It could be argued that women film directors, given a hard time in many countries, get a fair crack of the whip in Britain — among them are prize-winners Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay, Clio Bernard, Gurinder Chadha and Phyllida Lloyd.
But the ambitious Bird’s Eye View Film Festival, which plays across seven London venues, begs to disagree. Even the UK has an overwhelming majority of male directors, yet films directed by women are no less successful, either critically or at the box office.
The festival shows the work of women film-makers from countries including Cuba, Iraq, Indonesia, Romania and Argentina, and many have come to London to discuss their films after the screenings.
Two of the films showing this weekend (both at the BFI Southbank) are old favourites: on Sunday April 13, Claudia Weill’s 1978 Golden Globe-nominated Girlfriends, which Stanley Kubrick espoused; and, on Saturday April 12, Gurinder Chadha’s 1993 comedy of culture, Bhaji on the Beach.
Also showing are the UK premieres of Katrin Gebbe’s controversial German Cannes entrant, Nothing Bad Can Happen, in which a young man joins a religious group called The Jesus Freaks and rues his decision; and Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves, starring Dakota Fanning as one of three environmentalists who decides to take the law into her own hands.
Birds Eye View Film Festival (020 7254 3085, birds-eye-view.co.uk) runs until Sunday April 13.
