I am going to (re)watch and write about every women-directed SF film. The list below is live and updated with new releases and hidden gems as I find them. I will tweet about what I am watching using the #WomenMakeSF hashtag so that other people can join in (see bottom of the page for what I am watching next). Once I have watched a film, I will review it and post it. All of my reviews will be linked to this page, which means that you’ll be able to keep track of what I’ve ticked off the list and what’s yet to come. For more information on what’s behind the Women Make SF project take a look at my post on the wider project: Women Make Science Fiction: Gender is not a Genre.
Please send me a message or tweet at me or @WomenMakeSF if you know of any more science fiction films (short films or feature length; old, new, or forthcoming) directed by women. Non-English language film examples are extremely welcome.
You can follow the project through the Twitter account: @WomenMakeSF #WomenMakeSF #WomenMakeSFPod
The Women Make SF Across the Media Universe Podcast launched in June 2020 and is a women-presented and women-made podcast about science fiction across different storytelling platforms. The podcast is hosted by Amy Chambers (@AmyCChambers) and Lyle Skains (@wonderboxpub/@lskains). Full mentions for each episode can be found here.
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SF feature films DIRECTED BY WOMEN:
Acquaria (Flavia Moraes, 2003, Brazil)
Advantageous (Jennifer Phang, 2015, USA)
Æon Flux (Karyn Kusama, 2005, USA)
Altered Perception (Kate Rees Davies, 2017, USA)
Aniara (Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, 2019, Sweden)
Anti-Clock (Jane Arden and Jack Bond, 1979, UK)
Aparelho Voador a Baixa Altitude/Low-Flying Aircraft (Solveig Nordlund, 2002, Portugal)
The Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016, USA)
Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018, USA)
Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983, USA)
Cargo (Arati Kadav, 2020, India)
Cat Scratch Fever (Lisa Duva, 2011, USA)
Child’s Play (Margaret Thomson, 1952, UK)
Cloud Atlas (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, Tom Twyker, 2012, USA)
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (Madeline Olnek, 2011, USA)
Cold Souls (Sophie Barthes, 2009, USA)
Conceiving Ada (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, 1999, USA)
The Cosmic Eye (Faith Hubley and John Hubley, 1986, USA)
Darken (Audrey Cummings, 2017, Canada)
The Darkest Minds (Jennifer Yuh Nelson, 2018, USA)
Deep Impact (Mimi Leder, 1998, USA)
Division 19 (S.A. [Suzie] Halewood, 2019, UK | USA)
Drones (Amber Benson and Adam Busch, 2010, USA)
Embers (Claire Carré, 2015, Poland | USA)
End of Days, Inc (Jennifer Liao, 2015, Canada)
Eternals (Chloé Zhao, 2021, USA)
Évolution (Lucile Hadžihalilović, 2015, France)
Everything Beautiful is Far Away (Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson, 2017, USA)
Fast Color (Julia Hart, 2018, USA)
Fresh Kill (Shu Lea Cheang, 1994, USA)
Ghost in the Machine (Rachel Talalay, 1993, USA)
Greatland (Dana Ziyasheva, 2020, France | USA)
The Gulf of Silence (M.K. Rhodes, 2020, USA)
H. (Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia, 2014, USA)
Half-Life (Jennifer Phang, 2008, USA)
High Life (Clair Denis, 2018, France)
Honeymoon (Leigh Janiak, 2015, USA)
Hunting the Phantom (Marina Kunarova, 2014, Kazakhstan)
I Think We’re Alone Now (Reed Morano, 2018)
I’m Your Man/Ich bin dein Mensch (Maria Schrader, 2021, Germany)
Imitation Girl (Natasha Kermani, 2017, USA)
Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015, Canada)
Ingénue (Kate Chaplin, 2013, USA)
Invisible Adversaries (Valie Export, 1977, Austria)
Jupiter Ascending (Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 2015, USA)
Karnavalut (The Carnival, Ivanka Grybcheva, 1989, Bulgaria)
Last Exit to Earth (Katt Shea, 1996, USA – prod. Roger Corman)
Level 16 (Danishka Esterhazy, 2018, Canada)
Little Joe (Jessica Hausner, 2019, UK)
Little Tito and the Aliens (Tito e gli Alieni, 2017, Paola Randi, Italy)
The Long Walk (Mattie Do, 2019, Laos)
Lords of the Deep (Mary Ann Fisher, 1989, USA – prod. Roger Corman)
Made in Taiwan (Jonny Moore and Leonora Lim-Moore, 2015, Taiwan)
Making Mr Right (Susan Seidelman, 1987, USA)
The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999, USA)
The Matrix Reloaded (The Wachowskis, 2003, USA)
The Matrix Revolutions (The Wachowskis, 2003, USA)
The Matrix Resurrections (Lana Wachowski, 2021, USA)
The Motherhood Archives (Irene Lusztig, 2013, USA)
My Twentieth Century (Ildikó Enyedi, 1989, Hungary | Germany | Cuba)
My Zoe (Julie Delphy, 2019, France)
The Mysterious Wall (Irina Povolotskaia and Mikhail Sadkovich, 1967, Russia)
Neptune Frost (Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams, 2021, Rwanda | France | Canada | USA)
Night Raiders (Danis Goulet, 2021, Canada | New Zealand)
Nightfall (Gwyneth Gibby, 2000, USA – prod. Roger Corman)
Nude on the Moon (Doris Wishman, 1960, USA)
One Under the Sun (Riyaana Hartley and Vincent Tran, 2017, USA)
Own Worst Enemy (Jessica Star Judd and Michael Judd, 2012, USA)
Paradise Hills (Alice Waddington, 2019, USA)
Perfect Lover (La Mujer que Todo Hombre Quiere, Gabriela Tagliavini, 2001, USA | Argentina)
The Pinkie (Samayou Koyubi, Lisa Takeba, 2014, Japan)
The Pod Generation (Sophie Barthes, 2023, UK)
Prishestviye (Advent, Ivanka Grybcheva, 1981, Bulgaria)
Probable Robot (Karyn Ben Singer [they/them], 2015, USA)
The Quiet Hour (Stéphanie Joalland, 2014, UK)
Real Genius (Martha Coolidge, 1985, USA)
Reminiscence (Lisa Joy, 2021, USA)
Riot Girls (Jovanka Vuckovic, 2019, Canada)
Riverworld (Kari Slogland, 2003, UK | Canada | New Zealand | USA)
Save Yourselves! (Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, 2020, USA)
Sea Fever (Neasa Hardiman, 2020, Ireland)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria, 2012, USA)
She Sings to the Stars (Jennifer Corcoran, 2014, USA)
Slash/Back (Nyla Innuksuk, 2022, Canada)
Speed of Life (Liz Manashil, 2020, USA)
Stasis (Nicole Jones-Dion, 2017, USA)
The Sticky Fingers of Time (Hilary Brougher, 1997, USA)
Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995, USA)
Stranded (Luna/María Lidón, 2001, Spain)
Tank Girl (Rachel Talalay, 1995, USA/UK)
Teknolust (Lynn Hershman-Leeson, 2002, USA)
Testament (Lynne Littman, 1983, USA)
The Trouble with Being Born (Susan Wollner, 2020, Austria | Germany)
Turbo Kid (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell, 2015, Canada | New Zealand | USA)
Vanishing Waves (Kristina Buožytė, 2012, Lithuania)
Vesper (Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper, 2022, France | Lithuania | Belgium)
Wake up on Mars (Dea Gjinovci, 2020, Switzerland | France)
The Warm Season (Jane Grillo, 2023, USA)
Welcome II the Terrordome (Ngozi Onwurah, 1993, UK)
White Plastic Sky (Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó, 2023, Hungary/Slovakia)
Wolf’s Cabin/Vlčí Bouda (Věra Chytilová, 1987, Czechoslovakia)
Forthcoming SF feature films/TV DIRECTED/created BY WOMEN:
Dune: The Sisterhood (created by: Diane Ademu-John, current showrunner: Alison Schapker, c.2024)
The New Gods (Ava DuVernay, TBA, USA) – axed by Warner Bros.
SF television shows CO/CREATED BY WOMEN:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Maurissa Tancharoen with Jed and Joss Whedon, 2013-2020)
Altered Carbon (created by: Laeta Kalogridis, 2018- 2020) #StopCancellingMyShows
BrainDead (created by: Michelle King and Robert King, 2016)
Dark (created by: Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, 2017-2020)
Darken: Before the Dark (created/written/directed: Audrey Cummings, 2018)
Debris (4/13 ep. directed by women, 9/13 co/written by Tiffany Shaw Ho and Davia Carter, 2021)
Emergence (created by: Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas, 2020)
Human Kind Of (created by: Diana McCorry, 2018)
Intergalactic (written by: Julie Gearey [and Laura Grace for ep.#1.7, several women directors], 2021)
Jessica Jones (created by Melissa Rosenberg, 2015-2019)
Killjoys! (created by: Michelle Lovretta, 2015-2019) #StopCancellingMyShows
Kindred (Season 1: 7/8 ep. directed by women, 3/8 co/written by women, 2023- )
The OA (created by: Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, 2016-2019)
Paper Girls (created by: Stephany Folsom, 2022) #StopCancellingMyShows
The Power (developed by: Raelle Tucker, Naomi Alderman [novel author], Claire Wilson, and Sarah Quintrell, all woman writers room, all episodes direct by women/enby directors, 2023- )
Resident Evil (4/8 ep. directed by women, 5/8 co/written by women, 2022) #StopCancellingMyShows
Roswell New Mexico (developed by: Carina Adly Mackenzie, 2019-2022) #StopCancellingMyShows
Sense8 (created by: Lana and Lilly Wachowski with J. Michael Straczynski, 2015-2018)
Star-Crossed (created by: Meredith Averill, 2014)
Steven Universe (created by: Rebecca Sugar, 2013-2020)
Supergirl (created by: Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, 2015-2021)
Vagrant Queen (created by: Jem Garrard, 2020) #SaveVagrantQueen
Warehouse 13 (created by: Jane Espenson and D. Brent Mote, 2009-2014)
Westworld (created by: Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, 2016-2022)
Y: The Last Man (created for TV by: Eliza Clark, 2021, written and directed by women) #StopCancellingMyShows
SF short films DIRECTED BY WOMEN:
55 Km/sec (Arati Kadav, 2020, India)
Afronauts (Nuotama Bodomo, 2014, USA)
The Astronaut and His Parrot (Arati Kadav, 2022, India)
Ava in the End (Ursula Ellis, 2018, USA)
Bride of Frankie (Devi Snively, 2017, USA)
‘Coming home’ and ‘See you Again’ (Atsuko Fukushima) shorts in the SF anthology film: Robot Carnival (Atsuko Fukushima, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, and Hiroyuki Kitazume, 1987, Japan)
The Company’s Man (Nour Wazzi, 2014, UK)
Cupid’s Paradise (Ivy Liao, 2018, USA)
Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (Pitääkö mun kaikki hoitaa?, Selma Vilhunen2012, Finnland)
Dirty Computer (Janelle Monáe, Lacey Duke, Emma Westenberg. Chuck Lightning, and Andrew Donoho, 2018, USA)
Doomsday (Ruth Stuart, 1934, UK)
Echo and Soloman (Jem Garrard, 2016, Canada)
Einstein-Rosen (Olga Osorio, 2016, Spain)
Elf (Amy Van Houten, 2015, South Africa)
La Fille Bionique (Stéphanie Cabdevila, 2015, France)
In the Future they ate from the Finest Porcelain (Søren Lind and Larissa Sansour, 2015, UK/Denmark/Qatar)
In the Year 2000 (Alice Guy Blaché, 1912, USA – revision of Les Résultats du Féminisme, 1906, France) – lost, but likely earliest women directed SF
‘Genius Party’ (Atsuko Fukushima) SF short in the anthology film: Genius Party (Atsuko Fukushima et al., 2007, Japan)
In Vitro (Søren Lind and Larissa Sansour, 2019, Denmark/UK/Palestine)
Lab Rats (Nour Wazzi, 2019, UK)
Laboratory Conditions (Jocelyn Stamat, 2017, USA)
Live ( Taryn O’Neill, 2018, USA)
Nation Estate (Larissa Sansour, 2013, Denmark)
Neon (Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair, 2017, Ireland)
PostHuman (Jennifer Wai-Yin Luk and Cole Drumb, 2012, USA)
Pumzi (Wanuri Kahiu, 2009,South Africa/Kenya)
Real Artists (Cameo Wood, 2017, USA)
ReStart (Olga Osorio, 2015, Spain)
A Space Exodus (Larissa Sansour, 2008, Denmark/Palestine))
Strange Beasts (Magali Barbé, 2017, UK)
A Stolen Moment (Audrey Cummings, 2015, Canada)
Swell (Bridget Savage Cole, 2016, USA)
This Time Away (Margali Barbe, 2019, UK)
Time Machine (Arati Kadav, 2016, India)
UNIT Bryan (Jem Garrard, 2016, Canada)
Virtually Impossible (Kate Rees Davies, 2010, USA)
X-Gen (Kate Rees Davies, 2018, USA)
Not exactly SF Media DIRECTED/CREATED BY WOMEN but gets a notable mention for being sf-adjacent:
13ta godenitsa na printsa (The Thirteenth Bride of the Prince, Ivanka Grybcheva,1987, Bulgaria)
Big (Penny Marshall, 1988, USA)
Brown Girl Begins (Sharon Lewis, 2017, Canada)
Captain Marvel (Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, 2019, USA)
Les Créatures (Agnes Varda, 1966, France)
The Five Devils (Les Cinq Diables, Léa Mysius, 2023, France)
Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory (Haruko chôjô genshô kenkyûjo, Lisa Takeba, 2015, Japan)
iZombie (created by Diane Ruggiero-Wright and Rob Thomas, 2015-2019)
The Lure/Córki Dancingu (Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2015, Poland)
The Marvels (Nia DaCosta, 2023, USA)
The Old Guard (Gina Prince Blythewood, 2020, USA)
Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992, UK)
Rabid (Jen and Sylvia Soska, 2019, Canada)
Russian Doll (created by: Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler, 2019- )
Signal 100 (Shigunaru 100, Lisa Takeba, 2019, Japan)
Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001, France)
The White King (Alex Helfrecht and Jörg Tittel, 2016, UK| Germany | Sweden | Hungary)
Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins, 2017, USA)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Patty Jenkins, 2020, USA)
A Wrinkle in Time (Ava DuVernay, 2018, USA)
The next most recent #WomenMakeSF film:
Film: Greatland (2020)
Director: Dana Ziyasheva
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Dr Amy C. Chambers 