ItÂ’s the ultimate stoner party movie, beloved by high school guys the world over, but few realise that it was actually directed by a woman. Heckerling is the director who noticed Sean PennÂ’s raw talent for comedy (which he has sadly dropped ever since), creating the classic idle drug-riddled student Jeff Spicoli.

Expertly visualising Cameron Crowe’s spot on script, Heckerling created a teen sex comedy that actually had well-rounded characters, inventive casting, iconic scenes and a hard-hitting abortion subplot to show that it wasn’t all just fun and games. Heckerling would go on to have more success in the student comedy genre with ‘Clueless’.