The Huffington Post has published a list of six iconic female directors. As the compilers of the list note, it was these women who trodden the paths in their profession, which many still consider not a woman’s business.
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Her debut documentary, A Normal Life, won the Grand Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003. Elizabeth’s second directorial work, Youssou N’Dour, won many awards in different countries. And her new 2015 film “Meru” was awarded the Audience Award at Sundance and a number of nominations at other film forums.
Thus, Chai Vasarhelyi has repeatedly confirmed her title as one of the main female directors in modern documentary films.
Jane Campion
After several award-winning short films and a couple of television projects, Campion released his feature-length debut, Darling, in 1989, which also received rave reviews from critics. Her most popular film is “The Piano,” which triumphed at Cannes in 1993. In the current decade, she has slowed down her creative pace and released only one mini-series, “Top of the Lake.”
Sofia Coppola
Sofia became only the third female director in history to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. The occasion was the film “Lost in Translation”, which as a result brought only a statuette for the best original screenplay.
But her film career did not start out promisingly. Her first awards were two Golden Raspberries, and then, nine years later, two more nominations for the same anti-award. It was only later that she filmed “The Virgin Suicides,” declaring her unique author’s style, which over time crystallized in “Somewhere” and “Marie Antoinette.”
Ava DuVernay
She first attracted the attention of critics after the release of the TV series Scandal. Well, she secured the title of one of the most prominent female directors after the drama “Selma,” for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Nancy Meyers
The author of such films as “What Women Want,” “Exchange Holiday” and many other popular melodramas, Myers deservedly bears the unofficial status of “Queen of Rom-Coms.”
The success of her comedy “The Intern” last year became one of the most powerful arguments in gender debates in Hollywood. This picture once again proved that women have every right to occupy the director’s chair on an equal basis with men.
Kathryn Bigelow
In 2010, she became the first woman in history to win an Oscar for Best Director. This award was brought to her by The Hurt Locker, which also received a statuette for best film.
Katherine also proved her high professional level in her next film, Zero Dark Thirty, which was also nominated for Academy Awards. Her new directorial work promises to be released next year.