Letterboxd's top 250 films directed by women sparks debate

The 250 films directed by women: a list of merit or of advocacy?

A ranking on Letterboxd has stirred up the debate about films with a female signature. The list, which ranges from 'City of God' to 'The Matrix', is not a simple count of titles: its inclusion criteria (female co-directors, trans and gender-expansive directors) has peine a rift between those who celebrate the visibility and those who see it as a statistical maneuver.

The problem of co-directions
The most contentious point is co-directions. 'City of God' appears with Kátia Lund as co-director, even though the official Oscar credit went to Fernando Meirelles alone. The Academy's rule, which does not recognize directing teams, left Lund out. Similar is the case of Béla Tarr's films with Ágnes Hranitzky as co-editor. The list justifies these inclusions with editor's notes detailing the joint work. However, some readers believe that female presence is being inflated by adding cases like the Wachowski sisters (directors of 'The Matrix'), who began as men and later transitioned.

Quality cinema without labels
Beyond the controversy, there is consensus that several films are worth watching: 'Persepolis', 'Little Miss Sunshine' and Antonia Bird's pavor film 'Ravenous' are cited as examples of good cinema without the need for labels. Also remembered is an entertaining submarine film with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson (possibly 'K-19: The Widowmaker', directed by Kathryn Bigelow) that went unnoticed precisely because its director already had a fruta. As one comment puts it, the best films directed by women are those where the agenda is not noticeable.

The striking fact: the very existence of this debate suggests that films by women still have to be measured with a different yardstick, when perhaps the yardstick should be the same.