Allana Vanin

This Women’s History Month, celebrate not only the women in your lives, but also the accomplishments of those who have passed with these five biopics about and directed by women:

1- Mary Shelley (2017)

Mary Shelley was a British author best known for her novel Frankenstein, written when she was only 18 years old. The film, directed by Saudi Arabian movie director Haifaa al-Mansour, depicts the life of the famous author from her early years up until the publication of Frankenstein in 1818, showcasing the author’s many struggles during that point in her life.

According to an interview conducted in 2018 by British Film Institute, when asked about her interest in directing the film, al-Mansour stated, “Jane Austen was the amazing star writer of the time, who wrote about love and jealousy and everything in the domestic sphere. And [Shelley] challenged that. She went and wrote something not like anything else. When I read the script and saw how much she suffered to have her voice heard and how she tried to break away from all the constraints of societal pressure at the time, I really sympathised with the character.”

Al-Mansour has also made history in the film industry by becoming the first female director to direct a feature-length film to come out of Saudi Arabia with her first film Wadjda, making her movie the perfect one to celebrate women during Women’s History Month.

2- Frida (2002)

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her various self-portraits inspired by many of her internal and external struggles. Frida documents the story of the famous painter’s life, from the bus accident that left her with chronic pain, to her joining the Communist Party in Mexico, and her rise to fame with her artwork.

The director, Julie Taymor, when interviewed by journalists for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, she claims, “I read the biography by Hayden Herrera, then I became much more attracted to Frida as an artist because her paintings reflected her life. She painted her own reality as surreal because her life was so outrageous, so complex, and interesting.”

Frida is not only the story of one of the most well known female artists to come out Mexico, but a look inside the complex nature of a woman learning to navigate her pain and emotions and continuously battling sociopolitical censorship in a 2oth century Mexico.

3- Elisa & Marcela (2019)

Elisa & Marcela tells the real life story of Elisa Sánchez Loriga and Marcela Gracia Ibeas, who became the first same-sex couple to marry in Spain in 1901. Directed by Spanish director Isabel Coixet, the biopic relates the arduous journey of the two women’s love story, persecution and eventual flee from Spain. After its release, the film was nominated for a few awards including “Best Feature Film” at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In a 2019 interview with Teddy Award, when asked about why she wanted to tell this story, Coixet stated, “When you see these little villages in the middle of nowhere, [where] they live and the things they had to do and accomplish just to be together. When I found the story I was like ‘okay, I have to make a film of this’ I just have to.”

Elisa & Marcela is not only a story that underlines women’s struggles of the early 20th century but also brings to the forefront a much needed highlight on lesbian history that can often go forgotten within the larger context of LGBT history.

4- Harriet (2019)

Harriet Tubman is one of the most recognizable names and well-known figures in American history. In 2019, director Kasi Lemmons made history by directing the first feature-length biopic about the famous abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor, a necessary story long awaiting to be told. The film, Harriet, depicts her escape from slavery to the missions she led that liberated hundreds of enslaved people during the American Civil War.

In an interview with Women and Hollywood in 2019 when asked about what drew her to direct this movie, Lemmons states, “When I realized what it was, I got very excited about the idea of Harriet Tubman as a young woman, and exploring that story. Once I began researching, it became sort of a Joan of Arc story, and that was extremely important to me. That’s really her story. She had this belief that she was having a direct conversation with God.”

Black history month has come and gone but the stories and accomplishments of Black men and women remain embedded in the foundations of American history all year round.

5- Vita & Virginia (2018)

Vita & Virginia tells the story of the love affair between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. The film depicts the intimate and complex relationship between the two women when they first meet in London in 1922 up until Woolf writes her famous work Orlando, inspired by Sackville-West.

The director, Chanya Button, in an interview with the British Film Institute when asked what she hoped to achieve with this film stated, “What I’d love is for people who have never heard of her to really enjoy her work and really enjoy this moment in her life. I also think as an LGBTQ romance, it’s really important for young people to look at great works of art and literature and great moments in history and really iconic people and see [that] the roots of who they are goes way back into ancient history and the history of art and literature.”

Vita & Virginia is a story that challenges heteronormativity and gender roles through a female lens and portrays mental illness in an interesting way.