Here's my expanded list:
1. Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, France/Turkey)
2. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, France/Germany/Switzerland)
3. Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, USA)
4. Carol (Todd Haynes, USA)
5. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, Australia/USA)
6. Chi-raq (Spike Lee, USA)
7. Wild Tales (Damián Szifron, Argentina/Spain)
8. When Marnie Was There (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Japan)
9. It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, USA)
10. Bande de Filles aka Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, France)
H.M.: Ex Machina (Alex Garland, UK), Tom At The Farm (Xavier Dolan, Canada/France), The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, UK), Brooklyn (John Crowley, Ireland/UK/Canada),
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France/UK/Switzerland), Testament of Youth (James Kent, UK), Son Of Saul (László Nemes, Hungary), Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, USA), The Revenant
(Alejandro González Iñárritu, USA), The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan/China), Irrational Man (Woody Allen, USA), Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, USA),
The Martian (Ridley Scott, USA), the first half of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (J.J. Abrams, USA)
Not yet released in 2015: The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/UK/Greece), Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, France), Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone, Italy/France/UK), Necktie Youth
(Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, South Africa/Netherlands), Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra, Colombia/Venezuela/Argentina)
Acting citations: Güneş Şensoy, Doğa Doğuşlu, Elit İşcan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, İlayda Akdoğan (Mustang), Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria), Emily Blunt, Benicio
Del Toro, Josh Brolin (Sicario), Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara (Carol), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Teyonah Parris, Angela Bassett (Chi-raq), Érica Rivas (Wild Tales),
Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla (Bande de Filles), Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D'Anna (The Duke of Burgundy), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn),
Michael Caine, Rachel Weisz (Youth), Alicia Vikander , Miranda Richardson (Testament of Youth), Géza Röhrig (Son of Saul), Liev Schrieber, Michael Keaton, Brian d'Arcy James
(Spotlight), Leonardo De Caprio, Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone (Irrational Man), David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan (Anomalisa), Daisy
Ridley, John Boyega (Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens), Paul Dano (Love and Mercy), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
9 of 10 in my Top 10 have female leads or co-leads, and the other film is an anthology with a couple stories led by women. 2 of the 10 are directed by women. It's been a refreshing
year, to say the least.