Live Poll: Women's History Movies: An International Collection

Nine or ten are based on true stories and many more depict situations* and contexts that were or are very real (such as the Iranian revolution, genital mutllation, Chinese polygamy, Saudi transportation laws, and Pennsylvania abortion laws and practices) but, more importantly, I think, all of the stories reflect common experiences of women and girls over a large span of time. 

Perhaps it is the specific phrasing ("chart experiences", "illustrates a piece of women's history") that makes me expect stories closer to actual events.

Denis Villeneuve, Incendies

Diary Anne Frank - war

Christiane F. - drugs

Olga (2004) - war

fyc

This may be a better take on the story of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959):

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) - genocide

Thank you for your suggestions but genocide, war, and drugs are not at all specific to women and that's what I want this list to reflect. While some men have experienced a few of the things portrayed in these movies, such as rape, even those are much more common among women and girls and define women's history in particular. There are certainly ways in which genocide and war impact women differently (mass rape as a weapon of war, for example, and "female genocide" and female infanticide as another) and this gives me the idea of looking for movies that depict those (so thank you!)  but, as much as I adore Anne Frank's book, it doesn't illustrate anything like that --  unless I'm forgetting something (if I am, please remind me).

I did not know this when making the list but perhaps "Women's History" and "Women's History Month" is perceived differently than "Black History Month" so I may add something to the intro that more explicitly communicates that these films illustrate experiences that define the history of women, specifically. 

Mario, I don't know the films, 'Olga' and 'Christiane F.,' so if there's something about those stories that are uniquely women's, please let me know. 

Incendies is also about rape, among other things.

Depending on how much time I have this afternoon, I may need a bit more time on this one.

I've seen 'Incendies' and think it's a great film. I don't know 'Olga' or Christiane F.'  I've been considering 'Incendies' and a few other films as a replacement for one of the American films that touch upon rape or one of the films that also take place in the Middle East but there are other reasons for keeping those films. I really wanted to include 'The Accused' because, although I think that much of it is mediocre and the end feels like a bad TV movie, Jodie Foster's performance is one of the most powerful that I have seen and its depiction of rape that doesn't look away or spare anything was somewhat of a watershed in mainstream Hollywood film. There are so many films that I want to include but can't. I'm still moving things around, though, and will add what I can. 

'hidden figures' perhaps may also apply since the women are discriminated for being women AND black in a very men-dominated technological environment

Indeed. The list that this poll is based on has 342 films on it, so far, lol. 'Hidden Figures' is one of them. If you really would like to see it be included, I could see what movie I might be able to remove to make room for it but it's a tight squeeze because I would only remove another American movie. 

I'm very disappointed that I couldn't include 'The Stoning of Soraya M.,' 'The Silence of the Lambs,' 'The Wife,' 'Puzzle,' 'The Florida Project,' 'Reiga,' 'She's Gotta Have It,' a few more non-American films and a few older movies.

I actually found something to remove and added 'Hidden Figures.'

...and I would have liked to include more women-directed films but there are just so many variables to consider and 35 is always going to be a subset with this poll because I wanted it to be broad. 

Perhaps you should define more specific criteria.

Incendies [spoiler] - rape during civil war

8.3/10

This looks like a good one. If I find a movie on the list to replace (the list is at 35 right now), I will add this. 

When  I was compiling this list, movies like Camille Claudel, Colette, and The Wife made me think of a list about women artists and issues like erasure and co-opting, although certainly not just such depressing topics, lol. I'm noting this movie in case I ever do that list and for my watchlist, as well, so thanks. 

(Added later:) Mario, you and I must have posted a response to Peter's suggestion at the same time. This was my response to Peter's suggested movie. I responded to another post about 'Incendies' above. 

Added 'Incendies.' Thank you for the suggestion.

Oh, yeah, that's a topic that should be represented. I'll find a place for it. Thank you!

@Pencho15  Thanks, not just for the suggestion, but to an addition to my watchlist. : )

Oh, and I saw that it's directed by a woman. 

Something that I guess is specially hard in a country like Yemen, just for that it's great this movie exists.