As has been the case for the past few years, only one woman is in contention for the best director prize at the 2026 Oscars: Hamnet’s double Academy Award-winning helmer, Chloé Zhao. Last year, this bittersweet honor went to The Substance’s Coralie Fargeat; it was Anatomy of a Fall’s Justine Triet the year before that; and zero women before that. In fact, the Academy has nominated two women in this category only once in almost 100 years—Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, back in 2021. Only three women have ever won this statuette (The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow in 2010, Zhao in 2021, and The Power of the Dog’s Jane Campion in 2022), and only nine have ever been nominated (just Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, and Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, in addition to those already mentioned).
The reasons for this are manifold, but include the fact that the Academy’s directors’ branch, which decides on the nominations, is still predominantly male, and has historically overlooked the work of women. Until that changes, it’s even more imperative that we see and support women-directed projects. To that end, here are five women-directed films that deserved more attention this awards season, plus where to watch them.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Kaouther Ben Hania’s heart-wrenching docudrama is a marvel—a meticulous retelling of the true story of Hind Rajab, the six-year-old Palestinian girl who was trapped inside a car under fire in northern Gaza in January of 2024. As witnessed from the perspective of volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Ramallah, who received Hind’s emergency call from several miles away—played here by the masterful Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Amer Hlehel, and Clara Khoury—it tracks their painstaking attempts to rescue her against all odds.
Thankfully, the film was selected by Tunisia, the director’s home nation, as its submission to the best international film category, and received a nomination there—a remarkable feat, in many ways, given that some in Hollywood still refuse to spotlight the plight of Palestinians, and the film initially struggled to secure distribution in the US. A win here would be wonderful, though, in all honesty, it’s still grossly unjust that the film was overlooked in best picture and best director, given how epic and urgent it feels in scope, and how deftly it’s been constructed. If there’s only one film you watch this awards season, it should be this.
How to watch: Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, or YouTube.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
This disorienting, visceral, gonzo exploration of a mother struggling to care for her ailing young daughter features a career-defining performance from Rose Byrne, as directed by the fearless Mary Bronstein—caught in intense, uncomfortable close-ups, the actor’s face is an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of rage and fear, shock, and pained humor. The film proved divisive upon its Sundance premiere, and was considered by many to be too small to mount a convincing awards campaign. But it has defied its doubters, rightly earning Byrne a Golden Globe, the Independent Spirit Award for best lead performance, and now a best actress Oscar nomination, too. (Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley likely has this prize in the bag, but Byrne seems to be a close second, and certainly remains in with a chance.) Still, her effectiveness is also contingent on Bronstein’s razor-sharp script and stylistically assured direction, both of which deserve more recognition. This is a singular vision executed with a no-holds-barred ferociousness.
How to watch: Stream on HBO Max. Buy or rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, or YouTube.
The Testament of Ann Lee
Sweeping, lavishly mounted, and wildly ambitious, Mona Fastvold’s music-filled fever dream charts the rise of Ann Lee, the founding leader of the Shakers, in extraordinary fashion. Taking us from 18th-century Manchester onto a creaking ship, and then to the New World, as our heroine leads her people toward a more promising future, it’s a hallucinatory vortex of eerie folk songs and impassioned dancing. Yes, not all of it works, but the same is true of the auteur’s last film, The Brutalist, which she co-wrote with her partner, and that film’s director, Brady Corbet. It’s ironic, then, that that release—a fictional biopic about a Great Man™ and helmed by one—secured 10 Oscar nominations and won three statuettes (for best cinematography, best original score, and best actor for Adrien Brody). As for this one, which is made by a woman and about a real-life woman who achieved remarkable things? Zilch, naturally.
In my book, it deserved to be on a 10-strong best picture shortlist, but there are many more glaring omissions: for instance, Amanda Seyfried is simply virtuosic in the lead role, committing body and soul, and fully deserved to be in the best actress shortlist. Then there are the exquisite costumes, the precise production design, and the goosebump-inducing score by Daniel Blumberg, not to mention Fastvold’s wizardry in weaving all of these strands together to create a grand period piece on a modest budget. When male directors take big swings like this, they’re lauded—when women do, they are, all too often, ignored.
How to watch: Buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, or YouTube.
Left-Handed Girl
Last year’s best director Oscar recipient, Anora’s Sean Baker, is a co-writer on this intimate family drama from Shih-Ching Tsou, which marks her solo directorial debut. (She’s served as his longtime producer on everything from Tangerine and The Florida Project to Red Rocket.) It’s the tender tale of a trio of women—a strung-out single mother (Janel Tsai), her rebellious twenty-something daughter (Shih Yuan Ma), and her cheeky five-year-old sister (Nina Ye)—who relocate from the countryside to bustling Taipei to set up a noodle stand at a jam-packed night market. Each is tormented by their own private demons, as they do everything they can to stay afloat. Submitted by Taiwan as the country’s best international film contender, it made the Academy’s shortlist of 15 releases in that field, but ultimately failed to clinch a nomination. That’s no reason to sleep on it, though—this is a devastating, heartwarming, and totally transportive portrait of female resistance, resilience, and solidarity.
How to watch: Stream on Netflix.
Hedda
Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) gleefully sinks her teeth into Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in this fleet-footed, sumptuous adaptation. Transposed to a raucous party at an English country estate in the glamorous 1950s, it’s a fizzy caper which boasts four major assets: a scenery-chewing lead performance from Tessa Thompson as the magnetic title character; a scene-stealing Nina Hoss as her long-lost lover; sensational costuming; and immaculate production design. Thompson and Hoss landed nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, with the former also recognized by the Golden Globes and Gotham Awards; and the Critics’ Choice Awards nominated its costumes. Then the Academy, alas, overlooked it, but if you’re in the market for a glittering period romp, this is sure to hit the spot.
How to watch: Stream via Prime Video.
