International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day, we've spotlighted films by some of the most accomplished female filmmakers working today, available to screen through our Booking Scheme: BERGMAN ISLAND A sly deconstruction of the typically male cinematic canon, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island sees two filmmakers, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), retreat to Fårö island for the summer and hope to find inspiration where Bergman shot his most celebrated films. As the days pass by, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, as Chris begins to contemplate their relationship. HIVE Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Blerta Basholli’s debut Hive follows Fahrije whose husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo so she sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision: to wait for his return, or to continue to persevere. PETITE MAMAN From Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma, Petite Maman follows eight-year-old Nelly, who meets a strangely familiar girl her own age in the woods. Instantly forming a connection with this mysterious new friend, Nelly embarks on a fantastical journey in this piece of cinematic magic about the bonds between mothers and daughters. POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain. This intimate documentary tells her story. QUEEN OF GLORY Breakout filmmaker Nana Mensah’s debut Queen of Glory is the story of a brilliant child of Ghanaian immigrants, who quits her PhD program to follow her married lover to Ohio. When her mother dies, she bequeaths her daughter a Christian bookstore in the section of the Bronx where Sarah was raised. Queen of Glory provokes laughter and empathy, as its heroine is reborn through her inheritance. RAFIKI The first Kenyan film to premiere in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, and controversially banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board, Rafiki tells the story of two old friends, Kena and Ziki, and their blossoming romance. But in a society where "good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives", the two women are forced to choose between happiness and safety.