Events
UNRULY BODIES: A PROGRAMME OF SHORT FILMS
GENESIS CINEMA - London/21:00/10TH september 2020/£5.50
UNRULY
/ʌnˈruːli/
adjective
disorderly and disruptive and not amenable to discipline or control.
Our bodies are all unique and perhaps in 2020, we should be living through a time in which they are all accepted and understood. However we're constantly bombarded with information and images from social media, health organisations and governments of how our bodies should look, how they should feel and how they should work. Our bodies are still supposed to conform to gendered and societal expectations and when they don't, the consequences can be brutal. This programme of shorts ranging from non-fiction to comedy celebrates bodies disrupting the norms of convention, bodies disobeying enforced binaries and bodies that don't meet our own personal expectations.
The evening will be introduced by poet Eljae.
WE ARE ALL ACTIVISTS: SISTERS!
PECKHAMPLEX - London / 20:30 / 12TH DECEMBER 2019
Celebrating 40 years of service, the Southall Black Sisters were founded in 1979 in order to support Black (Asian and African-Caribbean) women threatened by gender based violence. They have tirelessly campaigned for the provision of proper and accountable support services to enable women and their children to escape violent relationships and they themselves have provided refuge, advice, casework and counselling to hundreds of women throughout the years. Made in 2011, this film by Swedish artist Petra Bauer documents the life of the organisation over one week and collaboratively poses questions about feminism and the political landscape in contemporary society.
tHE SCREENING WILL BE INTRODUCED BY SOUTHALL BLACK SISTERS.
WE ARE ALL ACTIVISTS: FOR SAMA
PECKHAMPLEX - London / 20:30 / 14TH NOVEMBER 2019
During the Arab Spring we saw millions of people whom had never been activists before turn to demonstration in order to bring revolution in their respective countries. For many it marked the beginning of a new democratic future but in Syria it caused its government to become increasingly oppressive eventually going to war with its people forcing many to flee their mother country.
Filmed over a five year period in Syria by Waad al-Kateab for her daughter Sama, this documentation of the Syrian uprising stands as a unique testimony of war from a woman's perspective giving audiences insight into the desperate situation Syrians faced when they dared to contend with an oppressive regime. The sacrifices activists made to remain in Aleppo when under fire shows the immense resilience of a people ignored by the world.
THIS SCREENING WILL BE INTRODUCED BY ACTION FOR REFUGEES IN LEWISHAM AND WE'LL BE SELLING CHOOSE LOVE T-SHIRTS TO RAISE MONEY FOR HELP REFUGEES!
WE ARE ALL ACTIVISTS: VESSEL
PECKHAMPLEX - London / 20:30 / 17TH OCTOBER 2019
The recent introduction of abortion bans sweeping across southern states in America has highlighted the war on women's reproductive rights is not over and in the UK we have far to go in securing legal and safe abortion for the women of Northern Ireland. Whilst progress has been made in the Republic of Ireland due to the successful efforts of Repeal the Eighth campaigners; it is clear we need to remain vigilant and continue the fight to protect the reproductive rights of women.
This documentary follows Dutch doctor and activist Rebecca Gomperts as she organises Women on the Waves; a team who sail around the world providing free and safe abortions in international waters for women with no legal alternative. Gomperts and the activists she collaborates with across nations face immense scrutiny and backlash but ultimately thrive due to their solidarity and creative resourcefulness.
INTRODUCING THE FILM IS THE LONDON-IRISH ABORTION RIGHTS CAMPAIGN.
CONSTRUCTING TEEN IDENTITY
ON-SCREEN:THIRTEEN
Genesis CINEMA - London / 18:30 / 1st AUGUST 2019
"Mum, please don't do this. This is the best day of my life; I'll kill you if you embarrass me!" - Tracy
Thirteen is an electric , unsettling glimpse into the transition from childhood to adolescence. Tracy (Evan Rachel-Wood) meets Evie (Nikki Reed) at cosmically the wrong time in her life. Tracy's frustration with her Mother's (Melanie; excellently played by Holly Hunter) lack of money and choice of boyfriend converges with Tracy's exposure to drugs, theft and sexual awakening by Evie; the manipulative popular girl she so desperately wants to impress. Using the tools Evie has given her, Tracy expulses her rage and then turns to her own coping mechanism; self harm.
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and co-written with Nikki Reed when Reed was fourteen years old; Thirteen recounts some of Reed's own experiences making it a raw depiction of teenage emotion and a painful depiction of a mother losing her daughter's adoration. Hardwicke doesn't allow her characters to fall into stereotypes and like her protagonist, we leave the film never properly knowing Evie despite having been swept up by her in a wave of reckless abandon.
tHE SCREENING WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A PANEL DISCUSSION CHAIRED BY OBSERVER FILM CRITIC SIMRAN HANS AND FEATURING FILMMAKER THEA GAJIC, INTO FILM'S MARIA CABRERA AND QUEEN MARY'S ALICE PEMBER.
CONSTRUCTING TEEN IDENTITY
ON-SCREEN: RAFIKI
Genesis CINEMA - London / 20:55 / 11th july 2019
“I want to travel first, I want to see the world and to go to all those places where they've probably never seen an African and just show up there and be like, yo, I'm here and I'm a Kenyan!'' - Ziki
Set in Kenya, Wanuri Kahiu's Rafiki is the story of star crossed lovers Ziki (Sheila Munyviva) and Kena (Samantha Mugatsia). Both are daughters of political opponents who meet in the midst of an election. Opposites in almost every way, Ziki and Kena are united by their ambition to be different to their mothers; they don't want to live the life of typical Kenyan wives. The onscreen chemistry between Ziki and Kena is palpable as they stumble their way through flourishes of first love and societal pressures to conform. This often traumatic tale of a forbidden love is equally vibrant and joyous with the bond between these two foregrounding all else around it. This is testament to Kahiu's belief in creating a alternative vision of Africa opposed to the depiction Western outlets purvey. This lead her to found Afrobubblegum; a platform promoting “fun work that celebrates the joy, love and happiness of Africa.”
Rafiki remains one of the few coming of age stories depicting queer life in Africa and was banned in Kenya for its supposed "clear intent to promote lesbianism." Kahiu is a director unafraid of touching upon politicised topics; her previous work includes From a Whisper (2008) focusing on the personal consequences of terrorism and the Afrofuturist Pumzi (2009) which imagines the future for Africa after an environmental crisis.
tHE SCREENING WILL BE INTRODUCED BY REFINERY29'S ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR JAZMIN KOPOTSHA.
CONSTRUCTING TEEN IDENTITY
ON-SCREEN: ALL THIS PANIC
Rio CINEMA - London / 15:30 / 9th june 2019
"When I'm frustrated, when I feel like nothing is meaningful, I tend to look inwards and think about myself and I realised that was completely the wrong thing to do and even if everything goes sort of terribly in my life and ya know, I don't make anything great at least there's the world around me to just look at..." - Lena M.
This is just one of the pearls of wisdom the teenage girls of Jenny Gage's All This Panic gain as they navigate a tricky three years of teenage life. The film intimately documents the lives of seven friends living in Brooklyn; Lena, Sage, Ivy, Olivia, Ginger, Dusty (sister of Ginger) and Delia. What makes this film unique is hearing these girls be brutally honest about their experiences, fears, desires, their place in the world and what the future holds for them. This is something rare because as Sage poignantly says in the film, "people want to see you [teenage girls] but they don't want to hear what you have to say." It is a brave step for the girls to share their inner most thoughts at a time in their lives when everything is in flux; not everyone would want their teenage years to be recorded on film for the world to watch.
All This Panic celebrates the highs and lows of girlhood and manages to include a multitude of experiences: grief, financial strife, mental illness, divorce, racial politics, sexual realisations, romantic rejection, first love, the perils of intense teenage friendships, hedonism, the feeling of being lost and trying to figure life out; all of which makes the documentary a highly relatable piece of cinema.
FEMINISM AND THE CITY: CLÉO FROM 5-7
Rio CINEMA - London / 15:30 / 12th MAy 2019
Flâneur (masculine) means stroller, lounger or saunterer. Since its conception, many male philosophers and literary authors have interpreted and defined the figure of the flâneur in their own way; the flâneur is now widely regarded as someone who not only strolls around the city but someone who spectates city life. Traditionally this was an exclusively male role, the flâneur had the privilege to roam the streets that women lacked. The existence of the flâneuse is therefore a radical act. A woman who walks the city streets embodies a subversiveness and challenges the ownership of public space.
CLÉO FROM 5 TO 7 (1962) is a film that eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer (Corinne Marchand) set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life on the streets of Paris. Cléo is perhaps the ultimate flâneuse wondering the streets of Paris as if she has ownership of them; observing other people and absorbing at ease the gaze from those around her. AT THIS SCREENING WE WILL CELEBRATE THE LEGACY OF THE LATE, GREAT AGNÉS VARDA. INTRODUCING THE FILM IS LO MARSHALL WHO RESEARCHES THE URBAN GEOGRAPHIES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY AT UCL. ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ELLIS VAN DER DOES TO TAKE AWAY.
FEMINISM AND THE CITY:
SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE ON SCREEN
GENESIS CINEMA - London / 21:00 / 11TH APRIL 2019
Global cities are constantly regenerating; new properties being built, new businesses opening and new people moving in. London is perhaps the epitome of this process, but at what cost? Damning reports of social cleansing, as a result of regeneration projects and accelerated cycles of gentrification, dramatically entered the public discourse in the wake of the tragic (and preventable, although the Inquiry is still ongoing) fire at Grenfell Tower. It emphasised London's grave inequality between the rich and the poor and raised vital questions about who and what we as a society values. This short format film programme will explore the stories behind the housing developments; highlighting the ever-growing need to listen to marginalised voices and safeguard local communities from destruction and displacement.
Street 66 (2018) chronicles the life of both activist Dora Boatemeh and the Angell Town housing estate. Much loved and respected by her local community, this documentary short pays tribute to Dora and the endurance she brought to a long campaign to secure unprecedented community led regeneration of the Angell Town housing estate from Lambeth Council in the late 1980s. Residents describe the terrible living conditions they found themselves in and their ability to form a powerful collective to control the direction of redevelopment to suit their needs and create a safe environment. Contributors do however note that since redevelopment has taken place there and in the surrounding area, rents and property prices have skyrocketed without systems such as rent control being put in place.
A Moving Image (2016) looks at the process of gentrification through the eyes of Nina; an artist returning to the Brixton where she grew up to find a very different Brixton to the one she left; a Brixton now with organic green grocers, coffee shops serving colourful flat-whites and plant based brunch spots replacing the businesses owned by the people she grew up with. The film incorporates both fiction and documentary as Nina tries to make sense of the change in Brixton by creating a piece of art as well as the change in herself and the position she now finds herself in; between two social demographics. This film plainly asks - what is our role in gentrification?
The Disappearance of Robin Hood (2018) documents the lives of those living in Poplar's Robin Hood Gardens housing estate as the building faces demolition. We hear residents recount their personal histories entwined with history of the building. The film weaves in interviews with architects Alison and Peter Smithson, the designers of the estate, explaining their vision for 'streets in the sky;' wanting communities to be born and sustained in these high rise homes. They highlight the post-war, modernist ideal to provide well built and safe homes for all those living in Britain despite differing incomes. The residents themselves provide powerful testimonies to support the Smithson's vision as we hear about and see diverse demographics co-existing, looking out for one and another and sharing resources.
FEMINISM AND THE CITY: HER
GENESIS CINEMA - London / 20:50 / 7TH MARCH 2019
Increasingly in contemporary western cities we are surrounded by the voices of disembodied, automated women. Women’s voices can be heard on the tannoy at tube stations, on buses, as OS systems and as self service devices. With women’s recorded voices outnumbering men’s voices by 5 to 1, the increasing use of of pre-recorded voices raises questions around implied domesticity, soft coercion (as discussed by Nina Power) and the position of women in an increasingly automated society.
Her (2013) is an American romantic science-fiction drama written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze. The film focuses on a near future semi-utopian Los Angeles and on the unconventional love story of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) who becomes fascinated with a new operating system which develops into an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. He starts the program and meets "Samantha" (Scarlett Johansson), whose bright voice reveals a sensitive, playful personality. Though "friends" initially, the relationship soon deepens into love.
This screening will be contextualised with an introduction from Josie Young who advocates for designing Artificial Intelligence (AI) products and systems using ethical and feminist principles.
A league of their own
GENESIS CINEMA - London / 18:30 / 17TH JANUARY 2019
Penny Marshall, the groundbreaking director of Big - first ever female directed film to gross over $100 million - passed away on 17th of December 2018. We'll be commemorating her with a screening of the much loved A League Of Their Own in collaboration witH GENESIS CINEMA AND ALICE PEMBER, who will be doing an introduction to the film.
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT
The Institute of Light - London / 20:20 / 23RD JULY 2018
Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash up of genre, archetype and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films and the Iranian new wave. Amped by a mix of Iranian rock, techno and morricone-inspired riffs, it's airy, anamorphic, black-and-white aesthetic and artfully drawn out scenes combine the simmering tension of Sergio Leone with the weird surrealism of David Lynch. Dr Margaux Portron, DISPATCH FMI's Research and Development Manager, will be introducing this screening with a discussion around gendered spaces.
WADJDA
GENESIS CINEMA - London / 21:00 / 19th june 2018
BEFORE HAIFAA AL-MANSOUR'S LATEST FEATURE MARY SHELLEY (2018) HITS CINEMAS THIS SUMMER WE PRESENT TO YOU AS PART OF GENESIS CINEMA'S WOMEN IN FILM SEASON AL-mANSOUR'S DEBUT, WADJDA (2012). THE FILM TELLS THE STORY OF A SAUDI GIRL INTENT ON OWNING A BICYCLE DESPITE IT BEING AGAINST THE GENDER NORMS OF HER SOCIETY. THE SCREENING WILL BE INTRODUCED BY YASMINE ZIADAT, CO-FOUNDER OF ONLINE MAGAZINE DARDISHI.COM WHICH PRESENTS WRITING AND ARTWORK PRODUCED BY ARAB WOMEN.
BORN IN FLAMES
GENESIS CINEMA - London / 19:00 / 26th April 2018
As part of East End Film Festival we are pleased to present this special 35th Anniversary screening of Born in Flames (1983). Directed by Lizzie Borden Born in Flames is a documentary-style intersectional feminist science fiction which explores race, sexuality, class politics, surveillance, and alternative political systems. This screening will be introduced by Xana. Xana is a poet, sound designer, live loop musician, interactive installation artist, community organiser and educational facilitator working across film, theatre and tech. Xanas work focuses on archives, movement and creating access, reflecting on ways in which to build sustainable projects.
MUSTANG
The Institute of Light - London / 19:30 / 9th April 2018
Mustang (2015) is the debut feature from French-Turkish filmmaker Deniz Gamze Erguven. The film follows five sisters navigating their stifling home life and the gendered expectations impressed upon them by family members. This screening will be introduced by Alice Giuliani and framed by discussions surrounding the film’s treatment of girlhood, sisterhood and coming of age. We also have two t-shirts to give away from Girls On Top!
BARBARELLA
Genesis Cinema - LONDON / 18:30 / 2ND FEBRUARY 2018
December 2017 marked the 80th year for one of Hollywood’s most interesting and resilient stars; Jane Fonda. After beginning her career as an amateur theatre performer Fonda has gone from starlet to activist to fitness guru to feminist spokesperson. Her colourful career has been one of fascination for many - so to celebrate her brilliant career insofar DISPATCH Feminist Moving Image are publishing three essays on the star written by Daniel Massie, and will be screening the film that saw her in one of her most infamous roles, Barbarella.
Motion: pictures
OLD LEITH THEATRE - EDINBURGH / 20:00 / 31ST MAY 2017
DISPATCH Feminist Moving Image presents a short-format, experimental film programme that will question what it means to move – and to be moved – in the contemporary world. Through the impactful lens of women-centric moving images, this programme will also explore the revolutionary act of stillness and contemplation as an indispensable form of movement that allows us to wonder – and wander – in a world that encourages us to move ever faster, without thought.
ARTISTS
TILLY HARDING-KEMP
MAIREAD MCCLEAN
MARGARET TAIT
ALNOOR DEWSHI