Female Filmmakers

Lotte Reiniger: The Fairy Tale Films - Disc 1

Cert

Age groupAll ages

Duration192 mins

Lotte Reiniger: The Fairy Tale Films - Disc 1(1961)

Collection of Lotte Reiniger's stunning depictions of popular fairy tales using her unique silhouette animation style.

Lotte Reiniger created some of the very first animated films using her exquisite signature cut-out technique. The charm of her style brings to life these classic fairy and folk tales and has influenced many generations of animators that have followed.

Cert

Age group7–14

Duration90 mins

Brave(2012)

Bringing the beauty of the Scottish Highlands to life, this is fairytale animation at its best.

Brenda Chapman, writer and part of the directing team on Brave is a long-term Disney asset, having variously worked in animation, writing and directing on some of the best children's films that have come out of the last couple of decades. In Brave we follow headstrong Merida as she rebels against her family's attempts to find a suitable match for her.

Cert

Age group7–11

Duration89 mins

The Cave Of The Yellow Dog(2005)

A touching story backdropped by beautiful Mongolian scenery, as little Nansal befriends a stray dog.

Writer-director Byambasuren Davaa’s films focus on revealing traditional lifestyles and nomadic communities in her native Mongolia, and are influenced by her studies in documentary filmmaking. In The Cave of the Yellow Dog we see young nomad girl Nansal form a strong bond with a wild dog, despite her shepherd father’s misgivings.

Cert

Age group7–16

Duration96 mins

Wadjda(2012)

A sweet and uplifting story about ten-year-old girl Wadjda who refuses to let the fact she's a girl stop her from doing the things she wants to do.

The first ever film to have come out of Saudi Arabia was directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, who due to restrictions on women appearing in public had to direct much of the film using a remote screen from the back of a van. This film follows Wadjda, a young girl who refuses to be limited by what society expects of her.

Cert

Age group5–11

Duration88 mins

Madeline(1998)

Film based on the books about an orphan girl who lives in a Paris boarding school, with real actors and locations to match the original illustrations.

Quirky indie comedy director Daisy von Schlerler Mayer turns her attention to a beloved children’s book that’s full of light-hearted mischief. The Madeline of the title is a sweet-natured girl who can’t help but cause trouble in her straight-laced boarding school, but finds her active imagination can be put to good use to find solutions when problems arise.

Cert

Age group7–16

Duration101 mins

Whale Rider(2002)

Tradition causes trouble in a family when a young Maori girl wants to take up what she believes is her rightful place at the head of her tribe.

One of New Zealand director Niki Caro’s early features, Whale Rider is a coming-of-age story about a young girl who is drawn to fulfil her destiny as the head of her tribe, despite her beloved grandfather’s resistance due to her gender. A poignant cultural insight into the rural communities of New Zealand with a message that is progressive yet respectful of tradition.

Cert

Age group11+

Duration123 mins

A League Of Their Own(1992)

Big-hearted comedy with an all-star cast about an all-female American baseball league in the 1940s.

American director Penny Marshall made her name in aspirational and touching comedies of the late ‘80s and ‘90s and is perhaps best known for Big, starring Tom Hanks. In A League of Their Own, female baseball players rise to the challenge to keep the nation’s spirits high when the male players had gone to fight in World War Two.

Cert

Age group11+

Duration79 mins

Tomboy(2011)

A beautifully understated, naturalistic drama about childhood gender identity confusion that’s both touching and gently humorous.

Another entry from French writer-director Celine Sciamma, who crafts rich, complex and nuanced characters. In Tomboy, we follow Laure as she adjusts to life in a new home. When she is mistaken for a boy, she decides to stick with her new male identity to help her make friends with the local kids, but it soon becomes a strain to keep up the illusion.

Cert

Age group7+

Duration113 mins

Little Women(1994)

Based on Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, about four sisters growing up during the American Civil War.

Australian director Gillian Armstrong is known for her female-centric period dramas, and in this heartwarming and faithful adaptation of Little Women we see some of her strongest work. Featuring an ensemble cast of some of Hollywood’s finest actors, this is a touching film about women banding together and stepping up to get through tough times.

Cert

Age group7–14

Duration97 mins

The Secret Garden(1993)

A recently-orphaned 10-year-old girl is sent to live at her uncle’s grand estate in Yorkshire where she discovers secrets within its grounds.

Agnieska Holland’s filmmaking career spans over four decades and covers some of the finest drama in film and TV produced in English and in her native Polish. Although the majority of her work takes a political slant, her handling of children’s drama The Secret Garden, based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is sensitive and magical.

Cert

Age group7–11

Duration90 mins

Kung Fu Panda 2(2011)

Sequel to the celebrated martial arts animation about a Kung Fu Panda called Po and his friends who this time must save China from a deadly villain.

South Korean-American director and animator Jennifer Yuh Nelson was the first ever sole female director of a major studio animation with Kung Fu Panda 2, after impressing studio bosses with her direction on the dream sequence in the first film. These sequences, inspired by different traditional 2D animation styles, have become a feature of each Kung Fu Panda film.