Event details

Since the 60s, British cinema has been lauded by critics and awards ceremonies for films that fit into the genres of social realism or costume drama. Films like Kes (Ken Loach) or Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson) or, a bit in between, The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo). Some of the most internationally popular British films of recent times have been helmed by women: Mamma Mia, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, Bridget Jones¡¯s Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire, and even Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Women directors have also created important social realist films, like Lynne Ramsay¡¯s Ratcather, and significant costume dramas, like Amma Asante¡¯s Belle. This study day will explore the role of women filmmakers in British film. We will discover and discuss key films by critically lauded directors, but also consider women screenwriters, documentaries by women, and British films by women immigrants. Though the numbers of women working in British film are disproportionately low, women have been central to the ongoing vitality of British cinema in a global age.