5 Women Film Directors That Are Crushing It In Hollywood
Forget Tarantino—this new era calls for movies made by women.
Frances McDormand in Nomadland (2020), directed by Chloé Zhao.
Photo: © 2020 Cor Cordium Productions, Hear/Say Productions, Highwayman Films and Searchlight Pictures
The Oscars 2021 gave us a few history-making wins, beginning with a total of 76 women nominees.
For the first time in all 92 years in the Academy Awards’ history, two women were nominated for Best Director in the same year, Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman and Chloé Zhao for Nomadland. Zhao won Best Director, becoming the second woman—and first Asian woman—to win the award in this category.
Whether they have received one, ten, or zero awards, there are many fantastic female filmmakers that are making history in the film industry. Here are five top women directors you should know.
Chloé Zhao
After receiving Best Director awards in numerous festivals, including the Golden Globes and Venice International Festival, Chloé Zhao made history as the second woman—and first Asian woman—to win Best Director at the Oscars.
According to Variety in February 2021, Zhao received the most awards in a single awards season with 34 trophies for directing, 13 for screenplay and nine for editing.
She is definitely a filmmaker to keep an eye on—Disney didn’t lose a second to hire her as the director of Eternals, a movie based on the Marvel comic series of the same name with a cast including Angelina Jolie and Kit Harrington.
Emerald Fennell
You might recognise Emerald Fennell for her appearance in Netflix royal drama The Crown, where she plays Camilla Parker Bowles. Besides being an actress, Fennell has been in behind the scenes of acclaimed titles. She is also known as the showrunner behind the second season of the thriller series Killing Eve, and more recently she debuted as director with Promising Young Woman, nominated for Best Director at the Oscars and winner of Best Original Screenplay.
Promising Young Woman is a feminist revenge thriller masked as a dark satire. No worries, this is nothing like the Saw series—although some people find a woman’s point of view quite scary.
There has been no news about Fennell’s next project as director, but it’s official that she is writing a movie about the DC Comics heroine, Zatanna, for Warner Bros.’ DC Films.
Patty Jenkins
It’s monumental that Zhao and Fennell are confirmed to direct superhero blockbusters —a genre that has been predominantly directed by men. Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, one of the greatest superheroine hits of all time, has proven to Hollywood that women can direct big projects.
Its huge success led to a sequel released in 2020, Wonder Woman 1984, and a third part of the saga has been confirmed, with Jenkins as director as well. She will direct Rogue Squadron, an upcoming Star Wars movie to be released in 2023. This means that Jenkins will be the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie.
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola is no stranger to the film industry. As the youngest daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, it is clear that movies are in her DNA. She has directed and produced a couple of remarkable movies since The Virgin Suicides, her debut in 1999.
Coppola became the third woman to be nominated for Best Director and the second to win Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation (2003). Then came Marie Antoinette, Somewhere, The Bling Ring, The Beguiled.
Her latest movie, On The Rock, is a brilliant father-and-daughter comedy with Bill Murray and Rashida Jones that will make you fall in love with New York City again.
Greta Gerwig
Gerwig has a very distinctive directing voice and loves directing women-led movies about women.
Her name started to appear on all magazine covers after Lady Bird (2017), her first solo written and directed feature. Opposite to most coming-of-age movies where female characters are highly sexualised or susceptible to beauty-related trauma, Lady Bird tells a story of recognition and gratitude through the inner lives of female teenagers and their mothers.
According to Gerwig, the five Oscar nominations for Lady Bird led her to direct the remake of Little Women with Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen. The adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel is a true masterpiece with outstanding costumes and scenery. It was the third Best Picture Oscar nominee written and directed by a woman.
