New Zealand women film directors

Lucille Frances Lawless MNZM (née Ryan; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. Lawless is perhaps best known for her roles as the title character in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001); cylon model Number Three D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series (2005–2009); and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), its prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), and its sequel Spartacus: Vengeance (2012).

Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion DNZM (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she has received two Academy Awards (including Best Director for the latter), two BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.

Nancy Brunning (1971 – 16 November 2019) was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. Brunning was of Māori descent from the tribes of Ngati Raukawa and Ngai Tuhoe. She won the best actress award at the New Zealand Film Awards for her lead role in the film What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999), the sequel to cult classic Once Were Warriors. In 2000, she won the Best Actress in Drama award at the New Zealand Television Awards for her lead role in the television series Nga Tohu. She was the acting coach for the Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night directed by Taika Waititi. According to friend and frequent collaborator Temuera Morrison, she "paved the way" for Māori actors in New Zealand.

Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House ONZM (born 20 October 1971) is a New Zealand actress, acting coach, and director.

Katie Wolfe (born 1968) is an actress and director from New Zealand.

Nikola Jean Caro MNZM (born September 20, 1966) is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. Her 2002 film Whale Rider was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals. She was hired to direct the 2020 live-action version of Disney's Mulan, making her the second female and the second New Zealand director hired by Disney to direct a film budgeted at over $100 million.

Christine Jeffs (born 29 January 1963) is a New Zealand-born director, editor, and screenwriter known for directing the New Zealand film Rain (2001), the British motion picture Sylvia (2003), and the American independent film Sunshine Cleaning (2008). Jeffs is also renowned for her work on television commercials.

Alison Maclean (born July 31, 1958) is a Canadian film director of music videos, short films, television (episodes of Sex and the City, The Tudors, Homicide: Life on the Street), commercials and feature films. Her works include the music video Torn (Natalie Imbruglia, 1998), the short film Kitchen Sink (1989) and the feature films Jesus' Son (1999) (starring Billy Crudup) and Crush (1992) (starring Marcia Gay Harden). She has been the recipient of several awards (e.g. Best Short Film, Talkback (1987) and Kitchen Sink (1989), New Zealand Film Awards), and often uses themes of communication, gender roles, and power structures in her directorial and filmmaking roles.

Patricia Rongomaitara "Ramai" Hayward MNZM (née Te Miha, 11 November 1916 – 3 July 2014) was a New Zealand photographer, actor, and filmmaker who made films in five countries. Her film career began in 1940 when she co-starred in the historical movie Rewi's Last Stand, after meeting her future husband, legendary New Zealand director Rudall Hayward. The first Māori cinematographer, she spent three years making films in England with Rudall. Later the couple were the first to make English language films in China after the communist revolution.

Merata Mita CNZM (19 June 1942 – 31 May 2010) was a notable filmmaker in New Zealand as well as a key figure in the growth of the Māori screen industry. She was from the Māori iwi of Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāi Te Rangi.