44 Women And Non-Binary Filmmakers We Loved In 2020
Considering physical events were pretty much non-existent after the lockdown arrived, we were so pleased to still attend festivals who made the bold yet accessible move to the online world. Through these festivals we’ve been introduced to a variety of talented filmmakers across the globe. So we decided to pop together a small list of some of the women and non binary filmmakers that we loved in 2020 from the festivals we were lucky enough to attend. We tried to keep with UK based creatives, but some we couldn’t help but include! All of these filmmakers either had their work screened at a festival this year or were featured at an event.
Adura Onashile
Her film Expensive Shit was featured at London Film Festival in October, adapted from her own stage play.
Alison Still
Her film Antonio was featured at Women X Film Festival in October, winning her Best Drama Film and Best Production Design.
Apoorva Satish
Her film Kanya was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Bircan Birol
Her documentary My Name Is Anik was featured at Glasgow Film Festival in March.
Claudia Claremi
Her film Firefly was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Comfort Arthur
Her film Black Barbie was featured at the first ever We Are One festival in June.
Daisy Leigh Phippard
Her debut film Sealskin was featured at Women X Film Festival in October, winning Best Costume Design.
Daryen Ru
Their film Denim was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Ella Greenwood
Her film Faulty Roots was featured at High Peak Independent Film Festival in October and is now being adapted into a feature length film.
Ellie Heydon and Lydia Bland
The sister directing duo had their film Fred Forever featured at Women X Film Festival in October.
Ethosheia Hylton
Her film Dolapo is Fine was featured at London Film Festival and Leeds International Film Festival this year.
Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah
Her film To the Girl That Looks Like Me was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Grace Alwyn Ashworth
Her film A Dunder Plunder was featured at Sheffield Shorts Festival in November.
Graciela Mae
Her film Coffee Breaks was featured on our honours list at Women X Film Festival this year, a striking achievement for a student film.
Janet Marrett
Her film Clearing was featured at Aesthetica Film Festival in November and made our honours list at Women X Film Festival too.
Jordana Valerie Allen-Shim
Their short film Gay As In Happy was featured at Sheffield Shorts in November.
Kate Graham
Her film Scrum was featured at Leeds International Film Festival in November.
Katrin Larissa Kasper
Her film Appetite featured at Aesthetica Film Festival and won Best Comedy at Bristol Independent Film Festival in September.
Kylie Eaton
An American thrown into the mix here but we just had to for Kylie, her short film Dispel won Best Writing at Women X Film Festival in October.
Laura Spini
One half of a directing duo with her partner Laurence Brook, Laura’s film A Disappearance won Best Performance at Women X Film Festival thanks to a stunning performance from Sophie Thompson.
Lauren Vevers
Her debut film Love Spell won Best Director at Women X Film Festival in October.
Letia Solomon
Her film Cypher was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October this year.
Libby Burke Wilde
Her film Absent, created in partnership with Freedom4Girls, a period poverty charity based in Leeds, was featured at Sheffield Shorts Festival in November.
Livia Ihinosen Ohihoin
We had to add Livia into the mix, her film For The Woman On The Floor was featured at Women X Film Festival in October.
Lucy Rose
Her short film She Lives Alone premiered at Leeds International Film Festival in November.
Luna Carmoon
Her short film Shagbands was our favourite pick from London Film Festival this year, we haven’t stopped singing Babycakes since.
Maya Witters
Her debut film Turtles was featured at Women X Film Festival in October.
Michelle Brand
Her film Any Instant Whatever was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Molly Bradbook
Her film Audrey and The Rocket was featured and won Best Student Award at Bristol Independent Film Festival in September.
Molly Manning Walker
Her film Good thanks, you? was featured at London Film Festival and selected at the International Critics' Week in Cannes.
Molly Moody
Her film Obscure Origins was featured at Women X Film Festival in October.
Morayo Akande
Her film The A.V Van was chosen for Sharp Shorts, a new opportunity for Scotland’s emerging filmmakers.
Niamh Mckeown
Her film Farmland was featured at Glasgow Short Film Festival in August.
Nichola Wong
Her film The Passing was featured at BFI Flare Festival in March.
Nicola Zawadi Cross
Her film Becky made our honours list at Women X Film Festival this year.
Nosa Eke
Her film Something In The Closet was featured at Sheffield Shorts Film Festival in November.
Olive Nwosu
Her film Troublemaker was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Parvinder Shergill
She released her film LOVEBUG, a romcom about finding love during the pandemic and will be making her debut feature film next year.
Rebecca Manley
Her film Of Thread and Almonds was featured and won Best Drama at Bristol Independent Film Festival in September.
Runyararo Mapfumo
Her film Masterpiece was shown at Youtube’s first ever We Are One Festival in June.
Sarah Grant
Her film Scare won Best Comedy at Women X Film Festival in October.
Yelizaveta Smith
Her film Solitude was featured at Raindance Film Festival in October.
Zena Egbe
Their film Sweet Mother was shown at both BFI Flare Festival in March and Leeds International Festival in November.
We can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store for women and non-binary film directors, if there’s someone missing from this list that you think we should know about - tell us and we’ll follow them and their journey! Just drop us an email info@riannepictures.com
We’re also determined to see more women of colour in festivals next year, which is why we’re offering a 50% discount on submission fees to Women X Film Festival in 2021. Just drop us an email on the address above with the subject line WOMEN X 50 along with some info on your film and we’ll send you an exclusive code to use on FilmFreeway.
List compiled by Caris Rianne, Ashton Clarke, Emily Garbutt, and Maddy Sinclair with editing by Rachel Williams.
