One of my ongoing goals is simply to watch more films that are written and directed by women, but I consistently fail in this attempt! I’ve attempted the 52 films by women challenge two years in a row now, and failed each time. It’s pitiful really, considering how many films I do watch (92 in 2018), that I can’t manage at least one a week by a female writer or director. But it’s a 37 Before 37 item now, so hopefully that will help boost my attempt! Here’s what I watched in the second half of 2018.

Set It Up – Directed by Claire Scanlon, written by Katie Silberman

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – Directed by Susan Johnson, written by Sofia Alvarez

Copycat – Co-written by Ann Biderman

A Simple Favour – Written by Jessica Sharzer

Road House – Co-written by Hilary Henkin

A League of Their Own – Directed by Penny Marshall

One Day – Directed by Lone Scherfig

Widows – Co-written by Gillian Flynn

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Written by J.K. Rowling

The Prince of Tides – Directed by Barbra Streisand, co-written by Becky Johnson

The Princess Switch – Written by Robin Bernheim and Megan Metzger

The Gentle Sex – Co-written by Aimée Stuart

Along with what I watched in January, February and March, and April, May and June, that takes my total to 29. That’s quite far short of the 52 target, and only makes up just over 30% of all the films I watched last year. This is only partly down to me, of course: women just aren’t equally represented in the film industry! But I already have lots on my list that I want to watch, so hopefully I can hit 52 in 2019!

My attempt to watch 52 Films By Women (in writing or directing roles), isn’t going entirely well – by halfway through the year, I had only chalked up 18, which is far fewer than half of 52. Here’s what I watched in the second quarter of the year.

Love Simon – Co-written by Elizabeth Berger

Girls Trip – Co-written by Tracy Oliver

Everything, Everything – Directed by Stella Meghie

Heartburn – Written by Nora Ephron

Romancing the Stone – Written by Diane Thomas

District 9 – Co-written by Terri Tatchell

Halloween – Co-written by Debra Hill

Ocean’s 8 – Co-written by Olivia Milch

There’s clearly a huge bias towards female writers in this bunch, rather than directors, which is a shame, so I need to be a little more active with searching those out. I am determined to get to 52, it just means fitting another 34 into the remaining months of the year (spoiler, since the end of June, I’ve managed just one!).

Last year I wrote about how I was trying to watch 52 films by women in 2017. I didn’t manage 52; I didn’t even manage half, finishing on 23 films that were either directed or written by women. That’s disappointing, not only because I didn’t manage to complete my goal, but also given that I watched 89 new-to-me films last year (which are the only ones I’m counting), really highlights the lack of opportunities women are given as opposed to men.

But I’m trying again in 2018, and this year, I’m even more determined to do it. Here’s what I managed in the first three months of the year.

Their Finest – Directed by Lone Scherfig, written by Gaby Chiappe

The Greatest Showman – Co-written by Jenny Bicks

Unexpected – Directed and written by Kris Swanberg

The Post – Co-written by Liz Hannah

Blackfish – Directed and written by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

The Big Sick – Co-written by Emily V. Gordon

Lady Bird – Directed and written by Greta Gerwig

Morvern Callar – Directed by Lynne Ramsey, written by Liana Dognini and Lynne Ramsey

My Feral Heart – Directed by Jane Gull

Montana – Written and directed by Limor Shmila

I’m really pleased with this run – I’m not exactly on track for 52 at the moment, but I’m getting there, and I’m just happy that I’m forcing myself to find more films that have women behind the scenes. Send me any recommendations you have for female-directed or written films!

This is the first year in a while that I haven’t set myself a target number of films to watch. It’s mainly because I was so lax around my new year blog posts, but also a little bit because sometimes it’s nice to take a break and do something a little bit different.

With that in mind, I thought this would be a good year to try the 52 Films by Women challenge. It’s been a thing for a while, and Letterboxd, where I log all of my films these days, has a lot of users who have done it before, and those who are doing it this year.

It’s quite a simple idea; it just means that for each week of the year, you watch a film by a female director. Actually, until writing this post, I had taken it to mean directed or written, which is how I’ve been playing it up until now. I will try and stick to directors for the most part, but I’m also going to continue to count writers.

Women are hugely under-represented in the film industry, and women of any colour other than white even more so. I think it’s important to strive for diversity, and the only way you can get the film industry to make anything different is to watch the films that do try something different.

We’re currently in week 16 of the year, and I’m only on ten films, so I’m a bit behind on my goal of one a week, but I’m determined to get there! Here’s what I’ve watched so far:

The Intervention – Written and directed by Clea DuVall
The Meddler – Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria
The To Do List – Written and directed by Maggie Carey

Friends With Kids – Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt
Country Strong – Written and directed by Shana Feste
The Love Letter – Written by Maria Maggenti
Hidden Figures – Co-written by Allison Schroeder

Adult Life Skills – Written and directed by Rachel Tunnard
Free Fire – Co-written by Amy Jump
Fifty Shades of Grey – Directed by Sam Taylor Johnson, written by Kelly Marcel

Have you watched any female directed/written films recently? Send me your recommendations!