Women Make Film | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mark Cousins |
Written by | Mark Cousins |
Narrated by | Adjoa Andoh, Jane Fonda, Kerry Fox, Thandiwe Newton, Tilda Swinton, Sharmila Tagore, Debra Winger |
Distributed by | BFI Player |
Release date |
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Running time | 14 hours (divided into 40 chapters) |
Countries | United Kingdom, Ireland |
Language | English |
Women Make Film is a documentary film by the British-Irish filmmaker and film critic Mark Cousins. The film premiered on 1 September 2018 at the Venice Film Festival, and was released on the BFI Player in May 2020. [1] [2] [3]
The film is divided into 40 chapters over 14 hours and features the work of 183 directors. [3]
In the 1990s, Cousins curated a season of documentary films and realised later he had only included a single film made by a woman. This got him interested in finding and highlighting women filmmakers from around the world and throughout film history, eventually leading to the creation of this documentary. The premise of the film is that it is not about women filmmakers or institutional sexism; rather it is a documentary about film itself, and it explores 40 different aspects of filmmaking, drawing from a wide range of films as examples, all of which are made by women. [3]
The academic Laura Mulvey curated the inaugural Women's Film Event at the Edinburgh film festival in 1972, the blurb for their event stated that "A festival of men's films would be simply absurd. It's because so few women have been able to make films that this festival exists". Mulvey said of Women Make Film that "The amazing extent of the work, with over a thousand clips, has the potential to bring women directors out of gender categorisation and into film history as such. But it also offers an unprecedented opportunity to enjoy women's cinematic vision and reflect on the way women have seen and indeed made the world through film – a source of wonder and of speculation!" [3]
The documentary is narrated by Adjoa Andoh, Jane Fonda, Kerry Fox, Thandiwe Newton, Tilda Swinton, Sharmila Tagore and Debra Winger. [3] [4] [5]
The Birds' Eye View charity will host weekly viewing parties and Facebook Live responses and debates on the documentary from women filmmakers for audiences at home during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. [3]
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The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
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Women's cinema primarily describes cinematic works directed by women filmmakers. The works themselves do not have to be stories specifically about women, and the target audience can be varied.
Cinema of Europe refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Europe.
The 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, the 25th annual festival, ran from September 7 to September 16, 2000. Along with special events to commemorate the anniversary, there were a total of 330 films screened. There was a special screening of Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky featuring musical accompaniment by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Also, 25 digital video shorts were made by attending filmmakers.
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The 2nd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 18, 1977. Retrospective of Quebec cinema was introduced and also Greek cinema was emphasized. J.A. Martin Photographer directed by Jean Beaudin was selected as the opening film.
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Women are involved in the film industry in all roles, including as film directors, actresses, cinematographers, film producers, film critics, and other film industry professions, though women have been underrepresented in creative positions.
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The Norwich Women's Film Weekend was a two-day annual event that ran for 10 years, from 1979 to 1989, at Cinema City in Norwich. It was organised to 'promote and encourage women film-makers and present the audience with films dealing with women's issues', as the first programme (1979) put it. It was the first event created, curated, managed and implemented by a group called Cinewomen. The NWFW lasted longer than any other women's film festival in the UK and forms part of the history of women's cinema and feminism more generally, and also the history of culture and the arts in Norwich.
The International Festival of Women's Films was an international film festival held in New York City in 1972 and 1976. The 1972 edition of the festival is significant for being the first major women's film festival.