Celebrating Women in Global Cinema at HOME

For 2019, HOME present a monumental, year-long season dedicated to Celebrating Women in Global Cinema. Co-curated by Rachel Hayward, HOME’s Film Programme Manager and Andy Willis, Senior Visiting Curator: Film at HOME, the season will focus on women working on both sides of the camera, promising an unprecedented selection of rare and hard to see films made by women from around the world. Hayward explains, “we’re taking our on-going commitment to diverse and inclusive film programming to the next level with the theme of women in film permeating our cinemas for an entire year – as opposed to a one-off season or event.”

In a year when the Academy of Motion Pictures saw that no women filmmakers were nominated for Best Director, HOME’s initiative seems timely. There have been plenty of events already, including inspiring, necessary retrospectives of under-celebrated filmmakers such as New German Cinema director, Margarethe von Trotta and Hollywood star, director and producer Ida Lupino. But there’s plenty more to come, and film fans visiting HOME’s website and browsing their brochures will be able to look out for the Celebrating Women in Global Cinema stamp, which will provide a quick way to identify and support cinema made with significant contributions by female filmmakers.

There’s an emphasis on bringing together a selection of work that is truly global. This October, HOME present New Women’s Voices in Lebanese Cinema, a three film season that addresses topics ranging from women’s roles and status in contemporary Lebanese society, class issues and the refugee crisis, to the legacy of the civil war and its aftermath. The season forms part of HOME’s mission to highlight women’s voices from regions traditionally underrepresented in surveys of world cinema. This year’s edition of Not Just Bollywood, for example, focussed upon women working in Indian independent cinema, while The Original Ass Kickers looks at Hong Kong’s female action heroes.

The initiative doesn’t ignore pioneering work by women in British and American cinema though. In addition to the celebration of Hollywood figure, Ida Lupino, earlier this year, HOME brought filmgoers together to discover the work of Euzhan Palcy, the first black woman to direct a Hollywood studio picture (A Dry White Season, 1989), as well as Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony-award winning Barbra Streisand. Closer to home, local filmmaker Carol Morley received the retrospective treatment, while Joanna Hogg arrived with The Souvenir.

There are plenty of ways to engage more directly too, and HOME has been eager to reach out to audiences and programmers. Six programming slots over the year are to be curated by burgeoning female creatives and women looking to break into film exhibition. Evening courses on Women in Science Fiction and Women in Film Comedy provide chance for learning. While live recordings of Girls on Film, (the all-female review show presented by film journalist Anna Smith) across the year, provide opportunities to speak to women in film criticism.

At Creative Tourist, we’ll be featuring events throughout the year. Read on to discover individual events scheduled as part of Celebrating Women in Global Cinema at HOME, and be sure to check back as more details are confirmed. #WomenAtHOME