Female Film Directors

Anita W. Addison

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Addison began working as a journalist before embarking on a directing and producing career. In the late 1980s, she worked as a senior VP of drama development at Lorimar before working as a producer at Warner Bros. Television. In 1989, she earned an Academy Award nomination for directing the short film Savannah.


* Eva's Man (1976)
* Freddy's Nightmares (1 episode, 1990)
* Knots Landing (1 episode, 1991) * Sisters (1 episode, 1991)
* There Are No Children Here (1993) * ER (1 episode, 1995)
* EZ Streets (1 episode, 1997)
* Judging Amy (1 episode, 2000)

Gurinda Chada

Gurinder Chadha, OBE, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the UK. She is most famous for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004) and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008).


* Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
* Paris, je t'aime (2006) segment "Quais de Seine"
* The Mistress of Spices (2005) (screenplay only)
* Bride and Prejudice (2004)
* Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
* What's Cooking? (2000)
* Rich Deceiver (1995), BBC two-part drama
* A Nice Arrangement (1994)
* What Do You Call an Indian Woman Who's Funny? (1994)
* Bhaji on the Beach (1993)
* Acting Our Age (1992)
* Pain, Passion and Profit (1992) (V)
* I'm British But... (1990) (TV)

Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron (born May 19, 1941) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and blogger.

She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle. She sometimes writes with her sister, Delia Ephron.

Producer, director, and screenwriter

* (1996) Michael

* (1998) You've Got Mail

* (2005) Bewitched

* (2009) Julie & Julia

Director and screenwriter

* (1992) This Is My Life
* (1993) Sleepless in Seattle
* (1994) Mixed Nuts

Producer and screenwriter

* (2000) Hanging Up
* (1990) My Blue Heaven

Producer and director

* (2000) Lucky Numbers

Screenwriter

* (1983) Silkwood
* (1986) Heartburn
* (1989) Cookie (also executive producer)
* (1989) When Harry Met Sally... (also associate producer)


Leni Riefenstahl

Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (August 22, 1902 – September 8, 2003) was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker.

* Das Blaue Licht (The Blue Light, 1932) co-director: Bela Balazs
* Der Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith, 1933)
* Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will, 1934)
* Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces, 1935)
* Olympia (Part 1 known as Fest der Völker/Festival of the Nations, Part 2 as Fest der Schönheit/Festival of Beauty, 1938)
* Tiefland (Lowlands, 1954)
* Impressionen unter Wasser (Underwater Impressions, 2002)

Dorothy Arzner

Dorothy Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was a pioneering American film director. Her directorial career in feature films spanned from the late 1920s into the early 1940s, a time period in which there were very few—if any—other women working in the field.

* First Comes Courage (1943)
* Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
* The Bride Wore Red (1937)
* The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) (uncredited)
* Craig's Wife (1936)
* Nana (1934)
* Christopher Strong (1933)
* Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
* Working Girls (1931)
* Honor Among Lovers (1931)
* Anybody's Woman (1930)
* Paramount on Parade (1930)
* Sarah and Son (1930)
* Behind the Make-Up (1930) (uncredited)
* The Wild Party (1929)
* Manhattan Cocktail (1928) (lost, except for the montage sequence by Slavko Vorkapić)
* Get Your Man (1927)
* Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
* Fashions for Women (1927)
* Blood and Sand (1922) (additional footage) (uncredited)