Not just for being rare birds, but for possessing the talent and sheer stubbornness required to disregard the status quo.

The quota of significant female film directors has throughout the history of cinema been stupidly and weirdly low; but the ones who have distinguished themselves have arguably done so with particular flair. Whatever you think of the work of Shirley Clarke or Lynne Ramsay, Catherine Breillat or Claire Denis or Sofia Coppola, they're certainly not workaday directors: their films bear powerful personality hallmarks that force them into the establishment's field of vision. (Actually, Coppola probably didn't have that much trouble getting glimpsed by the movie establishment, since most of it probably came over for cocktails round the family swimming pool, but you get the idea.)