"And here are the all-male nominees," Natalie Portman said before announcing the contenders for Best Director at 2018's Golden Globes. Whether it's the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards, women directors have always struggled for recognition. Throughout its 94 years, the Academy Awards have only seen seven women nominated for Best Director.

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With Jane Campion's historic win with The Power of the Dog at 2022's Academy Awards, she becomes the third woman to win Best Director, joining the likes of Kathryn Bigelow and Chloé Zhao who took home the prestigious award in 2009 and 2021, respectively. With the Academy's ongoing issue with diversity, countless groundbreaking films slip under their radar. These films directed by incredibly talented women deserve recognition for their innovations in cinema and for pushing the boundaries of the medium.

Kelly Reichardt - First Cow (2020)

Cookie and King Lu in First Cow

Before Campion's critique of toxic masculinity in The Power of the Dog, there was another film belonging to the revisionist Western genre that reframed the romantic myths of the West. Kelly Reichardt's First Cow is a tender tale of friendship set in the 1820s Northwest.

Reichardt challenges the antagonistic image of the cowboy in favor of showing two outsiders who find support in each other. Between the timid chef Cookie (John Magaro) and a Chinese immigrant on the run named King-Lu (Orion Lee), the protagonists of First Cow subvert our typical perceptions of characters chasing the American dream on the frontier. With Reichardt's thoughtful direction, First Cow depicts a strength that isn't merely found in hypermasculine power but instead a strength that is nourished through emotion and friendship.

Celine Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Marianne painting Helene in Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Celine Sciamma's entire filmography foregrounds her as a key figure and influence in representing the female gaze. Sciamma's 2019 film Portrait of a Lady on Fire in particular gained acclaim for its portrayal of passion and female pleasure without a patriarchal gaze and became the first film directed by a woman to win the Queer Palm at Cannes.

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Set in 18th century France, an artist, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). While Héloïse is reluctant to marry and refuses to be painted, the film itself is self-aware by challenging the predominant structures of seeing and focusing on this notion of the gaze.

Agnès Varda - Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962)

Cleo's reflection in Cleo from 5 to 7
Image via CCFC

Before receiving her first-ever nomination at the 90th Academy Awards for the documentary Faces Places, Agnès Varda was an influential figure pioneering the French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Her filmography is a uniquely personal blend of documentary and fiction capable of blurring the lines of reality.

The film follows Cléo (Corinne Marchand) when awaiting her results from a cancer screening, she reflects on her existence, the idea of mortality and the notion of leading a meaningful life. With Varda's feminist viewpoint, Cléo From 5 to 7 is a masterful film by the auteur filmmaker reflecting on how women are perceived in society.

Joanna Hogg - The Souvenir (2019)

Julie at Film School in The Souvenir

While it's not unfamiliar for a director to create an autobiographical film about their own lives - such as 2022's Academy Award-nominated Hand of God by Paolo Sorrentino - there is a certain intimacy in Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir.

The film acts as a self-portrait depicting a volatile time in a young film student's life as Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) navigates the tumultuous relationship with the older Anthony (Tom Burke). With Julie standing in for Joanna, there is a strong sense of self-reflection as Julie fumbles through and is enlightened by the world around her, allowing her to find her voice through film.

Patty Jenkins - Monster (2003)

Charlize Theron's award winning role in Patty Jenkins' Monster

With the rise of true-crime stories, serial killer films have gained popularity in recent years. Before Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins directed what is considered the most human of serial killer stories in her 2003 film Monster.

With Charlize Theron's radical transformation winning her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2004, Monster follows the real-life story of Aileen Wournos (Theron). Wournos was a sex worker who endured abuse at the hands of many of her male clients. Here, she yearns for love and a sense of belonging as Jenkins crafts a sympathetic portrait of a woman seeking justice in an unjust world.

Lynne Ramsay - You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Joaquin Phoenix comforts girl in You Were Never Really Here

Considered one of the most culturally-significant movies of all time, Martin Scorsese's 1976 film Taxi Driver is a violent tale of corruption, revenge, and vigilantism. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress at the 49th Academy Awards, Taxi Driver has a legacy as one of the greatest films ever made despite its graphic portrayals of violence on screen.

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Updating the classic film for the modern era, Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here casts Joaquin Phoenix before his Oscar-winning performance in The Joker as a traumatized mercenary hired by a politician to rescue his daughter from a human trafficking network. Unlike Taxi Driver, Ramsay's creative direction leaves a lot of the physical violence off-screen, instead opting for achieving emotional torture achieved through thoughtful editing and allusion.

Penny Marshall - A League of Their Own (1992)

The Rockford Peaches from A League of Their Own (1992)
Image via Columbia Pictures

Although Penny Marshall may better be known as Laverne from the 70s sitcom Laverne & Shirley, Marshall also had a successful career as a groundbreaking director in the 80s and 90s.

Set during World War II, A League of Their Own shows a time when women could start to build their own lives and careers outside of men's shadows. Following two sisters, Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty), who are scouted to play professional baseball in an all-female league, A League of Their Own portrays headstrong women forging their own path - much like Marshall herself.

Cheryl Dunye - The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Cheryl's romance in The Watermelon Woman

What has been referred to as an era of "New Queer Cinema," the radical LGBT+ representation in the 90s owes many thanks to one of its founding figures Cheryl Dunye.

The Watermelon Woman was history-making, as Dunye was the first Black lesbian to ever direct a feature film. Through her unique perspective, The Watermelon Woman explores the history of Black women and lesbians in cinema. It's self-reflexive as Dunye plays the protagonist Cheryl, an aspiring lesbian filmmaker who looks to the past to fuel her passion of wanting to represent her own story.

Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird and Mum in changing room

Greta Gerwig's first solo directorial debut Lady Bird was a transcendent addition to the familiar coming-of-age genre. It received several nominations at the 90th Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, Best Director, and the coveted Best Picture.

Written and directed with a unique earnestness, Gerwig meticulously captures such a pivotal moment in ta teenager's life- a time of change, growth, rebellion, and discovery. With the emotional performances from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf combined with Gerwig's sharp script, Lady Bird has a familiar sincerity that reinvented the classic coming-of-age story for a new generation.

Chantal Akerman - Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

Jeanne making meatloaf

In the span of 201 minutes, Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) peels potatoes, cooks a meatloaf and murders one of her clients. An essential film part of the slow cinema movement, Chantal Akerman uses slowness to capture the mundane repetitiveness of the life of Jeanne. Through its visceral depiction of a woman's home life, Akerman captures a certain feminine domestic malaise stretched throughout the three days of observing Jeanne.

Although the film reached great success in Europe after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, this masterpiece of woman's cinema wasn't released in the United States until 1983. With Parasite being the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards, it's apparent that the rich history of not just woman-directed films but also international cinema deserves much more recognition.

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