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.
Updated: May 10, 2023
Marking Pride month 2022, we’re presenting QUEERIOUS, inviting you to get curious and explore a multitude of desires on screen in ways all too rarely seen in cinema. Through stories of sexual awakenings and re-awakenings, and queer love through a feminist lens, this curated season from aims to help you to question, learn and enjoy your sexual selves.
We’re pleased to be partnering with BFI Player, to bring to you a Queerious selection available to stream online now. An exciting taste of what’s to come in our in-cinema programme this July, where different selection of films will be touring to select #ReclaimTheFrame participating cinemas across the UK, learn more about Queerious and the July films, here.
Use code QUEERIOUS to receive one month BFI Player subscription for free.
GIRLS IN UNIFORM (Mädchen in Uniform) by Leontine Sagan (Germany 1931, 95’)
“What you call sin, I call the great spirit of love, which takes a thousand forms.” In a strict Prussian boarding school for girls, sensitive student Manuela von Meinhardis develops a forbidden love for one of her teachers in this pioneering lesbian love story.
ROSEBUD by Cheryl Farthing (USA 1991, 14’)
Kay moves into a new flat and finds herself unexpectedly intrigued by the open sexuality of the lesbian couple next door. An erotic tale of voyeurism and fantasy, and about seeing, and being seen.
XXY by Lucia Puenzo (Argentina 2007, 91’)
A tale of sexual awakening set against a backdrop of the Uruguayan shoreline. Alex is an intersex teenager who has been raised as a girl and begins to explore her sexuality a young woman. Álvaro is the 16-year old friend of the family who comes to stay. Sparks fly between the two, and their parents must confront their fears.
VIVA by Anna Biller (USA 2008, 116’)
“You’re not only a whore, you’re a filthy lesbian!” Inspired by Playboy magazine photo shoots, Anna Biller’s radical sexploitation satire follows bored housewife Barbi as she searches for adventure in predatory 1970s Los Angeles.
TOMBOY by Celine Sciamma (France 2011, 82’)
Gender identity and expression are explored in this tender coming-of-age drama from Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Petite Maman). 10-year-old Laure navigates a new identity as ‘Mickael’, a new neighbourhood in Paris and a new friendship when Laure meets a local girl Lisa.
GIRLS LOST by Alexandra-Therese Keining (Sweden 2015, 106’)
Drawing on elements of magical realism to explore notions of fluid sexuality and identity, the story of three girls who get to temporarily experience life as boys on discovering a curious plant. Its nectar, once consumed, results not only in a change to their gender, but to the world around them and their response to it.
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR by Desiree Akhavan (USA 2015, 86’) (SDH)
Desiree Akhavan (The Miseducation of Cameron Post) directs and stars in this fearless quick-witted comedy about a twenty-something bisexual Iranian-American woman on a journey to self-discovery and struggling to conform to traditional Persian standards along the way.
THE THIRD WIFE by Ash Mayfair (Vietnam 2018, 92’)
Fourteen year old May finds herself in a forced marriage to an older polygamous man, facing pressure to bear him a baby boy while still coming of age herself. She finds compassion in her husband’s second wife, developing in a forbidden love in this beautifully understated tale set in 19th Century Vietnam.
RAFIKI by Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya 2018, 83’) (SDH)
Popping with colour and energy, Rafiki tells the story of young Nairobi women Kena and Ziki, whose immediate connection blossoms into romance. This brave film was banned in Kenya, where gay sex is punishable by 14-years in jail, following director Wanuri Kahiu’s refusal to change the ending.
Queerious is part of Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Explore all films and events at filmfeels.co.uk. #FilmFeelsCurious
Following the launch of our Reclaim the Frame x International project on International Women’s Day March 2022, we’re delighted to announce the titles to be supported through the project. With the aim of developing audiences and promoting the circulation of films by women internationally, the project is pleased to reveal the line-up of films from each participating country:
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ZUHAL by Nazlı Elif Durlu (Turkey, 2021), SDH
Zuhal’s busy, aspirational lifestyle is disrupted when she notices a continuous meowing in her apartment building; a sound that, mysteriously, no one else seems to hear.
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THE BLUE INMATES by Zeina Daccache (Lebanon, 2021), SDH
Filmed from inside Lebanon’s notoriously tough Roumieh Prison, this documentary follows inmates as they produce a play about their fellow prisoners suffering from mental health conditions and filed under ‘Mad and Possessed’ by the Penal Code.
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by Leyla Bouzid (Tunisia, 2021)
Ahmed, a French 18 year old of Algerian origin, meets a young, charismatic Tunisian girl named Farah. While discovering a collection of sensual and erotic Arab literature, Ahmed falls deeply in love with Farah, but struggles as his desire threatens to compromise his values.
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by Celeste Bell and Paul Sng (UK, 2021), SDH & AD
In this intimate and riveting tribute to one of Britain’s most revolutionary punk heroines Poly Styrene, her own daughter Celeste Bell journeys across the world searching for solace by uncovering the truth about her mother’s life.
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The films have been selected by the consortia: Birds’ Eye View (UK), Flying Broom Foundation (Turkey), Beirut International Women Film Festival (Lebanon) and Regards de femmes: festival international de film de femmes (Tunisia) as part of our joint venture, Reclaim the Frame x International.
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The project aims to support culturally diverse women and non-binary filmmakers from 5 countries through the circulation of works, collaboration and a professional development programme. With our shared mission to increase gender diversity and inclusion in cinema, the films will be shared with audiences in each of our respective countries, starting with Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in Turkey, 26th May – 5th June 2022, Regards De Femmes: Festival International de Film de Femmes in Tunisia, 11th – 16th October 2022, and Beirut International Women Film Festival in Lebanon in March 2023. To see Flying Broom’s programme, click here.
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Joining the project is Women Make Waves International Film Festival in Taiwan who will collaborate with the consortia to select an additional title from Taiwan and who will present the films at their festival, 14th – 23rd October 2022.
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Melanie Iredale, director of Birds’ Eye View and Sam Lahoud, director of Beirut International Women Film Festival will be present at Flying Broom 29 May – 2 June to present the selection and to launch the call for applications for the project’s training programme for filmmakers from / based in Lebanon, Taiwan, Turkey and Tunisia. Keep an eye out for more!
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Reclaim The Frame x International is funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, which are designed to support UK and overseas organisations to collaborate on international arts projects.
Updated: May 10, 2023
We’re thrilled to welcome back Isra Al Kassi, who worked with Birds’ Eye View in 2021 in community outreach and engagement and who returns in a senior position as Head of Programmes & Audience Development. Isra will head up Reclaim The Frame alongside other projects, work with Director Melanie Iredale on our curated programmes, and lead on the charity’s work in developing audiences for women and non-binary-led films across the UK. Isra (she/her) is a curator and event manager and the co-founder of T A P E Collective, she has a background in community spaces and cinemas and more recently has been focusing on cross-arts curation and audience development.
As part of a renewed commitment to decentralising and developing our Reclaim The Frame project across the UK, our Impact Producers will contribute to the programming, host events and build audiences and advocates for #ReclaimTheFrame in their respective regions.
Following a nationwide call for applications, we’re pleased to announce our new regional Impact Producers who will be championing Reclaim the Frame events and films in their areas. Joining team Birds’ Eye View from June:
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Rui Jin – Brighton / South East
Rui (she/her) is committed to boosting access & participation of the historically excluded in all parts of the film industry chain. Rui works with the BFI FAN’s New Release team as the freelance marketer in the South East and is also founder of Brighton Community Cinematheque.
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Robyn Lawrence – Plymouth / Exeter
Robyn (she/her) is an arts worker and avid consumer of films and arts events. Having worked across the country, she has a passion for facilitating peoples enjoyment and interaction with film, events and the wider arts.
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Toni Lee – Leeds / Sheffield
Toni (they/them) is a filmmaker, researcher, organiser, and programmer for Leeds Queer Film Festival, with an interest in community based and collaborative documentary making and cinema grounded in justice, and love.
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Xuanlin Tham – Glasgow / Edinburgh
Xuanlin (they/them) is a Singaporean film critic and curator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are passionate about queer, ecofeminist, and more-than-human perspectives in cinema which demand us to forge new solidarities and imagine ways of being in the world differently.
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Anne Louise Kershaw – Manchester / Liverpool / Chester
Anne Louise (she/her) is a curator, producer, writer and sound artist making sound work under the pseudonym Synda Sova. She is director of Instigate Arts CIC. Her feminist queer and holistic practice seeks to bring marginal voices into the mainstream spaces they feel excluded from.
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Laura Taylor-Williams – Cardiff
Laura (she/her) is a film and TV distribution consultant who works with production and distribution companies, film making teams and runs distribution seminars. She is a BIFA, BAFTA and BAFTA Cymru voter. Laura is very passionate about people seeing themselves represented on screen and a greater gender diversity in film making.
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Click HERE to sign up to be an Advocate to hear about all our latest events and news, and how to help further our mission for wider perspectives of the world through cinema.
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Also new to the team is Access & Inclusion Manager Charlotte Little and Assistant Yasmin Jenoui who both joined in March. For full bios, please visit our Team page, and look out for additional Impact Producer roles in more cities to come!
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