Every female director at the 2016 BFI London Film… | Little White Lies

BFI London Film Festival

Every female direc­tor at the 2016 BFI Lon­don Film Festival

06 Sep 2016

Words by Lauren Thompson

Woman in a yellow knitted sleeveless top, standing indoors with colourful backdrop.
Woman in a yellow knitted sleeveless top, standing indoors with colourful backdrop.
This year’s bumper line-up boasts 114 films direct­ed or co-direct­ed by women.

Despite reams writ­ten about how dif­fi­cult it still is for women to direct movies, there are sug­ges­tions that the tide is slow­ly turn­ing. We’ve been through the entire line-up for the 60th BFI Lon­don Film Fes­ti­val and picked out every film direct­ed or co-direct­ed by a woman. We’ve dis­cov­ered that 24 per cent of the 245 fea­tures com­pris­ing this year’s pro­gramme are the prod­uct of a female direc­tor, and accord­ing to a report from the BFI, this is up by rough­ly two per cent on last year. It may seem only seem like a mea­gre shift, but it’s progress all the same. This year’s selec­tion brings with it not only a colour­ful array of films to look for­ward to, but a diverse mix of titles by both sea­soned direc­tors, less­er known tal­ents and first-time film­mak­ers from all around the world.

1. Cer­tain Women
Direct­ed by Kel­ly Reichardt (USA)
Offi­cial Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

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2. Lay­la M
Direct­ed by Mijke de Jong (Netherlands/​Germany/​Belgium/​Jordan)
Offi­cial Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

3. Divines
Direct­ed by Hou­da Benyam­i­na (France/​Qatar)
First Fea­ture Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

4. The Lev­el­ling
Direct­ed by Hope Dick­son Leach (UK)
First Fea­ture Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

5. Raw
Direct­ed by Julia Ducour­nau (France/​Belgium)
First Fea­ture Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

6. What’s in the Dark­ness
Direct­ed by Wang Yichun (Chi­na)
First Fea­ture Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

7. All This Pan­ic
Direct­ed by Jen­ny Gage (USA)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

8. Chas­ing Asy­lum
Direct­ed by Eva Orner (Aus­tralia)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

9. David Lynch: The Art Life
Direct­ed by Jon Nguyen, Olivia Neer­gaard-Holm (USA/​Denmark)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

10. The Grad­u­a­tion
Direct­ed by Claire Simon (France)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

11. Lovetrue
Direct­ed by Alma Har-el (USA)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

12. On Call
Direct­ed by Alice Diop (France)
Doc­u­men­tary Com­pe­ti­tion
Tick­ets

13. The Send-off
Direct­ed by Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bres­nan (USA)
Short Film Pro­gramme 1
Tick­ets

14. Love
Direct­ed by Réka Buc­si (France/​Hungary)
Short Film Pro­gramme 1
Tick­ets

15. Your Moth­er and I
Direct­ed by Anna Maguire (Canada/​UK)
Short Film Pro­gramme 1
Tick­ets

16. Import
Direct­ed by Ena Sendi­jare­vic (Nether­lands)
Short Film Pro­gramme 1
Tick­ets

17. Pick­le
Direct­ed by Amy Nichol­son (USA)
Short Film Pro­gramme 2
Tick­ets

18. There is Land!
Direct­ed by Ana Vaz (France/​Brazil)
Short Film Pro­gramme 2
Tick­ets

19. A Unit­ed King­dom
Direct­ed by Amma Asante (UK)
Open­ing Night Gala
Tick­ets

20. Queen of Katwe
Direct­ed by Mira Nair (USA/​Uganda)
Vir­gin Atlantic Gala
Tick­ets

Two women standing close together, one with dark hair and the other with red hair, against a backdrop of a lake and trees.

21. Their Finest
Direct­ed by Lone Scher­fig (UK)
The May­or of London’s Gala
Tick­ets

22. Toni Erd­mann
Direct­ed by Maren Ade (Germany/​Austria)
Laugh Gala
Tick­ets

23. Amer­i­can Hon­ey
Direct­ed by Andrea Arnold (USA/UK)
Fes­ti­val Spe­cial Pre­sen­ta­tion
Tick­ets

24. The 13th
Direct­ed by Ava DuVer­nay (USA)
Doc­u­men­tary Spe­cial Pre­sen­ta­tion in asso­ci­a­tion with Time Out
Tick­ets

25. Ascent
Direct­ed by Fiona Tan (Nether­lands)
Exper­i­men­ta Spe­cial Pre­sen­ta­tion
Tick­ets

26. The Dreamed Ones
Direct­ed by Ruth Beck­er­mann (Aus­tria)
Love
Tick­ets

27. Heal the Liv­ing
Direct­ed by Katell Quil­lévéré (France/​Belgium)
Love
Tick­ets

28. Lovesong
Direct­ed by So Yong Kim (USA)
Love
Tick­ets

29. Rara
Direct­ed by Pepa San Martín (Chile/​Argentina)
Love
Tick­ets

30. The Wed­ding Ring
Direct­ed by Rah­ma­tou Keï­ta (Niger/​Burkina Faso/​France)
Love
Tick­ets

31. Bound­aries
Direct­ed by Chloé Robichaud (Cana­da)
Debate
Tick­ets

32. A Day for Women
Direct­ed by Kam­la Abouzekri (Egypt)
Debate
Tick­ets

33. Farouk, Besieged Like Me
Direct­ed by Hala Alab­dal­la (France/​Syria)
Debate
Tick­ets

34. Park
Direct­ed by Sofia Exar­chou (Greece)
Debate
Tick­ets

35. The Rev­o­lu­tion Won’t Be Tele­vised
Direct­ed by Rama Thi­aw (Senegal/​France)
Debate
Tick­ets

36. Stopover
Direct­ed by Del­phine Coulin, Muriel Coulin (France/​Greece)
Debate
Tick­ets

37. The Last Laugh
Direct­ed by Ferne Pearl­stein (USA)
Laugh
Tick­ets

38. Lost in Paris
Direct­ed by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gor­don (France/​Belgium)
Laugh
Tick­ets

39. Pre­venge
Direct­ed by Alice Lowe (UK)
Laugh
Tick­ets

40. Tick­ling Giants
Direct­ed by Sara Tak­sler (USA/​Egypt/​UK)
Laugh
Tick­ets

A person with long dark hair wearing a hooded jacket, standing by a window during sunset.

41. Women Who Kill
Direct­ed by Ingrid Junger­mann (USA)
Laugh
Tick­ets

42. By the Time it Gets Dark
Direct­ed by Anocha Suwichako­rn­pong (Thailand/​France/​Qatar)
Dare
Tick­ets

43. Dear­est Sis­ter
Direct­ed by Mat­tie Do (Laos/​France/​Estonia)
Dare
Tick­ets

44. Ovar­i­an Psy­cos
Direct­ed by Joan­na Sokolows­ki, Kate Trum­bull-LaValle (USA)
Dare
Tick­ets

45. Plan­e­tar­i­um
Direct­ed by Rebec­ca Zlo­tows­ki (France/​Belgium)
Dare
Tick­ets

46. Pri­vate Prop­er­ty
Direct­ed by Leslie Stevens (USA)
Dare
Tick­ets

47. The Rehearsal
Direct­ed by Ali­son Maclean (New Zealand)
Dare
Tick­ets

48. Wild
Direct­ed by Nico­lette Kreb­itz (Ger­many)
Dare
Tick­ets

49. Wolf and Sheep
Direct­ed by Shahrbanoo Sadat (Denmark/​France/​Sweden/​Afghanistan)
Dare
Tick­ets

50. All of a Sud­den
Direct­ed by Asli Özge (Ger­many)
Thrill
Tick­ets

51. Daugh­ters of the Dust
Direct­ed by Julie Dash (USA)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

52. Don’t Call Me Son
Direct­ed by Anna Muy­laert (Brazil)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

53. The Inno­cents
Direct­ed by Anne Fontaine (France/​Poland)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

54. Let­ters from Bagh­dad
Direct­ed by Sabine Krayen­bühl, Zeva Oel­baum (UK/​USA/​France)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

55. Jewel’s Catch One
Direct­ed by C Fitz (USA)
Son­ic
Tick­ets

56. Fanny’s Jour­ney
Direct­ed by Lola Doil­lon (France/​Belgium)
Fam­i­ly
Tick­ets

57. Morosh­ka
Direct­ed by Poli­na Minchenok (Rus­sia)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

58. Awe­some Beetle’s Colours
Direct­ed by Indra Sproge (Latvia)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

59. Per­fect House­guest
Direct­ed by Ru Kuwa­ha­ta, Max Porter (USA)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

60. I am Not a Mouse
Direct­ed by Evge­nia Gol­ube­va (UK)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

A mysterious figure in a hooded cloak stands in a surreal, mountainous landscape, with floating objects and a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere.

61. Per­fect Pig­gies
Direct­ed by San­dra Boyn­ton (USA)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

62. Stone Soup
Direct­ed by Clemen­tine Robach (France/​Belgium)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

63. Achoo!
Direct­ed by Yuki Hirakawa (Japan)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

64. The Tee­ny-Wee­ny Fox
Direct­ed by Aline Quer­tain, Syl­wia Szk­i­ladz (France/​Belgium/​Switzerland)
Ani­mat­ed Shorts for Younger Audi­ences
Tick­ets

65. Born in Flames
Direct­ed by Lizzie Bor­den (USA)
Exper­i­men­ta
Tick­ets

66. Con­fes­sions to the Mir­ror
Direct­ed by Sarah Pucill (UK)
Exper­i­men­ta
Tick­ets

67. Eglan­tine
Direct­ed by Mar­garet Salmon (UK)
Exper­i­men­ta
Tick­ets

68. Fur­ther Beyond
Direct­ed by Chris­tine Mol­loy, Joe Lawlor (Ire­land)
Exper­i­men­ta
Tick­ets

69. Mod­er­a­tion
Direct­ed by Anja Kirschn­er (Greece/​Italy/​UK/​Egypt)
Exper­i­men­ta
Tick­ets

70. An Exper­i­ment in Leisure
Direct­ed by Manon De Boer (Bel­gium)
Con­di­tions of Cre­ation Shorts
Tick­ets

71. Rolls and Shut­ters
Direct­ed by Sti­na Wirfelt (UK)
The Past is The Present Too Shorts
Tick­ets

72. Trans­mis­sion from the Lib­er­at­ed Zone
Direct­ed by Fil­i­pa Cesar (France/​Germany)
The Past is the Present Too Shorts
Tick­ets

73. Dame 2
Direct­ed by Kathryn Elkin (UK)
The Pos­sessed Shorts
Tick­ets

74. Reluc­tant­ly Queer
Direct­ed by Ako­sua Ado­ma Owusu (USA/​Ghana)
Return­ing and Repress­ing Shorts
Tick­ets

75. On a Wing and a Prayer
Direct­ed by Alia Syed (UK)
Return­ing and Repress­ing Shorts
Tick­ets

76. Liliesleaf Farm May­ibuye: In Search of the Spec­tres of His­to­ry
Direct­ed by Pat­ti Gaal-Holmes (UK/​South Africa)
Return­ing and Repress­ing Shorts
Tick­ets

77. Last Days of Leningrad
Direct­ed by Maria Zennstrom (Swe­den)
Return­ing and Repress­ing Shorts
Tick­ets

78. In the Future, They Ate From the Finest Porce­lain
Direct­ed by Laris­sa San­sour, Soren Lind (UK/​Denmark/​Qatar)
Future Pasts and Past Futures Shorts
Tick­ets

79. Hero City
Direct­ed by Ruth Maclen­nan (Russia/​UK)
Future Pasts and Past Futures Shorts
Tick­ets

80. Two Marx­ists in Hol­ly­wood
Direct­ed by Zoe Beloff (USA)
Hol­ly­wood Dis­sec­tions Shorts
Tick­ets

Dark circular hole in weathered wooden surface.

81. A Woman Returns from a Jour­ney
Direct­ed by Ruth Novaczek (UK/USA)
Hol­ly­wood Dis­sec­tions Shorts
Tick­ets

82. The Man from Hong Kong
Direct­ed by Karen Yasin­sky (USA)
Hol­ly­wood Dis­sec­tions Shorts
Tick­ets

83. Mir­ror With­out Like­ness
Direct­ed by Julia Dogra-Brazell (UK)
Rein­ter­pre­ta­tions of Forms
Tick­ets

84. Between the Bul­let and the Hole
Direct­ed by Aura Satz (UK)
Rein­ter­pre­ta­tions of Forms
Tick­ets

85. (Self)exhibitions (Auto)Exposiciones
Direct­ed by Flo­ren­cia Alib­er­ti (Spain/​Argentina)
Dare
Tick­ets

86. #YA
Direct­ed by Ygor Gama, Flo­ren­cia Rovlich (Germany/​Chile/​Argentina)
Debate
Tick­ets

87. 9 Days – from My Win­dow in Alep­po
Direct­ed by Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege, Floor van der Meulen (Nether­lands)
Debate
Tick­ets

88. Bat­tal­ion to My Beat
Direct­ed by Eimi Iman­ishi (USA/​Western Sahara/​Algeria)
Debate
Tick­ets

89. Catch it
Direct­ed by Paul Bar, Mar­i­on Demaret, Nadège Forner, Pierre-Bap­tiste Mar­ty, Julien Robyn, Jor­dan Sol­er (France)
Fam­i­ly
Tick­ets

90. Domes­tic Pol­i­cy
Direct­ed by Ali­cia Mac­Don­ald (UK)
Laugh
Tick­ets

Two women wearing colourful, patterned clothing and headwear, embracing one another.

91. High­way
Direct­ed by Vanes­sa Gazy (Aus­tralia)
Cult
Tick­ets

92. Don’t Blink – Robert Frank
Direct­ed by Lau­ra Israel (USA)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

93. An Insignif­i­cant Man
Direct­ed by Khush­boo Ran­ka, Vinay Shuk­la (India)
Com­pe­ti­tion – Gri­er­son
Tick­ets

94. Knock Down Gin­ger
Direct­ed by Cleo Samoles-Lit­tle (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

95. Men Talk About Moth­er
Direct­ed by Bun­ny Schendler (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

96. Mori­om
Direct­ed by Francesca Scal­isi, Mark Olexa (Switzer­land)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

97. Noor at Mytili­ni Port
Direct­ed by Treasa O’Brien (UK)
Debate
Tick­ets

98. Preg­nant Pause
Direct­ed by Alice Seabright (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

99. The Silence
Direct­ed by Ali Asgari, Farnoosh Sama­di (Italy/​France)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

100. The War Show
Direct­ed by Andreas Dals­gaard, Obaidah Zytoon (Denmark/​Finland/​Syria)
Com­pe­ti­tion – Gri­er­son
Tick­ets

101. Man on the Hill
Direct­ed by Daisy Dick­in­son (UK)
Cult
Tick­ets

102. Here Nor There
Direct­ed by Julia Hutch­ings (Cana­da)
Love
Tick­ets

103. Dream­lands
Direct­ed by Sara Dun­lop (UK)
Thrill
Tick­ets

104. Sei­de
Direct­ed by Elnu­ra Osmon­alie­va (Kyr­gyzs­tan)
Love
Tick­ets

105. Roger Ballen’s The­atre of Appari­tions
Direct­ed by Emma Calder, Ged Haney (UK/​South Africa)
Cult
Tick­ets

106. Richard Lin­klater – Dream is Des­tiny
Direct­ed by Louis Black, Karen Bern­stein (USA)
Love
Tick­ets

107. The Pur­ple Plain
Direct­ed by Kim Albright (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

108. Nel­son
Direct­ed by Juli­ette Klinke, Thomas Xhig­nesse (Bel­gium)
Dare
Tick­ets

109. Mia
Direct­ed by Maria Mar­tinez Bay­ona (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

110. Take Your Part­ners
Direct­ed by Siri Rodnes (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

111. The Illi­nois Para­bles
Direct­ed by Deb­o­rah Strat­man (USA)
Fam­i­ly
Tick­ets

112. Between the Chalets
Direct­ed by Fin­ley Christi­na Wray (UK)
Jour­ney
Tick­ets

113. Crys­tal Lake
Direct­ed by Jen­nifer Reed­er (USA)
Dare
Tick­ets

114. Hold On
Direct­ed by Char­lotte Scott-Wil­son (Nether­lands)
Son­ic
Tick­ets

115. We Love Moses
Direct­ed by Dionne Edwards (UK)
Tick­ets

The BFI Lon­don Film Fes­ti­val runs 5 – 16 Octo­ber. For more info vis­it bfi​.org​.uk/lff

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