Proxima (2019)
★★★★☆
The superbly focused French female astronaut in woman-centred Proxima directed by Anna Winocour is torn apart by the conflict between needing freedom to achieve and the pain of separation from her daughter.
Female Filmmakers
System Crasher (2019) – ON DEMAND and Q&A
★★★★☆
Nora Fingscheidt’s System Crasher is explosive and riotous with tour de force performances.
The Perfect Candidate (2019) – ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
The Perfect Candidate by Haifaa Al-Mansour is a fascinating glimpse of women’s changing status in the patriarchal kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Misbehaviour (2020) – DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
★★★★☆
Misbehaviour, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, made by an all-woman team and starring women, is a clever, funny, inspirational feminist film about the Women’s Lib Movement and the Miss World contest. Attempts to bring down the patriarchy remain ongoing.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) – ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a sumptuously sensual lesbian love story set in 1770 that comments fiercely on the role of women in society – then and now.
Emma. (2020)
★★★★☆
Beautiful to look at, clever and funny – that’s Jane Austen’s heroine Emma and also Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of it – Emma. .
Queen & Slim (2019)
★★★★☆
Queen & Slim is a first film fuelled by controlled anger by black female director Melina Matsoukas. It’s always gripping.
Little Women (2019)
★★★★☆
Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is a dream-come-true feminist re-reading of Louisa May Alcot’s childhood classic.
The Kingmaker (2019)
★★★★☆
The Kingmaker, Lauren Greenfield’s revealing documentary about Imelda Marcos, the former First Lady of the Philippines, is a fascinating and horrifying must-see.
Atlantics (2019)
★★★★☆
Atlantic (Atlantique) is Mati Diop’s dreamlike feature debut focusing on the women left behind when Senegalese migrant workers take to the seas.
Judy & Punch (2019)
★★★★☆
Judy & Punch by Mirrah Foulkes is a feminist reimagination and reversal of the traditional, violent seaside Punch and Judy puppet show that takes it back its 16th century origins.
Harriet (2019)
★★★★☆
Harriet, directed by Kasi Lemmons, is a conventionally made biopic of a supremely unconventional and inspirational woman, Harriet Tubman, taking her life story from slave to fearless abolitionist and conductor on the underground railroad to freedom.
Greener Grass (2019)
★★★☆☆
Satirical comedy Greener Grass by, and co-starring Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe, is Stepford Wives on acid.
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
★★★★☆
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound by Midge Costin is one of those fascinating documentaries that take you behind the scenes to explain how things happen that are so crucial but you had never previously noticed.