In 2016 I accepted the #52moviesbywomen challenge. I pledged to watch 52 movies either written or directed by women. And I did it and wrote about it.
In 2017 I slacked off and only watched 27.
But this year, I came back strong and watched 55, an all-time high. Also, it was much easier, possibly because more women are getting to make more movies. Also possibly because I have Netflix now, and a goodly number of movies I watch on Netflix are written or directed by women.
Here are images from my Letterboxd list. Letterboxd makes things so pretty. And you can sort, as I’ve done here, sorting by rating.
My five star ratings are: Lady Bird–written and directed by Greta Gerwig–through The Favourite–written by Deborah Davis.
Four star reviews start with A Star is Born (’37)–written by Dorothy Parker (!!)–and go through Leave No Trace–written and directed by Debra Granik.
Dick–written by Sheryl Longin–is my first three-star review and they go through Ginger & Rosa–written and directed by Sally Potter.
My two-star reviews are A Wrinkle in Time–written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Ava DuVernay–through The Miseducation of Cameron Post–written by Cecilia Frugiuele and Desiree Akhaven, directed by Desiree Akhaven.
And my one-star reviews are King Kong–written by Ruth Rose–and A Star is Born (’76)–written by (of all people!) Joan Didion.
I recommend #52moviesbywomen as a worthy project for you this year. My first year was very fun because I got to watch entire filmographies of women directors. (Sadly, many women director’s filmographies are not lengthy and this can mostly be done by watching a mere 3-5 movies.)
But even if you participate by keeping track of movies you’ve happened across that fit the criteria, it’s bound to raise your awareness.
