As this is Women’s History Month, we celebrate women in film, whether they are actors or filmmakers. Independent cinema has yearned out many new filmmakers who have made quite an impact in various genres. There are many women filmmakers who are doing that but don’t get the notice they deserve. With that said, here are indie women directors you need to watch as their films are quite good and you need to see them!
- Danishka Esterhazy
The first movie I saw directed by Canada’s Danishka Esterhazy is 2019’s The Banana Splits Movie, a horror-ific take on the Hanna-Barbera property in which the titular Splits are animatronic robots who, due to a malfunction in the programming, begin to kidnap kids and kill the adults who are on the set of what is supposed to be their final episode.
While Esterhazy also dabbled in television series, the film that really made me a fan was the 2021 reboot of the 1982 cult classic Slumber Party Massacre. With Suzanne Keilly’s script, Esterhazy did exactly what Rita Mae Brown and Amy Holden Jones had originally intended with their OG film and even went as far as gender reverse certain horror tropes with an excellent cast from South Africa.
South Africa has become a “second home” for Esterhazy as she delved into the 2024 horror film Killer Body Count, the 2025 action sequel Sniper: The Last Stand, and the 2025 horror film Match all shot in the Rainbow Nation. She is definitely an indie director you must watch!
2. Anna Biller
Upon watching her film 2007 film Viva, paying homage to the sexploitation films of the 1960s and 1970s, I knew Anna Biller was going to be a force to reckon with as not just a director, but also starring in the titular role. Her penchant for vibrant colors and nostalgia mixed with some great emotional ranges impressed.
However, it was her 2016 Technicolor horror-romance homage The Love Witch that made her a household name with indie film lovers. The story of a young woman who entices various men with love spells had the look of a 1960s-era film with a phenomenal performance from lead Samantha Robinson .
Biller has found her niche with paying homage to Technicolor horror with the upcoming Face of Horror and in addition, she is also an author with a great novel in Blackbeard’s Ghost.
3. Julia Marchese
Getting her start as an actress in indie horror films, I have always supported Julia Marchese since getting to know her a few years back. Aside from her careers as an actor, she is one of the all-rounders of indie cinema: actor, director, podcast host, YouTuber, and one of the greatest cinephiles out there. Matter of fact, she is also known for her amazing “Rainbow Color Wall of VHS”, which was featured in the documentary Rewind This!
In 2013, she directed a fantastic documentary on 35mm film called Out of Print. She followed it up with being one of the last of Stephen King’s “Billion Dollar Babies”, directing a great adaptation of his short story I Know What You Need. Between these two films, Marchese definitely an eye for films and it will be great to see her behind the cameras again. Would love to see her tackle perhaps a sequel to Phantom of the Paradise or even a reboot of Christine?
4. Allie Loukas
Since its official release in 2019, I have always supported one film in particular and that is Allie Loukas’ only film as director, Kathryn Upside Down. A love letter to her idol, the late John Hughes, Loukas also stars in the titular role of Kathryn, who at a party hosted by her mother and snarky stepfather, discovers the plumber who arrives to fix their toilet is the long-lost biological father she never met!
Loukas does such a fun job at playing the role while resorting to having much of the film ad-libbed rather than stick to the script. There are some fine moments and characters that will bring reminiscence of some of Hughes’ characters of the past. While Loukas did have an idea for a follow-up, we have yet to see it, but I will say I was able to look at the script and if I was able to fund this film, I would because I laughed my butt off reading it.
5. Jen and Sylvia Soska
We’re going with a double dose of two amazing twins from Canada who have unleashed a load of indie entertainment over the past two decades. Jen and Sylvia Soska broke out in 2009’s local production Dead Hooker in a Trunk but they became household names for indie film lovers with 2012’s American Mary, a body horror film starring horror icon Katharine Isabelle as a budding surgeon who goes to great lengths to earn money for school.
They have also worked in the realm of WWE Studios, directing See No Evil 2 starring Glenn “Kane” Jacobs and Vendetta starring Paul “Big Show” Wight. They also did a 2019 reboot of the David Cronenberg classic Rabid among others. They also have lately, delved into the world of comics. As they said it, they are the “storytellers” and are nothing short of excellent!
These are just a taste of indie women directors you need to check out in terms of their films because they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to independent cinema and women directors. Happy Women’s History Month!
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