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
How about Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson? Directed by Lynne Ramsay (who brought us greats like 'Ratcatcher' and 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'), Jennifer Lawrence here gives her best performance as new mother, Grace - "Several recent films have attempted to examine the feral, demented side of new motherhood. But thanks to a fearless, physically committed performance from Lawrence, and to the bold risks embraced by director Lynne Ramsay, 'Die My Love' is, by no small margin, the most successful to date. It might be postpartum psychosis that has Grace in its grip. It might be depression. Or it might be that reality for Grace has become distorted by a haze of hormones and a cracked lens of anxiety. The film stops short of offering a solid diagnosis, instead immersing us in Grace's unnerving fever dream" - Wendy Ide, Observer.
The real difference here is that we see the world as it appears to Grace, NOT as the world sees Grace (reminds me of 'The Father's portrayal of Alzheimer's from within his own mind). Grace and Jackson (Pattinson) start out as a happy couple moving into a house far from everyone (except his mother, played brilliantly by Sissy Spacek) which they love, but which gradually becomes a prison to Grace as her mind loses more and more grasp of reality. The film "captures most meaningfully the feeling of spiralling mental distress as like a dam that’s about to burst with no river to carry its water. What everyone around her interprets as erratic behaviour, for us, already inside her head, looks clearly like increasingly desperate attempts to find an outlet. Where Ramsay leads us isn't hopeful and isn't happy. But it's a fearsome, allconsuming spell of a film, and its effects are unshakeable" - Clarisse Loughrey, Independent. Unmissable too!
Continuing our accidental mini-strand of 'great acting duos', we have Brenda Blethyn and Andrea Riseborough, both Oscar nominees and now sharing the Best Performance award at the Tribeca Film Festival, where this film was released. When this is mixed with the talents of Paul Andrew Williams who has already made some biting social-realist films (viz 'London to Brighton' and 'Bull') you will already be getting a good feeling about 'Dragonfly'; and with good reason. As Phil de Semlyen says in Time Out, "for a study of human connection at its most honest and affecting, with two remarkable lead performances, 'Dragonfly' is a powerfully striking experience".
"Blethyn plays Elsie, an elderly woman living in a drab housing complex and tended to by caregivers who do the bare minimum to meet her needs. Her next door neighbour Colleen (Riseborough) senses that Elsie may require extra help and tries to intercede, offering to do shopping and cleaning. Elsie's son John (Jason Watkins) makes occasional appearances and seems suspicious of Colleen, but he clearly does not want to take on much of a caretaking role himself" - Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter. And we mustn't forget Colleen's dog - Sabre, a massive bull terrier. Are we being pre-emptive to think that John is right to be suspicious? When Elsie gives Colleen her credit card to buy her shopping, has she fallen for the obvious (to us) con? Could Colleen just be a caring neighbour? "It is a riveting dual portrait of two gloomy people who really have, in a strange and dysfunctional way, found a new way of interacting and - importantly - this is a triangular relationship: Elsie, Colleen and the vast Sabre" - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian. What do you think?
Set in 1936 as the British Mandate is fading in Palestine and German Jews are beginning to flee to the area in larger and larger numbers, this film attempts to show us some of the origins of today's troubles. This was all the more timely as filming was set to start soon after Hamas raided Israel and set off the present fighting.
Taking people from various facets of the population, Annemarie Jacir shows how the British actions were definitely part of the problem, whilst the Jewish immigrants, as now, were settling the area without worrying about the existing Palestinians. In their turn, the Palestinian nationalists were set to rebel against the British rule anyway; mix the three ingredients and you have the setting for the Great Palestinian Revolt which was the beginning of the end of the British rule here. If, like me, you would like to understand the background to the Middle East crisis, this drama is the film for you.
Let's do the easy bit first. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, Oscar nominated for her 'Four Daughters' that we had at the 2024 Festival, and produced by Brad Pitt, Jonathan Glazer, Joaquin Phoenix and many others: this film has massive backing, and received a 23 minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival. "As cinema, 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' is formally extraordinary, superbly acted, beautifully shot, and shaped and edited with rare urgency" - Leila Latif, Little White Lies. That's the easy bit - a great film in its own right.
BUT… the point is the story it tells, far more than the aesthetics. Hind Rajab is a five year-old girl attempting to travel across North Gaza with her family when they come under siege from the IDF. Their car is riddled with 355 bullets (yes, this is also based on a true story…) and only Hind Rajab survives. She stays on the phone to the Palestinian Red Crescent for hours begging for an ambulance, but they cannot send one until the IDF give them clearance…
The film is set completely in the Red Crescent office, with actors playing the parts of the volunteers there...but the voice of Hind is taken from real recordings so this is a docudrama. The Red Crescent operators start the mind-bending process to get agreement to send an ambulance the very short journey to where Hind is, but can they get this agreement in time..? Whatever your views on the fighting in Gaza, this little girl demands that we should care, and this film echoes that demand. Not to be missed...
Explore KFC
Links
Short Film Awards
Revisit 2011 Festival
12th Keswick Film Festival
In 2011 we were joined by Kay Mellor and Jack Gold, celebrated Film4 and Agnès Varda and had a sing along to Frankenstein.
KFF On The Web
Vimeo
