Showdown

Daughters of the Dust

Best under-seen women-directed films

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For Women’s History Month, we’re calling all heartbreak kids, sweeties and she-devils to come up with a list of the ten best under-seen women-directed films. Only movies watched by fewer than 25,000 members are eligible—that means no lady birds, no little women, no petites mamans. But it’s more than possible: just take a long walk down that red road, cross Delancey and Hester Street, somersault through Sugar Cane Alley and sure enough you’ll be in the lovely and amazing blazing world of women with brilliant careers. If you’re struggling, no fear, no die: check out these lists from Jack, Annie and Vanessa, sort by ‘Film Popularity’ and scroll to the end.

Most mentioned

  • Eve's Bayou
  • Daughters of the Dust
  • The Heartbreak Kid
  • Mississippi Masala
  • Working Girls
  • Harlan County U.S.A.
  • The Adventures of Prince Achmed
  • Smooth Talk
  • White Material
  • Clockwatchers
  • Dogfight
  • An Angel at My Table
  • One Sings, the Other Doesn't
  • Born in Flames
  • I Am Not a Witch
  • The Savages
  • Away from Her
  • Mädchen in Uniform
  • Titus
  • Walking and Talking

Lists

Sort by
  • Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
  • Harlan County U.S.A.
  • Vagabond
  • Wanda
  • The Beguiled
Kyle

Kyle 100 films

  • Werckmeister Harmonies
  • Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
  • Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock
  • Jimi Plays Monterey
  • Mikey and Nicky
Darvek

Darvek 139 films

  • Booksmart
  • Whip It
Kirby Alexis

Kirby Alexis 2 films

  • Prime Evil
  • The Being
  • Stripped to Kill
  • Slumber Party Massacre III
  • Sunset Society
Nick FW

Nick FW 10 films

  • Batman: Year One
  • The Prince of Egypt
  • Wayne's World
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
  • Wonder Woman
X_modem

X_modem 20 films

  • Singin' in the Rain
  • Sunset Boulevard
  • The Watermelon Woman
  • Shirkers
  • One Cut of the Dead
NerdsbiAsh

NerdsbiAsh 215 films

  • Somersault
  • The Velvet Queen
  • Children of the Mist
  • Jacquot de Nantes
  • 20,000 Days on Earth
Alvaro D. Ruiz

Alvaro D. Ruiz 32 films

  • Dig!
  • Boxing Helena
  • The Rhythm Section
  • Top of the Lake
  • How to Make an American Quilt
nico 🩸

nico 🩸 129 films

  • A Silent Voice
  • Honey Boy
  • The Edge of Seventeen
  • Eternals
  • Past Lives
Tevin Nguyen

Tevin Nguyen 10 films

  • Turning Red
  • Past Lives
  • Priscilla
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire
  • Rye Lane
Charlie Lewis

Charlie Lewis 10 films

  • 0.5 mm
  • Violet Perfume
  • Alanis
  • The Pink Cloud
  • Chile '76
okrc (J.Arturo)

okrc (J.Arturo) 10 films

  • Girl Picture
  • Committed
  • All the Creatures Were Stirring
  • Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  • Mirror Mirror
DonJohn80

DonJohn80 10 films

  • American Girl
  • Sakuran
  • The Notorious Bettie Page
  • Junior
  • Strike!
Madfrieza

Madfrieza 10 films

  • Blood Diner
  • Blood Bath
  • Nude on the Moon
  • Wolf Devil Woman
  • Spookies
occult_fox666

occult_fox666 10 films

  • Mikey and Nicky
  • Things to Come
  • Girl Asleep
  • Tigers Are Not Afraid
  • Abuse of Weakness
optiMSTie

optiMSTie 10 films

  • Ticket of No Return
  • Illusions
  • Thriller
  • Beauty and the Dogs
  • Liquor Store Dreams
NiteOfTheWorld

NiteOfTheWorld 10 films

  • The Starling Girl
  • Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
  • I'm Your Woman
  • Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  • 12 Hour Shift
Hitchcock Barbie

Hitchcock Barbie 10 films

  • Working Girls
  • Home for the Holidays
  • I Am Not a Witch
  • Fast Color
  • Little Woods
Julia ✨

Julia ✨ 8 films

  • Taiga
  • Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
  • Semiotics of the Kitchen
  • Night Patrol
  • Blood of the Dragon
Josias Troyer

Josias Troyer 10 films

  • Even the Rain
  • Scrapper
  • To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
  • The Last Supper
  • La Pointe-Courte
whitbylife

whitbylife 10 films

  • Smooth Talk
  • The Loveless
  • Working Girls
  • Golden Eighties
  • The Prince of Tides
David Gruwez

David Gruwez 10 films

  • ClearMind
  • Clockwatchers
  • Your Fat Friend
  • Call Jane
  • The Chipmunk Adventure
Travis LaBrucherie

Travis LaBrucherie 10 films

  • Murina
  • Song of the Exile
  • One Sings, the Other Doesn't
  • Origin
  • Tótem
Sophie L

Sophie L 58 films

  • Smooth Talk
  • Mississippi Masala
  • Eve's Bayou
  • Always Shine
  • Monsoon Wedding
Hannah

Hannah 10 films

  • The Savages
  • The Starling Girl
  • The Third Wife
  • Never Gonna Snow Again
  • Je'vida
PURO

PURO 9 films

  • The Matrix Revolutions
  • The Matrix Reloaded
  • The Fallout
  • Rye Lane
  • The Babadook
Anton

Anton 10 films

  • Marona's Fantastic Tale
  • Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntyvaara
  • Sometimes I Think About Dying
  • Nothing
  • Games People Play
Milja

Milja 38 films

  • Fresh Kill
  • Love and Anarchy
  • Seven Beauties
  • Tigers Are Not Afraid
  • Messiah of Evil
Brandon

Brandon 10 films

  • Sambizanga
  • Harlan County U.S.A.
  • Eve's Bayou
  • Water
  • The Savages
jph139

jph139 10 films

  • Wolf Devil Woman
  • Born in Flames
  • Atlantics
  • The Long Walk
  • Circus
aroliver

aroliver 10 films

  • The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears
  • Messiah of Evil
  • Making 'The Shining'
  • Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
  • West of Memphis
Erwan Ticheler

Erwan Ticheler 10 films

  • The Bigamist
  • Golden Eighties
  • The Headless Woman
  • Dance, Girl, Dance
  • One Way or Another
J_NC

J_NC 10 films

  • Mustang
  • Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
  • In the Realms of the Unreal
  • Monsoon Wedding
  • Sita Sings the Blues
Danny Fain

Danny Fain 10 films

  • Daughters of the Dust
  • Losing Ground
  • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
  • Atlantics
  • Pariah
CarsonHiggins

CarsonHiggins 10 films

  • Real Genius
  • Europa Europa
  • Paris Is Burning
  • Strange Days
  • Bound
SacherTortoise

SacherTortoise 10 films

  • After Eight... Forever
  • Forgotten Roads
  • M
  • Skin Deep
  • Oriana
Henrique Rodrigues Marques

Henrique Rodrigues Marques 10 films

  • Falling Leaves
  • The Consequences of Feminism
  • Born in Flames
  • Hannah Arendt
  • Our Time Will Come
Chris Coke

Chris Coke 25 films

  • Titus
  • Queen of Katwe
  • The Preacher's Wife
  • The Nativity Story
Jon Martin

Jon Martin 4 films

  • Romance
  • Abuse of Weakness
  • Beauty and the Dogs
  • Bastards
  • Suzanne
Gil

Gil 11 films

  • Begging Naked
  • My Own Country
  • The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack
  • Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird
  • No Place to Hide: The Rehtaeh Parsons Story
Mariner35

Mariner35 162 films

  • Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
  • Zero Motivation
  • The World of Us
  • Swept Away
  • Seven Blessings
NadavK

NadavK 8 films

  • Theater Camp
  • Rye Lane
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • You Were Never Really Here
  • Petite Maman
Aidan Fronza

Aidan Fronza 10 films

  • Here Out West
  • Dear Lemon Lima
  • Bran Nue Dae
  • Gaza Fights for Freedom
  • Looking for Alibrandi
Jay_V

Jay_V 10 films

  • Black Box Diaries
  • Wasteland
  • Love Lies Bleeding
  • Sometimes I Think About Dying
  • Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
michelle grondine

michelle grondine 43 films

  • Working Girls
  • This Magnificent Cake!
  • Piaffe
  • Rodeo
  • De Humani Corporis Fabrica
HorseyFatback

HorseyFatback 9 films

  • The Blue Caftan
  • I Shot Andy Warhol
  • Europa Europa
  • I Like It Like That
  • Dogfight
Drew G

Drew G 10 films

  • Dogfight
  • Desert Hearts
  • The Bigamist
  • The Loneliest Planet
  • Innocence
Kabir

Kabir 12 films

  • The Amazing Catfish
  • Anaïs in Love
  • Dogfight
  • Sense8: Amor Vincit Omnia
  • Prayers for the Stolen
marina

marina 13 films

  • Unrelated
  • Archipelago
katieskrsgard

katieskrsgard 2 films

  • Blood Tea and Red String
  • War Pony
  • A Dry White Season
  • Round and Round
  • Ruby Bridges
Ben Butler

Ben Butler 10 films

  • The Goddess: How I Fell in Love
  • Rita's Last Fairy Tale
  • The North Wind
  • There is No Death For Me
  • Green Theatre in Zemfira
zoboomafoobitch

zoboomafoobitch 75 films

  • Senseless
  • Corrina, Corrina
  • Howards End
  • Country Strong
  • The Beverly Hillbillies
Melissa

Melissa 17 films

  • Everybody Loves Jeanne
  • Ascension
  • I Am Not a Witch
  • Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay
  • The Trouble with Angels
aobh

aobh 11 films

  • Clara Sola
  • My Brilliant Career
  • Aline
  • Italian for Beginners
  • The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson
ecarsonbelden

ecarsonbelden 10 films

  • Ain’t Nothin’ Without You
  • I Often Think of Hawaii
  • Don’t Cry, Pretty Girls!
  • Silent Land
  • Three Sparks
mekanikdestrukt

mekanikdestrukt 19 films

  • April Captains
  • The Cleaning Man
  • At War
  • Charcoal
  • Hoje
Guilherme Simões Reis

Guilherme Simões Reis 26 films

  • The Trial
  • Free Angela and All Political Prisoners
  • The Foreign Eye
  • Rio de Jano
  • Torre das Donzelas
Guilherme Simões Reis

Guilherme Simões Reis 50 films

  • Little Woods
  • The Reluctant Fundamentalist
  • Ditto
  • Ever After
  • I Could Never Be Your Woman
Franzi

Franzi 9 films

  • Dogfight
  • Country Strong
  • It's Complicated
  • Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
  • The Parent Trap
Niall Hassett

Niall Hassett 10 films

  • The Adventures of Prince Achmed
  • Frozen River
  • Cherry Blossoms
  • Falling Leaves
  • Suspense.
H. Marino

H. Marino 8 films

  • Leonor Will Never Die
  • Level 16
  • An Autumn's Tale
  • Noise
  • Persona
Drei

Drei 10 films

  • Harlan County U.S.A.
  • Microcosmos
  • I Shot Andy Warhol
  • Titus
  • The Decline of Western Civilization
Adam T

Adam T 11 films

  • Sakuran
  • 0.5 mm
  • A Simple Life
  • Soon Yi
  • Sweet Bean
Manuel

Manuel 10 films

  • We Were Young
  • Mi Vida Loca
  • Appropriate Behavior
  • The Olive Tree
  • Gulîstan, Land of Roses
Lewis Harris

Lewis Harris 10 films

  • Jacquot de Nantes
  • Eden
  • Thou Wast Mild and Lovely
  • The Loveless
  • Songs My Brothers Taught Me
benjamin

benjamin 10 films

  • Priest
  • Dogfight
  • Europa Europa
  • Proof
  • Clockwatchers
mooveefan

mooveefan 10 films

  • Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
  • Voice of Silence
  • 3 Days in Quiberon
  • The Last Stage
  • 24 Weeks
Matthias_S

Matthias_S 10 films

  • Near Dark
  • Strange Days
  • Blood Diner
  • The Woodsman
  • The Nightingale
Brendan O'Keeffe

Brendan O'Keeffe 6 films

  • Origin
Easton

Easton 1 film

  • The Cave of the Yellow Dog
  • Marona's Fantastic Tale
  • The Bride Wore Red
  • My Twentieth Century
  • The Thief Collector
Jen

Jen 79 films

  • Hester Street
  • I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
  • I Shot Andy Warhol
  • The Velvet Queen
  • Clockwatchers
openroad

openroad 10 films

  • The Velvet Vampire
  • The Other Side of the Underneath
  • Transformations
  • Messiah of Evil
  • The Mafu Cage
Travis D. Johnson

Travis D. Johnson 10 films

  • Dearest Sister
  • Nothing Bad Can Happen
  • Southern Comfort
  • Eve's Bayou
  • Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore
nonphenomenal

nonphenomenal 10 films

  • Daughters of the Dust
  • Eve's Bayou
  • A Dry White Season
  • Losing Ground
  • Atlantiques
Dee

Dee 206 films

  • The Long Walk
  • Smooth Talk
  • A Night Full of Rain
  • Prayers for the Stolen
  • The Bigamist
𝔸ℕℕ𝔸

𝔸ℕℕ𝔸 10 films

  • Cameraperson
  • Uncle Yanco
  • Kung-Fu Master!
  • Wings
  • White Material
Shane Barlow

Shane Barlow 10 films

  • Titus
  • Cameraperson
  • Leviathan
  • The Headless Woman
  • Amer
Daniel Charchuk

Daniel Charchuk 25 films

  • The Company of Strangers
  • The Amazonian Angel
  • The Cave of the Yellow Dog
  • The Day I Became a Woman
  • Sambizanga
DungeonSkramz

DungeonSkramz 30 films

  • River of Grass
  • Morvern Callar
  • Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  • Meshes of the Afternoon
  • Toni Erdmann
skattaway

skattaway 45 films

  • Daughters of the Dust
  • The Seashell and the Clergyman
  • The Smiling Madame Beudet
  • The Consequences of Feminism
  • The Headless Woman
Jamie Ragins

Jamie Ragins 10 films

  • I Am Not a Witch
  • Sometimes I Think About Dying
  • Daughters of the Dust
  • National Lampoon's European Vacation
  • Mack & Rita
mangointhenight

mangointhenight 10 films

  • Dogfight
  • Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore
  • Jacquot de Nantes
  • Chez Jolie Coiffure
  • Ali & Ava
enricioni

enricioni 15 films

  • Ninjababy
  • Hidden Letters
  • I Am Not a Witch
  • 37 Seconds
  • Bulbbul
Laila Smith

Laila Smith 10 films

  • À bas bruit
  • Goodbye First Love
  • Blackboards
  • Everyone Else
  • Bastards
Theolini

Theolini 5 films

  • By the Sea
  • Cherry Blossoms
  • Black Beauty
  • Forces of Nature
  • Toni Erdmann
filmplanet

filmplanet 10 films

  • The Selfish Giant
  • Microcosmos
  • Bathtubs Over Broadway
  • Proof
  • Everyone Else
djaha

djaha 9 films

  • Daisies
  • Possibly in Michigan
  • Greener Grass
  • The House Is Black
  • Dick Johnson Is Dead
Christopher

Christopher 10 films

  • Away from Her
  • Band Aid
  • Clockwatchers
  • Daguerréotypes
  • Gaby Baby Doll
C.F. Hellinger

C.F. Hellinger 10 films

  • Coming Out
  • Full of Fire
  • Innocence
  • Sense8: Amor Vincit Omnia
  • Something Must Break
LRSVDR

LRSVDR 11 films

  • Hester Street
  • Harlan County U.S.A.
  • Rosa Luxemburg
  • Smithereens
  • Europa Europa
AureleJoliat

AureleJoliat 10 films

Still from Mississippi Masala (1991)