The debate about women in film has been rumbling on for ages. For all that you can name individual success stories like Hana Makhmalbaf, Mary Harron, Kathryn Bigelow or Catherine Hardwicke, the general picture is still quite shocking.
On the one hand, there’s the issue of the representation of women onscreen, as has been recently discussed; but perhaps more important (in a chicken-and-egg sense) is the representation of women offscreen, in key creative roles in the industry. While there have been female studio bosses like Sherry Lansing, the statistics suggest that women are grossly under-represented in the trenches of movie making. In 2007, only 6% of the top 250 grossing films in the US were directed by women – 21% of those films employed no women at all in the role of director, executive producer, producer, writer, cinematographer, or editor. That was an increase on the previous year.
There is, however, a healthy opposition movement trying to do something to alter the male-dominated status quo. There are organisations like the Association of Women Film Journalists, and an impressive 39 film festivals around the world solely dedicated to showing the work of female directors. The best of which is the Birds Eye View Film Festival, which kicks off in London on March 5.
Launched in 2005 by Rachel Millward (nominated a ‘World Changing Woman’ by the Guardian), this is the festival’s fifth year, and it continues to go from strength to strength (no small achievement given that LWLies was on the jury of the Best First Film award last year). Taking place over nine days at the BFI Southbank, the ICA and Picturehouse cinemas around the country, it’s a truly nationwide celebration of the role – and the quality – of women in film.
This year’s programme is typically eclectic, inspiring and thought provoking. The star attraction is always going to be the international features, and this year’s crop is led by Courtney Hunt’s Sundance award-winner Frozen River starring Melissa Leo. There’s also Kelly Reichard’s gorgeous Wendy and Lucy and Nicolette Krebitz’s fascinating The Heart is a Dark Forest.
As well as a documentary programme, there will be a selection of world class shorts from across the UK and from around the world, as well as some fascinating Special Events, including work from Sam Taylor-Wood and a Mary Harron retrospective. There’s also a special strand called Innovations – a chance to learn from ‘ladies on the cusp of creation’ including a series of ‘fashion films’ hosted by Miranda Sawyer.
Key to the appeal of BEV, however, is that its work doesn’t just stop with the close of the festival on March 13. They run a year-round First Weekenders Club, a kind of get-out-the-vote support network for women’s films, and a series of training programmes called BEV Labs, including a new initiative to bring women comedy writers from TV, radio and theatre into film. It’s this kind of concentrated, co-ordinated effort that might gradually make a difference where it counts.
To find out more about the festival, head to the official site, or check out one of BEV’s social media sites…
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Tickets are on sale now at the ICA and BFI. There’s more info at the site.
