Only 16% of the 718 films released in the UK and Ireland in 2025 were directed or co-directed by women or non-binary filmmakers, down from 21% in 2024, according to research from Reclaim The Frame, the UK campaign group for gender justice in cinema.
This is the lowest it has been since 2018, when 13.9% of films were directed or co-directed by women or non-binary filmmakers.
Furthermore, in 2025, just 7% of releases were directed or co-directed by women or non-binary filmmakers of colour, a 7.7% decrease compared to 2024 and reversing an upward trend.
The number of film releases written or co-written by women or non-binary screenwriters is slightly higher at 19% of the total, up from 18% in 2024. The average since 2018 is 20%, with very little change over the past few years. For women or non-binary screenwriters of colour, this figure drops to 8%, again reversing a recent upward trend.
“It’s easy to assume gender equity is always moving forward, but our end-of-year review at Reclaim The Frame shows that complacency is not an option,” said Melanie Iredale, Reclaim The Frame director. “Despite sector-wide efforts, films directed by women now make up just 16% of acquisitions – back to pre-2019 levels – with only 7% of films directed by women of colour.
“This not only restricts filmmakers’ opportunities but severely limits audience choice. These findings demand action: re-examining who holds decision-making power across sales, distribution and circulation, and challenging narrow ideas of ‘risk’ when our audience engagement shows that under-served audiences consistently show up to see themselves represented on screen.”
Absence of UK female filmmakers
Male filmmakers directed 29 films in the top 30 for the year at the UK-Ireland box office, excluding holdovers and rereleases, according to Box Office Mojo. Canadian-US filmmaker Nisha Ganatra’s Freakier Friday, which grossed £8.9m for Disney, was the highest-grossing film to be directed by a female filmmaker and the 28th highest-grossing film of the year.
Marianne Elliot’s The Salt Path grossed around £7.9m for Black Bear to become the highest-grossing film directed by a UK female filmmaker at the UK-Ireland box office in 2025.
Further notable performers from female directors were Elio (£5.2m, Disney) co-directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi; Emma Tammi’s Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 (£5.3m, Universal); Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn’s Babygirl (£4.2m, EFD); Celine Song’s Materialists (£4m, Sony); Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (£2.5m, Sony); and Gurinder Chadha’s Christmas Karma (£1.2m, True Brit).
It has not been a strong year at the UK-Ireland box office for UK female filmmakers, with a notable absence in the top 100 compared to 2024. Last year’s top female-directed films included Kelly Marcel for Venom: The Last Dance (£12.4m, Sony), Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Back To Black (£12.3m, Studiocanal), Thea Sharrock’s Wicked Little Letters (£9.7m, Studiocanal), SJ Clarkson’s Madame Web (£4.3m, Disney) and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding (£1m, Lionsgate).
Ute von Münchow-Pohl’s animation Super Elfkins is the only film directed by a woman still to be released in 2025 in the UK and Ireland.
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