed three critically-acclaimed films, including her 2001 debut La Ciénaga 75, named the best Latin American film of the past decade by a group of New York critics. Best film: The Headless Woman (2009) 81
3	Sofia Coppola	3	77	6.3	$28.3m
Though her acting career quickly fizzled out, Coppola has been far more successful as a director, with three highly original and widely-praised releases to date. Her fourth feature, Somewhere, arrives in December. Best film: Lost in Translation (2003) 89
4	Agnès Jaoui	3	76	7.3	$1.2m
Jaoui has directed three films, each with screenplays co-written by her husband, Jean-Pierre Bacri. An actress as well as a director, the native of France has appeared on screen in each of her own movies, including her latest comedy, Let It Rain 72, and the Oscar-nominated The Taste of Others 78. Best film: Look at Me (2005) 79
5	Claire Denis	5	75	6.7	$0.1m
While the French director is responsible for some of the most critically-acclaimed films of the past decade, reviewers aren't always fond of her work. Exhibit 1: her 2001 existentialist horror film Trouble Every Day 36. Best film: 35 Shots of Rum (2009) 92
6	Susanne Bier	4	74	8.3	$1.6m
Another top Danish director, Bier received an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film for After the Wedding. Her 2005 film Brothers was recently remade as a Tobey Maguire film, and in 2007 she directed her first English-language film, the Halle Berry-starring Things We Lost in the Fire 63. Best film: After the Wedding (2007) 78
7	Lisa Cholodenko	3	73	8.3	$2.9m **
Before this year's critical hit The Kids Are All Right, the Los Angeles native directed the indie dramas Laurel Canyon 61 and High Art 73 as well as episodes of Six Feet Under and Homicide: Life on the Street. Best film: The Kids Are All Right (2010) 86
8	Nicole Holofcener	3	72	7.2	$7.0m **
Holofcener's films might be formulaic, but it's not your usual formula. Instead, starting with 1996's Walking and Talking 67, each of the writer-director's four releases to date has been an acclaimed, intelligent drama (with elements of comedy) starring Catherine Keener. Best film: Please Give (2010) 78
9	Mary Harron	3	68	8.1	$9.1m
In addition to her biopic about Andy Warhol's would-be assassin Valerie Solanas, the Candian filmmaker also adapted Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho 64 and, more recently, directed The Notorious Bettie Page 64. Best film: I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) 75
10	Jane Campion	5	67	7.0	$14.3m
The New Zealand native is one of only four women ever nominated for the director Oscar. A director now for over 25 years, Campion's most recent effort was 2009's Bright Star 81, about poet John Keats. Best film: The Piano (1993) 89
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:

Highest Lifetime Cumulative Box Office Grosses for Women Directors

	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.

Highest-Grossing* Movies Directed by Women (Since 1980)

	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).

Best-Reviewed Movies Directed by Women

	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.

Worst-Reviewed Movies Directed by Women (Since 1980)

	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.