Film & TV Lunch Club: March 2024 - Inspiring Inclusion
Film & TV Lunch Club: March 2024 - Inspiring Inclusion
Women Talking, Wadjda, How To Have Sex
This month’s theme was a no brainer. I have always marked International Women’s Day with Miss En Scene, and have previously brought together people from the film community to celebrate women in film in a way that aligns with the year’s ‘official’ theme in a range of ways and formats - sometimes throughout the day, sometimes for the entire month of March. In previous years, online events have focused on how we can #ChoosetoChallengeCinema (2021 - video post embedded below), #BreaktheBiaswithFilm (2022) and #EmbraceEquityinFilm (2023).
This year the focus is all about inclusion, a vital element in working towards equality. To quote the IWD website:
When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.
And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.
Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women.
In the film industry, like many sectors, women are a minority. The Celluloid Ceiling paper from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film analyses the employment of women in behind-the-scenes roles for the top grossing films (in the USA). In the 2023 (the year where Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was the highest grossing film worldwide) report, the key findings were as follows:
women accounted for 22% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the 250 top grossing films (a 2% decline from the previous year!)
by role, women made up 16% of directors, 17% of writers, 26% of producers, 24% of executive producers, 21% of editors, and 7% of cinematographers working on the 250 top grossing films.
83% of the 250 top grossing films last year had no women directors and 94% had no women cinematographers.
Women are still dramatically underrepresented in behind-the-scenes roles, and this is why the IWD theme of Inspiring Inclusion is all the more vital. The selection and long list for this month are films chosen because they celebrate and champion women’s achievements and/or raise awareness about discrimination. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion, and film, oftentimes referred to an empathy machine (thanks Roger Ebert), is one of the most powerful ways to education and inspire. I regularly wonder what the impact of an inclusive film world would be for the wider world. Hollywood (and global film markets) wield a lot of power and influence over people so I think the effects would be far-reaching and incredibly positive for many other elements of life and culture.
Besides which, women make some incredibly entertaining and important films and capture a far more authentic experience of the female experience than a man ever could, so it’s crucial that this perspective is out there and being accessed and absorbed by wide audiences. And that’s not to say that every film written or directed by a woman should be an exploration of female trauma or a story based around gender struggles; sometimes just viewing life - and all the trouble, wonder and beauty that it brings - through the lens of a woman is enough.
I hope that as a result of reading this blog post, you might be inspired to seek out some films directed, written and shot by women! Here are this month’s picks:
🎞 March Selection 🎞
Women Talking; Dir. Sarah Polley | Official Trailer | MGM
Women Talking (2022; Dir. Sarah Polley)
Do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith. Triple-F Rated.
Stream on Amazon Prime (UK).
Wadjda (2012; Dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour)
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest. Triple-F Rated and the first feature length film made by a female Saudi director.
Stream on Mubi.
How to Have Sex (2023; Dir. Molly Manning Walker)
Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday - drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives. Triple-F Rated.
Stream on Mubi.
🎬 The Long List: Optional Extras 🎬
Other notable films suggested for the theme:
The Wonders - A family of beekeepers living in the Tuscan countryside finds their household disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of a silently troubled teenage boy and a reality TV show intent on showcasing the family.
You Hurt My Feelings - A novelist's longstanding marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest book.
Revoir Paris - Three months after surviving a terrorist attack in a bistro, Mia is still traumatized and unable to recall the events of that night. In an effort to move forward, she investigates her memories and retraces her steps.
Bottoms - Two unpopular queer high-school students start a fight club to have sex before graduation.
Fair Play - An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a young couple's relationship to the brink, threatening to unravel far more than their recent engagement.
Joy Ride - Follows four Asian American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers.
Beach Rats - A Brooklyn teenager spends his days experimenting with drugs and looking online for older men to meet.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always - A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy. Article on this here:
Past Lives - Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. - When her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
Polite Society - Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends' help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Causeway - A US soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home.
She Said - Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey's quest to break the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
The Assistant - A searing look at a day in the life of an assistant to a powerful executive. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the insidious abuse that threatens every aspect of her position.
Babyteeth - Milla, a seriously ill teenager, falls in love with a drug dealer, Moses, her parents' worst nightmare.
Miss Juneteenth - A former beauty queen and single mom prepares her rebellious teenage daughter for the "Miss Juneteenth" pageant.
She Dies Tomorrow - A woman becomes strangely convinced she will die the next day. Her friend initially disbelieves her before becoming paranoid herself that she too will die the next day.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry - A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.
Equity - Senior investment banker Naomi Bishop is threatened by a financial scandal and must untangle a web of corruption.
I Blame Society - A struggling filmmaker realizes that the skill set to make a movie is the same to commit the perfect murder.
Hidden Figures - The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.
The Queen of Hearts (La reine des pommes) - Adele's attempt to recover from a devastating breakup leads to surprisingly hilarious results as she bounces from one lover to the next, but can't escape the vision of her ex. France. Official Selection - Locarno Int'l FF.
Writing With Fire - In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, emerges India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, redefining what it means to be powerful.
Orlando - After Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
The Art of Loving - Michalina Wislocka, the most famous and recognized sexologist of communist Poland, fights for the right to publish her book, which will change the sex life of Polish people forever.
If you are looking for International Women’s Day content on social media, look for #IWD2024, #InspireInclusion and #InspireInclusioninFilm on 8th March.
🔜 Next Month 🔜
The theme for APRIL will be POWER OF THE PRINCESS. The last week of April is, apparently, National Princess Week and created by Julie Andrews no less, so we will be looking at films that feature princesses, their roles within the cinematic canon and how far the idea of a princess has developed (or not…). Feel free to give me your thoughts about this post or the next one in the comments or on Insta!
Sources:
International Women’s Day. (2024). Theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is #InspireInclusion. [online] Available at: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/theme.
Lauzen, M. (n.d.). The Celluloid Ceiling: Employment of Behind-the-Scenes Women on Top Grossing U.S. Films; 26 th Annual Edition. [online] Available at: https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-Celluloid-Ceiling-Report.pdf.