Popular film information website Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has adopted a new F-Rating classification to highlight films written, directed or starring women.

The feminist film classification was introduced by Bath Film Festival director Holly Tarquini in 2014 to highlight a lack of women in the movie industry.

More than 21,800 films have been awarded the F-Rating on IMDb to date for meeting one of the three criteria.

GETTY IMAGES/CLEMENS BILAN Renee Zellweger starred in 'Bridget Jones's Baby', a film that got three F-Rating ticks.

The F-Rating is awarded to any film that is directed or written by a woman, or features significant women on screen in their own right.

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Some films ticked the box for all three ratings, including Frozen, American Honey and Bridget Jones's Baby.

"The F rating is intended to make people talk about the representation of women on and off screen," Tarquini told the BBC.

"It's exciting when new organisations decide to join us in shining a light both on the brilliant work women are doing in film and on how far the film industry lags behind most other industries."

More than 40 cinemas and film festivals, as well as international music and children's literature festivals, are using the rating, which was inspired by US cartoonist Alison Bechdel in 1985.

The "Bechdel Test" determined whether two women in a film speak to each about topics other than a man.

Surprisingly, film series such as the Lord of the Rings and original Star Wars trilogy did not manage to pass the test.