Presented as part of Glasgow Feminist Arts Festival and sponsored by the University of Glasgow’s School of Culture and Creative Arts ‘Inclusive/Exclusive’series.
A powerful drama co-directed by eight Māori women directors – Briar Grace-Smith, Casey Kaa, Ainsley Gardiner, Katie Wolfe, Chelsea Cohen, Renae Maihi, Paula Jones, Awanui Simich-Pene – Waru is an exploration of abuse, shame and healing. The film comprises eight unedited sequences each offering a different woman’s perspective on the death of a young boy, Waru, who has been killed by his caregiver. Set around the tangi (a Māori funeral), it is a bold film that challenges the audience through its compelling and originalstorytelling.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Lauren and Kathi from Femspectives.
This poetic film weaves together childhood images, meditative musings and documentary footage as we follow the journey of director Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann’s conversion to Islam. She shares with us her strong affinity to Rumi poetry and guides us through her creative process as she is tasked with making a film about the building of a new port in Lamu, Kenya. As she gets lost in the creation of a film she didn’t want to make, she instead uses her own experiences and connections she builds with a local family in Lamu to turn the story into her own spiritual voyage. A meditation on how our paths to religion and spirituality can be tangled and different, Ndisi-Herrmann articulates the complexities of finding faith where you least expect it.
New Moon won the Adiaha Award for best female-directed documentary at the 2018 Zanzibar International Film Festival, and as part of the award Africa in Motion has invited the filmmaker to the festival.
Guerrilla film collective Cinemaattic is back with the finest contemporary films from Spain and Latin American countries. This June we’ve teamed up with them for a special programme before the summerbreak.
You have no fucking idea how hard it is. So this one is for them,Mothers.
It turns that some of our favourite films of the year were mother-themed or presenting not-so-typical mothers onscreen. Expanding the boundaries of our programmes German, Colombian, Brazilian, Hindu and aye, also Spanish mums are part of our last programme before the summerbreak.
According to a 2014 report by the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, 58% of female characters are identified by their roles as wives or mothers. While frustrating to see female characters reduced to their reproductive capabilities, some of cinema’s most complex, interesting and memorable women have beenmothers.
In this Mother’s selection we see brave mums, tenderness and oedipal undercurrents – as well as good old-fashionedlove.
René Guerra’s Vaca Profana about being a Trans mum in Sao Paulo & German short Kleptomami about the absurdities of today’s ‘mummy-hood’ are amongst theselection.
In 1972 the Edinburgh International Film Festival hosted the UK’s first women’s film festival, which was entirely dedicated to the cinematic achievements of women directors. 31 films were screened with the hope to change the canon and film history forever. Today, 46 years later, most of these films are, once again, lost.
We will re-visit two feature films from the original programme and contextualise them anew in our discussion sessions after each screening.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNDERNEATH
by Jane Arden / UK / 1972 / 133 minutes / English language / 18+
“Based on Jane Arden’s Holocaust this movie brings the women’s film festival to a shattering conclusion. A descent into what is called “madness” and “schizophrenia” demands a radical break from cinematic convention and Jane Arden has achieved a major breakthrough. The movie follows the death and rebirth of a human being in terms that echo the world of R. D. Laing and David Cooper. At the same time, it promised, a rebirth of the cinema. It is a terrifying, haunting and enriching experience.” – from the Edinburgh International Film Festival 1972 programme
A WOMAN’S PLACE
by Sue Crockford / UK / 1971 / 32 minutes / English language
“One of the most important reasons for making this film was to show Women’s Liberation not as a bunch of bra-burning heavies but as real people seeking to liberate themselves from a male orientated society, and with creative concepts for its eventual change. Filming began at the Women’s Liberation Conference in Oxford, February, 1970. This was the first large gathering of women making radical demands since the suffragettes, and the media treatment was the same – derisive and aggressive. The women themselves were therefore very wary of being filmed and misrepresented. A year later there was more filming at the March 6th demonstration in London.” – from the Edinburgh International Film Festival 1972 programme
This event is open to all (18+) and is free to attend. Please book via Glasgow Women’s Library.
Accessibility
The Library is wheelchair accessible, with lifts to the first floor and the mezzanine and archive.
An induction loop is available for events – please let a member of staff know if you require this.
The Library has disabled toilets on the ground and first floors. All the Glasgow Women’s Library bathrooms are individual closed stalls and are gender-neutral.
If you need help accessing the Library, or would like more information about access, please contact Glasgow Women’s Library and they will be very happy to offer you assistance.
