Although women may have found greater film success in the areas of screenwriting, editing, design, and producing, there have certainly been many whose contributions as directors are quite significant. In this guide to their careers and films, author Mary Hurd profiles the most noteworthy. The selection includes women of the studio age (Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner), contemporary mainstream directors (Amy Heckerling, Nora Ephron), independents (Mary Harron, Nancy Savoca), documentarians (Barbara Kopple), experimental filmmakers (Maya Deren), and an assortment of acclaimed international filmmakers (Jane Campion, Agnes Varda). Chapters are divided into two segments: biographical and critical. Each chapter also includes a complete filmography and brief bibliography. "Women Directors and Their Films" fills an important gap in the literature on the subject, offering a combination of biographical material and film analysis that effectively summarizes and encapsulates the life's work of these very different, very talented women.