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You are here: Home / Commentary / Film Feature: Favorite Fiction Features Directed by Women — An International Poll

Film Feature: Favorite Fiction Features Directed by Women — An International Poll

April 22, 2022 Leave a Comment

Compiled by Gerald Peary

Six critics from the Arts Fuse were among the 139 participants from around the world — Canada, Australia, France, England, Sweden, Finland, etc. — polled for their Ten Favorite Fiction Features Directed by Women. Up top are the 30 films which appeared on the most ballots, and below that are the votes of Arts Fuse critics.

Delphine Seyrig in the title role of Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Photo: Paradise Films

THE TOP THIRTY

31 votes: Jeanne Dielman (Chantal Akerman)

30 votes: Cleo from 5 to 7 (Agnes Varda)

29 votes: Vagabond (Agnes Varda)

28 votes: Daisies (Vera Chytilova), The Piano (Jane Campion)

26 votes: Beau Travail (Claire Denis), The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino), Wanda (Barbara Loden)

22 votes: Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash)

21 votes: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling)

20 votes: Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmuller)

19 votes: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)

18 votes: Europa Europa (Agnieszka Holland), Mikey and Nicky (Elaine May), Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik), The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May)

17 votes: An Angel at My Table (Jane Campion), Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)

14 votes: Dance Girl Dance (Dorothy Arzner), A New Leaf (Elaine May)

13 votes: Clueless (Amy Heckerling), The Bigamist (Ida Lupino), The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko)

11 votes: Le Bonheur (Agnes Varda), My Brilliant Career (Gillian Armstrong), Outrage (Ida Lupino), The Rider (Chloe Zhao)

10 votes: Nomadland (Chloe Zhao), Swept Away (Lina Wertmuller)

9 votes: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Celine Sciamma)


Gerald Peary

A scene from Dance, Girl, Dance.

Mädchen in Uniform – Leontine Sagan

Dance, Girl, Dance – Dorothy Arzner

Daisies – Vera Chytilova

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) – Chantal Akerman

Mikey and Nicky – Elaine May

Marianne and Juliane – Margarethe Von Trotta

Vagabond – Agnes Varda

Sweetie -Jane Campion

Beau Travail – Claire Denis

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow

Peg Aloi

A scene from The Love Witch.

Peppermint Soda – Diane Kurys

An Angel at My Table – Jane Campion

Relic – Natalie Erika James

Amulet – Romola Garai

The Wind – Emma Tami

The Woodsman – Nicole Kassell

Ladybird – Greta Gerwig

Winter’s Bone – Debra Granick

The Love Witch – Anna Biller

Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Marielle Heller

Tim Jackson

A scene from Toni Erdmann.

Variety – Bette Gordon

In a Better World – Suzanne Bier

Bluebeard – Catherine Breillat

Enough Said – Nicole Holofcener

Somewhere – Sofia Coppola

Toni Erdmann – Maren Ade

Songs My Brother Taught Me – Chloé Zhao

Wendy and Lucy – Kelly Reichardt

Humpday – Lynn Shelton

It Felt Like Love – Eliza Hittman

Ed Symkus

Newcomer Agathe Rousselle as Alexia in Titane..

Kathryn Bigelow – Strange Days

Julia Ducournau – Titane

Mary Harron – American Psycho

Amy Heckerling – Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Agnieszka Holland – Europa Europa

Ida Lupino – The Bigamist

Sally Potter – Orlando

Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin

Agnès Varda – Vagabond

Doris Wishman – The Hot Month of August

Evelyn Rosenthal

A scene from Crossing Delancey.

Joan Micklin Silver – Crossing Delancey

Susan Seidelman – Desperately Seeking Susan

Adrienne Shelly – Waitress

Jane Campion – An Angel at My Table

Gillian Armstrong – My Brilliant Career

Amy Heckerling – Clueless

Lina Wertmuller – Love and Anarchy

Penny Marshall – A League of Their Own

Agnieszka Holland – Europa, Europa

Chloé Zhao – The Rider

David Stewart

A scene from The Diary of a Teenage Girl.

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow

Fish Tank – – Andrea Arnold

Ratcatcher – – Lynne Ramsay

Grace of My Heart – Allison Anders

Prevenge – Alice Lowe

The Diary of a Teenage Girl – Marielle Heller

One Night in Miami – Regina King

Variety – Bette Gordon

I Shot Andy Warhol – Mary Harron

Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola


Editor’s Note: What films would you choose? Add to the list. Please comment below.

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By: Gerald Peary Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Film, Review Tagged: David Stewart, Evelyn Rosenthal, Gearld Peary, Peg Aloi, Tim Jackson

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