6 Female Film Directors To Look Out For In 2019
Meet the 6 women in film, determined to prove that the future really is female.
Dee Rees, Julie Dash, Codie Oliver, Amma Asante, Ava DuVernay, and a newcomer by the name of Christina Cooper (who is apart of Ava’s Array Now program) are a few female film makers breaking barriers in the film industry.
Many of these women have worked on projects airing on major networks such as OWN network’s Queen Sugar and so much more. It is very important to showcase the importance of women in the film industry making moves and being nominated at these prestigious award shows.
These women are doing exactly that.
So just who are these women in film?
Dee Rees
Diandrea “Dee” Rees is an American screenwriter and director known for feature films such as Pariah, and Bessie.
An alumna of New York University’s graduate film program, Rees has been making waves across the film industry and became the first Black woman to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for her highly-acclaimed film Mudbound starring Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan and Mary J. Blige.
We look forward to seeing what she does in 2019!
Julie Dash
Julie Dash is an American film director, writer and producer. As one of the modern day leading women in film her portfolio includes Daughters of the Dust (1991), The Rosa Parks Story (2002) and Funny Valentines (1999).
Other notable achievements include directing episodes of Queen Sugaron the Oprah Winfrey Network.
The influence of her work is very much seen in pop culture, with a primary example of her creative imprint being showcased in Beyoncé’s lemonade.
Codie Oliver
Producer, director and Actress Codie Oliver, has positioned herself to make some major moves in 2019.
Fed up with the portrayal of dating lives of black women in the media (or lack there of), Oliver was determined to change narrative.
She is perhaps most famously known for creating the docu-series Black love which chronicles the realities of marriage in a fresh way, highlights some honest, emotional and sometimes awkward love stories from the black community.
The hit TV show is set to return for another season later this year.
Amma Asante MBE
Amma Asante is proudly flying the flag for British women in film. British Ghanaian filmmaker, screenwriter, and former actress made her directorial debut with with a feature film, A Way of Life (2004). It focused on the life of a single mother, played by Stephanie James, depicting the reality of a woman who recounts the suicidal death of her mother and the presence of foster care.
One of my personal favourites of hers has to be Belle (2013) for which she was awarded the Signis Award at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival.
Check out her latest film “Where Hands Touch” which premiered last September.
Ava DuVernay
The American writer, producer and distributor made her mark on the film industry by becoming first black Woman to win the directing award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film “Middle of Nowhere.”
Turning our attention to her more recent projects, DuVernay’s 2018 fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time, had a production and marketing budget of approximately $200 million making her the first black-American woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of that size.
DuVernay has amassed a plethora of nominations and awards during the course of what has been an incredibly fruitful career. she now turns her sights to directing television miniseries Central Park 5, which is scheduled to premiere later this year.
Christina Cooper
New comer, Director and Actress Christina Cooper has huge plans for 2019. Teasing her talents with short film “Loyalty” in 2018, she returns with full feature length film “South Central Love” to make her official directorial debut.
The film tells the story of two people from very different worlds who,through the trials and tribulations they face, realize how much they have in common. This film was created to encourage love within the streets of Los Angeles and to put an end to gang violence.
Christina has been posting behind the scenes content over on her Instagram, so be sure to follow for all the latest.
The filming of South Central Love is well underway and we cannot wait to see what Ms. Cooper has in store.