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.