A recent dip in female-led theatrical releases in the UK - back to 2018 levels of 26% reminds us that our work is far from over; that we cannot be complacent.
Below you can read about the research we conduct into gender representation in film and the wider industry, tracking the release landscape to present an accurate picture of investment in films by filmmakers of marginalised genders.
Here you can also find out about news and opportunities at Reclaim The Frame, along with curated film recommendations, filmmaker interviews, and creative responses.
Based on the novel by Lisa Genova
Still Alice is a 2014 American independent drama film written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland and based on Lisa Genova’s bestselling 2007 novel of the same name. The film stars Julianne Moore as Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with familial Alzheimer’s disease shortly after her 50th birthday. Alec Baldwin plays her husband, John, and Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, and Hunter Parrish play her children: Lydia, Anna, and Tom.
Glatzer and Westmoreland were approached by Lex Lutzus and James Brown to adapt Genova’s novel in 2011, when Glatzer had just been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Moore was their first choice for the lead role. She researched Alzheimer’s disease for months to prepare for the part. The film was shot in New York in March 2014, with a budget of $4 million.
Still Alice had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2014. It was one of several films stolen in the Sony Pictures hack incident and leaked online on November 27, 2014. The film was released theatrically on January 16, 2015, and grossed $43.9 million at the international box office. It received critical acclaim, with praise for Moore’s performance which won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Actress. She dedicated her Academy Award win to Glatzer, who died from ALS in March 2015. The film was included among the year’s top ten independent films by the National Board of Review.
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heart-breaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what’s it’s like to literally lose your mind…
With both an ageing population and individuals of all ages with more complex needs that require additional social care support, there is an increasing requirement to recruit and retain staff in the adult social care sector.
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By Betsy Sheil
I recently watched Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, directed by Laura Fairrie, with my mum, she was buzzing to me about the Collins’ sisters work, me admittingly not knowing more than a name and a face to either, but I loved it. Lady Boss allowed me not only to explore the lives of strong women but be reminded of the necessity that is women’s ownership over their sexuality and promiscuity, something that has been fought back by the media for years.
As someone in Gen Z, I found myself noticing things from the film that I see in my life today. Whilst I have grown up with more exposure to strong female models than ever before, the rejection of Jackie Collins’ work and the rejection of the female gaze on sex reminded me of many things I still see as a young woman today. The repeated rhetoric that I learnt in school and social environments growing up where female ownership over one’s body was shamed, ‘slut’ was the common dialect of teenage boys in school, equally was ‘frigid’. The narrative that Jackie Collins was “too much” for portraying her gaze on sex, and the attitude that sex is something that is ‘disgusting’ when discussed by a woman is a narrative I, and many young women, are subject to.
From as young as 10, sex education was not taught in a ‘sex positive’ way. It again fed the male gaze, the boys in my year didn’t even learn about periods. I remember my primary school teacher telling them we were rehearsing for a ‘dance’ when in actuality she was teaching us about tampons and pads. From that experience alone as young women, we were taught that female sex was something to be secret and discreet about, even our anatomy was something to be kept hushed. Through secondary school not much changed, but sex education instead was taught in a purely biological sense, we were provided with no additional lessons on sex and relationships and the sex-ed we were taught was consequently non-inclusive, focused on the male gaze and was purely to cover a curriculum. Consequently, consent and sexual assault was something not addressed within my school. Instead over the years my school, and many other schools in the UK slut-shaming and sexual harassment have become an epidemic.
As a young woman, I was only able to educate myself on positive, inclusive sex education until recently and externally to the education system. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without sex-positive role models and sex-positive media. I wouldn’t be able to have access to this without the works of women such as Jackie Collins. The Impact of her work on not only literature but modern feminism and sex-positivity cannot be ignored, and ‘Lady Boss’ allowed me to see Jackie Collins’ true impact. I cannot think about Meghan Fox’s ‘Jennifer’ in ‘Jennifer’s Body’ without thinking about Jackie Collins and ‘Lucky Santangelo’.
The power and fearlessness of Jackie Collins’ portrayal was something else I admire as a young woman, from the large shoulder-padded suits and big hair to Jackie’s confident walk onto talk shows where she knew she would most likely face some criticism for her work. Her presence felt strong on-screen, she felt confident in her works and I admired that. In many ways, Jackie Collins lives up to the title of ‘Lady Boss’. Watching “Lady Boss” and the legacy of Jackie Collins reminded me of the importance of having ownership over myself and I felt inspired and touched throughout the film.
Betsy Sheil
Betsy Sheil is an Arts student from Nottingham. From a young age, she has been an avid lover of filmmaking and the local cinema (Broadway in Nottingham). Although a lover of all film, Betsy has a particular interest in the promotion of female and non-binary filmmakers, and how the presentation of women on screen is evolving and changing. She also has a soft spot for the comedy genre and is a dedicated fan of Olivia Wilde’s ‘Booksmart’. Currently studying for her A levels, Betsy hopes to go on to work in filmmaking/film journalism.
International Non-Binary People’s Day is observed each year on 14 July and is aimed at raising awareness and organising around the issues faced by non-binary people around the world. The day was first celebrated in 2012.
To celebrate this day, we’ll be turning to French screenwriter and film director, Céline Sciamma.
Fluidity of gender and sexual identity among girls and women is a common theme in Sciamma’s films, and none more so than her 2011 film Tomboy. Written and shot in a matter of months. Sciamma wrote the script in three weeks, completed casting in three weeks, and shot the film in 20 days. It premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section of the festival. The film was shown in French schools as part of an educational program.
Before attending La Fémis, the première French film school, Sciamma studied literature. As a child, she was an avid reader and became interested in film as a teenager. She wrote her first original script for Water Lilies (2007) as part of her final evaluation at La Fémis. Xavier Beauvois, who was chairman of the evaluation panel, and could be considered as her mentor, persuaded her to make the film. A year after finishing school, she began shooting the film in her hometown.
Directed by
Céline Sciamma
When 10-year-old Laure moves to a new neighbourhood in Paris with their family, they take the opportunity to adopt a new male persona under the name Mikäel, experimenting with their gender expression and taking part in traditional ‘boys’ activities and play, all with the support of their younger sister who says having a big brother is “way better” than having a big sister. While Mikäel’s mother seems supportive at first, she later makes them wear a dress, essentially ‘outing’ them to their friends who have only seen them as a boy. The film won critical acclaim on its release, especially for its examination of the way gender stereotypes can affect children who don’t conform to them.
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#celinesciama #tomboy
