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(Credits: Far Out / MUBI / Criterion / Press)
Sat 8 March 2025 9:00, UK
It has never been as easy for women to make movies as it has been for men. Interestingly, the first filmmaker to ever make a narrative film was a woman—Alice Guy-Blaché —yet, since then, women have been widely discouraged from becoming directors. Guy Blaché’s contributions to cinema were incredibly pioneering, but she was soon overshadowed by the likes of Georges Méliès and DW Griffith, fading into the background of cinema history for many years.
Throughout the decades that cinema has thrived as a medium, female directors have been few and far between, with men seemingly running a monopoly over the industry and discouraging women from becoming visual storytellers. For centuries, women have been discouraged from becoming artists – patriarchal society demands adherence to expected roles like being a mother and a housewife – so, for a long time, it has been rare to find a female director, let alone a female writer, producer, or cinematographer working in the industry.
While this has slowly begun to change, the lack of female filmmakers has led to a disparity in the kinds of stories depicted on screen. Male directors have long categorised women into stereotypical tropes, objectified female characters, and presented rather one-dimensional explorations of women’s issues, ignoring the first-hand experiences of women from all backgrounds. Yet, it’s these stories, when consumed by audiences from all walks of life, that educate us and inspire empathy, creating a landscape where marginalised people can perhaps be understood.
Moreover, female audiences want to be able to identify with the characters they see on screen. Thus, we’ve picked out five underrated movies, all directed by women, that tell distinctively female stories, from the intersectional and fiercely political Born in Flames to the surreal avant-garde world of The Seashell and the Clergyman, directed by the queer experimental filmmaker Germaine Dulac back in the 1920s.
Five essential feminist movies:
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