In 2016, I’ve featured a number of excellent films from women directors. Of course, the film industry is nowhere near gender parity, but there are increasing choices if you want to view good movies made by women. Toni Erdmann, Chevalier and Weiner made my list of the Best Movies of 2016.
- In just her third feature, Maren Ade has created a MUST SEE in Toni Erdmann. You might not expect an almost three-hour German comedy to break through, but I’ve seen it, and I think that it’s a lock to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. Ade gives us a woman’s perspective of a father-daughter relationship, creating a totally original and unforgettable father who takes prankstering into performance art. This is a movie with the funniest nude brunch you’ll ever witness that still will leave you choked up at the end. Toni Erdmann opens January 20 in the Bay Area.
- Chevalier: This Greek comedy from director Athina Rachel Tsangari is one of the funniest movies of the year and was the MUST SEE at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Obviously a keen observer of male behavior, Tsangari delivers a sly and pointed exploration of male competitiveness, with the moments of drollness and absurdity that we expect in the best of contemporary Greek cinema. VERY brief theatrical release in June. Chevalier is now available to rent on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
- Weiner: The year’s best documentary, this is a marvelously entertaining inside chronicle of a campaign, a character study of Anthony Weiner himself and an almost voyeuristic peek into Weiner’s marriage to another political star, Huma Abedin. Weiner is available on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and DirecTV.
Film festivals stepped up in a major way to feature women filmmakers. This year, Cinequest presented the world or US premieres of sixty features and sixty-nine shorts. And of these 129 debut films, 64 were directed by women! This year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) included movies from 50 women directors.
This year, I found the first features by the writer-directors of A Country Called Home (Anna Axster) and Five Nights in Maine (Maris Curran) to be especially promising. Susanna White is a veteran director, but Our Kind of Traitor was her first big budget action thriller, and she pulled it off successfully.
Other 2016 films by women that I’ve written about include NUTS!, Maggie’s Plan, The Meddler, Heaven’s Floor, The Brainwashing of My Dad, Dan and Margot, The Promised Band and Girl Asleep. You can find most of them on video.
