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.
Following our widely circulated open call, we’re excited to announce film curator, writer, and audience development professional Aashna Thakkar (she/her) as our new Head of Audience Engagement.
In addition, the Board of Directors are thrilled to welcome three new Trustees: film programmer and producer Rebecca del Tufo; creative producer, exec producer, consultant and diversity advocate Tolu Stedford; and producer Yaw Basoah.
Stepping into a newly created full time management role that encompasses curation and communications, Aashna Thakkar (she/her) brings her experience in programming and marketing to the position of Head of Audience Engagement.
Originally from Toronto, Aashna was Manager of Programming for Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto’s longest running free community film festival, and Lead Programmer Breakthrough’s Women & Non-binary led Film Festival. Prior to that, Aashna worked in marketing at Toronto Ward Museum, and held outreach and education positions at Hot Docs, the largest documentary film festival in North America. Since moving to London, she has worked with Into Film on their UK-wide festival.
Aashna’s speaking, jurying and writing engagements have included Winnipeg Film Group, aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival and Documentary Campus, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Future of Film Showcase, Hot Docs, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, and she is a member of the Programmers of Colour Collective.
As an audience-focused and community-minded professional, Aashna’s seven-year career to date demonstrates a commitment to promoting equity in the film industry and platforming stories of marginalized identities.
Rebecca del Tufo, Tolu Stedford and Yaw Basoah announced as new Trustees
As of this month, the charity also welcomes three new Trustees:
Rebecca del Tufo (she/her) is a film producer, programmer and freelancer, whose work covers exhibition, distribution and production. Rebecca co-founded and co-runs ScreenCraft Works, a not-for-profit which supports under-represented production and post-production talent worldwide with cross-border mentoring, talks and networking, and is a trustee of Refugees at Home.
Tolu Stedford (she/her) is co-founder of Story Compound, a creative film, TV and immersive media production company and consultancy with an emphasis on stories of the Global Majority that resonate globally. She is British Screen Forum’s Future Leader and member of the ScreenSkills Film Council.
Yaw Basoah (he/him) established Dark Pictures to produce bold, distinctive, and uncompromising work that explores the dark side of human nature, working across film, television, and the visual arts, with emerging, established, and world-renowned writers, filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists, predominantly from underrepresented backgrounds.
A fond farewell
Sadly, next month the team bid goodbye to long-standing team members Jo Taylor Hitchinson (freelance Campaigns Lead, who joined in 2018) and Cristina Garcia (Operations Manager since 2019), and to Rōgan Graham (Programme Producer for the past year). The work of all three has been critical to the continued development and impact of our audience building work at Reclaim The Frame, and our recent Girls on Film ‘Activist Impact Award’ is just one example in testament to that. All three will forever be part of the Reclaim The Frame community.
Starting in April, Aashna will be working closely with the Reclaim The Frame team, information on whom can be found here.
While our new Trustees join our five Board directors: producer Fozia O’Dowd, distributor Sophie Doherty, publicist Sophie Glover, barrister Stephanie Hayward, and curator/evaluator Tara Brown.
#ReclaimTheFrame with us
The Board of Trustees are currently recruiting for a Chair of the Board of Trustees – details of which can be found here.
To become an Advocate for the charity’s mission in building audiences for marginalized gender led films, join the #ReclaimTheFrame mailing list here.
The charity’s exhibition work is funded by BFI’s Audience Fund. Information on Reclaim The Frame’s partners and network of 20+ cinemas in 16 cities across the UK can be found here.
Updated: Apr 26, 2024
Reclaim The Frame - the UK’s gender equality charity for film - is recruiting for a Chair of the Board of Trustees to lead and support the Board and Executive Director in fulfilment of the charity’s mission: To champion gender equity in all film spaces.
The Chair will be required to facilitate regular Board meetings, work closely with the Executive Director, and engage in person with our public and industry-facing events. They will promote good governance within the aims and objectives of the charity, in focus all through the centering of care.
Who we are:
Celebrating our 20th year, the charity (founded as Birds’ Eye View in 2003) launched originally as a film festival running each International Women’s Day, and now an organisation that works all year round to support, and build audiences for, films by filmmakers of marginalised genders.
We continue to diversify audiences; developing safe and accessible spaces for conversation, promoting a de-patriarchal, de-centralised and de-colonised lens on the world, and advocating for social justice in all film spaces.
Our Board of Trustees are 8 individuals with experience across film production, accounting, distribution, programming, publicity, training, and evaluation and more broadly across activism and campaign work, and legals.
Terms:
Direct Reports Executive Director
Salary Voluntary. Expenses will be reimbursed.
Start date Spring / Summer 2024
Tenure Up to 3 years, maximum x 2 terms
Location Within commuting distance of London
Application closes Tuesday 7 May, 10 am
To learn more about the role, including skills and experience and where to apply, see our info pack HERE.
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2024, we’re offering a chance to catch up on #ReclaimTheFrame titles from the past couple of years with a curated selection on BFI Player!
This global selection by and about women and non-binary people - behind the camera and centred on the screen - features films set in Newcastle, England to an unnamed city in Brazil, as well as diasporic stories from Guadeloupe, Haiti and the Philippines.
BLUE JEAN (dir Georgia Oakley, UK 2022)
Written and directed by Georgia Oakley, this powerful Thatcher-era drama following a closeted lesbian teaching in a Tyneside school under Section 28 serves as a warning from the past against complacency in the present, around the ongoing struggle for the rights and safety of LGBTQI+ people.
CETTE MAISON (dir Miryam Charles, Canada 2022)
Miryam Charles deftly blurs the boundaries between documentary and imagined realities in this inventive and visually compelling ghost story. Shot on 16mm, ‘This House’ explores the unsolved killing of Charles’ teenage cousin as the family reckon with their loss, and that of their homeland in Haiti.
LINGUA FRANCA (dir Isabel Sandoval, USA 2019)
Isabel Sandoval writes, directs and stars in this intimate and compelling story of Olivia, an undocumented Filipina trans woman living in Brooklyn seeking legal status. Working as a carer, Olivia develops a relationship with her elderly client’s adult grandson. Meanwhile the daily threat of deportation looms over her existence.
MEDUSA (dir Anita Rocha da Silveira, Brazil 2021)
In Anita Rocha da Silveira’s genre-bending horror, Mariana is a member of a repressive patriarchal Christian sect. By day, she and her girlfriends cultivate the image of the perfect woman; at night, they don masks, mercilessly prowling the city for women they deem to be sinners.
RODEO (dir Lola Quivoron, France 2022)
"I was born with a bike between my legs.”
Lola Quivoron’s energetic, exhilarating and Cannes award-winning debut centres on the young Julia and their initiation into a dirt bike gang, navigating an extreme subgroup fuelled by masculinity.
Become a ReclaimTheFrame advocate by signing up to our FREE newsletter HERE, and receive a special code for an extra FREE month of BFI Player along with your 14 day free trial.
