F-Rated
Our programme of films featuring the work of female directors has coincided with the development of the F-rating, a new system designed to flag up the significant involvement of women in film, on either side of the camera.
The F-Rating Manifesto
The stories we see on screen influence our lives. We want to hear stories from everyone, not just from one section of society.
We want diversity in filmmaking, both on and off screen.
The F-rating was founded by Holly Tarquini at Bath Film Festival 2014 where we wanted to highlight films which feature prominent women both behind the camera and in front of it.
Every film which ticks yes to the one of the following questions receives the F-rating of approval:
- Does it have a female director?
- Is it written by a woman?
- Is/are there complex female characters on screen who exist in their own right (not simply there to support to the male lead)?
The F stands for feminist.
Feminism is: "The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." We believe that feminism benefits everyone.
Featuring
"The full moon is high in the sky as Tokue soaks, drains, boils the beans for the first time, and waits patiently for the scent of the steam to change, talking to the beans all the while. It is an insult to hurry the process..." – Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
After a winter of floods and a summer of political turmoil, it seems the right thing to do to offer you a peaceful, beautiful start to our Autumn season; what better way to do this than with a Japanese film? This is the first time we have opened with one as well...so what better way to bring a fresh look to our 36th season?
Sentaro runs a shop selling dorayaki - a sandwich of two small pancakes with red bean paste ('An') between them. The trouble is his An is very ordinary. Tokue (Kirin Kaki from the wonderful 'Still Walking' (2010)) has her own recipe and wants to work for him; once he has tried her An, he has to agree, despite the fact that Tokue is 76 years old. Her arrival brings with it an increase in sales; her joyful character brings out the best in Sentaro and one of his teenage customers, Wakana.
Director Naomi Kawase (we had her 'Still the Water' at the festival this year) uses these three characters to show how friendships matter and grow… whilst the second half of the story reveals huge hidden problems...
"Deniz Gamze Ergüven's brilliant debut drama 'Mustang' feels unlike anything you've seen before; it's like a cross between a prison-break movie, an arthouse drama and a fairy tale. It's raw,
funny and incredibly moving" - Cath Clarke, Time Out.
With 46 nominations around the world, including Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, this gem is likely to leave you bemused and angry, but filled with hope too. Five young orphaned girls come out of school and hit the beach with some friends, romping in the sea with some of the boys. Harmless fun? Maybe to us, but not to their uncle and guardian; in this small Turkish community their actions are perceived as nothing short of obscene. He literally locks the girls away in their grandmother's house, removing anything modern which might corrupt them further. Their lives are changed to preparation for marriage; "the house became a wife factory" as one of the girls laments.
The hope comes in the girls' reactions; whilst they are offered up to potential husbands one by one, they plan a breakout. "When it comes, the jailbreak is as gripping as Bourne. What stays with you, though, is the film's powerful feminist statement about how society perceives women and girls' sexuality; as if somehow a 12-year-old girl showing her legs is as dangerous as waving around a loaded gun" - Cath Clarke, Time Out
The actors here are non-professional, which gives a feeling of authenticity to the scenes (and, as several of the awards for the film have been for the acting, you can see they proved their worth to the critics). The script (co-written by the director) successfully shows the girls are a tribe unto themselves and know full well how to fight back.
CELEBRATING NEW UK DIRECTORS DAY
Dan is not going to let a little inconvenience like his early death stop him influencing his two best friends, oh no. On a series of pre-recorded videotapes, he tells them where he wants his ashes spread, which turns out to be all over the country. Seph (Laura Carmichael from 'Downton Abbey') and Alex (Chloe Pirrie from 'Brief Encounters') are forced to set off on a road trip round Britain with the ever-decreasing Dan in a Tupperware container; the trip and his comments teach the two women about him and each other...
We hope Chanya Button will be joining us for a Q&A after the film.
CELEBRATING NEW UK DIRECTORS DAY
Life hasn't been going too well for Anna (Jodie Whittaker - 'Broadchurch') since her twin brother died. She finds herself coming up to 30, not only still living with her mum (Lorraine Ashbourne - 'Jericho'), but now living in the shed in the garden ("I needed some space"). She spends her time making home videos starring her thumbs and wondering what went wrong.
We hope to be joined by director Rachel Tunnard for a Q&A after the film.
"One Girl. One City. One Night. One Take" So says the film's trailer, and you know you are in for an adrenaline rush. Starting in a Berlin night club, the pulsating music sets the tone as Victoria, a fun-loving Spanish girl on holiday, meets four German youths.
"Victoria is an extraordinary filmgoing experience, raw and exciting." - Dave Calhoun, Time Out.
Sebastian Shipper shot this whole film three times, each in one take, and then picked the best one. The camera almost becomes a character here, stalking Victoria around. Travelling all over the city, with the inevitable many bit players, this would be pretty astonishing anyway, but the story is also gripping. What seems to start out as a fun night on the city, or a potential romance between Victoria and Sonne, turns into a heist full of danger... and the film becomes a fully fledged thriller.
Much of the action, as the title implies, follows Victoria, played here by Laia Costa who has won as many awards and plaudits as Shipper for her mesmerising performance - "Costa is simply perfect here. Watch the way her eyes convey the emotion of the moment, whether or not it's in the cautious flirtation with Sonne or the fear of the second act" - Brian Tallerico, Roger Ebert.com.
Several critics' taglines just say "Almodóvar is back to his best" and we were tempted to leave it at that too. He brings us the women's perspective of a story of angst; a mother who has lost touch with her daughter revisits her own life in flashbacks. Almodóvar creates a mystery out of this and, "Once again he's supremely confident in the unexplained and maestro-like in the reveal...Alberto Iglesias's mournful jazzy score is affecting, and the rest of the film's craft – cinematography, design, costumes – is typically exquisite" - Dave Calhoun, Time Out.
Nominated for the Palme D'Or at Cannes, all we can add is "welcome back, Pedro!"
It is 1945, World War Two is just ending. Stalinist Russia is now running Poland with a rod of iron. The French Red Cross has been sent to Poland to help French soldiers who are prisoners of war in German camps (civilians having to rely on the Polish Red Cross). One of the French doctors, Mathilde, is disturbed by a Polish nun who is desperate for her help in the local convent. When she gets there she is shocked by what she finds...
"As a writer and director, Anne Fontaine often deals with the struggles of women and with stories involving sex and sexual politics, but her concerns are usually veiled by the mechanics of a crowd-pleasing story. Invariably entertaining, her films - such as the biopic 'Coco Before Chanel' and thrillers and semi-thrillers such as 'Into His Hands' and 'Nathalie' - always have deeper currents lurking beneath. In 'The Innocents', that which is underneath comes to the surface" - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle.
Fontaine successfully merges sexual politics, religion and post world-war politics here, in this heart-wrenching, but true story. Mathilde (played wonderfully by Lou de Laâge) does her best to help the nuns, while balancing her Red Cross duties and her love life; 'The Innocents' leaves us with at least some hope from a desperate situation.
Cherry blossom, food and family ties; if you are like me and remember director Hirokazu Koreeda's sublime 'Still Walking' in 2010 you will understand the allusion. Koreeda does not so much tell a story as allow small events in the lives of his characters to show us the way.
Three sisters travel to the funeral of their estranged father. Here, they meet their much younger step-sister for the first time and invite her to come to live with them. Despite the warning from an old aunt that "She may be your sister, but she's also the daughter of the woman who destroyed your family", the new 'little sister' goes back with her new family and "proves an entirely positive presence in this lovely, generous, and touching (film)" - Mark Kermode, Observer.
We hope you enjoy this "warm, embracing joy of a movie to watch" - Wendy Ide, Radio Times - which should put you in the mood for a great, relaxing Christmas. See you next season!
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