The 21st century's 82 greatest films directed by women

Today, the editors of BBC Culture published a list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century, an impressive selection that spans a wide variety of genres, countries of origin, and subject matter. But we were disheartened to see that only 12 films directed by women or a mixed-gender partnership made the cut. The highest-ranking of these is Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, which comes in at number 22 on the BBC’s list.

What if—whether in the interest of subverting Hollywood sexism, or simply in the hopes of finding some kickass, lesser-seen movies—you were only interested in boning up on great films made by women? We’ve got you covered—we took a look at the BBC’s results beyond the top 100 movies.

To tabulate their results, the BBC surveyed 177 film critics worldwide (122 men, 55 women) as to their top 10 movies made since 2000. We analyzed all 1,770 of these nominations (you’re welcome!) and found that only 168—that’s 9.5%—went to films directed or co-directed by women. Those 168 nominations, among which there are many repeats, represent 82 unique films. And just 69 of those were directed by a woman without any male collaborators.

Using the same scoring system as the BBC and the votes they provided, we’ve ranked them for your future viewing pleasure. (Please note: There are quite a few ties.)

73. 7 Letters (Boo Junfeng, Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K. Rajagopal, Tan Pin Pin, Royston Tan and Kelvin Tong, 2015)*
73. After the Wedding (Susanne Bier, 2006)
73. Belle (Amma Asante, 2013)
73. Coma (Sara Fattahi, 2015)
73. Father of My Children (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2009)
73. Heart of a Dog (Laurie Anderson, 2015)
73. Middle of Nowhere (Ava DuVernay, 2012)
73. Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003)
73. Oh! Man (Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi, 2004)*
73. Shrek (Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, 2001)*
67. Eat, Sleep, Die (Gabriela Pichler, 2012)
67. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008)
67. Hooligan Sparrow (Nanfu Wang, 2016)
67. The Holy Girl (Lucrecia Martel, 2004)
67. Where Do We Go Now? (Nadine Labaki, 2011)
67. Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
59. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
59. A Vingança de Uma Mulher (Rita Azevedo Gomes, 2012)
59. American Splendor (Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, 2003)*
59. Everyone Else (Maren Ade, 2009)
59. Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley, 2008)
59. The Arbor (Clio Barnard, 2010)
59. The Fourth Watch (Janie Geiser, 2000)
59. The Future (Miranda July, 2011)
52. Almayer’s Folly (Chantal Akerman, 2011)
52. Burning Bush (Agnieszka Holland, 2013)
52. Frozen (Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, 2013)*
52. Lourdes (Jessica Hausner, 2009)
52. Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
52. The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Pirjo Honkasalo, 2004)
52. The Forest for the Trees (Maren Ade, 2003)
47. Butter on the Latch (Josephine Decker, 2013)
47. Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, 2014)
47. Manakamana (Pacho Velez and Stephanie Spray, 2013)*
47. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
47. Shara (Naomi Kawase, 2003)
37. Archipelago (Joanna Hogg, 2010)
37. La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
37. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, 2005)
37. Shoot the Messenger (Ngozi Onwurah, 2006)
37. Something Necessary (Judy Kibinge, 2013)
37. Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)
37. The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
37. The Namesake (Mira Nair, 2006)
37. The Taste of Others (Agnès Jaoui, 2000)
37. When I Saw You (Annemarie Jacir, 2012)
36. Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
30. Cuba: An African Odyssey (Jihan El-Tahri, 2007)
30. Dreams of a Life (Carol Morley, 2011)
30. Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001)
30. Longing (Valeska Grisebach, 2006)
30. Love & Basketball (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2000)
30. The Intruder (Claire Denis, 2004)
26. Bend It Like Beckham (Gurinder Chadha, 2002)
26. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, 2012)*
26. No Home Movie (Chantal Akerman, 2015)
26. The Captive (Chantal Akerman, 2000)
21. Bright Star (Jane Campion, 2009)
21. Caramel (Nadine Labaki, 2007)
21. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amselem (Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, 2014)*
21. These Encounters of Theirs (Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, 2006)*
21. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008)
21. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
17. Eden (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2014)
17. Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001)
17. Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014)
16. American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000)
15. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010)
14. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, 2008)
13. Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007)*
12. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
10. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
10. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
9. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
8. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
6. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
6. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)*
3. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
3. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2000)*
3. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
2. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)*
1. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

*Co-directed by a woman in partnership with a man (or men)

Molly Fitzpatrick is senior editor of Fusion’s Pop & Culture section. Her interests include movies about movies, TV shows about TV shows, and movies about TV shows, but not so much TV shows about movies.