Love Diamond (1998-2000), her first full length performance, is below.

Claire Denis

Critically acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis made a vampire movie with Vincent Gallo, Trouble Every Day (2001), that horrified me to the depths of my soul. Often described as fearless, subversive, an auteur, or all three, Denis says wonderful things like this (in an interview with The Guardian): "We are always trying and failing to understand the world and ourselves. We never really know the final meaning of our lives. Literature and the cinema should reflect that."

Claire Denis shooting Trouble Every Day. — Claire Denis shooting *Trouble Every Day*.

Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley gets major points for adapting an Alice Munro short story into her first film, Away from Her (2006), and stays impressively true to the spirit of Munro's impeccable prose. Polley's second movie, Take This Waltz (2012), is a nuanced, grown-up look at adultery with a conclusion I was totally unprepared for and more than one moment that made me smack my hands over my eyes and scream (a brief PG-13 look at one such moment below). Both films, while flawed, almost seem better because of those flaws and are deeply thoughtful, fully explored, lyrical, complicated and unique.

Chantal Akerman

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) by Chantal Akerman was the first movie to truly shock me. It introduced me to the idea of watching an excruciating movie as a worthwhile experiential ordeal and combined formal experimentation with the intensely personal. It has lots of feminist film criticism written about it that I barely understand and a surprise ending like no other. At a running time of 225 minutes, I’m a little wary to watch it again but I've never forgotten it. The clip below will give you an idea of what I mean about endurance.

Andrea Arnold

One day I will stop writing about and being freakishly obsessed with Wuthering Heights but that day hasn’t come yet. Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation is so good it took my freakish obsession to whole new levels and explored the horror of the story as much as the romance. It's quiet, gloomy, dimly lit, devastating and by far the closest thing to how the book seems in my head.

Arnold's earlier film Fish Tank (2009) is brutal but wonderful and makes sinister, sexy use of Michael Fassbender. Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights are definitely two of my favorite movies, and not just by a female director, but by any director. I’m a little afraid to see Red Road which won the 2006 Cannes Jury Prize because I think it's going to upset me, but the fact that Arnold is so good that I'm scared of her movies is one of the best compliments I could give.

Lisa CholodenkoLisa Cholodenko

Meet the Women of the Film Directors' Boys Club