Of the >400 soccer movies that I have watched, less than 10% were directed by women. Most of the feature film female directors had no prior knowledge of soccer (football). And yet, by my ratings, female directors have put together some of the best football films. It’s not an explicit gender bias, since I don’t pay attention to who is the director until after I’ve watched the film.
I think these films are better because the women directors, not so emotionally tied to the sport, show deeper characters and relationships. They also inject more humor. Or perhaps this is all my personal bias as to what I find entertaining — after all, this website started from being a soccer mom. However, some of these films are the bigger moneymakers. So I can’t be ALL wrong!
Feature Films Directed by Women
| Title | Director | Rating | Box $M | Country |
| Bend it Like Beckham (2002) | Gurinder Chadha | 10 | 76.6 | ENG |
| Green Street Hooligans (2005) | Lexi Alexander | 9 | 3.1 | USA |
| Africa United (2010) | Debs Paterson | 8 | ENG | |
| Will (2011) | Ellen Perry | 8 | USA | |
| Back of the Net (2019) | Louise Alston | 8 | 0.012 | AUS |
| Guys and Balls (2004) | Sherry Hormann | 7 | 1.1 | GER-USA |
| Johan (2005) | Nicole van Kilsdonk | 7 | 0.2 | NED |
| Bad Parents (2012) | Caytha Jentis | 6 | USA | |
| Britt-Marie was Here (2019) | Tuva Novotny | 6 | SWE | |
| The Big Green (1995) | Holly Goldberg Sloan | 5 | 18.0 | USA |
| When Saturday Comes (1996) | Maria Giese | 5 | ENG-USA | |
| Lost in Africa (Kidnappet) (2010) | Vibeke Muasya | 5 | FIN |
Documentaries Directed by Women
| Title | Director | Rating | Box $M | Country |
| Pelada (2010) | Gwendolyn Oxenham | 10 | USA | |
| Forever Pure (2016) | Maya Zinshtein | 10 | ISR | |
| Ayaktakimi (2015) | Naz Gündogdu | 9 | GER-TUR | |
| Yellow Cards for Equal Pay (2020) (short) | Maia Vota | 9 | USA | |
| Elite School (2014) aka Die Kaderschmiede: der traum vom profi-fussball | Juana Guschl | 8 | GER | |
| Alive & Kicking: The Soccer Grannies of South Africa (2016) | Lara-Ann de Wet | 8 | USA,SA | |
| Futbolistas 4 Life (2018) | Jun Stinson | 8 | USA | |
| All I Need is a Ball (2020) (short) | Elena Molina | 8 | Spain | |
| Truth be Told (2022) | Jennifer Karson-Strauss | 8 | USA | |
| Gascoigne (2015) | Jane Preston | 7 | ENG | |
| Footeuses (2020) | Lyna Malandro Saoucha | 7 | FRA | |
| Kick Like a Girl (2008) (short) | Jenny Mackenie | 6 | USA | |
| Kicking It (2008) | Susan Koch | 6 | USA | |
| 17 (2017) | Widad Shafakoj | 6 | JOR | |
| Goal Dreams (2010) | Maya Sanbar | 5 | PAL | |
| Senzo: Murder of a Soccer Star (2022) | Sara Blecher | 4 | RSA |
Updated Jul-2-2017, Sep-4-2017, Nov-19-2017, Oct-2-2019, Jan-31-2020, Mar-30-2020, Apr-15-2020, Dec-28-2020, Jan-4-2021, Sep-12-2021, Dec-31-2022, Jan-4-2023, Feb-24-2023
