directed by Zeresenay Mehari

A young lawyer travels to an Ethiopian village to represent Hirut, a 14-year-old girl who shot her would-be husband as he and others were practicing one of the nation's oldest traditions: abduction into marriage.

directed by Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz

An Israeli woman seeking a divorce from her estranged husband is effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws. This tightly wound film shows an uncompromising fight for freedom and a heart-rending portrait of a woman’s struggle to overcome an unmoving patriarchy to live a life of her own design. A powerhouse courtroom drama.

directed by Nigel Cole

An inspirational, feel-good film about the fight for equal pay - Made in Dagenham is set during the successful strike by 187 women car workers in the Ford Dagenham factory in 1968. Working in extremely impoverished conditions and for long arduous hours, the women finally lay down their tools when they are reclassified as "unskilled". In a protest that eventually leads to the Equal Pay Act; they take on their corporate paymasters, an increasingly belligerent local community, and finally the male-dominated House of Commons itself.

directed by Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

Based on the graphic novel memoirs of Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is the poignant story of a young, outspoken nine-year old girl coming-of-age in Iran during the 1979 Revolution. Through her eyes we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power — forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden.

directed by Diana Whitten

A fearless sea captain sails a ship through loopholes in international law, providing abortions on the high seas, and leaving in her wake a network of emboldened activists who trust women to handle abortion on their own terms.

directed by Niki Caro

One young girl confronts the past to change the present and determine the future in this magical, moving story of Pai’s struggle to fulfil her destiny. In a small New Zealand coastal village, she must stand up to a thousand years of tradition to reveal the true way forward.