Feeling really proud to have programmed a short film strand for this weekend’s Girls in Film Festival via my film club @zodiacfilmclub.
The starting point for the curation was a film I’d been wanting to screen for years, Sleeping Beauties by But I'm a Cheerleader director Jamie Babbit. I’ve been thinking for a while about the ‘autrice’ – female directors who create highly decorative, hyper-feminised mise en scène in their work, often executing the distinctive visual style with their own hands through creating props, costumes or set design, or even starring in their own films. Work that makes me want to create not just film, but physical spaces of my own. I’ve also been reading Pretty: Film and the Decorative Image by Rosalind Galt.
Inspired by all of this, our programme is entitled 'Pretty' and features five films by Babbit, The Love Witch director Anna Biller, contemporary artist Rachel Maclean and young directors Sophie Ansell and Katharina Hingst.
Thank you to all the directors taking part, @girlsinfilmgif and @mschristinamaria who brought the Jamie Babbit DVD over from America for me ✈️