As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water”. Being a woman and a woman of color, whose future is in working in the Hollywood industry it’s about time that women get the notification that we all rightfully deserve. Now that’s not saying that the contributions from the men directors before us isn’t important because without them they may not have inspired some of the women today but it’s something to consider. Here are five women directors to watch and to hopefully be inspired by so we can be the next to inspire the young and common girls in the world.
Ava DuVernay, director, producer, screenwriter, film marketer, and film distributor
Although her debut film was documentary This is Life (2008) but she has gotten acclaim from her films Selma (2014) and most recent, A Wrinkle in Time (2018). This film has made her the first black female director to be responsible for a $100 million dollar film.
Nancy Meyers – Writer, Producer, Director
Nancy Meyers first film was The Parent Trap (1998). But her other films What Women Want (2000), Something’s Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006), It’s Complicated (2009), The Intern (2015). She is known for her romantic comedies that focus on adults as well as older adults finding and experiencing love.
Sofia Coppola – screenwriter, director, producer, and former actress
Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Trilogy, it was only a matter of time she was born in the greatness. I grew up loving and being inspired by her father and as I got older I shared the love I have for her father’s work even stronger in her own films. Films like her recent success of the remake of the 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood, of the same title
Patty Jenkin – film director and screenwriter
Thanks to her the famous crime-fighting superhero, Wonder Woman was brought to the silver screen and an amazing job at that. The film reached $821.9 million at the box office is incredible for a film.
Kathryn Bigelow – director, producer, and writer
Now for being the first female and only (so far) to win an Oscar for best director for her film, The Hurt Locker (2010)
Bonus:
Alice Guy-Blaché – Filmmaker, director, screenwriter, producer, actress
Alice Guy-Blaché is a pioneer filmmaker, active from the late 19th Century, and one of the first to make a narrative fiction film She was also the founder as well as the artistic director of the Solax Studios in Flushing, New York, in 1908. It’s ashaming as not many people know about her and her. In 1912 she made the film titles A Fool and his Money, with a cast comprised only of African-American actors, ahead of her time. The film is currently held at the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California
Strong women are everywhere. There on our screens, there in our towns, more importantly there in our homes. Strong women are all around us and deserve to be recognized. It’s because of women like Ava DuVernay, Nancy Meyers, Sofia Coppola, Patty Jenkin, Kathryn Bigelow, and especially Alice Guy-Blaché who are leading the way to communicate and equal opportunities for women in front of and behind the camera.