Monday 8 March is International Women's Day 2021, and there are plenty of film events taking place online for you to join and celebrate, with organisations both in Leeds and beyond taking part. You can see below what film events and screenings are marking International Women's Day either on 8 March or at other times during the month: for further information and tickets, click on the links below the titles.

Choose to Challenge Cinema - Miss En Scene
Throughout March
Miss En Scene will be hosting an Instagram event to mark International Women's Day with members of the online film community. Each day, a different film account will publish a post about a woman in film - all of these will be saved on Miss En Scene's highlights.           

FLY! Festival of Black Women's Film
Various dates, until Sunday 21 March         
The FLY! Festival of Black Women's Film features three dynamic programmes across nine dates, including feature films RafikiSuwi, A Brush with Immortality - Henrietta Lacks, three films by Ros Martin + director Q&A, shorts, workshops and more. 

Bechdel Feminist Pop Culture Quiz for International Women's Day 2021
Sunday 7 March, 7pm                
A fun interactive quiz to test your feminist pop culture knowledge and celebrate International Women's Day 2021. Young Women's Trust is a feminist organisation working to support to young women aged 18 to 30, who are living on low or no pay and want to build a better future.

What Walaa Wants + Q&A (Presented by Bertha DocHouse in partnership with Leeds Palestian Film Festival) 
Monday 8 March, 7pm 
Live online Q&A with director Christy Garland, hosted by Palestinian photographer, filmmaker and human rights advocate Kholoud Al-Jarma. Following her from age 15 to 21, What Walaa Wants is a real life story capturing a young woman navigating formidable obstacles.

Woman with a Movie Camera film collection on BFI Player
From Monday 8 March 
A brand new series of BFI Player to coincide with International Women's Day. Woman With a Movie Camera features women from across the film industry choosing their favourites films from a 60-strong collection of films by women and giving introductions to reveal the influence they've had upon them. 

Women's Adventure Film Tour IWD 2021
Monday 8 March, 7pm - midnight, Thursday 11 March       
Women’s Adventure Film Tour is a celebration of the inspiring women around us who are doing extraordinary things in the name of adventure. This year’s line-up features Australian Olympic hopeful Lucy Stirling, New Zealand Olympian Janina Kuzma, World Champion Paraglider Klaudia Bulgakow and many more.

Confidence on Camera - ITV Virtual Masterclass
Tuesday 9 March, 12noon
BAFTA & RTS triple award-winner Elaine Willcox, Deputy Editor & Lead Correspondent and Presenter at ITV Granada, will be sharing practical tips to help women in business get their messages across and take the fear out of TV Interviews.       

The Gender Lady - Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Wednesday 10 March, 10:30pm GMT
Screening of the documentary The Gender Lady followed by a Q&A panel with Dr. Cohen & the directors! Dr. May Cohen is a Canadian physician and women’s rights trailblazer; advocating internationally for women’s reproductive rights, women’s health and women physicians’ advancement. (Those unable to join live can receive a link on March 9th at 5:30pm).

Animated Women UK: IWD Networking Event
Thursday 11 March, 6:30pm - 8pm
Join four women at different stages of their career: Jane Davies, Co-Director of Lloyd of the Flies at Aardman, Clair Bellens, R&D Engineer at ILM, Bimpe Alliu, Concept Artist at ILM & Debra Coleman, VFX veteran and founder of Open Frame Coaching. 
This is a women only event, open to non members and members alike.

An Evening With: Sally Wainwright
Friday 12 March, 7pm             
Sally is the creative mind behind Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley and many more gripping dramas. Holly Lynch (MP for Halifax) will open with a discussion with Sally as she breaks down some of her most iconic and inspirational female characters, also answering questions from the audience. 

Salt of This Sea - Leeds Palestinian Film Festival 
Friday 12 March, 7pm - Saturday 13 March, 11pm
Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir's drama-romance film follows Soraya, a Brooklyn native who returns to her parent's homeland to rediscover her roots and reclaim her heritage. This was the first feature length film directed by a woman from Palestine, and was selected for Cannes and Tribeca With Jacir being heralded as the 'new face of independent cinema'. 

Girl Power Film + Media Summit: Digital Edition
Saturday 13 March, 6pm - Sunday 14 March, 10pm              
#GirlPowerSummit promises to inspire and empower the next generation of womxn in film and media with insightful conversations, motivating workshops, and impactful networking. The event includes industry panels with filmmakers from Netflix, Starz, Freeform, AMC, BBC, and more.  

Reclaim the Frame: Mouthpiece + Q&A
Monday 15 March, 8pm
To mark the UK VOD release of Mouthpiece, join Reclaim the Frame for a live Q&A with director Patricia Rozema and writers and performers Amy Nostbakken & Norah Sadava. Following the sudden death of her mother, a woman finds herself in crisis, unable to think straight with a debate raging inside her head.

Through the Night - Screening & Director Q&A
Tuesday 16 March, 10:30pm - 11:30pm GMT
Directed and produced by Loira Limbal, an Afro-Dominican Filmmaker, DJ and Sundance Institute Fellow; Through the Night is an intimate cinema verité portrait of three working mothers whose lives all intersect at a 24-hour daycare centre. Zoom Q&A limited to 100 guests. 

Sami Blood on Leeds Film Player
Until midnight on Tuesday 16 March 
One of two features by acclaimed director Amanda Kernell currently streaming on Leeds Film Player (also including Charter, until midnight on Sunday 7 March), Sami Blood is a powerful coming-of-age debut about a young Sami women forced to make life-changing decisions about her future.   

Indigenous women in Latin American Cinema - Film Discussion
Thursday 18 March 5:30pm - 6:30pm (GMT)
Join in conversation with anthropologist and ethnographic filmmaker, Dr. Patricia Alvarez as she discusses Indigenous women and cinema. Including two indigenous films: Ixcanul, Volcán, a Mayan folklore about a young Kaqchikel Maya woman who plans to escape an arranged marriage; and Dr. Alvarez's award-winning ethnographic film, Entretejido, about the intersections between Indigenous weaving collectives and high fashion in Peru.

Akademi Dance Film Festival - South Asian Dance Films, Events & Panel Discussions
Friday 19 March, 11am - Saturday 20 March 10pm
Dance films covering a wide range of topics from motherhood, the queer body and the commoditisation of identity, to India’s dream robot to the moon, amongst other thought-provoking subjects. To view the full festival programme click here

Motherload - Screening and Q&A w/ director Liz Canning
Tuesday 23 March, 6pm - 7pm
A crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring motherhood in this digital age of climate change. The film follows director and new mother Liz Canning on her quest to understand the increasing tension between modern life and our hunter-gatherer DNA, and how cargo bikes offer a solution.

Feminista Film Festival 2021
Until Wednesday 31 March
Hebden Bridge Picture House is one of the virtual venues for Feminista Film Festival 2021. From musical pursuits to outdoor challenges, this collection of show films focusses on women change makers and trail blazers. You’ll definitely be inspired to turn up the music and start planning your next adventure!

Minute Shorts x Girls in Film present: Who Gets to Write Women’s Stories? - Short Film Screenings and Panels
Wednesday 31 March, 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Stories need to be told, but who gets to be paid to tell those stories? With four short films (and more TBA), and panel discussions with the filmmakers, this online event is a network and platform for a new generation of female filmmakers worldwide.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché
Now streaming via Modern Films
An acclaimed new documentary about Poly Styrene, frontwoman of punk band X-Ray Spex. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, singing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. 

Want to be an ally for women and non-binary filmmakers all year-round? Check out 
F-Rated.org to see how you can watch films that redress the balance for women in film.


If you're based in Leeds and organising a film screening and event for #IWD2021 and we've missed you out, please email leeds.film@leeds.gov.uk to let us know the details.

(Featured image from Rafiki, showing as part of FLY! Festival of Black Women's Film)