Spotlight: Standout Movies From Female Filmmakers as 2021 Closes Out
The film release calendar has dramatically expanded as 2021 draws to a close, with moviegoers returning to theaters across the United States and distribution companies finally releasing many long-awaited titles from all genres and facets of filmmaking. With this sudden flood of new movies to catch up with, cinephiles have been blessed with a variety of brand new works from female filmmakers, both established and up-and-coming, to be included in the cultural conversation as cinemas reopen and welcome back audiences hungry for fresh theatrical experiences.
While there are many great films directed by women coming out between now and the end of the year, this feature chooses to highlight five very different works from five female filmmakers with uniquely individual and influential creative sensibilities.
Beans: Directed by Tracey Deer
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, Tracey Deer’s debut feature film Beans will finally debut in the United States on November 5th. An accomplished writer, producer, and documentarian working in film and television, Deer is an indigenous filmmaker who hails from the Mohawk People of the Haudenosaunee. Loosely based on the director’s experiences from her own childhood, Beans stars rising young actress Kiawentiio Tarbell as a Mohawk girl named Tekehentahkhwa, nicknamed “Beans” who faces the dawn of her teenage years during the oppression of the Oka Crisis in Quebec in 1990. The film diverges from cliches of the coming of age genre by focusing on Bean’s perspective as a First Nations youth, growing up during quite modern times of injustice and instability for her community in the face of the Canadian government. Since its premiere, Beans has played many film festivals and won awards across the globe, even winning Best Film at the Canadian Screen Awards (the country’s equivalent to the Oscars) earlier this year. Beginning on November 5th, Beans will be released in the US by FilmRise in select cities and available on Digital.
Becoming Cousteau: Directed by Liz Garbus
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus returns to her documentarian roots with her newest work Becoming Cousteau, chronicling the work and life of the famed French explorer, filmmaker, and conservationist Jacques Cousteau. Earnestly utilizing archival footage provided by The Jacques Cousteau Society, the documentary follows the extraordinary progression of Cousteau’s life over six decades and explores his eternal passion for the underwater world. Garbus often focuses on multi-faceted and influential characters of history in her documentary work, following suit with her examination of Cousteau by assessing his life outside of his career and his early years before finding success. After its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival in early September, Becoming Cousteau has amassed warm reactions, both from older generations who may have grown up watching his documentary series The Underwater Adventures of Jacques Cousteau as well as younger audiences who may be discovering his filmmaking and environmental conservation for the first time. Becoming Cousteau was released in Theaters on October 22nd and is set to hit Disney+ on November 24th.
Eternals: Directed by Chloe Zhao
Ever since news broke in 2018 that Chloe Zhao was set to direct her first studio film with Marvel’s Eternals, cinephiles around the globe have wondered how the Beijing-born director’s naturalistic style and appreciation for non-professional actors would fair within the big-budget world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The wait is nearly over, arthouse and studio film lovers alike will soon see for their own eyes how Zhao adapts her unique and masterful sensibilities to massive scale filmmaking when Eternals is released in theaters on November 5th. Beginning a new era of the MCU universe after Avengers: Endgame, Eternals features an all-star ensemble cast including Angelina Jolie, Selma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, and many other familiar faces. The film’s “Eternals” are an ancient and everlasting alien race, coming together to protect the earth from their corrupt equivalents. Zhao is the first female person of color to direct an MCU film and the second female filmmaker working solo on one (Cate Shortland was the first earlier this year with Black Widow). As the theatrical experience slowly returns to a sense of normalcy in the pandemic-era world, Eternals is expected to serve as a major test for the box office. Another MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings holds the 2021 opening weekend record, making over $90 million on its opening weekend over Labor Day. Eternals will exclusively be shown in theaters beginning on November 5th and will be available 45 days later on Disney+.
The Lost Daughter: Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Celebrated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal takes her turn in the director’s chair for the first time with this year’s release of The Lost Daughter, which Gyllenhaal also adapted for the screen based on a 2006 Italian novel of the same name. In The Lost Daughter, Oscar winner Olivia Colman portrays an aging woman haunted by memories of her past during a solo vacation on the Mediterranean Coast. The film boasts a supporting cast that includes Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, and Peter Saarsgard. Since premiering at the Venice Film Festival where Gyllenhaal was awarded Best Screenplay, the film has been praised for its enticingly tense narrative and its nuanced performances at almost every major film festival of the fall season. Most recently, The Lost Daughter received six nominations at the 2021 Gotham Awards, including Best Feature and Breakthrough Director for Gyllenhaal, immediately placing the film in the conversation for many major awards for the year. Look out for The Lost Daughter’s limited theatrical release beginning December 17th and on Netflix December 31st.
The Power of the Dog: Directed by Jane Campion
After ten-plus years since the release of her last feature, champion Kiwi filmmaker Jane Campion has blessed movie lovers this fall with the upcoming release of her newest work The Power of the Dog, a noir-ish Western set in the dawn of the 20th century. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-McPhee with a supporting cast including Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemmons, Thomasin McKenzie, and Frances Conroy, The Power of the Dog boasts some of the most nuanced performances of the year. A twisted, suspenseful portrayal of toxic masculinity and changing times, The Power of the Dog centers around the rising tensions of a blended family on an isolated ranch in Montana. The film’s screenplay was also written by Campion, adapted for the screen from a novel originally released in 1967. The first of two women to win the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival (The Piano in 1993), Campion is one of the most celebrated female filmmakers working today, upholding her reputation with The Power of the Dog as it has traveled the fall festival circuit this year, beginning at the Venice Film Festival where Campion was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Direction. Without a doubt, this Revisionist Western film will be part of the awards conversation as the Oscars grow closer, receiving recognition in all categories from direction to performance to craft. The Power of the Dog will have a limited theatrical release beginning November 17th and will land on Netflix on the first day of December.