1. "The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Karl Theodor Deyer, 1928
This film is considered not just a classic, but an outstanding work of art. The picture style built practically on only close-ups has not become outdated due to its powerful emotional component. The acting of René Falconetti is on the verge of breaking the barrier and is praised by film critics throughout the world. But this first role for the actress was her last in her film career. After suffering on the set, Falconetti will not star in any more films. Read more here.
2. "All About Eve, directed by Joseph Leo Mankiewicz, 1950
Everyone's favorite Margo Channing is a star at the height of her popularity and has long been tired of fame. In the meantime, the young and ambitious Eve rubs herself into the diva's confidence. She becomes her assistant, but Margot has no idea that Eva wants to take her place by any means. The film explores sexism in professional acting and also raises issues of female beauty and aging.
3. "Cleo from 5 to 7," directed by Agnès Varda, 1962.
A couple of hours in the life of a young Parisian pop star who is waiting for the results of a biopsy. During this time, Cleo meets all kinds of people, through her interactions with whom she gradually steps out of her character and takes on simple human traits. Varda immerses the viewer into the heroine's inner world: we see a woman reflecting on herself and her own mortality.
4. "A Woman Out of Sorts," directed by John Cassavetes, 1974.
Mabel, wife and mother of a family, suffers from a mental disorder. Mabel's husband, Nick, loves her very much, but Mabel's mental problems greatly complicate their family life. The film touches on the mental ill-health of women housewives, whose problems are routinely ignored.
5. "Jeanne Dillman, 23 Commerce Quay, Brussels 1080," directed by Chantal Akerman, 1975
A major film by Chantal Akerman, an iconic figure of avant-garde and feminist cinema, about the life of a widow living with her teenage son who engages in prostitution to make ends meet.
6. "All About My Mother, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, 1999
Manuela loses her only son Esteban in an accident. She returns to the Barcelona from which she once fled, and the ghosts of the past materialize and change her life. Strong and independent women are the constant protagonists of Almodóvar's films. "All About My Mother" is the ultimate concentration of them, with each heroine so special that she does not fit any existing stereotype (for example, the HIV-positive nanny who is pregnant by a transgender prostitute).
7. "Gravity," directed by Alfonso Cuarón, 2013.
A disaster occurs in outer space. Astronaut Ryan Stone is the only surviving member of the ship's crew after it collides with space debris. Now her mission is to return to Earth by any means possible. We're used to male heroes saving our planet, in this sense a woman trying to survive in outer space radically changes the angle.
8. "August," directed by John Wells, 2013.
The head of the Weston family disappears unexpectedly, after which his terminally ill wife Violet meets her adult daughters for the first time in a long time. They arrive at the paternal home to get to the bottom of what has happened. Soon the cause of the disappearance is discovered, and the relationship between the in-laws heats up to the breaking point. A terrific exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, in which bouts of aggression alternate with fond memories of the past.
9. "Be Yourself: The Unknown Story of Alice Guy-Blache," directed by Pamela B. Green, 2018
A riveting documentary detective that concludes a multi-year study about a woman who wrote scripts, shot and produced movies when they first came into existence. Gi-Blashe's work was inspired by Sergei Eisenstein and admired by Alfred Hitchcock. The name of Alice Gi-Blaché, who worked in France and the United States, should be on a par with the names of the inventors of cinema - Thomas Edison, the Lumiere brothers, Georges Méliès, but has undeservedly disappeared from the history of cinema.
10. "Ammonite," directed by Francis Lee, 2020.
This feminist love drama about two women, starring Kate Winslet and Sirsha Ronan, sheds light on the well-established notion that women are less talented than men. Winslet's heroine, paleontologist Mary - the one in the title ammonite, art in its purest form, to discern which manages, alas, only a few. Her work is exhibited in the museum under a man's name, a practice that was widespread in earlier times, which is why history knows so few female names. The film, as restrained as possible in terms of dialogue and other expressive means, relies on the outstanding, almost silent acting of Kate Winslet.
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