Licensed Streaming Videos: Directed by Women
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (Access ends June 16, 2024)
Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps, and other sordid souls, is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness, where a lonely vampire is stalking the towns most unsavory inhabitants. But when boy meets girl, an unusual love story begins to blossom...blood red. The first Iranian Vampire Western, Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash-up of genre, archetype and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, and the Iranian New Wave.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2023) directed by Laura Poitras (Access ends May 3, 2024)
Follows the life of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty who was greatly responsible for the opioid epidemic's unfathomable death toll.
Attenberg (2010) directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari
This film is a wonderfully deadpan, surprisingly touching coming-of-age story. 23-year-old Marina lives in a small, factory town by the sea where she passes her time watching Sir David Attenborough’s nature programs, listening to the proto-punk songs of Suicide, goofing with her only friend Bella, and tending to her ailing father. When a visiting engineer comes to town, the two form a tentative relationship that pushes Marina into contact with the strange and complex world of adulthood. Critically acclaimed, ATTENBERG is a sincere and humorous look at life’s defining moments. Winner of the LIna Mangiacapre Award and the Volpi Cup at the **Venice Film Festival.** Official Selection at the **Sundance Film Festival** and **Toronto International Film Festival** *"Tsangari's art-house minimalism, which never lets us forget we're watching a movie, still permits a surprising degree of tender emotion." - Walter V. Addiego, **San Francisco Chronicle***
Barbie (2023) directed by Greta Gerwig (Access ends October 31, 2024)
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Beau Travail (1999) directed by Claire Denis (Access ends September 2024)
With her ravishingly sensual take on Herman Melville's "Billy Budd, Sailor," Claire Denis firmly established herself as one of the great visual tone poets of our time. Amid the azure waters and sunbaked desert landscapes of Djibouti, a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) sows the seeds of his own ruin as his obsession with a striking young recruit (Grégoire Colin) plays out to the thunderous, operatic strains of Benjamin Britten. Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard fold military and masculine codes of honor, colonialism's legacy, destructive jealousy, and repressed desire into shimmering, hypnotic images that ultimately explode in one of the most startling and unforgettable endings in all of modern cinema.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) directed by Halina Reijn (Access ends October 19, 2024)
When a group of rich 20-somethings plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion, a party game turns deadly in this fresh and funny look at backstabbing, fake friends, and one party gone very, very wrong.
Born in Flames (1983) directed by Lizzie Borden (Access ends January 16, 2025)
The movie that rocked the foundations of the early Indie film world, this provocative, thrilling and still-relevant classic is a fantasy of female rebellion set in America ten years after the Second American Revolution. When Adelaide Norris, the black radical founder of the Woman’s Army, is mysteriously killed, a diverse coalition of women - across all lines of race, class, and sexual preference - emerges to blow the System apart.
But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) directed by Jamie Babbit (Access ends September 30, 2024)
Megan's super normal suburban existence is filled with friends, pom-poms and rah-rah enthusiasm until her parents suspect that she may be showing deviant tendencies.
Citizenfour (2014) directed by Laura Poitras (Access ends September 30, 2024)
"In January 2013, Laura Poitras started receiving anonymous encrypted e-mails from "CITIZENFOUR," who claimed to have evidence of illegal covert surveillance programs run by the NSA in collaboration with other intelligence agencies worldwide. Five months later, she and reporters Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The resulting film is history unfolding before our eyes"--IMDb Web site.
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) directed by Agnès Varda (Access ends September 7, 2024)
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer (Corinne Marchand) set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman's life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
Daughters of the Dust (1991) directed by Julie Dash (Access ends February 16, 2025)
At the dawn of the 20th century, a multi-generational family in the Gullah community on the Sea Islands off of South Carolina - former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors - Yoruba traditions - struggle to maintain their cultural heritage and folklore while contemplating a migration to the mainland, even further from their roots. The first wide release by a black female filmmaker, Daughters of the Dust was met with wild critical acclaim and rapturous audience response when it initially opened in 1991. Casting a long legacy, the film still resonates today, most recently as a major in influence on Beyonce's video album 'Lemonade.'
Desert Hearts (1985) directed by Donna Deitch (Access ends October 4, 2024)
| Donna Deitch's swooning and sensual first narrative feature, DESERT HEARTS, was groundbreaking upon its release in 1985: a love story about two women, made entirely independently, on a shoestring budget, by a woman. In this 1959-set film, adapted from a beloved novel by Jane Rule, straitlaced East Coast professor Vivian Bell arrives in Reno to file for divorce but winds up catching the eye of someone new, the free-spirited young Cay, touching off a slow seduction that unfolds against a breathtaking desert landscape. With undeniable chemistry between its two leads, an evocative jukebox soundtrack, and vivid cinematography by Robert Elswit, DESERT HEARTS beautifully exudes a sense of tender yearning and emotional candor. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the **Sundance Film Festival**. Nominated for Best Female Lead at the **Film Independent Spirit Awards**. |
First Person Plural (2000) directed by Deann Borshay Liem (Access ends September 14, 2024)
In 1966, Deann Borshay Liem was adopted by an American family and was sent from Korea to her new home. Growing up in California, the memory of her birth family was nearly obliterated until recurring dreams lead Deann to discover the truth: her Korean mother was very much alive. Bravely uniting her biological and adoptive families, Deann's heartfelt journey makes First Person Plural a poignant essay on family, loss, and the reconciling of two identities.
For Sama (2019) directed by Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts (Access ends March 24, 2025)
The astonishing personal story of a young Syrian mother’s perseverance through the siege of Aleppo. Told as a love letter from a mother to her daughter, the film explores the dilemma of whether to abandon Aleppo and the fight for freedom. **Cannes Film Festival** Golden Eye winner. Special Jury Prize winner at **Hot Docs**. **Telluride Film Festival** winner, Norman Vaughan Indomitable Spirit Award. *"Profoundly moving and unignorable, whether as proof of Assad's barbarism, or the unfailing ability of this world - and its most engaged cinema - to break your heart and sear your soul." - Mike McCahill, **Guardian***
Lady Bird (2017) directed by Greta Gerwig (Access ends August 31, 2024)
An eccentric teenager clashes with her mother over her plans for the future.
Lore (2012) directed by Cate Shortland
Left to fend for themselves after their SS officer father and mother, staunch Nazi believers, are interred by the victorious Allies at the end of World War II, five German children undertake a harrowing journey that exposes them to the reality and consequences of their parents' actions. Led by the eldest sibling, 14-year old Lore (striking newcomer Saskia Rosendahl), they set out on a journey across a devastated country to reach their grandmother in the north. After meeting the charismatic Thomas, a mysterious young refugee, Lore soon finds her world shattered by feelings of both hatred and desire as she must learn to trust the one person she has always been taught to hate in order to survive. Lush cinematography and an evocative, haunting mood infuse this unconventional take on the Holocaust legacy with unforgettable impact. Based on the book Lore by Rachel Seiffert Winner! Locarno Film Festival 2012 - Audience Award Winner! Hamptons International Film Festival 2012 - Best Cinematography Winner! Hamptons International Film Festival 2012 - Best Narrative Feature Winner! Hamptons International Film Festival 2012 - Jeremy Nussbaum Prize for Provocative Fiction Nominated for 8 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards
My King (2015) directed by Maïwenn
Admitted to a rehabilitation center after a serious ski accident, Tony becomes dependent on the medical staff and pain relievers while looking back on a turbulent relationship she experienced with megalomaniac Georgio. Who is this man that she loved so deeply, and how did she allow herself to submit to this suffocating and destructive passion? For Tony, the physical work of healing may finally set her free.
Paris Is Burning (1990) directed by Jennie Livingston (Access ends November 12, 2024)
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women--including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza--PARIS IS BURNING brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community provider's description.
Persepolis (2007) directed by Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud (Access ends February 9, 2025)
Writer and director Marjane Satrapi draws a poignant story about a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, when people's hopes were dashed as fundamentalists took power.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) directed by Céline Sciamma (Access ends September 7, 2026)
One of the best reviewed films of the year and winner of the coveted Best Screenplay and Queer Palm awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Portrait of a lady on fire is an intimate and deeply affecting period drama about freedom, love and desire. Marianne is a young painter in 18th-Century France, commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse without her knowing. Marianne disguises herself as her companion to get closer to her subject - observing by day and secretly painting at night. Intimacy and attraction grow between the two women as they share Héloïse's first and last moments of freedom. The portrait soon becomes a collaborative act and a testament to their love.
Seeking Asian Female (2012) directed by Debbie Lum (Access ends September 15, 2024)
Steven is a 60-year-old white American man who works as a cashier in a garage and dreams of marrying a young Asian woman. Debbie, a Chinese American filmmaker, documents his obsessive search for potential brides over the Internet because she hopes to make an exposé about his "yellow fever." When Jianhua, or "Sandy," a 30-year-old woman from Anhui, China, agrees to Steven's online proposal and moves to California to be his fiancé, unexpected complications arise for all three: bride, groom and filmmaker. From one surprising turn to the next, as the two online pen pals attempt to overcome vast differences in age, language and culture for the sake of a real-life marriage, the filmmaker gets pulled deeper into their story. With comic and poignant twists and turns, this roller coaster relationship documentary becomes a challengingly honest love story for the ages. "Debbie Lum's brilliant, unpredictable, hilarious and poignant film, Seeking Asian Female, is a jewel. She follows a suspicious romance, to reveal dimensions not just of their hearts, but of her own---and with that, ours." Janet Grillo, Asst Arts Professor, NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, Undergraduate Film and Television Programs.
Sworn Virgin (2015) directed by Laura Bispuri
“Beautiful” and “Uplifting,” SWORN VIRGIN follows Hana who, to escape the prospect of wifely servitude in her Albanian village, takes an oath of eternal virginity to live in the mountains as a man. Years later, feeling imprisoned by her choice, she visits her sister and family in Italy and discovers the pleasure of sexual intimacy. There, she experiences an awakening to become a new and liberated person.
The Arch (1968) directed by Tang Shu Shuen (Access ends September 7, 2024)
When The Arch opened in Paris, it received the most consistently positive reviews of any film to ever play in the "city of light". Set in 17th Century China, this film is considered the first art film in the Chinese language. Deals with the sexual repression of a beautiful widow..."the ludicrousness of mankind, the futility of intelligence."
The Farewell (2019) directed by Lulu Wang (Access ends September 7, 2026)
In this funny, heartfelt story, Billi’s (Awkwafina) family returns to China under the guise of a fake wedding to stealthily say goodbye to their beloved matriarch—the only person that doesn’t know she only has a few weeks to live. **Golden Globe** winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Official Selection at the **Sundance Film Festival**.
The Matrix (1999) directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski (Access ends September 30, 2024)
In an anti-utopian future, the "real" world as we know it is nothing more than a computer construct, created by an all-powerful artificial intelligence. A small group of humans has found a way out of the construct, and are now fighting for the future of the human race.
The Loveless (1981) directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery
Trouble ensues when a motorcycle gang stops in a small southern town while heading to the races at Daytona.
Writing with Fire (2021) directed by Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh (Access ends March 7, 2025)
In a news landscape dominated by men emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her team break traditions on the frontlines of India's biggest issues, redeαning the meaning of power.