Women's Day launch for Bird's Eye View festival

By Daniel Nelson

Baby-rape in South Africa.

A deadly stampede in India sparked by a politician distributing free saris.

The experiences of a female war correspondent in the Iran-Iraq conflict.

The third Birds Eye View Film Festival (London, 8-14 March) isnt afraid to take on strong subjects.

But it has smiles, too literally, in the case of Mon Beau Sourire, which looks at the ritual of gum-tattooing in Senegal.

Theres also the unclassifiable, such as Zimbabwean film-maker Tsitsi Dangarembgas Mothers Day, which Festival founder Rachel Millward describes as bizarreIve never seen anything like it on the screen.

The common factor is that all the films are made by women.

She says only seven per cent of directors in the US and UK are women: Even 20 per cent would be bad, but seven per cent is awful.

This years festival is bigger, with more features, more documentaries and a training component for would-be and beginner directors.

Thanks to ActionAid sponsorship, there is also a segment on films by women from developing countries - not just films ABOUT women in developing countries, emphasises Millward, but films MADE by women in developing countries.

Does she think films, particularly documentaries, are effective in mobilising people? Definitely: Its far more effective than watching a quick snippet on the news. It gives a feel for other peoples lives. Its very involving.

* ActionAid films
* Programme

***** PRESS RELEASE:

Birds Eye View Film Festival 8 (International Women's Day)-14 March 2007
NFT, ICA, Barbican

Cutting edge, urgent, now. Bonnie Greer
Amazing Juliet Stevenson

This year's BIRDS EYE VIEW (BEV) film festival has a new category, thanks to the participation of ActionAid - features and short films by women from developing countries. Highlights include Goodbye Life, a beautifully composed debut feature about the only Iranian female reporter on the war front and 6 Yards to Democracy, which revisits a gruesome stampede that took place during an election rally in North India.

An ActionAid spokesperson said the agency "is delighted to work with Birds Eye View on this innovative series of films made by women from the developing world."

The festival segment fits in with ActionAid's other work on the issue: "To mark International Women's Day, ActionAid will highlight global abuses of womens rights. Women around the world are more likely to live in poverty than men. Women have less money, less protection from violence, less education and less power, simply because they are women. But, women also drive change. Supporting women to realise their rights is essential in the fight against poverty.

"ActionAid supports projects around the world to empower women and girls to recognise and claim their rights. Throughout March, as well as highlighting the struggles that women face, ActionAid will also be celebrating the contribution that women make to creating a fairer and more just world."

International Womens Day marks the opening night gala, introduced by Jerry Hall, which includes a selection of shorts from the best new talent around the world and a live performance from Mercury Prize Nominee, Zoe Rahman of her original composition to short film She Falls, followed by a party in the NFT Filmcafé with Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac. The closing night Gala film, Sherrybaby + Q&A with director Laurie Collyer, stars Golden Globe nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal as a mother struggling to rekindle her relationship with her daughter.

The festival boasts a wealth of international features including Stephanie Daley (followed by a Q&A with director Hilary Brougher), starring the brilliant Tilda Swinton as a forensic psychologist whose patient is in denial over the death of her baby; Prinzessin, a hard hitting debut feature from Birgit Grosskopf, about a violent West German girl gang; the award-winning In Between Days, which follows a young Korean immigrant who navigates her way through the challenges of living in a new country; and I am (+ Q&A with Polish director Dorota Kediersawska), the beautiful tale of a young boy who escapes from a childrens home.

UK premieres in the festival include Sarah Polleys debut feature Away from Her, starring Julie Christie as a woman with alzheimers whose marriage is jeopardised when she falls for another man; Christina Commencini's Oscar nominated drama, Dont Tell explores sexuality and personal grief; Mollys Way, the story of an unassuming young Irish woman who follows her one night stand to Poland; and Ecoute Le Temps, a rare thriller about a young woman who rediscovers her past after her mothers murder.

Music related feature films are prominent this year with two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopples Shut Up And Sing: Dixie Chicks, a controversial film which explores singer Natalie Maines' anti-Bush statement. The London Premiere of East of Havana (+ Q&A with director Jauretsi Saizarbitoria), tracks the bubbling hip-hop music scene in Cuba and follows the band 'El Cartel'. Both of these features complement the music & film strand of the festival which hosts music videos from the likes of CSS video filmmaker Cat Solens among others, VJing workshops and panel discussions from the best women in the industry.

Sound and Silents is the perfect programme for new music & film lovers, as musicians such as composer Errolyn Wallen and Japanese opera trained a cappella singer Seaming To perform live at the Barbican to silent films from our early women filmmaking pioneers including the avant-garde feminist melodrama, The Smiling Madame Beudet and Maya Derens seminal trance film, Meshes in the Afternoon. Internationally renowned pianist Joanna MacGregor will perform with DJ Rita Ray to a variety of short silent films as part of Optronica festival on Mothers day (18 March) at the NFT.

Other UK and International Shorts range from experimenta to animation and from documentary to drama. Highlights include the award-winning The Other Man, about a husbands reaction to some shocking news (starring BAFTA winning Anna Maxwell Martin Bleak House) and Vika, which follows a 12-year-old's discovery of a new baby sister and which received a special mention at Berlin Film Festival 2006.

Fine Art to Film will spark discussions over the crossovers of visual art into film with Turner Prize winner Gillian Wearing, Clio Barnard and emerging artists Carol Morley and Daria Martin.

Workshops in screenwriting, pitching and Networking in a digital age, plus a Shooting people pub quiz, will all take place, and special bring a baby screenings will encourage mothers to take part in the week-long celebration of women filmmakers that is BIRDS EYE VIEW.

Notes to Editors:
BEV was founded in 2002 by Rachel Millward and Pinny Grylls. Patrons include Anthony Minghella, Mike Figgis, Mira Nair, Joanna Lumley and Juliet Stevenson.

BEV is a positive response to the fact that women make up only 7% directors in what is the most powerful medium in the world. Launched in 2005 as the first major UK womens film festival it has been a storming success, proving the wealth of talent and potential that women bring to film. In 2007 the BEV festival will run across three leading London film venues: the Institute of Contemporary Art, the National Film Theatre and Barbican.

Later in the year, the national tour will expand to more film, arts and music festivals, as well as one-off events in rep cinemas across the country. BEV will also be taking programmes to further overseas film festivals, including Creteil and Istanbul Womens Film Festival.

BEV is led by Rachel Millward, nominated a World Changing Woman' (The Guardian 21.08.06.) and featured in the Vogue list for 2007.