With the additional time saved from working from home and money saved from not going out, I have been watching more films at home, a mix of revisits to my DVD collection and new discoveries via various streaming platforms. The 'year' element of the #52FilmsByWomen pledge long abandoned, this is now my 8th batch of 52 films - watched from 30 August - 13 December 2020. Most of the films from 366 - 380 I watched as part of the Femme Filmmakers Festival. Read about films: 1 – 52, 53 - 104, 105 - 156, 157 - 208, 209 - 260, 261 - 312 & 313 - 365.
You will notice that a number of these films appear in chronological order, this was due to a separate viewing project #1930to2020 in which I watched films from sequential years each day, where possible hunting out films directed by women. Check out the blogs here: 1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1990 - 2009 and 2010 - 2020, where I highlight the films directed by women.
From these 52 films, 39 were new to me and 13 were revisits. I revisited three Mira Nair films (Kama Sutra, Hysterical Blindness and The Namesake), and Jane Campion's beautiful Bright Star. You can read more about decades-long interest in Jane Campion here, and how Mira Nair's films changed my life here.
But I've been equally pleased to discovered new films and filmmakers: some documentaries, but most were feature films. Here's my top 10 from the 39 first-time watches this month, nine feature films and one documentary.
Three Poplars in Plyushchikha (1968, Tatyana Lioznova) But I'm a Cheerleader (1999, Jamie Babbit)
The Secret Life of Words (2005, Isabel Coixet) Water Lilies (2007,Céline Sciamma)
The Savages (2007, Tamara Jenkins) Lourdes (2009, Jessica Hausner)
Freak Show (2017, Trudie Styler)
Love Cecil (2017, Lisa Immordino Vreeland)
System Crasher (2019, Nora Fingscheid)
Rocks (2019, Sarah Gavron)
You can read reviews of all these films on my letterboxd.
Films 366 - 417
366. Adult Life Skills (2016, Rachel Tunnard)
367. But I'm a Cheerleader (1999, Jamie Babbit)
368. Cameraperson (2016, Kristen Johnson)
369. Old Enough (1984, Marisa Silver)
370. Orlando (1992, Sally Potter)
371. Marie Antoinette (2006, Sofia Coppola)
372. Lourdes (2009, Jessica Hausner)
373. Three Poplars in Plyushchikha (1968, Tatyana Lioznova)
374. Little Woods (2018, Nia DaCost)
375. Black is King (2020, Beyonce)
376. Afghan Star (2009, Havana Marking)
377. Radiance (2017, Naomi Kawase)
378. The Edge of Democracy (2019, Petra Cost)
379. System Crasher (2019, Nora Fingscheid)
380. Water Lilies (2007,Céline Sciamma)
381. How to Build a Girl (2019, Coky Giedroyc)
382. Lucky Numbers (2000, Nora Ephron)
383. Bewitched (2005, Nora Ephron)
384. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976, Joan Micklin Silver)
385. Nocturne (2020, Zu Quirke)
386. Now and Then (1995, Lesli Linka Glatter)
387. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996, Mira Nair)
388. The Man Who Cried (2000, Sally Potter)
389. Hysterical Blindness (2002, Mira Nair)
390. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003, Audrey Wells)
391. The Mirror of Maya Deren (2002, MartinaKudlacek)
392. My Life Without Me (2003, Isabel Coixet)
393. The Secret Life of Words (2005, Isabel Coixet)
394. Sherrybaby (2006, Laurie Collyer)
395. The Other Boleyn Girl (2003, Philippa Lowthorpe)
396. The Namesake (2006, Mira Nair)
397. The Savages (2007, Tamara Jenkins)
398. The Secret Life of Bees (2008, Gina Prince-Bythewood)
399. The Women (2008, Diane English)
400. Bright Star (2009, Jane Campion)
401. First Position (2011, Bess Kargman)
402. Dash of Love (2017, Christie Will Wolf)
403. The Bling Ring (2013, Sofia Coppola)
404. The Voices (2014, Marjane Satrapi)
405. The Love Witch (2016, Anna Biller)
406. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017, Alexandra Dean)
407. Freak Show (2017, Trudie Styler)
408. Love Cecil (2017, Lisa Immordino Vreeland)
409. A Christmas Carol (2020, Jacqui and David Morris)
410. Mapplethorpe (2018, Ondi Timoner)
411.The Teckman Mystery (1954, Wendy Toye)
412. Rocks (2019, Sarah Gavron)
413. Carmilla (2019, Emily Harris)
414. Summerland (2020, Jessica Swale)
415. Godmothered (2020, Sharon Maguire)
416. Harvest Love (2017, Christie Will)
417. Three Cases of Murder (1955, David Eady, George More O’Ferrall & Wendy Toye)
So on to the next 52!