2 films directed by women

Women in power have never been stronger than they are today. According to data from the research carried out by Grant Thornton, the number of women occupying leadership positions in medium-sized companies in Brazil increased from 2% to 11% from 2012 to here. Even though it is far from gender equality, the tendency is to increase female participation in power.
Cinema can be a great empowerment tool, right? To prove it, I selected three amazing and relatively new films directed by women:

Winter of the Soul

The film yielded nothing less than the first Oscar nomination for Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence – only 20 at the time. John Hawkes also competed for the award in the category of Best Supporting Actor. The feature was written and directed by Debra Granik and yielded great reviews.

Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is a 17 year old girl who takes care of her brothers and her sick mother. In order not to lose the house where she lives with her family, she decides to go after her father who abandoned her a few years ago. He has drug problems and used his family home as a guarantee of his parole, but he eventually disappeared.
The film is a great suspense. Everything very well produced, from the choice of locations to the script. Of course, Lawrence’s performance ends up stealing the show, it’s incredible!

Selma

Selma is a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches initiated and directed by James Bevel and led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as King, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as George Wallace, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Common as Bevel.

Selma premiered at the American Film Institute Festival on November 11, 2014, began a limited US release on December 25, and expanded into wide theatrical release on January 9, 2015, two months before the 50th anniversary of the march. The film was re-released on March 20, 2015 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the historical march.

Selma received critical acclaim, with particular praise given to DuVernay’s direction and Oyelowo’s performance, though it was met with some criticism for its historical inaccuracies, largely centered on the perceived vilification of Johnson and the omission of several prominent Jewish civil rights leaders. The film was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards. It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Actor, and won for Best Original Song.