March is International Women’s History Month, which gives me the perfect opportunity to highlight films that are either made by or centering women. The list could go on and on due to the immense number of amazing films made possible by innumerable greatly talented women, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll limit myself to five.
1. “Shiva Baby”
Emma Seligman’s 2021 film “Shiva Baby” is brilliant. It follows a college student named Danielle, played by Rachel Sennott, who attends a family shiva only for it to turn out to be the most awkward and chaotic evening ever.
At the root of all of the havoc lies the fact that Danielle’s sugar daddy, his wife and Danielle’s ex-girlfriend are all present.
What we witness for the next hour and a half is Danielle panicking and attempting to juggle situations with either one or more of her fraught relationships. “Shiva Baby” is equal parts hilarious and terrifying, the tension mounts as Danielle sexts her sugar daddy and then proceeds to have a conversation with his beautiful wife all while listening to her baby cry.
I put “Shiva Baby” on this list for many reasons: firstly, this is Seligman’s debut feature film, which is extremely impressive, and it places Seligman on the map as someone to keep your eye on. Secondly, Danielle is one of the most painstakingly real depictions of a modern young woman I have ever seen. And lastly, it’s a fairly new film that not a lot of people might have heard of!
If you’re interested, “Shiva Baby” is currently streaming on HBO MAX.
2. “Kajillionaire”
“Kajillionaire” is Miranda July’s 2020 film about two con artist parents and their daughter named Old Dolio. Old Dolio’s parents plan a heist involving Melanie, a complete stranger, who blows up not only the plan, but Old Dolio’s life and her visions for the future.
I love this film because I absolutely love Old Dolio. Throughout the course of the film, Old Dolio overcomes the challenges created by her troubling childhood shaped by her loveless and neglecting parents, she starts to find out who she is and who she could be— and she falls in love.
July is an inspiration. She’s a filmmaker, actress, writer, musician and performing artist. She is a current day renaissance woman.
Like “Shiva Baby,” “Kajillionaire” is available to stream on HBO MAX for anyone whose interest is piqued.
3. “The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived”
“The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived” is Lebanese filmmaker Heiny Srour’s 1974 documentary about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Dhofar and their 1960s uprising against the British-backed Sultanate in Oman. It’s a film that sheds light on the PLA and their trials and troubles in not only bravely fighting against British imperialism, but also building, maintaining and educating their community.
Middle Eastern countries have often been painted out to be “dangerous” or “backward” so that the West could continue to exploit them. But the truth is that the West has chosen to be blind to the reality in countries like Oman.
Through her documentary, Srour brings awareness to the People’s Liberation Army, which believed in a democratic feminist movement.
The film portrays several women in the PLA fighting against imperialism and building up the community hand in hand. Everything about this documentary is revolutionary.
Although this documentary is obscure and hard to find, I guarantee that the search will pay off.
4. “American Honey”
Andrea Arnold’s 2016 film is about teenager Star who joins a crew of traveling misfits selling magazines across the Midwest.
Star lives in poverty with an abusive father, taking care of his kids. One day she sees the crew in the parking lot of a Kmart, and she sees them as her golden ticket out of her own hellish reality.
Star is wonderfully played by actress Sasha Lane and wonderfully written by Andrea Arnold herself. The film is not a happy one as it depicts youth floating from place to place, with no home and no purpose.
Arnold exposes life’s ceaseless circles of exploitation and cruelty to the poor, to women and to people of color. It’s a heartbreaking and incredibly important film.
5. “Cléo from 5 to 7”
Agnès Varda is a widely beloved French New Wave filmmaker and “Cléo from 5 to 7” is her most famous film. The movie is about Cléo, a minor French pop singer, waiting for her medical test results to come back. She is convinced she has cancer, and the film follows her over the course of two hours while she tries to come to terms with whatever the future holds for her.
Although this film is loved by cinephiles around the world, “Cléo from 5 to 7” is still not very common among mainstream audiences, which is one of the reasons why I’ve chosen to highlight it. Varda is both the director and writer of the film, and she succeeds in writing an anxious, lovable yet slightly selfish, and complicated female character in 90 minutes.
Women have directed, written, and produced so many of my favorite films. It is truly a tragedy that they have only began to be awarded and given credit for their amazing contributions to the art form in recent years.
Do yourself a favor and celebrate Women’s History Month by engaging with a piece of art, music, literature or film made by a woman. If that piece of art happens to be a recommendation from me, so be it!