By Cheryl Anne Fries, WIFV Intern
In honor of WIFV’s 40th anniversary, we encourage you to suggest a 40th film to complete the list of 39 films meriting 5 Stars and 4.5 Stars as chosen by Jan Lisa Huttner in her book Penny’s Picks: 50 Movies by Women Filmmakers 2002-2011. In the book, Huttner offers suggestions and astute commentary regarding great films by female filmmakers. You can order the book from Amazon. Remember, if you use smile.amazon.com and have chosen Women in Film & Video as your selected charity, then WIFV will receive a contribution from Amazon (something else to love)!
Send your suggestion for a 40th film to be added to the list (and yes, it can be a film made after 2011 or even before 2002) to wifvintern@gmail.com – please put “Film Suggestion” in the subject line – and we will share the responses on March 3, 2020 to celebrate the start of Women’s History Month. Everyone who submits a suggestion will be entered in a drawing* to receive a copy of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies by Ann Hornday.
5 Stars
Fish Tank (2009)- Directed and Written by Andrea Arnold
Frozen River (2008)- Directed and Written by Courtney Hunt
King Kong (2005)- Directed by Peter Jackson, Adaptation by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (based on original 1933 screen play by Ruth Rose)
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)- Directed by Aviva Kempner
Look Both Ways (2005)- Directed and Written by Sarah Watt
Trouble the Water (2008)- Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (based on footage filmed by Kimberly Rivers Roberts)
4.5 Stars
13 Conversations About One Thing (2001)- Directed by Jill Sprecher and Written by Jill and Karen Sprecher (sisters)
An Education (2009)- Directed by Lone Scherfig, Written by Nick Hornby (based on memoir by Lynn Barber)
The Beaver (2011)- Directed by Jodie Foster, Written by Kyle Killen
Blue Crush (2002)- Directed by John Stockwell, Written by John Stockwell and Lizzy Weiss
Bright Star (2009)- Directed and Written by Jane Campion (based on Andrew Motion’s biography of Keats)
Cadillac Records (2008)- Directed and Written by Darnell Martin
Conviction (2010)- Directed by Tony Goldwyn, Written by Pamela Gray
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)- Directed by David Frankel, Written by Aline Brosh McKenna (based on novel by Lauren Weisberger)
Divan (2003)- Directed by Pearl Gluck
Elegy (2008)- Directed by Isabel Coixet, Written by Nicholas Meyer (based on Philip Roth’s novel The Dying Animal)
The Governess (1998)- Directed and Written by Sandra Goldbacher
The Hurt Locker (2008)- Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Written by Marc Boal
In A Better World (2010)- Directed by Susanne Bier, Written by Anders Thomas Jensen
Jane Eyre (2010)- Directed by Cary Fukunaga, Written by Moira Buffini
Julie and Julia (2009)- Directed and Written by Nora Ephron (based on Julie Powell’s book Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously)
Lemon Tree (Etz Limon) (2006)- Directed by Eran Riklis, Written by Eran Riklis and Suha Arraf
The Lovely Bones (2009)- Directed by Peter Jackson, Written by Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson (based on novel by Alice Sebold)
Marie Antoinette (2006)- Directed and Written by Sophia Coppola
The Namesake (2007)- Directed by Mira Nair, Written by Sooni Taraporevala (based on novel by Jhumpa Lahiri)
Please Give (2010)- Directed and Written by Nicole Holofcener
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)- Directed and Written by Jane Anderson (based on memoir by Terry Ryan)
The Producers (2005)- Directed by Susan Stroman, Written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Rosenstrasse (2003)- Directed by Margarethe von Trotta, Written by Margarethe von Trotta and Pamela Katz
Shut Up and Sing (2006)- Directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)- Directed by Danny Boyle, co-directed by Loveleen Tandan, Written by Simon Beaufoy (based on novel by Vikas Swarup)
Water (2005)- Directed and Written by Deepa Mehta, co-written by Anurag Kashyap
Winter’s Bone (2010)- Directed by Debra Granik, Written by Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini (based on novel by Daniel Woodrell)
WIFV Office Picks:
Brooke Friedman, WIFV Membership/Programming Coordinator – Harriet the Spy (1996) Directed by Bronwen Hughes, Written by Theresa Rebeck and Douglas Petrie (based on novel by Louise Fitzhugh)
Cheryl Anne Fries, WIFV Intern- Elisa and Marcela (2019) Directed by Isabel Coixet, Written by Isabel Coixet and Narciso De Gabriel
Ally Nalibotsky, WIFV Intern – Little Women (2020) Directed and Written by Greta Gerwig (based on novel by Louisa May Alcott)
*You do not have to make a film suggestion to be entered in the drawing.
