The London Film Festival Announces Its Lineup
The fall festivals are finalizing their lineups and what has become clear to me as I track the films and the presence of women directors is that the festivals usually have a core list of films that go from festival to festival as they make their runs towards release and Oscar recognition. The reality is that most of the high profile films are directed by men. So the high profile section like the galas and special screenings, the ones that draw the media and the stars are populated by male directors. The BFI London Film Festival which takes place from october 13 to 28 has the same problem. The big high profile films are directed by men. But when you keep on looking the good news is that you will find many, many films directed by women. Props goes artistic director Sandra Hebron who has really added a good diversity of women’s voices to her lineup. I wonder how much it helps when there is a woman making the decisions. I remember the lineup earlier this summer at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It also has a good number of directors. The bad news is that artistic director Hannah McGill just stepped down. As for London, there are a total of 197 feature length films and 112 shorts. I didn’t get to count the world cinema section which has over 50 films but even without that section as well as the other two I didn’t count Treasures from the Archives and Experimenta, we still had 29 films directed by women. Way more than most festivals. The point is that there are women making films everywhere worthy of being included in festivals which in turn lead to awards and releases. Festivals are clearly a place where women are more visible. Now we just need women directors to get into the more high profile slots. Here are the women: Gala section: 16 films. 2 are directed by women. The Kids Are All Right directed by Lisa Cholodenko and Africa United directed by Debs Gardner-Paterson. Films on the Square: 38 films. 6 are directed by women. Archipelago directed by Joanna Hogg; Dhobi Ghat directed by Kiran Rai; It’s Kind of a Funny Story directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck; Meek’s Cutoff directed by Kelly Reichardt; Puzzle directed by Natalia Smirnoff; Wasteland directed by Lucy Walker. New British Cinema: 12 films. 6 directed by women. The Arbor directed by Clio Barnard; Edge directed by Carol Morley; Guilty Pleassures directed by Julie Moggan; Mandelson, The Real PM? directed by Hannah Rothschild; Pink Saris directed by Kim Longinotto; Self Made directed by Gillian Wearing. French Revolutions: 13 films. 5 are directed by women In Your Hands directed by Lola Doillon; Living on Love Alone directed by Isabelle Czajka; Love Like Poison directed by Katell Quillévéré; The Sleeping Beauty directed by Catherine Breillat; Special Treatment directed by Jeanne Labrune. Cinema Europa: 39 films 10 are directed by women. Adrienn Pál directed by Ágnes Kocsis; At Ellen’s Age directed by Pia Marais; Blessed Events directed by Isabelle Stever; Draquila – Italy Trembles directed by Sabina Guzzanti; Elisa K directed by Jordi Cadena and Judith Colell; Even the Rain directed by Icíar Bollaín; A Family directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen; Plans for Tomorrow directed by Juana Macías; Pudana: The Last of a Line directed by Anastasia Lapsui and Markku Lehmuskallio; Truce directed by Svetlana Proskurina. Other sections include World Cinema, Treasures from the Archives, Experimenta and Short Cuts and Animation.
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