Films made by women make up a quarter of this year’s bumper programme.
This time last year we published a summary of every female director at the 60th BFI London Film Festival. With the full line-up for this year’s festival having just been announced, we thought we’d take a closer look at the programme to see how much (if any) progress has been made in the last 12 months.
Of the 242 features and 128 shorts that make up this year’s programme, we’ve found that 112 are the product of women filmmakers, which is roughly a quarter – up from a fifth last year. Though there is clearly a lot more work to be done in terms of achieving parity, this increase is at least a step in the right direction.
Here is the complete list of female-directed works showing at the 61st LFF, which runs 4-15 October, including solo and joint directorial ventures both past and present, and representing a broad range of countries, genres and artistic disciplines.
1. How Can I Ever Be Late by Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N Harold (USA, 2017)
2. Noise Life by Sonal Jain, Mriganka Madhukaillya (India, 2014)
3. Spite Your Face by Rachel Maclean (UK, 2017)
4. Bobbi Jene by Elvira Lind (Denmark-Sweden, 2017)
5. Battle of the Sexes by Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton (USA, 2017)
6. David Stratton: A Cinematic Life by Sally Aitken (Australia, 2017)
7. Loving Vincent by Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, (UK-Poland, 2017)
8. Salesman by Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin (USA, 1968)
9. The Dumb Girl of Portici by Lois Weber (USA, 1915)
10. A Blemished Code by Anne-Marie Copestake (UK, 2017)
11. Hemlock Forest by Moyra Davey (USA, 2016)
12. Le Fort Des Fous by Narimane Mari (France-Germany-Greece-Qatar, 2017)
13. No Trace of Accelerator by Emily Wardill, (UK-Norway, 2017)
14. Ouroboros by Basma Alsharif (France-Belgium-Palestine, 2017)
15. A Mother Brings Her Son to be Shot by Sinead O’Shea (Ireland, 2017)
16. Adriana’s Pact by Lissette Orozco (Chile, 2017)
17. Azmaish: A Journey Through the Subcontinent by Sabiha Sumar (Pakistan, 2017)
18. Becoming Who I Was by Chang-yong Moon and Jin Jeon (South Korea, 2016)
19. Before Summer Ends by Maryam Goormaghtigh (France-Switzerland, 2017)
20. Distant Constellation by Shevaun Mizrahi (USA-Turky-The Netherlands, 2017)
21. Erase and Forget by Andrea Luka Zimmerman (UK, 2017)
22. Faces Places by Agnès Varda and JR (France, 2017)
23. Faithfull by Sandrine Bonnaire (France, 2017)
24. The Grown-ups by Maïte Alberdi (Chile-The Netherlands-France, 2016)
25. Kingdom of Us by Lucy Cohen (UK, 2017)
26. Liyana by Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp (Swaziland-USA-Qatar, 2017)
27. Mountain by Jennifer Peedom (Australia, 2017)
28. The Prince of Nothingwood by Sonia Kronlund (France-Germany, 2016)
29. Roller Dreams by Kate Hickey (Australia-USA, 2017)
30. Spell Reel by Filipa César (Portugal-Germany-France, 2017)
31. Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton by Rory Kennedy (USA, 2017)
32. Untitled by Michael Glawogger and Monika Willi (Austria-Germany, 2017)
33. Angels Wear White by Vivian Qu (China-France, 2017)
34. Ava by Léa Mysius (France, 2017)
35. Beach Rats by Eliza Hittman (USA, 2017)
36. Beauty and the Dogs by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia-France-Sweden, 2017)
37. Birds Are Singing in Kigali by Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze (Poland, 2017)
38. The Boy Downstairs by Sophie Brooks (USA, 2017)
39. The Breadwinner by Nora Twomey (USA, 2017)
40. Close-Knit by Naoko Ogigami (Japan, 2017)
41. Dark River by Clio Barnard (UK, 2017)
42. Cloudboy by Meikeminne Clinckspoor (Belgium-Sweden-The Netherlands-Norway, 2017)
43. Darling by Birgitte Stærmose (Denmark-Sweden, 2017)
44. Good Manners by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra (Brazil-France, 2017)
45. I Am Not a Witch by Rungano Nyoni (UK-France-Nambia, 2017)
46. Israfil by Ida Panahandeh (Iran, 2017)
47. Jeune Femme by Léonor Serraille (France-Belgium, 2017)
48. Lebanon Factory by Ahmad Ghossein, Lucie La Chimia, Shirin AbuShaqra, Manuel Maria Perrone, Una Gunjak, Rami Kodeih, Mounia Akl and Neto Villalobos (Lebanon-France, 2017)
49. Let the Corpses Tan by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Belgium-France, 2017)
50. Let the Sunshine In by Claire Denis (France, 2017)
51. Life Guidance by Ruth Mader (Austria, 2017)
52. Looking for Oum Kulthum by Shirin Neshat (Germany-Austria-Italy-Lebanon-Qatar, 2017)
53. Mademoiselle Paradis by Barbara Albert (Austria-Germany, 2017)
54. Most Beautiful Island by Ana Asensio (Spain-USA, 2017)
55. Mudbound by Dee Rees (USA, 2017)
56. Our Time Will Come by Ann Hui (China-Hong Kong, 2017)
57. The Party by Sally Potter (UK, 2017)
58. Pop Aye by Kirsten Tan (Singapore-Thailand, 2017)
59. Professor Marston & The Wonder Women by Angela Robinson (USA, 2017)
60. Reinventing Marvin by Anne Fontaine (France, 2016)
61. The Rider by Chloé Zhao (USA, 2017)
62. Spoor by Agnieszka Holland (Poland-Germany-Czech Republic-Sweden-Slovakia, 2017)
63. Summer 1993 by Carla Simón (Spain, 2017)
64. The Day My Father Became a Bush by Nicole van Kilsdonk (The Netherlands-Belgium-Croatia, 2017)
65. The Hungry by Bornila Chatterjee (UK, 2017)
66. The Light of the Moon by Jessica M Thompson (USA, 2017)
67. Wajib by Annemarie Jacir (Palestine, 2017)
68. Western by Valeska Grisebach (Germany-Bulgaria-Austria)
69. The White Girl by Jenny Suen and Christopher Doyle (Hong Kong, 2017)
70. You Were Never Really Here by Lynne Ramsay (UK-USA-France, 2017)
71. Zama by Lucrecia Martel (Argentina-Brazil-Spain-The Netherlands-Mexico-Portugal-USA, 2017)
72. Black Barbie by Comfort Arthur (Ghana, 2016)
73. Britannia by Joanna Quinn (UK, 1993)
74. The Full Story by Daisy Jacobs (UK, 2017)
75. The Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit by Bob Godfrey, Vera Linnecar, Nancy Hanna, Keith Learner (UK, 1959)
76. Hedgehog’s Home by Eva Cvijanović (Croatia-Canada, 2017)
77. Mr Pascal by Alison De Vere (UK, 1979)
78. Odd is an Egg by Kristin Ulseth (Norway-Portugal, 2016)
79. Piglet’s Journey by Dace Riduze (Latvia, 2016)
80. Pipe Dreams by Christa Jarrold (UK, 2017)
81. Sabaku by Marlies van der Wel (The Netherlands, 2016)
82. The Kid and the Hedgehog by Marc Riba and Anna Solanas (Spain, 2017)
83. Hijacked by Shambhavi Kaul (USA, 2017)
84. Media Plain by Laura Kraning (USA, 2016)
85. Olly Olly Oxen Free by Julia Dogra-Brazell (UK, 2017)
86. Silica by Pia Borg (UK-Australia, 2017)
87. Wedding Loop by Moyra Davey (USA, 2017)
88. What Time is Made Of by Diana Vidrascu (France-Romania, 2017)
89. 22:22 by Charlotte Ginsborg (UK, 2017)
90. The Ancestors Came by Cecile Emeke (UK-USA, 2017)
91. Shogun by Emily McDonald (UK, 2017)
92. Sulukule Mon Amour by Azra Deniz Okyay (Turkey, 2016)
93. Aamir by Vika Evdokimenko (UK-USA, 2017)
94. Cubs by Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir (Iceland, 2017)
95. Elene by Sezen Kayhan (Turkey-Georgia, 2017)
96. Family Happiness by Alice Englert (Australia, 2016)
97. Fry-Up by Charlotte Regan (UK, 2017)
98. Fysh by Billie Pleffer (Australia, 2017)
99. Gabber Lover by Anna Cazenave Cambet (France, 2016)
100. Goddess by Karishma Dube (India-USA, 2016)
101. Hot and Cold by Marta Prus (Poland, 2016)
102. Kara by Deepa Keshvala (UK, 2017)
103. Laws of the Game by Aegina Brahim (Suriname-UK, 2016)
104. Masterpiece by Runyararo Mapfumo (UK, 2017)
105. Salt & Sauce by Alia Ghafar (UK, 2017)
106. Slap Happy by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli (Canada, 2017)
107. Smear by Kate Herron (UK, 2017)
108. The Door by Anisa Mukerjea Ganguli (India, 2016)
109. Meridian Plain by Laura Kraning (USA, 2016)
110. Body World by Kitty Faingold
111. Lucky by Kirsten Carina Geißer and Ines Christine Geißer
112. Homing in by Parker Hill
The 61st BFI London Film Festival runs 4-15 October. For more info visit bfi.org.uk/lff
Published 1 Sep 2017
Luca Guadagnino’s Call My by Your Name and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water are among the highlights of the 61st LFF.
Read part one of our countdown celebrating the greatest female artists in the film industry.
By Eve Watling
2017 is shaping up to be an exceptional year for women behind the camera.
Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
