Feminist Cinema
A list of 310 feminist films from all over the world including South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Central America and North America. These films may not necessarily contain atypical 'strong' female characters but each one either tackles woman's issues or women's social spheres through a critical lens in a sincere, earnest or, at the very least, interesting manner. Some of these films are therefore a celebration of womanhood, whilst some are tales of endurance. These films concern women from many different ways of life and also contain both mainstream and arthouse films along with some shorts and documentaries.
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- DirectorSahraa KarimiStarsArezoo AriapoorFereshta AfsharHasiba Ebrahimi3 Afghan women from different backgrounds in Kabul face challenges: neglected pregnant Hava; educated Maryam facing divorce while pregnant; and teenage Ayesha marrying her cousin after her boyfriend leaves her pregnant. All by themselves.
- DirectorDarya ZhukStarsAlina NasibullinaIvan MulinYura BorisovIn 1990s Belarus, a wanderlust young DJ is derailed by a typo in a forged US Visa application, forcing her to a backwater village where she is determined to fake her way to the American dream.
- DirectorsPablo García Pérez de LaraMarc SerenaStarsTchinda AndradeEdinha PitangaElvis TolentinoTchinda is one of most beloved women in Cape Verde, especially after she came out as a transgender person in the local newspaper in 1998. Since then, her name has become the term used by locals to name queer Cape Verdeans. Despite her great reputation, Tchinda remains humble and every afternoon she happily tours the neighborhood to sell her best "coxinhas", a classic Brazilian treat: delicious fried balls of chicken. But every February all changes. It's the month leading up to their Carnival, when the slow-paced atmosphere of the island transforms into a frenzied hustle and bustle as thousands flock to the streets. The days before the Carnival are hectic. Locals join forces to create something beautiful out of nothing. It becomes a «Little Brazil» as their most acclaimed singer, Cesária Évora (1941-2011), defined in one of her most famous "mornas". This documentary is as trip to an unknown side of Africa that very few may have ever imagined.
- DirectorJean-Pierre Dikongue-PipaStarsPhilippe AbiaSamuel BaonglaCatherine BiboumNgando and Ndomé; are in love. Ngando wishes to marry Ndomé; but her family reminds him that the traditional dowry must be settled. Unfortunately, Ngando is poor and unable to fulfill the tradition. Ndomé; is pregnant and bears his child. According to the village tradition, she must take a husband, at least one who can afford to pay the dowry. The villagers decide that Ndomé; should marry Ngando's uncle, who has already three sterile wives. In despair, the young man kidnaps his daughter upon the day of the traditional feast. An African Romeo and Juliet story.
- DirectorMarlén ViñayoStarsEvelyn ChilenoRuth H. VegaMagdalena HenríquezFive Salvadoran women take to the stage to tell their stories about being poor, single moms and working as street vendors.
- DirectorsAaron KoppAmanda KoppStarGcina MhlopheFive children in Swaziland dive into their imaginations to create an original African tale about a girl on a dangerous quest.
- DirectorVilsoni HerenikoStarsSapeta TaitoRena OwenVoi FesaituA coming of age story about a young woman, Viki, attempting to escape the stifling conformity of island culture. Inspired by the myth of the Warrior Woman, Viki recovers from the death of her father and fights for justice and freedom.
- DirectorZeresenay MehariStarsMeron GetnetTizita HagereAbel AbebeA young lawyer travels to an Ethiopian village to represent Hirut, a 14-year-old girl who shot her would-be husband as he and others were practicing one of the nation's oldest traditions: abduction into marriage.
- DirectorLevan AkinStarsLevan GelbakhianiBachi ValishviliAna JavakishviliA passionate coming-of-age tale set amidst the conservative confines of modern Tbilisi, the film follows Merab, a competitive dancer who is thrown off balance by the arrival of Irakli, a fellow male dancer with a rebellious streak.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroyMaría TelónManuel AntúnOn the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.
- DirectorFlora GomesStarsFatou N'DiayeJean-Christophe DolléÂngelo TorresIt has always been a firm conviction of the family that any woman who sings, will die. Now, while a girl is in France she becomes an international star. She realises that sooner rather than later her mother in Africa will learn that she sings. To solve this dilemma she goes back to her native village and arranges her own funeral, albeit with instantaneous rebirth. She is lying in the coffin while all invited guest form a queue and pass the coffin one by one. When she needs go to the toilet a boy will take her place. And then one of the guests says: How different she looks after having died. Is this an allusion to Bergman's movie "Now About These Women"?
- DirectorSergei DvortsevoyStarsSamal YeslyamovaSergey MazurZhipara AbdilaevaA poor migrant woman in Moscow struggles with her life.
- DirectorsShonali BoseNilesh ManiyarStarsKalki KoechlinRevathiSayani GuptaA rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves her home in India to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.
- DirectorHiner SaleemStarsKorkmaz ArslanGolshifteh FarahaniSuat UstaBaran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now sheriff in Erbil, the capital city. No longer feeling useful in this society now at peace, he thinks about quitting the police force, but instead agrees to be stationed in a small valley, at the very borders of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq. It is a lawless territory, right at the heart of illegal drug, medication and alcohol trafficking. Having arrived in the small village, he refuses to bow down to Aga Azzi, the seriously corrupt tribal chief and absolute ruler of the area. Baran meets Govend, the village school teacher, who is also rejected by the villagers. Like Baran, she represents another law, that of the young and autonomous Kurdish state. Govend is all the more vulnerable as she is not a married woman.
- DirectorsVincent ParonnaudMarjane SatrapiStarsChiara MastroianniCatherine DeneuveGena RowlandsA precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
- DirectorRenars VimbaStarsElina VaskaAndzejs LilientalsEdgars SamitisAbandoned by their mother and stuck in a miserable living situation, 17-year old Raya and her adolescent brother Robis must decide between an orphanage or the guardianship of their grandmother, whom they despise.
- DirectorErnest AbdyjaparovStarsAsem ToktobekovaTynchtyk AbylkasymovSiezdbek IskenalievAsema, a Kyrgyz city girl wisiting her boyfriends family in the countryside, is mistaken for a villager and accidentally kidnapped by Sagyn, a young shepard who was too shy to ask the young girl for marriage.
- DirectorGini RetickerStarsJanet Johnson BryantEtweda CooperVaiba FlomoA group of women rise up to peace to Liberia and help bring to power the country's first female head of state.
- DirectorSean BakerStarsKitana Kiki RodriguezMya TaylorKarren KaragulianA hooker tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsMira BarkhammarMira GrosinLiv LeMoyneThree girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band -- despite not having any instruments and being told by everyone that punk is dead.
- DirectorAntonio CamposStarsRebecca HallMichael C. HallTracy LettsThe story of Christine Chubbuck, a 1970s TV reporter struggling with depression and professional frustrations as she tries to advance her career.
- DirectorLaure CharpentierStarsLou DoillonEduardo NoriegaMarie KremerSet in the risque world of 1960's Paris, Gigola is a witty and desirable young girl who explores the lesbian underworld of the city and soon becomes a high-priced escort.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsJennifer Jason LeighEllen BarkinStephen Adly GuirgisAviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.
- DirectorRungano NyoniStarsMaggie MulubwaHenry B.J. PhiriNancy MuriloIn a remote Zambian community a girl is denounced as a witch and sent on a trajectory of exploitation, as a tethered member of a witches' camp, a witch for hire and a tourist exhibit.
- DirectorDjibril Diop MambétyStarsMoussa BaldéLissa BaleraAminata FallA girl sells copies of Soleil, the government paper.