Wanda (1970)

Women in Cinema Spotlight

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This will be in celebration of the 55th anniversary of the film.

In this compelling entry in our Women in Cinema Spotlight series, Wanda follows the journey of a disillusioned woman grappling with her identity and place in the world. Written, directed, and starring Barbara Loden, this raw and powerful film explores the complexities of female autonomy and survival in a society that often overlooks women like Wanda. Wanda’s quiet yet powerful struggle remains a testament to female autonomy and resilience in the face of societal neglect.

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“When “Wanda” premiered, Pauline Kael (and many other US critics) called it a mundane piece of garbage. But they were wrong … it’s a feminist masterpiece.” – Woman in Revolt

With her first and only feature film—a hard-luck drama she wrote, directed, and starred in—Barbara Loden turned in a groundbreaking work of American independent cinema, bringing to life a kind of character seldom seen on-screen. Set amid a soot-choked Pennsylvania landscape, and shot in an intensely intimate vérité style, the film takes up with distant and soft-spoken Wanda (Loden), who has left her husband, lost custody of her children, and now finds herself alone, drifting between dingy bars and motels, and callously mistreated by a series of men—including a bank robber who ropes her into his next criminal scheme. A rarely seen masterpiece that has nonetheless exerted an outsize influence on generations of artists and filmmakers, Wanda is a compassionate and wrenching portrait of a woman stranded on society’s margins.

Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by The Film Foundation and GUCCI.