Girls on Film: 10 lesbian filmmakers you should know about

In honor of WorldPride, a look at some of filmdom's most talented lesbian filmmakers

Girls on Film
(Image credit: (Jason Merritt/Getty Images))

WorldPride kicks off today in Toronto, and with rainbows flying and attention turning toward queer diversity, this is the perfect time to look at the long history of important contributions lesbian filmmakers have made to cinema. From well-known names to all-but-forgotten talent, these filmmakers have had an indelible impact on cinema. They are leading examples of the benefits of diversity, and their treatments of theme, scope, and identity challenge the repetitive confines of modern filmmaking.

The list that follows is by no means comprehensive. There are many "one-hit wonders": Great talents who have yet to direct follow-up films (including Alice Wu, who helmed Saving Face, and Jennie Livingston, who scored a documentary hit with Paris Is Burning). Others are more prolific, but harder to access. Monika Treut's work is hard to find (though Amazon Prime members can stream Female Misbehavior), and Barbara Hammer's is almost impossible to view unless you buy it sight-unseen from her website.

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Monika Bartyzel

Monika Bartyzel is a freelance writer and creator of Girls on Film, a weekly look at femme-centric film news and concerns, now appearing at TheWeek.com. Her work has been published on sites including The Atlantic, Movies.com, Moviefone, Collider, and the now-defunct Cinematical, where she was a lead writer and assignment editor.