International Women's Day: Movies that #BreaktheBias, from 'Hidden Figures' to 'Homecoming'

Need to feel empowered? These women can show you the way.

Despite making up over half of the United States' population, women are underrepresented on TV screens and often get snubbed when it comes to awards nominations.

To help give women more of the recognition they deserve, we've lined up a movie viewing guide to serve as a tool for learning about a variety of amazing women trailblazers and the impact they have made.

These films tell the story of real women who've been pioneers in the United States and across the world. From the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's landmark legal wins to the first woman millionaire, here are the must-watch movies about women.

#BreaktheBias: What to know about International Women's Day and the theme for 2022

'Hidden Figures'

We don't often see many women represented in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields in real life, let alone on the big screen.

"Hidden Figures" depicts the real-life story of 1960s Black NASA mathematicians Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), who died in 2020 at 101, Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who died in 2005 at 83, and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), who died in 2008 at 98, who had to prove their worth in an era of overwhelming racial and gender inequality.

Jackson was the first Black woman to work at NASA as an engineer. In 2020, NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. was named after her.

How to watch: Disney+

'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'

Netflix's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is a fictional drama about a real blues artist Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and tells a dramatized account of a tense recording session on a hot 1920s Chicago day.

Starring Viola Davis as Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman in his final role as Levee, a young and hungry cornet player, director George C. Wolfe’s cinematic adaptation of August Wilson’s 1982 play explores racial and sexual dynamics, though at its core it’s a struggle between a couple of very hard-nosed, stubborn and talented musicians.

Though Ma Rainey is dubbed the Mother of the Blues, Wolfe told USA TODAY there were only seven photos of the real Ma, an openly queer Black woman, to use for reference, noting that there were “hundreds” of pictures of Ma’s contemporary Bessie Smith in comparison.

How to watch: Netflix

'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'

Director Lee Daniels' new film about Jazz singer Billie Holiday tells the story of "Strange Fruit," a song Holiday made famous depicting the lynching of Black Americans. What's lesser known is how the United States government actively tried to take her down for singing it because they didn't want Black people in Jim Crow America galvanized by her musical telling of the horrors being perpetrated.

"The United States vs. Billie Holiday" stars Andra Day as Holiday and centers on the battle over Holiday performing the song "Strange Fruit" in the last 12 years of her life, with Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund) going after the singer using the power of the government – and using a plant named Jimmy Fletcher ("Moonlight" star Trevante Rhodes) to do so.

How to watch: Hulu

Andra Day as Billie Holiday:Day taps into legendary jazz singer's 'trauma' in 'United States vs. Billie Holiday'

'Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority'

Patsy Takemoto Mink was the first woman of color elected to Congress and the first Asian American woman to serve in Congress, according to her House of Representatives biography.

She represented Hawaii from 1965-1977 and again from 1989 until her death in 2002. Mink was a proponent of gender and racial equity and in turn was one of the authors of Title IX, the federal legislation that protects people from discrimination in education on the basis of sex. This documentary chronicles her life and the obstacles she faced in breaking barriers in Congress.

How to watch: Vimeo on Demand

'Miss Americana'

Taylor Swift practically grew up in the public eye and not without media scrutiny — whether for her relationships or her feud with Kanye West. In her Netflix documentary "Miss Americana," Swift takes control of her story.

The look behind the scenes of the pop star's life touches on her music rights battle with Scooter Braun, the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty hashtag on social media and choosing to speak up about her political views after years of staying mum.

The film also shows her goofy side. We see Swift mocking her too-tight metallic dress for an awards show (“I look like a Pop-Tart wrapper”), but also wrestling to reconcile the “good girl” she’s always wanted to be with the mature, complex woman she’s become. Swift also wonders about her own shelf life in a culture where female artists and entertainers are “discarded in an elephant graveyard at age 35.”

How to watch: Netflix

'I Am Greta'

Greta Thunberg caught the world's attention with her emotional speech in 2019 to world leaders at the U.N. Climate Action Summit. She was 16 at the time.

Thunberg made such a splash, she even found herself in the middle of a Twitter feud with former President Donald Trump.

"I Am Greta" follows the Swedish activist's rise to global prominence, from solo school strikes outside the Swedish parliament to regularly scolding world leaders at climate conferences. The film also shows the tolls of her newfound fame: how her father needs to remind her to eat and the way global inaction on climate change weighs on her psychologically.

How to watch: Hulu

'Queen of Katwe'

Before Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" inspired a new generation of chess lovers, there was Disney's 2016 movie "Queen of Katwe," revealing the real-life story of Ugandan chess champ Phiona Mutesi.

Despite the Disney-fied melodrama, "Queen" uplifts with outstanding acting, deft filmmaking choices and the introduction of a new talent in Madina Nalwanga, who plays Mutesi.

Plus it's always fun seeing women crush it in a sport typically dominated by men.

How to watch: Disney+

'Self Made'

"Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J." brings the story of Madam C.J. Walker to the Netflix screen.

"Self Made" follows Walker, played by Octavia Spencer, from a balding, struggling washerwoman who was knocked down by racial and gender biases to her rise as an astute businesswoman and fierce activist with fabulous hair and a thriving company.

Walker is known for becoming America's first female (not Black female, just first female) millionaire after developing a successful line of Black hair care products.

How to watch: Netflix

'On the Basis of Sex'

What better way to celebrate the life of the notorious Ginsburg than a film about one of the justice's biggest legal wins.

"On the Basis of Sex" is part love story, part legal drama, showing how a young Ginsburg (Felicity Jones), then a lawyer, and her husband won their first case together in court in the early 1970s. The seemingly minor case, "Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue," involved an unmarried man who was denied a $600 tax deduction for payment for his aging mother's caretaker. The case ignited a spark in Ginsburg, who died in September 2020 at 87. The late Supreme Court justice continued to rail against gender discrimination throughout her storied career, and served in the highest federal court in the United States from 1993 to 2020.

Another good documentary about Ginsburg: "RBG" streaming on Netflix.

How to watch: Hulu

Fact check: What Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic 'On the Basis of Sex' gets right (and wrong)

'Radium Girls'

"Radium Girls," starring Joey King, tells the true story of young women who were pioneers in the fight for workplace safety and public health.

At the center of the drama are women in the mid-1920s working factory jobs painting glow-in-the-dark watch dials with radioactive paint who fall mysteriously ill. The women were instructed to lick their brushes, unaware of the toxic materials they were ingesting. In the film, syphilis (a sexually transmitted infection), was cited by doctors as the reason for the women's illness and eventual death.

After one worker decides she's had enough, she rallies other women to launch a lawsuit against American Radium, a fictional company standing in for the real United States Radium Corporation.

How to watch: Netflix

'Kumu Hina'

This PBS documentary is told through the eyes of transgender Native Hawaiian Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, also known as Kumu Hina.

Kalu is a hula master, filmmaker, cultural practitioner and community leader. She was the founding member of Kūlia Nā Mamo, a community transgender health organization established in 2003. Kalu was one of the first transgender candidates for statewide political office in the U.S. Two films she co-directed and produced about the struggle of the Indigenous transgender community in Tonga, "Lady Eva" and "Leitis in Waiting," won awards at several film festivals.

She is currently, a community advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, where she helps Native Hawaiian inmates prepare to be productive members of society.

How to watch: Amazon Prime

'Homecoming'

Is it really a women's empowerment viewing guide without Beyoncé?

Aside from all her other notable accomplishments, the Destiny's Child alum became the first Black woman to headline Coachella in 2018, and put on a massive, two-hour tribute to HBCUs and Black Greek life, complete with a custom pyramid stage, a killer drumline and roughly 100 dancers.

Her Netflix documentary "Homecoming" details the grueling process she went through to prepare for her big debut following the birth of twins Sir and Rumi.

How to watch: Netflix

Contributing: Anika Reed, Brian Truitt, Patrick Ryan, Lindsey Schnell, USA TODAY; Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: International Women's Day: Movies about strong women, empowerment