The tide is turning – the industry that used to belong to men and men alone is growing, and it's welcoming everyone in.
From pretty period dramas to big-budget action epics, female directors are paving the way for an exciting future. Here's who's to look out for as 2019 comes to a close.
All bow down to Greta Gerwig. The actress-turned-filmmaker exploded with her debut, the gentle, hopeful coming-of-age story Lady Bird, and earned an Oscar nomination for best director. On a sour note, she's only the fifth woman to ever make this achievement.
On her second outing, Gerwig brings her compassionate approach and sharp humour to her adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. After Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet just can't have a happy relationship, who are set to break hearts once again as the doomed Jo and Laurie. Time needs to be pencilled in this Christmas for a meeting with the March sisters.
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There's no slowing down for Marielle Heller. While the Academy failed to recognise her talent with a nomination for Best Director for her film Can You Ever Forgive Me?, she's already onto the next project: a biopic of American TV darling Fred Rogers.
Rogers will be played by Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. Heller has proved her skill to portray deeply empathetic outsiders, welcoming an audience with open arms. Expectations are high for everything she does next.
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The superhero genre has often been crowded by boys stories – but Birds of Prey is here to change that. Produced by and starring Margot Robbie, the film sees her character, Harley Quinn, reclaiming her own story.
So far, Cathy Yan only has one feature credit to her name. But with something as singular as Dead Pigs, a dystopian societal tale involving the ominous animals of the title, her fate was sealed.
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For her English-language debut, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner goes introspective into the nature of human connection, emotion beyond language. Emily Beecham stars in the eerie and stylish dissection of happiness.
Hausner made a name for herself through distinctive stylistic choices and always striking, sometimes discordant moral backbones. She's a singular voice – which is why she was one of only four women in the 2019 Cannes Selection.
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There are few films with the sweeping beauty and bone-deep emotion that will compare to Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire. You can feel the auteur's heart in every line of the script, always personal but generous.
Before Portrait, Sciamma looked at individual angst with portraits of adolescence and femininity in Girlhood and Tomboy. To crystallise the strain and passion of sensitive feeling – no one does it better.
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It was bound to happen sooner or later – a Marie Curie biopic is on the way. This one finds its roots in a graphic novel by Lauren Redness retelling Curie's crucial career with her husband Pierre.
Satrapi was previously nominated for an Oscar for her work on Persepolis, the film she co-directed based on her own autobiographical novel of the same name. With clear expertise in adaptation and biography, we can trust Curie to be in safe hands.
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It was always going to be an enormous task for whoever came across it – but Niki Caro is rising to the occasion to adapt Disney's beloved Mulan with a militant edge.
Like Yan, Caro has few films to her name, but has already proven her worth. So much so that with Mulan, she becomes only the second female director hired by Disney to direct a film with a $100+million budget.
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Eva Green stars in Alice Winocour's latest – a space film that mostly takes place on Earth. Proxima offers a grounded, sensitive look at the responsibilities that come to women with both a child and a career.
Following her anxious home invasion drama Disorder and script work on Turkish coming-of-age Mustang, Winocour uses her international perspective to her advantage, making this intimate story feel epic.
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From the 18th century to today, Sarah Gavron has an eye for London girls. Following her political picture Suffragette in 2015, the director returns to focus in on a group of teen girls in Rocks.
With a dash of Ken Loach and a feeling of Andrea Arnold, Gavron opts for authenticity over theatrical drama. She lets these young women live out their life, and respects it.
Scarlett Johansson's crucial Avenger, Black Widow, is finally getting her own standalone film, and Cate Shortland has been hired to direct it. The filmmaker earned her stripes in TV, and comes to the MCU with a fresh perspective.
The film co-stars Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh and David Harbour. Plot details remain scant, but maybe a fresh voice is just what the franchise needs to shake things up.
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Few women are given the power, both in status and financial terms, as Patty Jenkins. Her Wonder Woman was a major success in 2017, giving the world every reason to trust her with the sequel.
Diana Prince, played by Gal Gadot, returns and goes back in time to work to the heart of another major conflict. With such major players and the promise of a golden past, there's plenty to look forward to.
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