For years, what was considered good literature or art excluded very specific types of people, including women, people of color, and the disabled. While they were the ones at a disadvantage – and they still are – when it comes to access to arts education, they persevered and created long-standing pieces that are a testament to the quiet strength they maintained in pursuit of art. Despite this, women still struggle to have authentic stories in mainstream media, especially television and movies, and because of this there is a lack of representation. Even with more female directors like Greta Gerwig and Sofia Coppola entering the industry, there's still a long way to go.
To counter this, organizations such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts have launched campaigns to showcase and highlight female creatives throughout history. Filmmakers, too, have made an effort to recreate the stories of women in art, creating several biopics about the women artists and writers who managed to escape the historical narrative of disappearing into the wallpaper. Several of these films are also directed by women, creating their perspectives from the female gaze. These are 12 films about women writers and artists throughout history.
12 Berthe Morrisot
Berthe Morrisot deals with the subject of Morisot, a French painter who was active in the late 19th century. A member of the French school of Impressionist painters, her work often dealt with the experiences women, especially her, faced in their daily lives. The film stars Marine Determe, who starred in Vatel, as Berthe. Berthe Morrisot was released to television viewers in France in 2012 and follows the life and relationships between the famous painter. Considering the group of friends she had during her lifetime - now some of the most famous artists out there - there's quite a bit of content to go through in the movie.
11 Julie & Juliet
The 2009 movie Julie & Juliet starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. In a New York City apartment, a call center employee named Julia is miserable with her life and job. She knows she loves to cook and escapes through life with it, and one day she decides that she will cook and blog about all of Julia Child's recipes. The film then splits timelines showing Child's life and beginnings of cooking French cuisine after moving to France with her husband, and how Julie, when she started her blog, begins to go viral for her efforts .
10 Mrs Parker and the vicious circle
Dorothy Parker, the writer who was once one of the most iconic satirists of her time, is the subject of the 1994 film Mrs Parker and the vicious circle. The film specifically follows her time with the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers who met at a hotel in the late 1910s and 1920s. Many members of the group received international recognition for the work they made during their lifetimes. Parker takes center stage Mrs Parker and the vicious circlebut without the other members and characters, the movie wouldn't shine as it does now.
9 Tove
Tove Jansson is the subject of Finnish film Tovewhich came out in 2020. Jansson was a well-known Finnish author and comic artist during her lifetime and created one of the most popular series in the Swedish language: Moomins. Tove begins in Jansson's early life and shows how she lived through World War II and matured as a writer and artist. It's a story about a young woman fighting to learn how to make the art she wants to make, though many argue it won't be popular or sold. Spoiler: it does sell, and Tove, despite the previous struggles in her life, becomes a huge success story.
8 Sylvia
One of the most prominent and important female American poets, many know Sylvia Plath for the unfortunate circumstances of her death. Demonized as someone whose writing is for anxious teenage girls - a sexist remark that roots Plath's legacy as a little too feminine - the film attempts to revive Sylvia Plath. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Sylvia Plath as she matures Sylvia, attends Smith College and finds a new life as a writer. But when she marries Ted Hughes, played here by Daniel Craig, her life will be turned upside down as her mental health declines.
7 Mary Shelly
Elle Fanning will star in the biopic Mary Shelly, directed by the first female director and filmmaker from Saudi Arabia: Haifaa al-Mansour. Shelley, who was the author of Frankenstein, had a very fascinating and fruitful life - as seen in the film. As the daughter of the famous English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, she meets an English poet in Scotland one day: Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth). Despite being already married, the two elope and run away together, beginning a tumultuous relationship that thrives on artistry and literature.
6 Colette
One of the most famous French writers of the mid-20th century is depicted in the film Colette. Keira Knightley plays Colette in the 2018 film and it begins with her childhood in the French countryside. However, she no longer wants to live there and starts an affair with a well-known writer and critic: Willy. The couple moves to Paris, where Willy tries to become an entrepreneur. But this experience shows something completely different: Colette is the one with the writing talent, kickstarting her incredible career as a novelist.
5 Shirley
Released in 2020, Elisabeth Moss takes on the subject of Shirley Jackson, playing the terrifying writer alongside Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays her husband. Shirley begins with the arrival of a newly married couple to Bennington College, played by Logan Lerman and Odessa Young, where they meet Jackson and her husband. They move into the same house as the Jacksons, but this is not without consequences. The Jackson couple becomes more involved with the Nemsers, leading them down a dangerous path of infidelity. However, it's worth noting that Shirley is a largely fictional story - the events didn't take place in real life.
4 Frida
Frida Kahlo has become the most recognizable female artist in the world, though she's also one of the most misunderstood. The 2002 movie Frida, starring Salma Hayek as the performer, seeks to advance her mythology and bring her life to the big screen. The film opens with the tragic accident that changed Kahlo's life forever: the trolley accident that left her bedridden for months and endured a life of pain and suffering. As she attends school and discovers her inclinations as an artist, she becomes more involved with the communist cause and Diego Rivera, the man she was to marry.
3 Emily
2022 Emily deals with a subject familiar to many in English-speaking classrooms around the world: the Brontë sisters. In Emilyfocuses on Emily Brontë, who wrote only one novel before her tragic death: Wuthering Heights. The film depicts her early life and education in England, and how she and her sisters became writers. With a fictionalized twist, Emily begins her first major romantic relationship, which will inspire the novel that cemented her legacy as a writer. Emily is the directorial debut of actress Frances O'Connor.
2 Mrs. Potter
Chris Noonan directs the 2006 film Mrs. Potter, which depicts the life of scientist and author Beatrix Potter. Potter was the creator of Peter the Rabbit, a character she created for one of the stories she made up for children. Mrs. Potter starts with a personal failure for Beatrix; she believes herself to be an old spinster and her attempts to become a children's writer largely fail and a lack of support from those around her. However, throughout the film, she does not give up, which leads her to create one of the most iconic characters of her time.
1 become jane
become jane, released in 2007, pits herself against the most popular Regency-era writer in British history: Jane Austen. Anne Hathaway plays Jane Austen in this biopic, and at the start of this story she's just an aspiring writer with big dreams. Though she meets a man she can't stand, played by James McAvoy, they continue to find time to spend together. Despite their feuds and clashing personalities, they eventually fall in love with each other, though she may not be able to give up on her dreams of becoming a writer once the two eventually marry.
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