Arts & Faith: 105 Nominees for Top 25 Spiritually Significant Women-Directed Films

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CHAPEL HILL, NC: The Arts & Faith Community has announced 105 nominees for its Top 25 Spiritually Significant Women‑Directed Films list, recognizing films across decades, genres, and cultures. The nominations include documentaries, shorts, and narrative feature films that explore spirituality in meaningful ways. The group seeks to elevate films that invite deeper reflection and engage questions of meaning, belief, suffering, redemption, justice, and the human search for purpose – universal experiences that span religious traditions around the world.

List of nominated films, in chronological order

The Life of Christ, dir. Alice Guy-Blaché (1906)

Falling Leaves, dir. Alice Guy-Blaché (1912)

The Rosary, dir. Lois Weber (1913)

Hypocrites, dir. Lois Weber (1915)

Shoes, dir. Lois Weber (1916)

The Holy Night, dir. Elvira Notari (1921)

Craig’s Wife, dir. Dorothy Arzner (1936)

Meshes of the Afternoon, dir. Maya Deren (1943)

At Land, dir. Maya Deren (1944)

Outrage, dir. Ida Lupino (1950)

The Hitch-Hiker, dir. Ida Lupino (1953)

Forever a Woman, dir. Kinuyo Tanaka (1955)

A still from ARAYA

The Star of Bethlehem, dir. Lotte Reiniger and Vivian Milroy (1956)

Araya, dir. Margot Benacerraf (1959)

Cléo from 5 to 7, dir. Agnès Varda (1962)

The House is Black, dir. Forugh Farrokhzad (1962)

The Trouble with Angels, dir. Ida Lupino (1966)

Wanda, dir. Barbara Loden (1970)

A New Leaf, dir. Elaine May (1971)

Adoption, dir. Márta Mészáros (1975)

Moses und Aron, dir. Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub (1975)

Harlan County, USA, dir. Barbara Kopple (1976)

The Ascent, dir. Larisa Shepitko (1977)

Girlfriends, dir. Claudia Weill (1978)

Three women in pastel getting hair done at a salon

A still from GOLDEN EIGHTIES

My Brilliant Career, dir. Gillian Armstrong (1979)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, dir. Amy Heckerling (1982)

Born in Flames, dir. Lizzie Borden (1983)

Testament, dir. Lynn Littman (1983)

Yentl, dir. Barbara Streisand (1983)

Vagabond, dir. Agnès Varda (1985)

Golden Eighties, dir. Chantal Akerman (1986)

Real Genius, dir. Martha Coolidge (1986)

Who Killed Vincent Chin, dir. Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña (1987)

Big, dir. Penny Marshall (1988)

Crossing Delancey, dir. Joan Macklin Silver (1988)

Salaam Bombay!, dir. Mira Nair (1988)

Barbara O. Jones in DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST

The Company of Strangers, dir. Cynthia Scott (1990)

Daughters of the Dust, dir. Julie Dash (1991)

A League of Their Own, dir. Penny Marshall (1992)

The Piano, dir. Jane Campion (1993)

Little Women, dir. Gillian Armstrong (1994)

Home for the Holidays, dir. Jodie Foster (1995)

Eve’s Bayou, dir. Kasi Lemmons (1997)

The Prince of Egypt, dir. Brenda Chapman and Simon Wells (1998)

Beau Travail, dir. Claire Denis (1999)

But I’m a Cheerleader, dir. Jamie Babbitt (1999)

The Matrix, dir. Lana and Lily Wachowski (1999)

The Virgin Suicides, dir. Sofia Coppola (1999)

A cartoon image of a man and woman sitting in a car

A still from PERSEPOLIS

American Psycho, dir. Mary Harron (2000)

The Gleaners and I, dir. Agnès Varda (2000)

Away from Her, dir. Sarah Polley (2006)

Marie Antoinette, dir. Sofia Coppola (2006)

Persepolis, dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (2007)

Wendy and Lucy, dir. Kelly Reichardt (2008)

An Education, dir. Lone Scherfig (2009)

Bright Star, dir. Jane Campion (2009)

Lourdes, dir. Jessica Hausner (2009)

The Hurt Locker, dir. Kathryn Bigelow (2009)

Corpo Celeste, dir. Alice Rohrwacher (2011)

The Queen of Versailles, dir. Lauren Greenfield (2012)

Logan Marshall-Green in THE INVITATION

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, dir. Ana Lily Amirpour (2014)

Selma, dir. Ava DuVernay (2014)

The Babadook, dir. Jennifer Kent (2014)

Unbroken, dir. Angelina Jolie (2014)

Mustang, dir. Deniz Gamze Erguven (2015)

The Invitation, dir. Karyn Kusama (2015)

The Royal Road, dir. Jenni Olson (2015)

The Innocents, dir. Anne Fontaine (2016)

Lady Bird, dir. Greta Gerwig (2017)

Let the Sunshine In, dir. Claire Denis (2017)

The Burden, dir. Niki Lindroth Von Bahr (2017)

The Rider, dir. Chloe Zhao (2017)

A woman in 70s attire in front of a cross

Morfydd Clark in SAINT MAUD

Leave No Trace, dir. Debra Granik (2018)

Wild Nights with Emily, dir. Madeleine Olnek (2018)

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, dir. Marielle Heller (2019)

Atlantics, dir. Mati Diop (2019)

Blinded by the Light, dir. Gurinder Chadha (2019)

First Cow, dir. Kelly Reichardt (2019)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, dir. Celine Sciamma (2019)

Saint Maud, dir. Rose Glass (2019)

The Wind Phone, dir. Kristen Gerweck (2019)

Athlete A, dir. Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (2020)

Nomadland, dir. Chloe Zhao (2020)

I’m Your Man, dir. Maria Schrader (2021)

Teyana Taylor in A THOUSAND AND ONE

The Power of the Dog, dir. Jane Campion (2021)

Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells (2022)

Showing Up, dir. Kelly Reichardt (2022)

The People’s Joker, dir. Vera Drew (2022)

The Woman King, dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood (2022)

Women Talking, dir. Sarah Polley (2022)

A Thousand and One, dir. A.V. Rockwell (2023)

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, dir. Raven Jackson (2023)

Anatomy of a Fall, dir. Justine Triet (2023)

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, dir. Kelly Fremon Craig (2023)

Barbie, dir. Greta Gerwig (2023)

La Chimera, dir. Alice Rohrwacher (2023)

Lily Gladstone in JAZZY

Origin, dir. Ava DuVernay (2023)

Past Lives, dir. Celine Song (2023)

The Eternal Memory, dir. Maite Alberdi (2023)

The Starling Girl, dir. Laurel Parmet (2023)

Ghostlight, dir. Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson (2024)

I Saw the TV Glow, dir. Jane Schoenbrun (2024)

Jazzy, dir. Morissa Maltz (2024)

The Substance, dir. Coralie Fargeat (2024)

Sorry, Baby, dir. Eva Victor (2025)

Directors with multiple nominations: Gillian Armstrong, Alice Guy-Blaché, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Claire Denis, Maya Deren, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Ida Lupino, Penny Marshall, Sarah Polley, Kelly Reichardt, Alice Rohrwacher, Agnès Varda, Lois Weber, Chloe Zhao. The nominations will be narrowed down to 25 films through a voting procedure, with the final winners announced on May 18, 2026, on the group website, artsandfaith.com.

How Nominated Selections Were Chosen

The nominations, collected by 25 volunteer jury members, are a testament to the community’s depth of knowledge and appreciation for film. The slate spans silent films such as Lois Weber’s The Rosary, blockbusters like Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, canonical art-house works such as Claire Denis’ Beau Travail, and contemporary indie films like Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby. Project leader Lindsey Dunn explains the decision to focus on women-directed films as a celebration and a corrective: “A 2024 study known as the Celluloid Ceiling Report found that only 16% of the top 250 grossing films were directed by women. Yet in 2023, Fandango reported that 60% of people buying movie tickets were women. These films deserve to be found, appreciated, and celebrated by faith communities and viewers seeking truthful, humane stories that encourage spiritual formation. The absence of women directed-films in public discourse means that vital voices are being missed.”

Arts & Faith is an online community that consists of film lovers, critics, educators, and historians who care deeply about the intersection of cinematic stories and spirituality. Originally an internet discussion board for people who wanted to have thoughtful conversations about film, Arts & Faith began curating lists of spiritually significant films in 2004. It is currently led by Dr. Kenneth Morefield, who established the group’s current online home in 2019, artsandfaith.com. Lists are designed to serve as a resource for faith communities, educators, and viewers seeking films that encourage spiritual contemplation and formation.

Past Nominations Revisited

For questions about the Arts & Faith community, please contact owner Kenneth Morefield at kenmorefield@gmail.com. For questions about the women-directed films list, please contact project leader Lindsey Dunn at zeethelibrarian@gmail.com.

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Courtesy -Lindsey Dunn, Librarian and Film Critic
Member of North Carolina Film Critics Association
Member of Southeastern Film Critics Association
Member of Arts & Faith

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