22 Rising Female Filmmakers to Watch in 2022

Aitch Alberto, “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”

Aitch Alberto writes and directs this adaptation of Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s YA novel “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.” Set in 1980s Texas, the story centers on two Mexican-American teen boys falling in love. Alberto has previously written for HBO Max series “Duster” and Apple TV+’s “Little America.”

“At its core, ‘Ari and Dante’ tells a story of self-discovery and acceptance,” Alberto said in a press statement. “My own journey helped me realize there is nothing more important than standing up and fully embracing who we are and being seen for it. I’m motivated to place a lens on male vulnerability that includes a more empathic and compassionate gaze that helps redefine masculinity specifically for the Latino/a/e/x community. To say this is a dream come true is an understatement.” 

Eva Longoria Bastón, Eugenio Derbez, Max Pelayo, and Kevin Alejandro lead the ensemble cast. As Alberto told Variety, the whole cast and crew, even the extras, are BIPOC. “It was a very minority-heavy cast and crew, which was particularly important,” Alberto said. “I want people to watch this movie and not only connect emotionally to the main characters but to see themselves reflected in all the colors of the world. As a trans director of Latino descent, there are few of us out there, and a big part of my holdback on my journey was not seeing myself represented behind the camera. I want to change that.” 

Prano Bailey-Bond, “Censor”

Writer-director Prano Bailey-Bond expanded on the short film “Nasty” for her feature directorial debut “Censor,” about a female film censor who finds a clue to her sister’s disappearance in a VHS tape. “Censor” opened the Midnight section of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, with IndieWire’s Eric Kohn praising Bailey-Bond’s masterful techniques: “The movie shows the mark of a filmmaker in full command of vintage horror’s most disturbing strengths — and well-equipped to resurrect them,” Kohn wrote. 

Luàna Bajrami, “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar”

Luàna Bajrami writes, directs, and stars in “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar,” which she made when she was just 18 years old. The film premiered at Cannes last year, two years after Bajrami appeared in Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” 

Per IndieWire’s review, “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar” centers on three young and free-spirited women who decide to escape their daily lives and form a gang. The film “pushes its audience to more closely consider everything that came before, a roar of much more to come” from Bajrami. 

Justine Bateman, “Violet”

Writer-director-producer Justine Bateman launched her feature film career behind the camera with “Violet,” starring Olivia Munn as a fearful woman on the verge of a breakdown (or breakthrough). The film premiered at 2021 SXSW and was nominated for Best Narrative Feature.

As IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote, “Violet” harnesses a “deep universality” while acting as a launching pad for new chapters in both Munn and Bateman’s respective careers. 

Hanna Bergholm, “Hatching”

First-time feature filmmaker Hanna Bergholm broke into the Sundance scene thanks to horror-drama “Hatching.” The Finnish filmmaker previously directed TV series “Reetta ja Ronja” and a series of short films prior to “Hatching,” which IndieWire’s Kate Erbland called a “horrifying, hilarious creature feature” centered on the absurdity of adolescence.

The official synopsis reads: “A young gymnast, who tries desperately to please her demanding mother, discovers a strange egg. She hides it and keeps it warm, but when it hatches, what emerges shocks them all.” 

Nathalie Biancheri, “Wolf”

Nathalie Biancheri wrote and directed the arthouse drama “Wolf,” about a boy (George MacKay) who believes he is a certain lupine creature. Lily Rose-Depp and Paddy Considine co-star in the 2021 TIFF-selected film, with IndieWire’s Kate Erbland applauding Biancheri’s fearlessness. 

“She and her strong stars are never afraid to put on a new coat, to throw on a different identity, to strive to, as one character says late in the film, not just survive, but survive as their true self,” Erbland wrote. “Few films have been able to do that so keenly.” 

Mimi Cave, “Fresh”

Following success in short films and music videos, Mimi Cave launched her feature film career with “Fresh,” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan as an ill-fated couple with insatiable appetites for the extreme. The 2022 Sundance selection premiered in the Midnight program, and while the plot is purposefully kept under wraps ahead of its March 4 release on Hulu, Cave explained during the IndieWire Studio at Sundance that “Fresh” exposes the “power dynamics of the love relationship” through “over-the-top aspects” and the (literal) dissection over the cultural “commodification of women’s bodies.” 

Deborah Chow, “Obi-Wan Kenobi”

Longtime Marvel director Deborah Chow has been behind single episodes of “Jessica Jones” and “Iron Fist,” as well as two of Disney’s “Mandalorian” installments, but now Chow is stepping into the spotlight with upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series, “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Chow will direct all six episodes, starring Ewan McGregor in the titular role as the iconic Jedi master. The series will debut May 25 on the streaming platform. 

Jamie Dack, “Palm Trees and Power Lines”

Jamie Dack wrote and directed the 2018 short film “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” which later became a 2022 Sundance feature film of the same name. A twisted love story between a teenage girl (Lily McInerny) and a man twice her age (Jonathan Tucker), “Palm Trees and Power Lines” challenges audiences to revel in the uncomfortable dynamics onscreen. 

“Throughout the film, both Dack and her revelatory star teeter through shifting concepts, black and white, yes and no, that only grow more jarring and tense as ‘Palm Trees and Power Lines’ unfolds,” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland said in her review. “You might know where this is going, but Dack and McInerny ensure you can’t predict how it will feel, right or wrong.” 

Mariama Diallo, “Master”

After directing four episodes of HBO’s “Random Acts of Flyness,” Mariama Diallo went on to write and direct the short film “White Devil,” which led to the 2022 Sundance feature “Master,” starring Regina Hall. The haunting premise — two Black women share disturbing experiences at a predominantly white college in New England — led Diallo to tell IndieWire that the film acts to debunk the “novelty” around Black horror filmmaking.

“How could I never make a film and not talk about my perspective? Then we’re doomed,” Diallo said. “I am glad to be able to now add my voice and say what the hell I want to say.” 

Sara Dosa, “Fire of Love”

Hot off of the magical-realist documentary “The Seer and the Unseen,” director-producer Sara Dosa debuted “Fire of Love” during Sundance 2022. As IndieWire’s Ryan Lattanzio wrote, “Fire of Love” is a “documentarian’s dream,” following married volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft by using archival footage.

“This is a quintessentially French story about French people, which means it’s filled with plenty of French pop tunes and, visible or not, references to French New Wave cinema (there’s a ‘Jules and Jim’-ness to their love affair with volcanoes, and a Jacques Cousteau quirkiness to the edit),” Lattanzio wrote. “Ultimately, ‘Fire of Love’ acquires a ticking-clock, lump-in-the-throat inevitability as we inch closer to the ’90s, and to the seething mountain in Japan that would eventually claim the Kraffts’ lives. Dosa’s film does not linger too closely on their deaths, but instead exuberantly celebrates their lives, forgoing any talking heads or outside counsel to focus squarely on what’s surely the most unusual married couple in documentary history.” 

Adamma Ebo, “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul”

Writer-director Adamma Ebo drew upon her personal relationship with organized religion for the film “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul,” which premiered at Sundance 2022.

“I asked a ton of questions all the time, in Sunday school, after sermons, and found myself met with a lot of resistance,” Abo told IndieWire as part of the official IndieWire Studio at Sundance. “As I grew older, I learned this resistance was, a lot of the time, sort of a master of protection for the people in power, and also these people in power didn’t always have folks’ best interests in mind.” 

“Honk for Jesus,” which stars Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown as Southern pastors for a Baptist mega-church, was conceived to “start a nuanced conversation where it isn’t just bashing or making fun of or an indictment of a particular culture” following Abo’s own “reckoning” with her personal faith. “I can both find the significance and the beauty of it,” Abo said, “and calling bullshit when necessary.” 

Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, “Aftershock”

Co-directors Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee followed two grieving fathers who lost their partners due to preventable childbirth complications for the documentary “Aftershock,” which premiered at 2022 Sundance. The racially driven U.S. maternal health crisis was examined by the filmmaking duo, who also served as producers. Lee told IndieWire that it’s just the beginning for films and storytelling to showcase diverse casts, now that Hollywood has seemed to be catching up with demands for representation. 

“As the industry begins to recognize that Black stories are valuable, hopefully, we’ll get more funding and more types of stories,” Lewis said. “They’re still sending stories about gangsters and who we are from the ‘hood. Where’s the story about the tech bro who’s doing something? Where’s the story about the Black guy who’s hacking something? Where’s the story about the Black guy who’s MacGyver? Where is our Black Indiana Jones? And I do think that’s coming as the industry wakes up and realizes what we really have to offer.” 

Tatiana Huezo, “Prayers for the Stolen”

While Tatiana Huezo has been well-known in Mexico and El Salvador for years as a documentarian, her first narrative feature, “Prayers for the Stolen,” has cemented Huezo as a major force in the international market. Huezo wrote and directed the coming-of-age story that premiered at the 2021 New York Film Festival and was later short-listed for the Best International Feature Oscar. A trio of girls grow up around a backdrop of trafficking, drug deals, and cartel violence, and Huezo even created a “latex map,” as IndieWire reported, to keep the physical attributes of each actress consistent across the characters’ respective growth. 

As the IndieWire review wrote, “‘Prayers for the Stolen’ shines a much-needed light on the consequences of Mexico’s war on drugs, specifically highlighting the plight of the nation’s women and girls. While she would have benefitted from maintaining some more of the naturalism of her documentary work in lieu of the special effects and makeup tricks of the narrative film world, her first foray into fiction is a forceful look into a part of Mexico that’s perhaps best understood through young girls’ eyes, where the greatest threats are lurking within the questions their parents refuse to answer.” 

Nyla Innuksuk, “Slash/Back”

Nyla Innuksuk’s 2022 SXSW film “Slash/Back” also marks her feature debut. The coming-of-age adventure centers around young girl Maika (Tasiana Shirley) and her friends after discovering an alien invasion in their small arctic hamlet. “Utilizing their makeshift weapons and horror movie knowledge, the aliens realize you don’t mess with girls from Pang,” the official logline reads. Writer-director Innuksuk formerly worked on the docuseries “Future History” as well as the critically acclaimed 2016 short film “Breaths.” 

Nikyatu Jusu, “The Nanny”

Short film director Nikyatu Jusu made the leap to features with horror film “Nanny,” centering on a Senegalese immigrant (Anna Diop) tasked with caring for a white family in New York while coping with strange supernatural forces that beckon her back to her homeland. Jusu told IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn that the film was in the works for almost nine years, calling “Nanny” a “labor of love,” no pun intended.

“It’s so specific to my culture and my mother’s story. I knew that I didn’t want to tell a straightforward genre story. I wanted to remix this story of a domestic experience with genre,” the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner said. “A lot of the films I love do that. I wanted to remix the American immigrant experience with genre. A lot of people have a way into that — whether you were raised by a nanny or your mother was one. There were so many entry points for people.” 

Olivia Newman, “Where the Crawdads Sing”

Director Olivia Newman was tapped to helm the adaptation of bestselling novel “Where the Crawdads Sing,” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, David Strathairn, and Harris Dickinson. While the film, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, is in post-production and slated for a 2022 theatrical release, Newman is already linked to an untitled Roe v. Wade project written by Jennifer Majka.

Per an official logline, the film will tell “the story behind the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973, which paved the way for women to have safe and legal abortions in the U.S.” 

Frances O’Connor, “Emily”

Actress Frances O’Connor has starred in “Mansfield Park,” “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” and “Poor Boy,” but O’Connor is taking on a very different role in her writing-directing debut, “Emily.” Based on the life of Emily Brontë, the biopic stars Emma Mackey as the famed author who died at age 30. Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, and Gemma Jones also co-star. 

Megan Park, “The Fallout”

Writer-director Megan Park made her feature debut with 2021 SXSW film “The Fallout,” which won the festival’s highest honor and later premiered on HBO Max in early 2022. Jenna Ortega stars as high schooler Vada, who navigates the emotional fallout she experiences in the wake of a school tragedy. Vada is locked in a bathroom with influencer Mia (Maddie Ziegler) and peer Quinton (Niles Fitch) during a school shooting, and “The Fallout” proves to be a lofty and heartfelt ode to tragedy.

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote, “Park is similarly sensitive to the emotional vagaries of enduring such an experience, and often punctuates moments of seeming grace and acceptance with darker revelations. She’s not interested in easy answers, and while ‘The Fallout’ allows for lightness to occasionally emerge, the film never forgets the experience at its center, one that can never be fully forgotten.”

Carlota Pereda, “Piggy”

Spanish director Carlota Pereda mostly directed TV episodes prior to 2022 Sundance horror breakout film “Piggy,” about an overweight teen bullied by a clique of cool girls poolside while on vacation. IndieWire’s Eric Kohn compared “Piggy” to an “unlikely convergence of Catherine Breillat’s ‘Fat Girl’ with ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,'” rooted in lead star Laura Galán’s “engrossing performance.” Add in a serial killer mystery, and “Piggy” is both a bloody and a moral tale about the parameters of karma.  

Krystin Ver Linden, “Alice”

Krystin Ver Linden writes and directs “Alice,” her first film project. Keke Palmer stars as a slave in the Antebellum South who escapes her plantation only to discover a shocking reality that lies beyond the tree line. Common, Johnny Lee Miller, and Gaius Charles co-star in the revenge thriller. As IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in her review, it’s no secret that “Alice” actually takes place in the year 1973, and even more horrifically, was inspired by true stories. “Alice” premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment will release it March 18.