Top 10 Films by Female Directors

I was chatting today with a friend about great films directed by women but it was difficult to come up with any examples that he had seen (apart from those of Kathryn Bigalow). So that got me thinking, how many movies with female directors have I even seen?

Turns out, not very many! Using my Flickchart as a guide, I came up with the following list which, while quite varied in tone, would make a great film festival!

1) Titus (Julie Taymor, 1999)
A shakespeare-punk provocation, updating Shakespeare's most controversial play into an ultraviolent mindscrew of epic proportions.

2) American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000)
Do you like Huey Lewis and The News?

3) Japanese Story (Sue Brooks, 2003)
An odd-couple romantic comedy turns abruptly to tragedy, then heartwarming emotional truth in one of the most surprising and touching films I've ever seen.

4) Wayne's World (Penelope Spheeris, 1992)
Still funny after all these years, dated pop culture references and all.

5) Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006)
It's hard to express this fascinating movie in one sentence other than to say it's practically a religion for my wife... Go see it!

6) Vanity Fair (Mira Nair, 2004)
A bitterly cynical romantic potboiler elevated by stellar performances and heart-pounding visual style.

7) Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999)
An uncommonly brainy (ha!) cannibal film set during the American civil war, with a savage wit and unsettlingly cheerful soundtrack.

8) Sita Sings The Blues (Nina Paley, 2008)
Nina Paley brings ancient Hindu legends to life through cheerful animation and hot jazz music in this entertaining little treasure.

9) XXY (Lucia Puenzo, 2007)
A thought-provoking drama about an intersexed teenager trying to make sense of family tensions and first love.

10) The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Judy Irving, 2003)
Surprisingly, this smile-inducing documentary made me root for a crazy ex-hippie who tends wild birds in San Francisco, and that's quite an achievement

I'm always on the lookout for more films directed by women, so if you have any good recommendations, please let me know!