One hundred critics, programmers, and academics from around the world weighed in on the best film of 2019 for Sight & Sound, the BFI’s International Magazine. The top 50 films have been announced, and “The Souvenir” leads the pack. Written and directed by Joanna Hogg, the semi-autobiographical drama depicts a film student’s dysfunctional relationship with an older man.
Overall, women directed or co-directed 17 of the top 50 films, amounting to 34 percent of the selection.
Titles to crack the top 20 include Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers,” the story of strippers who con their Wall Street clients (#19), and “For Sama,” a doc chronicling life in Aleppo through five years of the Syrian revolution (#15). Joining “The Souvenir” in the top 10 are Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” (#7) and Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (#5). The former is a story about star-crossed lovers told against the backdrop of the migration crisis and the latter sees an artist commissioned to paint a portrait of a reluctant bride.
Last year’s list included Debra Granik’s father-daughter drama “Leave No Trace,” Lynne Ramsay’s vigilante thriller “You Were Never Really Here,” and Lucrecia Martel’s colonialism drama “Zama,” among other women-directed titles.
Check out all of the women-directed and co-directed titles in Sight & Sound’s 2019 top 50 list below. List adapted from the BFI.
46. “Rose Plays Julie” (Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor)
45. “Rocks” (Sarah Gavron)
44. “Honeyland” (Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov)
43.”Holiday” (Isabella Eklöf)
36. “America” (Garrett Bradley)
32. “Booksmart” (Olivia Wilde)
29. “I Was at Home, But…” (Angela Schanelec)
28. Varda by Agnès (Agnès Varda)
26. “The Hottest August” (Brett Story)
25. “The Farewell” (Lulu Wang)
19. “Hustlers” (Lorena Scafaria)
18. “Happy as Lazzaro” (Alice Rohrwacher)
15. “For Sama” (Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts)
11. “High Life” (Claire Denis)
7. “Atlantics” (Mati Diop)
5. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Céline Sciamma)
1. “The Souvenir” (Joanna Hogg)