Films Directed by Women Challenge (Official, March 2023)

[sol]

Spoiler

1. Pariah (2011) #LGBTQ
2. 7 Boxes (2012) REVISION #SouthAmerica
3. Grace of My Heart (1996) #S&S
4. Portrait of Animal Behavior (2015) #<400
5. The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) REVISION #Bechdel
6. Lady Bird (2017) REVISION #AcademyAward
7. Women Talking (2022) #ChickLit
8. Time of Moulting (2020) #Europe
9. Alma's Rainbow (1994) #BLM
10. Alice, Darling (2022) #NorthAmerica
11. Cocaine Bear (2023) #New
12. King Car (2021) #SciFi
13. Chained (2012) #FinalGirl
14. Liyana (2017) #Africa
15. Monster (2003) REVISION #ICMForumFaves
16. Malcolm (1986) REVISION #Oceania
17. Jesus Camp (2006) REVISION #Documentary
18. Peach Skin (1929) #Silent
19. The Voices (2015) REVISION #LMAO
20. Goldbuster (2017) #Asia
21. The House (2022) #Animation
22. The Mysterious Wall (1967)
23. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) REVISION
24. Please Baby Please (2022)
25. Spoonful of Sugar (2022)
26. The Peacemaker (1997)
27. The Producers (2005) REVISION
28. Bitch (2017)
29. Celia (1989) REVISION

30. The Party (2017)

Directed by Sally Potter



Opening with a stressed woman pointing a gun to the camera, this Sally Potter movie makes it clear from early on that the central dinner party here will eventually spiral out of control. Indeed, as the film flash backwards, Potter keeps us wondering just when certain characters will snap. Other than being shot in black and white though, this does little to distinguish itself from other films about dinner parties gone awry, and between the single setting and endless dialogue, it often feels like a filmed stage play. The economical 70 minute runtime is a plus at least though, and a fragile Timothy Spall is superb.

[whizwilly]

Spoiler

1. Women Talking (2022) dir. by Sarah Polley #New

2. Les glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000) dir. by Agnès Varda #Documentary

[gunnar]

Since I was close, I decided to go ahead and finish off the Bonus Challenge:

29 - Born in Flames (1983) - 7/10 - Lizzie Borden - #LGBTQ - This low budget film features a couple of feminist groups in New York City in a near future society. Two pirate radio stations are in action, women ride in groups on bicycles through the city to protect other women from assault, and there is plenty of political action. More drastic measures are put in play when a major political activist is killed while in police custody. I thought the film was pretty interesting.

30 - Kaddu Beykat (1976) - 7/10 - Safi Faye- #Africa - This film takes place in the director's village in Senegal and depicts the daily life of the villagers there and it also serves as a discussion with some of the problems facing them. Drought has been a problem for several years and the harvests are not providing what they once did. One villager is hoping to get married soon, but doesn't have the money needed for the bride price. He travels to the city (Dakar) to find work, but finds people there who are willing to exploit those who want to work.

31 - Malcolm (1986) - 7.5/10 - Nadia Tass - #Oceania - Malcolm is a high functioning autistic man who is a mechanical genius loses his job working for a tram company. He takes on a boarder to help make ends meet and the boarder turns out to be a criminal who was recently released from jail. Malcolm uses his inventive genius to help pull off a number of robberies. This was a fun comedy with some quirky inventions to help liven things up.

32 - The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - 6/10 - Amy Holden Jones - #FinalGirl - An escaped serial killer attacks people at a home where a group of high school girls have gathered for a sleepover. The killer uses a cordless power drill and seemed pretty odd. There is a lot of gratuitous nudity and there are also tons of jump scares. It's not the best slasher film, but was watchable and had some humor, intended or not.

Spoiler

1 - The Woman King (2022) - 7.5/10 - Gina Prince-Bythewood - #BLM
2 - Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) - 8/10 - Chantal Akerman - #S&S
3 - The Headless Woman (2008) - 6/10 - Lucrecia Martel - #SouthAmerica
4 - Le Bonheur (1965) - 7.5/10 - Agnès Varda - #Europe
5 - Portrait of Jason (1967) - 7.5/10 - Shirley Clarke- #Documentary
6 - Wanda (1970) - 4/10 - Barbara Loden- #iCMForumFaves
7 - Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) - 6.5/10 - Ágnes Hranitzky, Béla Tarr
8 - She Said (2022) - 7/10 - Maria Schrader - #New
9 - Till (2022) - 8/10 - Chinonye Chukwu - #<400
10 - Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) - 7.5/10 - Olivia Newman - #ChickLit
11 - The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968) - 5.5/10 - Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub
12 - Leviathan (2012) - 3/10 - Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
13 - XXY (2007) - 6/10 - Lucía Puenzo
14 - Zama (2017) - 7/10 - Lucrecia Martel
15 - Cherry Blossoms (2008) - 7.5/10 - Doris Dörrie - #Bechdel
16 - A Question of Silence (1982) - 6/10 - Marleen Gorris
17 - Las Niñas (2020) - 8/10 - Pilar Palomero
18 - Turn Me On, Dammit! (2011) - 7.5/10 - Jannicke Systad Jacobsen - #LMAO
19 - She Monkeys (2011) - 6/10 - Lisa Aschan
20 - Boat People (1982) - 7.5/10 - Ann Hui - #Asia
21 - Stories We Tell (2012) - 8/10 - Sarah Polley - #NorthAmerica
Ten (2002) - 7/10
22 - Hypocrites (1915) - 6/10 - Lois Weber - #Silent
23 - The Reunion (2013) - 7/10 - Anna Odell
24-26 - Paper Girls Season 1 (2022) Episodes 3-8 (272 minutes) - Destiny Ekaragha, Karen Gaviola, Mairzee Almas - #SciFi
27 - The Elephant Whisperers (2022) - 8/10 - Kartiki Gonsalves - #AcademyAward
28 - Tamako Market (2013) Episodes 1-4 (95 minutes) - Naoko Yamada - #Animation

[peeptoad]

5. La mujer sin cabeza/The Headless Woman (2008) 5 Lucrecia Martel

Spoiler

1. La Ciénaga (2001, Argentina) 7 Lucrecia Martel #SouthAmerica
2. 7 cajas/7 Boxes (2012, Paraguay) 7 Tana Schémbori/Juan Carlos Maneglia #<400
3. Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) 7 Olivia Newman #ChickLit
4. Women Talking (2022) 8+ Sarah Polley #New

[beavis]

Spoiler

1. Losing Ground (Kathleen Collins, 1982) - 7.5
2. The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy (Kathleen Collins, 1980) - 7.0
3. Registe (Diana Dell’Erba, 2014) - 5.0
4. Aprimi il cuore (Giada Colagrande, 2002) - 7.0
5. Committed (Sheila McLaughlin, Lynne Tillman, 1984) - 7.0
6. Coup de foudre (Diane Kurys, 1983) - 7.5
7. She Must Be Seeing Things (Sheila McLaughlin, 1987) - 7.0
8. Empty Suitcases (Bette Gordon, 1980) - 6.0
9. Alma’s Rainbow (Ayoka Chenzira, 1994) - 7.0
10. Three Lives (Kate Millett, Louva Irvine, Susan Kleckner, 1971) - 7.0
11. SHORTS
12. Strange Weather (Peggy Ahwesh, Margie Strosser, 1993) - 7.0
13. Strange Culture (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, 2007) - 7.0
14. Erotique (Clara Law, Lizzie Borden, Monika Treut, Ana Maria Magalhães, 1994) - 7.0
15. Strop (Věra Chytilová, 1962) - 7.5
16. Signé Charlotte (Caroline Huppert, 1985) - 7.5
17. The Passionate Stranger (Muriel Box, 1957) - 7.0
18. Usuzumi no sakura (Sumiko Haneda, 1977) - 7.0
19. The Female Closet (Barbara Hammer, 1998) - 7.5
20. Fresh Kill (Shu Lea Cheang, 1994) - 7.5
21. Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography (Bonnie Sherr Klein, 1981) - 8.0
22. Kamikaze Hearts (Juliet Bashore, 1986) - 8.0
23. Female Misbehavior (or four shorts at exactly 80', Monika Treut)
24. Didn't Do It for Love (Monika Treut, 1997) - 7.5
25. Ginger & Honey Milk (Mika Imai, 2021) - 7.5
26. Leonor Will Never Die (Martika Ramirez Escobar, 2022) - 7.0
27. Saint Omer (Alice Diop, 2022) - 7.5
28. Alma Viva (Cristèle Alves Meira, 2022) - 7.5
29. Veden vartija (Saara Saarela, 2022) - 5.0
31. Tender Fictions (Barbara Hammer, 1996) - 7.0
32. Women of Vision: 18 Histories in Feminist Film & Video (Alexandra Juhasz, 1998) - 6.0
33. Growing Up Female (Jim Klein, Julia Reichert, 1971) - 7.5
34. Shiza (Gulshat Omarova, 2004) - 8.0
35. Cat Effekt (Melissa Dullius, Gustavo Jahn, 2011) - 8.0
36. Fernsehturm (Tacita Dean, 2001) - 7.0
37. SHORTS
38. SHORTS

39. Soft Fiction (1979) 7.5
40. Klondaik (2022) 7.5
41. The Time We Killed (2004) 7.5
42. The Plastic House (2019) 7.5
43. D.E.B.S. (2004) 7.5
44 SHORTS
Monsters in the Closet (1994) 14'
The Girl's Nervy (1995) 5'
Chronic (1997) 38'
Strawberries in the Summertime (2013) 16'
Trains Are for Dreaming (2009) 7'

A deep dive into the work of Jenniver Reeves had me ending up with a bunch of shorts again. Her feature "the Time we Killed" is a meditative experimental feature with stark black and white imagery remainding me of a (gentler) Container. Soft Fiction (not to be confused with Tender Fictions) was a kind of early precursor to that mode, very sensory and sensual while at the same time carrying another strong feministic message. The Charlies Angels parody for riot grrls D.E.B.S was a lot of knowing fun with tongue firmly in cheek, maybe a bit too late or too cheeply made to make any impact on general pop-culture, but I'm sure this will have fans among the target audience, and rightfully so.

[Silga]

15. Ramona (Andrea Bagney, 2022) 6/10 #Europe
16. War Pony (Riley Keough, Gina Gammell, 2022) 6/10
17. Tótem (Lila Avilés, 2023) 7/10 #NorthAmerica

Directed by Women

1. The Peacemaker (Mimi Leder, 1997) 6/10 (rewatch) #ChickLit
2. Nothing Compares (Kathryn Ferguson, 2022) 8/10 #Documentary
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, 2019) 8/10 #LGBTQ
4. Women Talking (Sarah Polley, 2022) 9/10 #AcademyAward
5. Alone Together (Katie Holmes, 2022) 6/10 #New
6. LolliLove (Jenna Fischer, 2004) 7/10 #LMAO
7. The Human Contract (Jada Pinkett Smith, 2008) 5/10 #BLM
8. Out to Sea (Martha Coolidge, 1997) 5/10 (rewatch) #<400
9. Beautiful (Sally Field, 2000) 6/10 #Bechdel
10. Jennifer's Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009) 6/10 (rewatch) #FinalGirl
11. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Lotte Reiniger, 1926) 7/10 #Silent
12. Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (Joan Chen, 1998) 9/10 #Asia
13. Mack & Rita (Katie Aselton, 2022) 3/10 #SciFi
14. Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh, 2011) 8/10 (rewatch) #Oceania
15. Ramona (Andrea Bagney, 2022) 6/10 #Europe
16. War Pony (Riley Keough, Gina Gammell, 2022) 6/10
17. Tótem (Lila Avilés, 2023) 7/10 #NorthAmerica

[sol]

Spoiler

1. Pariah (2011) #LGBTQ
2. 7 Boxes (2012) REVISION #SouthAmerica
3. Grace of My Heart (1996) #S&S
4. Portrait of Animal Behavior (2015) #<400
5. The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) REVISION #Bechdel
6. Lady Bird (2017) REVISION #AcademyAward
7. Women Talking (2022) #ChickLit
8. Time of Moulting (2020) #Europe
9. Alma's Rainbow (1994) #BLM
10. Alice, Darling (2022) #NorthAmerica
11. Cocaine Bear (2023) #New
12. King Car (2021) #SciFi
13. Chained (2012) #FinalGirl
14. Liyana (2017) #Africa
15. Monster (2003) REVISION #ICMForumFaves
16. Malcolm (1986) REVISION #Oceania
17. Jesus Camp (2006) REVISION #Documentary
18. Peach Skin (1929) #Silent
19. The Voices (2015) REVISION #LMAO
20. Goldbuster (2017) #Asia
21. The House (2022) #Animation
22. The Mysterious Wall (1967)
23. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) REVISION
24. Please Baby Please (2022)
25. Spoonful of Sugar (2022)
26. The Peacemaker (1997)
27. The Producers (2005) REVISION
28. Bitch (2017)
29. Celia (1989) REVISION
30. The Party (2017)

31. Alcarràs (2022)

Directed by Carla Simón



A farming family contemplate moving in this sophomore feature from Carla Simón. As per Summer 1993, Simón similarly basks in the natural beauty of the Catalan countryside here, and once again her most interesting character is a spunky young girl and Ainet Jounou stunning in the role. The film hits less hard than Summer 1993 though since Jounou is one of five siblings and the film spends copious time on her older sister dancing and on her older brother at work, when the heart and soul of the film lies with Jounou. The other stuff is reasonably interesting (fruit prices; solar panel woes) but Jounou at play is magical.