When you watch an average of more than one movie per day the whole year long, so 7+ each week, really, how difficult can it be to each week have one of them be directed by a woman? Well, in ways it can be quite the challenge, especially when on an old movie binge. Not old old really old, because then you can just take 2 hours and finish the challenge on Alice Guy shorts. But I mean, that’s not how we roll around here. We watch Alice Guy shorts, as we all should, but in all lists and challenges and things I generally tend to ignore shorts in the final tally. Who needs to count them anyway, when there is plenty to choose from. Things have been getting better over the years. Not just in the new-film department, but also in several older ones getting dusted off to get a proper release.
This year has been quite the ride. The year is not over yet, but I hit my 52 mark long ago. I’ve been binging a lot of Korean cinema for the past year or so, and while most movies are from the last 2-3 decades, it has not been easy to locate films by Korean women.
Before we start, a special shout out to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. A few years ago, who would’ve thought I would willingly (eagerly, I might add) sit down to watch a Barbie movie. I still haven’t been bothered to watch the other part of Barbenheimer.. I also had a great time with Anatomy of a Fall, and Saltburn, but we’re doing lesser known films here. My whole list can be found here.
South Korea
I really wanted to highlight some of the South Korean films I watched as well, so I put them in a separate top 5. In last year’s post on my journey through South Korean cinema I also included a top 15 by women, so together with these that makes it a top 20 I suppose.
Top 10
These are some of my favourite non-Korean films this year. I stumbled upon several very surprising films during March Around the World earlier this year. Finding these gems outside of your typical Western world countries makes it extra rewarding to do this challenge each year.
Well, that’s it for this year. Have you seen anything I should definitely prioritize in 2025? Let me know!
