2021 is the first year in Academy Award History where two women are nominated for the category of Best Director: Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell. Their historic and overdue nominations has opened up the discussion on prominent female directors in Hollywood’s history.
- Amy Heckerling
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Amy Heckerling directed two of the most iconic high school moves of all time: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1984) and Clueless (1996). Heckerling understands and gives attention to the female teenage experience in a way that many other directors often overlook.
- Ava Duvernay
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Duvernay gained worldwide critical acclaim for her smash-hit civil rights film Selma (2014). Since then she has been granted the opportunity to work on several ground-breaking documentaries such as 13th (2016), chronicling the complex history and reality of the U.S. prison system. Duvernay was also given the opportunity to direct a big-budget motion picture with A Wrinkle In Time (2018).
- Sofia Coppola
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Sofia Coppola has been determined to make a name for herself in the film industry with a distinct style of filmmaking. Directing atmospheric and aesthetic films with deeper themes such as The Virgin Suicides (1999), Marie Antoinette (2004), and Lost in Translation (2003), Coppola stands as a director who profoundly understands not only the female experience but the human experience as well.
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Lulu Wang
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Wang made waves with her incredibly heartfelt and witty film The Farewell (2019). Those who loved The Farewell also enjoyed her earlier works such as Touch (2015) and Posthumous (2014). Fans of her films are anxiously anticipating her next release, a mini-series documenting the lives of American expatriates in Hong Kong.