Top 10 Female Directors from Cannes
Some of the most influential female directors to have films shown at the festival. - via thecherrypicks.com
With only four of the 21 titles competing for 2019’s Palme d’Or directed by women, the Cannes Film Festival isn’t exactly racing to meet its promise to reach gender parity by 2020. But some of our favorite female directors got their start on the Croisette, so we’ve taken this opportunity to celebrate the women who broke through barriers, made history, and shared their incredible works on the international stage. Earlier this week, we shared some of our favorite films from Cannes from over the past 30 years. Now, let’s revisit the great films women have shared at the festival, including a war drama about women fighters, a documentary about the first woman filmmaker, a brutal movie about an unconventional hero, and more.
10. Eva Husson, Girls of the Sun
Eva Husson’s Girls of the Sun is a story about sisterhood in the face of extremist oppression. Mathilde (Emmanuelle Bercot), a French journalist, profiles a female Kurdish battalion known as Girls of the Sun in their fight against extremists. The group’s commander-in-chief, Bahar (Golshifteh Farahani), focuses her attack to take back the town of Corduene, which was conquered by ISIS, in the hopes of finding and liberating her son from capture. Girls of the Sun earned a Palme d’Or nomination at last year’s festival.
Watch it HERE.
9. Maïwenn, Polisse
Think of an episode of Law & Order: SVU but make it art house, and you’ll have an idea of what this French cop drama is about. Based on real-life child investigation cases, Polisse follows the personal and professional lives of a team of a tight-knit team of men and women working in Paris’ Child Protection Unit. As the cases, confessions, and interrogations pile up, the co-workers have only each other to lean on as they take on criminals and bureaucracy. Director, writer and actress Maïwenn won the Cannes Jury Prize for her film in 2011.
Watch it HERE.
Now let's all take a few deep breaths...
8. Naomi Kawase, The Mourning Forest
This Japanese movie is pretty upfront about its sad subject. A nurse (Machiko Ono) grieving for her dead child grows close to a patient (Shigeki Uda) suffering from dementia at the nursing home where she works. For his birthday, she takes him for a long drive, where he escapes to a nearby forest to search for something connected to his dead wife that he cannot explain. Naomi Kawase’s movie won the festival’s Grand Prix in 2007.
7. Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
Nadine Labaki’s heartbreaking story is a tough one to watch if you can’t stand the sight of kids in danger or being mistreated. Shot with a cast of mostly non-professional actors, Capernaum follows the harrowing story of a little boy who runs away from his unhappy, abusive home and winds up roaming the slums of Beirut. He befriends an Ethiopian woman working as a cleaner without legal papers and stays with her in return for watching her baby while she’s away at work. When she is picked up by the police, he has to fend for himself and the baby or be forced to sell the child to a shady human trafficker. Capernaum went on to win the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2018 and later earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
Watch it HERE.
6. Pamela B. Green, Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
With a mission to restore pioneering French filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché to her proper place in history, Pamela B. Green’s documentary is full of archival riches and newfound information about the nearly forgotten director. Alice Guy-Blaché made her first film at the dawn of cinema history in 1896 and went on to work on more than 1,000 films throughout her lifetime. Yet, her contribution to the industry has been largely forgotten and many of her works were wrongly attributed to male assistants or actors. Green’s film reexamines such claims in order to fix history’s long sexist dismissal of one of the first prolific film directors.
Watch it HERE.
5. Julia Leigh, Sleeping Beauty
This is not your mother’s Sleeping Beauty. In Julia Leigh’s controversial drama about human intimacy, Lucy (Emily Browning) is a college student who pays her tuition by working several part-time jobs. When money gets tight, she takes on her most unconventional odd job yet: sleeping naked and sedated beside paying male clients. In 2011, Sleeping Beauty was the first Australian film to be entered at Cannes since Moulin Rouge! played the festival a decade before and went on to earn a nomination for the festival’s Palme d’Or.
Watch it HERE.
4. Jane Campion, Bright Star
Roughly 15 years after Jane Campion’s first Cannes entry, The Piano, made history, she thrilled the festival crowds again with another period romantic drama, although this one is more tender than complicated. Bright Star chronicles the love story between British romantic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his muse, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). In a nice twist on traditional gender roles of that time period, Fanny is the more flirtatious and forward of the two, and she’s the one who pursues Keats. When Keats tragically passes away of tuberculosis after three years of their passionate love affair, Fanny mourns for him by reciting the sonnet he wrote for her, "Bright Star." This film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2009.
Watch it HERE.
3. Andrea Arnold, Fish Tank
Unapologetic and brash, Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is a slice-of-life drama that packs a punch. Mia Williams (Katie Jarvis), a volatile 15-year-old, rages against the people around her, including her sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths), and single mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing). When Joanne brings home a new boyfriend, Conor (Michael Fassbender), he charms and seduces Mia behind Joanne’s back. He encourages Mia’s passion for hip-hop dance, while slowly escalating their relationship until it becomes sexual. Fish Tank, which Arnold wrote and directed, won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2009.
Watch it HERE.
2. Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
After her breakthrough debut, The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola once again struck gold with her darkly funny drama about two Americans adrift in their own problems. In Lost in Translation, Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) cross paths in a Tokyo hotel. He’s an aging movie star who’s starting to feel irrelevant. She spends most of her time in Tokyo alone in her hotel room, since her busy husband is never around. The two form an unlikely and intimate friendship over the course of a couple of fun nights in the city. While Scarlett Johansson had been in a few films as a child, Lost in Translation became her star-making role as an adult actress.
Watch it HERE.
1. Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Sitting at the top spot is Lynne Ramsay’s shocking Cannes entry, which gave Joaquin Phoenix one of his darkest roles to date – and that’s saying something. In the movie, Joe (Phoenix) is a hired hitman who rescues illegally trafficked girls and doesn’t hesitate to use brutal violence on their captors. His mission is sometimes complicated by memories of his abusive father, PTSD from combat, and suicidal thoughts. During his latest rescue, Joe’s nightmares, flashbacks, and fantasies of his own death intensify when he uncovers a dark conspiracy. Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), the writer and director, won Best Screenplay at Cannes 2017 for this film.
Watch it HERE.
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